GUNADARMA UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF LETTERS
The Morphological Process of The English Noun
Word Class
Written by:
Name
: Mochammad Asril
NPM
: 10604079
Major
: English Literature
Advisor I
: Prof. Dr. Indiyah Imran
Advisor II
: Ni Luh Putu Setiarini,SS.,Mhum
An undergraduate Thesis
Submitted To the Faculty of Letters
As a partial fulfillment for
S1 Degree in English Department
JAKARTA
2008
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTIONS
1. Background of the Research
1.2 Justification of the Research
As a discipline, morphology continues to make important contributions to the field of
education. Morphology is one of the most important elements for students who want to learn
more about morphological process in English. When you do not know a morphological
process of English, morphology gives us the rule for forming new word such verb, noun,
adjective, become another word class. That’s why morphology is also called the system of
categories and rule involved in word formation and interpretation.. Through the
morphological process, we can classify the form of noun, verb, adjective and adverb become
new word by putting word together such as "act” as verb become "action" as noun, "agree" as
verb become "agreement" as noun or "happy" as adjective become “happiness" as noun, etc.
Clearly there are many kinds of the marker that make the morphological process in English.
1.3 Previous Research
1.3.1 Herlyn Puspita Sari (2004)
In her research “The English Noun Suffixes and Their Translation Into Indonesian: A
translation Study”, Gunadarma University as a Thesis. The researcher tries to identify the
English noun suffixes and the appropriate translation of those suffixes into Indonesian. In her
research, the researcher found that there are a lot of noun suffix in the book of Sidney
Sheldon’s “ A Stranger in the Mirror” there are –y, -al, -man, - ion, - ity, -er, - ic, -ment, hood, -ing, -ness, ist, - non, -dom, - or, -sion, - ure, - ance/ence, and some more.
1.3.2 Bazalel Agustus Bisman (2004)
In his research, he wrote “Word Classes in English” as a thesis, University of
Gunadarma. He tried to find what the markers of the open word classes are and the type of
the markers of word classes. This thesis is conducted to explain some elements of word
classes by giving details on types of the markers used in some word classes, from verbal,
nominal and adjectival affixes.
1.3.3 Randi Yudiansyah 10602116 (2006)
In his research “The Morphological Process of the English Verbs”, for S1 degree in
Gunadarma University. He tried to explain the process of morphology, 1.Affixes marking the
verb word class and 2. Word classes become another word class. The findings of his research
are: inflectional suffixes are the marker of the verb. The inflectional suffixes are the markers
of verb because the suffix doesn’t transpose the verb word class into another verb class.
1.3.4 Chang May See
She wrote “The Morphological Analysis of Bahasa Malaysia” School of
Mathematical Science University Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia. Her skripsi describes a
model for the automated morphological analysis of Bahasa Malaysia: the last syllable is
repeated without any change. For example:Budak ‘ child’→bek-budak ‘ children’ (initial
syllable)→dak-budak ‘children’ (final syllable)In full duplication, the duplicate is identical to
the whole base. For example:Budak ‘ child’ → budak-budak ‘
1.3.5 Akande Akinmade Timothy
She wrote “Morphological Errors in the English of some Nigerian” Department of
English, Obafemi Awolowo Uniersity, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. This paper examines the
morphological errors in the English usage of some senior secondary school pupil in Nigerian,
the subjects who participated in the study were 250 senior school (SSS2) pupils drawn from
some schools in Osun and Ondo States. .she found some of errors of this nature found in
English usage of her subjects were: like in the sentence (1) You are inhonest (dishonest) (2) It
is unsignificant (insignificant)(3) The girl do not agreed because she is inmatured (immature)
1.3.6 Steven Pinker (2006)
He wrote a paper “inflectional morphology”, Department of psychology, Harvard
University. This sets of projects focuses in inflectional such as the past tense and the plural to
understand the psychology of language. They key idea is the irregular forms such as comecome and bring-brought are unpredictable and have to be memorized, whereas regular past
tense forms such as walk-walked and play-played are rule-governed and can be generated on
the fly, particularly to new verbs such as mosh-moshed and spam-spammed. 1.4 Position of
the Research
Related to Randi’s research, the researcher will discuss the morphological process of the
English noun word class, and the researcher tries to describe the marker of noun and affixes
transposing other word classes into nouns.
1.5 Significance of the Research
The researcher hopes that this research will be very useful for everybody and especially
for the student who will find affixes mark the noun word class and kinds of affixes transpose
other word class into nouns. The result analysis of this research will become an input to
understand more in the process of morphology.
