4. Word
What is a word? Let’s consider French:
Je sais
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5. Word
What is a word? Let’s consider French:
Je sais
I know
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6. Word
What is a word? Let’s consider French:
Je sais
I know
Je ne sais pas
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7. Word
What is a word? Let’s consider French:
Je sais
I know
Je ne sais pas
I NEG know NEG
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8. Word
What is a word? Let’s consider French:
Je sais
I know
Je ne sais pas
I NEG know NEG
Je sais pas
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9. Word
What is a word? Let’s consider French:
Je sais
I know
Je ne sais pas
I NEG know NEG
Je sais pas
I know NEG
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10. Word
What is a word? Let’s consider French:
Je sais
I know
Je ne sais pas
I NEG know NEG
Je sais pas
I know NEG
Je ne veux pas travailler
I NEG want NEG work
J’ai peur de ne pas réussir
I have fear of NEG NEG succeed
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12. Word
What is a word? How many words can you identify in the following
sentences?
語言所有東西
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13. Word
What is a word? How many words can you identify in the following
sentences?
語言所有東西
高雄市長春藥局
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14. Word
What is a word? How many words can you identify in the following
sentences?
語言所有東西
高雄市長春藥局
⇒ How would machines segment words in these sentences?
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15. Word
What is a word? How many words can you identify in the following
sentences?
語言所有東西
高雄市長春藥局
⇒ How would machines segment words in these sentences?
Bi-gram: 語言 言所 所有 有東 東西
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16. Word
What is a word? How many words can you identify in the following
sentences?
語言所有東西
高雄市長春藥局
⇒ How would machines segment words in these sentences?
Bi-gram: 語言 言所 所有 有東 東西
Tri-gram: 語言所 言所有 所有東 有東西
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17. Word
What is a word? How many words can you identify in the following
sentences?
語言所有東西
高雄市長春藥局
⇒ How would machines segment words in these sentences?
Bi-gram: 語言 言所 所有 有東 東西
Tri-gram: 語言所 言所有 所有東 有東西
⇒ N-gram hinges heavily on probability (i.e., how probable a
n-gram sequence would occur.)
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18. Word
Can N-gram be universally applicable? Consider the following
German sentences. Where are the words?
abbiegen
‘to turn’
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19. Word
Can N-gram be universally applicable? Consider the following
German sentences. Where are the words?
abbiegen
‘to turn’
Ich biege ab.
‘I turn.’
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20. Word
Can N-gram be universally applicable? Consider the following
German sentences. Where are the words?
abbiegen
‘to turn’
Ich biege ab.
‘I turn.’
Ich biege rechts ab.
‘I turn right.’
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21. Word
Can N-gram be universally applicable? Consider the following
German sentences. Where are the words?
abbiegen
‘to turn’
Ich biege ab.
‘I turn.’
Ich biege rechts ab.
‘I turn right.’
Ich biege nach 400 Metern rechts ab.
‘I turn right after 400 meters.’
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22. Word
Can N-gram be universally applicable? Consider the following
German sentences. Where are the words?
abbiegen
‘to turn’
Ich biege ab.
‘I turn.’
Ich biege rechts ab.
‘I turn right.’
Ich biege nach 400 Metern rechts ab.
‘I turn right after 400 meters.’
Ich biege nach 400 Metern vor dem Baum mit Blumen rechts ab.
‘I turn right after 400 meters before the tree with flowers’.
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24. Word
What is a word?
A word is a freestanding unit of meaning.
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25. Word
What is a word?
A word is a freestanding unit of meaning.
English examples: a, university, bookstore, into, friendly,
faithfully, which, sternocleidomastoid ... etc.
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26. Word
What is a word?
A word is a freestanding unit of meaning.
English examples: a, university, bookstore, into, friendly,
faithfully, which, sternocleidomastoid ... etc.
Mandarin examples: 書、跳、葡萄、網路、維骨力、...
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27. Word
What is a word?
A word is a freestanding unit of meaning.
English examples: a, university, bookstore, into, friendly,
faithfully, which, sternocleidomastoid ... etc.
Mandarin examples: 書、跳、葡萄、網路、維骨力、...
Words are dynamically evolving. New words can be created every
day and may not be listed in the existing dictionary/lexicon (i.e,
out-of-vocabulary, OOV): 芒果乾、咩噗、天菜、...
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28. Smaller than words
OK. Now we know what a word is. So, cat is a word, and cats is also
a word.
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29. Smaller than words
OK. Now we know what a word is. So, cat is a word, and cats is also
a word.
Can “s” in cats be a word?
What about “ed” in walked?
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30. Smaller than words
OK. Now we know what a word is. So, cat is a word, and cats is also
a word.
Can “s” in cats be a word?
What about “ed” in walked?
⇒ Sometimes, within a word, we can identify some smaller units
which also carry some meanings.
⇒ These smaller units are termed .
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31. Smaller than words
OK. Now we know what a word is. So, cat is a word, and cats is also
a word.
Can “s” in cats be a word?
What about “ed” in walked?
⇒ Sometimes, within a word, we can identify some smaller units
which also carry some meanings.
⇒ These smaller units are termed .
Morpheme (詞
詞
詞素
素
素): a single unit of meaning
free morpheme: walk, cat, kick, eat, 吃、買、葡萄、... etc.
bound morpheme: -s (plural), -ed (past tense; participle), +們、+子、
小+
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33. Identifying morphemes
How many morphemes are there in the word “hardness”?
hard is a morpheme, meaning the quality of being rigid.
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34. Identifying morphemes
How many morphemes are there in the word “hardness”?
hard is a morpheme, meaning the quality of being rigid.
Set A: {hardness, harden, hardship, hardy}
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35. Identifying morphemes
How many morphemes are there in the word “hardness”?
hard is a morpheme, meaning the quality of being rigid.
Set A: {hardness, harden, hardship, hardy}
ness is a morpheme, changing an adjective into a noun.
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36. Identifying morphemes
How many morphemes are there in the word “hardness”?
hard is a morpheme, meaning the quality of being rigid.
Set A: {hardness, harden, hardship, hardy}
ness is a morpheme, changing an adjective into a noun.
Set B: {hardness, kindness, baldness, weirdness}
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37. Allomorphs
Now we have a better idea of morphemes. But hold on a second,
the following two -ers mean different things!
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38. Allomorphs
Now we have a better idea of morphemes. But hold on a second,
the following two -ers mean different things!
work – worker fast – faster
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39. Allomorphs
Now we have a better idea of morphemes. But hold on a second,
the following two -ers mean different things!
work – worker fast – faster
⇒ The similarity of form does not guarantee the similarity in
meaning!
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40. Allomorphs
Now we have a better idea of morphemes. But hold on a second,
the following two -ers mean different things!
work – worker fast – faster
⇒ The similarity of form does not guarantee the similarity in
meaning!
On the flip side, sometimes a similarity in meaning is not
matched by an exact similarity in form.
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41. Allomorphs
Now we have a better idea of morphemes. But hold on a second,
the following two -ers mean different things!
work – worker fast – faster
⇒ The similarity of form does not guarantee the similarity in
meaning!
On the flip side, sometimes a similarity in meaning is not
matched by an exact similarity in form.
imprecise inadequate incomplete irresponsible illegal
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42. Allomorphs
Now we have a better idea of morphemes. But hold on a second,
the following two -ers mean different things!
work – worker fast – faster
⇒ The similarity of form does not guarantee the similarity in
meaning!
On the flip side, sometimes a similarity in meaning is not
matched by an exact similarity in form.
imprecise inadequate incomplete irresponsible illegal
⇒The forms that are associated with the same morpheme (i.e.,
having the same meaning) but phonetically contrastive are called
.
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43. Building a word
Now, let’s take a closer look at words. Consider the following forms
and determine if they are words.
unfriend
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44. Building a word
Now, let’s take a closer look at words. Consider the following forms
and determine if they are words.
unfriend befriended
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45. Building a word
Now, let’s take a closer look at words. Consider the following forms
and determine if they are words.
unfriend befriended unfriended
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46. Building a word
Now, let’s take a closer look at words. Consider the following forms
and determine if they are words.
unfriend befriended unfriended
unbefriendship
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47. Building a word
Now, let’s take a closer look at words. Consider the following forms
and determine if they are words.
unfriend befriended unfriended
unbefriendship un-ed
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48. Building a word
Now, let’s take a closer look at words. Consider the following forms
and determine if they are words.
unfriend befriended unfriended
unbefriendship un-ed un-ship
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49. Building a word
Now, let’s take a closer look at words. Consider the following forms
and determine if they are words.
unfriend befriended unfriended
unbefriendship un-ed un-ship
boyfriend
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50. Building a word
Now, let’s take a closer look at words. Consider the following forms
and determine if they are words.
unfriend befriended unfriended
unbefriendship un-ed un-ship
boyfriend unboyfriend
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51. Building a word
Now, let’s take a closer look at words. Consider the following forms
and determine if they are words.
unfriend befriended unfriended
unbefriendship un-ed un-ship
boyfriend unboyfriend
It looks like there are some rules/restrictions to building a word (or to
combine morphemes)!