1.6 Problem of the Research
1. What kinds of affixes mark the noun word class?
2. What kinds of affixes transpose other word classes into the nouns word class?
1.7 Aim of the Research
1. To describe the affixes which mark the noun word class.
2. To describe the affixes which transpose other word classes into the noun word class.
1.8 Scope of the Research
This research is concerned with the morphological process of the English noun and their
maker. It does not discuss the verb or adjective word classes and also it doesn’t translate the
noun word class into Indonesian.
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
2.1 Theory of Morphology
According to Fromkin and Rodman (1998:69) in their book” An Introduction to
language”, morphology is defined as “the study of the internal structure of words and of the
rules by which words are formed.
2.2 Definition of Word
Definition of word according to Richard (1985:92) a word is the smallest of the linguistic
units which can occur on its own in speech or writing.
2.3 Definition of Morphemes
Based on Haspelmath stated (2002:16) a morpheme can be defined as the smallest
meaningful constituent of linguistic expression.
2.3.1 Free Morpheme
Katamba and his friends (1996:134) mentioned that a morpheme that can be a word by
itself. Meanwhile based on Stageberg (1971:87) a free morpheme can be uttered with
meaning. For instance, in replying to “what are you going to do now?” we might answer
“eat”, this is a free morpheme.
2.3.2 Bound Morpheme
Katamba and his friends (1996:134) said that a morpheme must be attached to another
element, and based on Stageberg (1971:87) bound morpheme can not be uttered alone with
meaning. It is always annexed to one or more morpheme to form a word.
2.4 Definition of Affixes
According to Haspelmath (2002:18) word-forms in an inflectional paradigm generally
share (at least) one longer morpheme with a concrete meaning and are distinguished from
each other in that they in addition contain different shorter morpheme with an abstract
meaning are called affixes.
2.4.1 Inflectional Affixes
According to Fromkin and Rodman (1998:91) such bound grammatical morpheme
are called inflectional morpheme (or, less technically, inflectional endings) they never change
the syntactic category of the words or morpheme to which they are attached.
2.4.2 Derivational affixes
According to fromkin and Rodman (1998:76) bound morpheme like –ify ‘to make or
become’ and –ation ‘nominal’ are called derivational affixes. When they are added to root
morpheme or stems a word is derived.
2.5 Transposition
According to Andrew Spencer and Arnold M. Zwicky (1998:55) transposition is another
type of derivational which reflects a simple change of category without any functional
change.
2.6 Morphological Process of English Affixes
a morphological process is a means of changing a stem to adjust its meaning to fit its
syntactic and communicational context.
2.7 Affixes marking noun word class
2.7.1 Noun to noun
Prefix1. Mono-‘one or single’ as in the word monoplane, monotone2. Micro-‘short or small’
as in the word microfilm, microscope
Suffix1.-s ‘plural’ as in the word books, girls2.-‘s ‘possessive’ as in the word book’s, girl’s
2.7.2 Verb to noun
Suffix1. – ment ‘nominal ‘as in the word development 2. – er ‘agent’ as in the word teacher
2.7.3 Adjective to noun
Suffix 1. – ity ‘the state quality or state’ as in the word oddity
2. – ness
‘the quality, state or character’ as in the word sadness
2.8 Word Class
According to Tallerman (1998:49) a word class is distinguished by their morphology,
their function and their patterns of distribution: this covers both slots, which words can
appear, and the modifying words then can occur with them.
2.8.1 Content words
According to Fromkin and Rodman (1998:67) in English, nouns, verbs, adjectives and
adverbs make up the largest part of the vocabulary, they are the content words of a language,
which are sometimes called the open words class because we can regularly add new words to
these classes and drop.
2.8.2 Function words
According to Fromkin and Rodman (1998:67) other syntactic categories include
grammatical words on function words, or a word with grammatical meaning. The
membership is fixed and can be listed conjunctions, preposition, articles, determiners,
pronouns, and auxiliaries.
2.9 Definition of Noun
According to Robert E. Yarber and Mary Laine Yarber (1993:2) traditionally a noun
is a word used to name something, for instance, a person, a place, a thing, or an idea.
2.10 Definition of Verb
According to Robert E. Yarber and Mary Laine Yarber (1993:4) traditionally a verb is a
word that expresses action or state of being and thereby tells us what a noun or pronoun does
or what it is. If the verb tells us what a noun or pronoun does, it is an action verb2.11
Definition of Adjective
According to Robert E. Yarber and Mary Laine Yarber (1993:8) in writing and adjective
is to modify (or describe) a noun or pronoun. Adjectives are words that modifies nouns and
pronouns.