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52. Building a word
The foundation of a word: morpheme
(unfriend, befriended, ...)
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53. Building a word
The foundation of a word: morpheme
(unfriend, befriended, ...)
Morphemes that go before the root:
(un-friend, ...)
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54. Building a word
The foundation of a word: morpheme
(unfriend, befriended, ...)
Morphemes that go before the root:
(un-friend, ...)
Morphemes that come after the root:
(friend-ed, ...)
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55. Building a word
The foundation of a word: morpheme
(unfriend, befriended, ...)
Morphemes that go before the root:
(un-friend, ...)
Morphemes that come after the root:
(friend-ed, ...)
Morphemes that are inserted within the root:
(fan-bloody-tastic)
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56. Building a word
The foundation of a word: morpheme
(unfriend, befriended, ...)
Morphemes that go before the root:
(un-friend, ...)
Morphemes that come after the root:
(friend-ed, ...)
Morphemes that are inserted within the root:
(fan-bloody-tastic)
Morphemes that surround the root:
(a-fly-ing, as in Time is aflying.)
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57. Building a word
The foundation of a word: morpheme
(unfriend, befriended, ...)
Morphemes that go before the root:
(un-friend, ...)
Morphemes that come after the root:
(friend-ed, ...)
Morphemes that are inserted within the root:
(fan-bloody-tastic)
Morphemes that surround the root:
(a-fly-ing, as in Time is aflying.)
Two free morphemes together:
(boy-friend)
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58. Time out!
Give (Taiwan) Mandarin examples for the following morphemes and
post them on Padlet:
1 prefix
2 suffix
3 infix
4 circumfix
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59. Other terms
Stem: A stem always includes the root and may also include one or
more affixes.
Lexicon: the Greek word for dictionary, as in mental lexicon.
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60. Coding and decoding
Now, let’s consider the following examples/exercises.
Halfellalfo, halfow alfare yalfou?
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67. Inflectional vs. derivational
Let’s revisit the suffixes in hard-ness and cat-s.
Do they induce the same or different effects?
⇒ ness: change the of the root
⇒ s: does not change the
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68. Inflectional vs. derivational
English
Functions Affixes Attach to
3rd. per. sing.present -s verbs
past tense -ed verbs
progressive aspect -ing verbs
past participle -en, -ed verbs
plural -s nouns
comparative -er adjective, adverbs
superlative -est adjective, adverbs
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69. Inflectional vs. derivational
English
Functions Affixes Attach to
3rd. per. sing.present -s verbs
past tense -ed verbs
progressive aspect -ing verbs
past participle -en, -ed verbs
plural -s nouns
comparative -er adjective, adverbs
superlative -est adjective, adverbs
⇒ affixes
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72. Inflectional vs. derivational
Is there any order or principle to attach inflectional and derivational
affixes (for English)?
talks talker
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73. Inflectional vs. derivational
Is there any order or principle to attach inflectional and derivational
affixes (for English)?
talks talker talkers *talkser
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74. Inflectional vs. derivational
Is there any order or principle to attach inflectional and derivational
affixes (for English)?
talks talker talkers *talkser
reddish redness
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75. Inflectional vs. derivational
Is there any order or principle to attach inflectional and derivational
affixes (for English)?
talks talker talkers *talkser
reddish redness reddishness *rednessish
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76. Inflectional vs. derivational
Is there any order or principle to attach inflectional and derivational
affixes (for English)?
talks talker talkers *talkser
reddish redness reddishness *rednessish
antihuman inhuman
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77. Inflectional vs. derivational
Is there any order or principle to attach inflectional and derivational
affixes (for English)?
talks talker talkers *talkser
reddish redness reddishness *rednessish
antihuman inhuman antiinhuman *inantihuman
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78. Inflectional vs. derivational
Is there any order or principle to attach inflectional and derivational
affixes (for English)?
talks talker talkers *talkser
reddish redness reddishness *rednessish
antihuman inhuman antiinhuman *inantihuman
OK. Does that mean we, as second language users, have to memorize
all these rules?
-er > -s,
-ish > -ness,
anti- > -in,
... etc.?
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79. Inflectional vs. derivational
Root
↓
Rules for root/stem boundary
derivations and irregular inflections
↓
Rules for word boundary derivations
and compounding
↓
Rules for word boundary inflections
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80. Inflectional vs. derivational
Root
↓
Rules for root/stem boundary
derivations and irregular inflections
↓
Rules for word boundary derivations
and compounding
↓
Rules for word boundary inflections
Derivational affixes occurring at the
root/stem boundary: +ion, +ish,
+al, +ous, in+
Derivational affixes occurring at the
word boundary: #ness, #hood, #ist,
#ism, anti#
Inflectional affixes occurring at the
word boundary: #s, #ing, #ed
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81. Inflectional vs. derivational
Root
↓
Rules for root/stem boundary
derivations and irregular inflections
↓
Rules for word boundary derivations
and compounding
↓
Rules for word boundary inflections
Derivational affixes occurring at the
root/stem boundary: +ion, +ish,
+al, +ous, in+
Derivational affixes occurring at the
word boundary: #ness, #hood, #ist,
#ism, anti#
Inflectional affixes occurring at the
word boundary: #s, #ing, #ed
*rats-eater, mice-eater
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82. Inflectional vs. derivational
Root
↓
Rules for root/stem boundary
derivations and irregular inflections
↓
Rules for word boundary derivations
and compounding
↓
Rules for word boundary inflections
Derivational affixes occurring at the
root/stem boundary: +ion, +ish,
+al, +ous, in+
Derivational affixes occurring at the
word boundary: #ness, #hood, #ist,
#ism, anti#
Inflectional affixes occurring at the
word boundary: #s, #ing, #ed
*rats-eater, mice-eater
*houses cat, house cats
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84. Hierarchical structure of words
How would you decompose the word undoable?
If you are sensitive enough, you should know that there are two
different ways of groupings to analyze this word:
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85. Hierarchical structure of words
How would you decompose the word undoable?
If you are sensitive enough, you should know that there are two
different ways of groupings to analyze this word:
1 (un-(do-able))
2 ((un-do)-able)
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86. Hierarchical structure of words
How would you decompose the word undoable?
If you are sensitive enough, you should know that there are two
different ways of groupings to analyze this word:
1 (un-(do-able))
2 ((un-do)-able)
Bracketing is away of decomposing the structure. But linguists
usually take another approach: Tree diagram
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87. Hierarchical structure of words
un use able
Adj
Verb
Verb
Wait a minute! A few slides ago, we
talked about the order of affix
attachment. A general idea is that
derivational affixes should be attached
to the root before inflectional affixes.
But in this example, the inflectional
affix (un-) was attached before the
derivational affix (-able).
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88. Hierarchical structure of words
un use able
Adj
Verb
Verb
Wait a minute! A few slides ago, we
talked about the order of affix
attachment. A general idea is that
derivational affixes should be attached
to the root before inflectional affixes.
But in this example, the inflectional
affix (un-) was attached before the
derivational affix (-able).
⇒ The rules do not explain all the
examples?
⇒ Exception? (Any other
exceptions?)
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89. Hierarchical structure of words
Inflectional and derivational affixes are defined by Noam
Chomsky (Chomskian theory).
Cognitive linguistics takes a different approach.
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90. Hierarchical structure of words
Inflectional and derivational affixes are defined by Noam
Chomsky (Chomskian theory).
Cognitive linguistics takes a different approach.
No more inflectional and derivational affixes.
Perspectives: un-use vs. use-able
⇒ Words with closer relationship were attached together first.
More on this in other courses, such as Cognitive Pragmatics.
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91. Other word formation
We’ve seen affixation and compounding. Is there any other word
formation process? Consider the following examples.
Indonesian
rumah ‘house’ rumahrumah ‘houses’
ibu ‘mother’ ibuibu ‘mothers’
lalat ‘fly’ lalatlalat ‘flies’
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92. Other word formation
We’ve seen affixation and compounding. Is there any other word
formation process? Consider the following examples.
Indonesian
rumah ‘house’ rumahrumah ‘houses’
ibu ‘mother’ ibuibu ‘mothers’
lalat ‘fly’ lalatlalat ‘flies’
Tagalog
bili ‘buy’ bibili ‘will buy’
kain ‘eat’ kakain ‘will eat’
pasok ‘enter’ papasok ‘will enter’
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93. Other word formation
Some even more complicated way of word formation:
Tagalog
bili ‘buy’ mamimili ‘buyer’
sulat ‘write’ manunulat ‘writer’
Pisda ‘fish’ maNPiPisda ‘fisherman’
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94. Other word formation
Some even more complicated way of word formation:
Tagalog
bili ‘buy’ mamimili ‘buyer’
sulat ‘write’ manunulat ‘writer’
Pisda ‘fish’ maNPiPisda ‘fisherman’
⇒ This process of word formation is termed Reduplication.
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95. Other word formation
Reduplication is very common cross-linguistically. Study the following
examples and explain the effects of the reduplication.
Yesterday we just went out for coffee, but this weekend we are
going on a date-date.
That shirt isn’t what I had in mind; it’s too much pale of a green.
I want a shirt that is green-green.
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96. Other word formation
Reduplication is very common cross-linguistically. Study the following
examples and explain the effects of the reduplication.
Yesterday we just went out for coffee, but this weekend we are
going on a date-date.
That shirt isn’t what I had in mind; it’s too much pale of a green.
I want a shirt that is green-green.
紅 vs. 紅紅
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97. Other word formation
Reduplication is very common cross-linguistically. Study the following
examples and explain the effects of the reduplication.
Yesterday we just went out for coffee, but this weekend we are
going on a date-date.
That shirt isn’t what I had in mind; it’s too much pale of a green.
I want a shirt that is green-green.
紅 vs. 紅紅 vs. 紅紅紅
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98. Other word formation
Reduplication is very common cross-linguistically. Study the following
examples and explain the effects of the reduplication.
Yesterday we just went out for coffee, but this weekend we are
going on a date-date.
That shirt isn’t what I had in mind; it’s too much pale of a green.
I want a shirt that is green-green.
紅 vs. 紅紅 vs. 紅紅紅
粉紅 vs. 粉紅粉紅 (?)
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99. Other word formation
Reduplication is very common cross-linguistically. Study the following
examples and explain the effects of the reduplication.
Yesterday we just went out for coffee, but this weekend we are
going on a date-date.
That shirt isn’t what I had in mind; it’s too much pale of a green.
I want a shirt that is green-green.
紅 vs. 紅紅 vs. 紅紅紅
粉紅 vs. 粉紅粉紅 (?) vs. 粉紅粉紅粉紅 (?)
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100. Other word formation
There are also other of morphemic alternations and suppletion
(i.e., irregular conjugation)
foot/feet, goose/geese, louse/Iice, man/men, mouse/mice,
tooth/teeth
ride/rode, freeze/froze, speak/spoke, steal/stole, sing/sang
strife/strive, teeth/teethe, breath/breathe, use/use
is/was, go/went, good/better/best, ...
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101. Etymology
We spent the whole class talking about “decompose” the structure of
words and their correspondent attributes. Yet, there are also other
aspects we can look at words.
Etymology: (According the Webster Dictionary) the history of a linguistic form
(such as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence
in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to
another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other
languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral
language.
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102. Etymology
Word Morpheme Gloss Other examples
Morphology morph- ‘shape’
-logy ‘study of’ phonology, psychology, ...etc.
Philosophy philo- ‘loving’ philharmonic
sophia ‘wisdom’
genesis gene ‘give birth’ gene, Eugene, ...etc.
centipede cent- ‘hundred’ century, centimeter, ... etc.
ped ‘foot’ pedestrian, expedite, ... etc.
exit ex- ‘out’
-it ‘go’
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103. Etymology
Word Morpheme Gloss Other examples
Morphology morph- ‘shape’
-logy ‘study of’ phonology, psychology, ...etc.
Philosophy philo- ‘loving’ philharmonic
sophia ‘wisdom’
genesis gene ‘give birth’ gene, Eugene, ...etc.
centipede cent- ‘hundred’ century, centimeter, ... etc.
ped ‘foot’ pedestrian, expedite, ... etc.
exit ex- ‘out’
-it ‘go’
There are also some “codes” in names!
Barbara < Barbar, Lucy < luc, Tim < timid, cancer, ...
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104. Wrap-up
Key concepts from today’s lecture:
1 What is a word? A is a freestanding unit of meaning.
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105. Wrap-up
Key concepts from today’s lecture:
1 What is a word? A is a freestanding unit of meaning.
2 What is a morpheme? A is a smallest unit of meaning.
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106. Wrap-up
Key concepts from today’s lecture:
1 What is a word? A is a freestanding unit of meaning.
2 What is a morpheme? A is a smallest unit of meaning.
3 Morphemes that change the lexical category are
morphemes and those don’t are morphemes.
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107. Wrap-up
Key concepts from today’s lecture:
1 What is a word? A is a freestanding unit of meaning.
2 What is a morpheme? A is a smallest unit of meaning.
3 Morphemes that change the lexical category are
morphemes and those don’t are morphemes.
4 Word formations may be of different processes (e.g.,
reduplication, affixation, etc.) and driven by different linguistic
reasons (e.g., morphological categories, pragmatic purposes, etc.).
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