2.12 Productivity
According to Haspelmath (2002:19) a morphological rule or pattern is said to be
productive if (and to extent that) it can be applied to new bases and new words.
2.13 Allomorph
According to Payne (1997:20-21), an allomorph is one of two or more complementary
morphs which manifest a morpheme in its different phonological or morphological
environments. The allomorphs of a morpheme are derived from phonological rules and any
morphophonemic rules that may apply to that morpheme.
2.14 Paradigms
Based on Fromkin and her friends (2000:30, 31) the set of related words made from a
single root is called a paradigm. Thus, the paradigm of friend includes friend and friends and
the paradigm of promise includes, promise, promised, and promising..
2.15 Morphophonology in English
According to Haspelmath’s theory (2002:181) saw that morphemes often have different
phonological shapes depending on the environment (i.e. the other morphemes and sounds
with which they co-occurs in a word). For example, the root of the English lexeme leaf is
pronounced [li:f] in the singular, but [li:v] in the plural leaves ; the stem of pat is always
pronounced [ paæt] if it occurs without any suffix, but in many varieties the pronunciation is
[ paæt] if a vowel- initial suffix follows (patting[ paætñ])
2.16 Source of the Research
The source of the data is from magazines as follows:1.Time Magazine entitled “IRAQ”, it
was published in July 30, 2007 2.Time Magazine entitled “BURMESE DAYS”, it was
published in October 22, 2007 3.Time Magazine entitled “AFTER ABE”, it was published in
September 24, 2007
2.17 Instrument of the Research
In this case, the researcher makes instrument of the data become three parts. The
first column is for list of nouns and their maker (prefix and suffix), Second is for list of verbs
and their maker become noun (derivational suffix), for example in word “act”, “actor”,
“acting”, “action”. And the third column is for list of adjective and their maker become noun
(derivational suffix), for example in a word “sad”, “sadness”.
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHOD
3.1 Method
This research uses a qualitative descriptive method, because all of the data that are
analyzed in this research are in the form of words and sentences not numbers, besides this
research is also a descriptive research,. (Wilkinson, David 2000:7)
3.2 Technique of Collecting Data
This data are collected through the following steps1.The researcher collects the data from the
instrument of the research. (See appendix)..2.The researcher reads the article in time
magazine by using scanning technique.3.In instrument the nouns, verbs, and adjective are in
vertical order, while the affixes are in horizontal order.
3.3 Technique of Analyzing Data
The Techniques in analyzing the data are:1.Edit the data, the researcher edits the data if
there are some mistakes in the sentences and the data will be cut.2.Classifying into two main
categories, they are productive and improductive category. 3.For derivational affixes also
divided in two main categories, they are productive and improductive category, and sub
category the researcher only gets derivational suffixes
3.4 Presenting Data
Firstly the data are presented in the instrument of the research to see which are
productive and improductive category and the marker of nouns (see appendix). And then the
data are presented in the chart of bar.
3.5 Interpreting Data
The data in the table instrument of the research are discussed to see what the markers
of the nouns and kinds of affixes transpose other word classes into nouns.
CHAPTER IV
RESULT OF THE STUDY
4.1 Introduction
In this section, the researcher presents the result of the morphological process of the
English Noun word class. The instruments of the research which consist of 50 nouns, 50
verbs, and 50 adjectives have already reflected that there are productive and improductive
categories of affixes. From the chart above, the productive category is inflectional suffix.
They are suffix –‘Z1 ‘plural and –Z2‘possessive’. We can see the most productive is –‘Z2
‘possessive, because it can combine with 50 nouns for forming the noun word class or we can
say this suffix is the marker of noun. The second productive is –Z1 ‘plural’ because it can
only combine with 38 nouns for forming the noun word class
4.1.1 The morphological Process of the English Noun Word Class
4.2 Productive category
4.2.1 The inflectional Suffixes
There are two suffixes, which mark the noun word class of the noun. There are –Z1
‘plural’ and –Z2 ‘possessive’.
4.2.1.1 R–Z1 ‘The plural’
–Z1 is an inflectional suffix that doesn’t change the word class of the noun.
Data
1. Neighbors ‘plural ’is from neighbor ‘singular’.
2. Students ‘plural’ is from student ‘singular’
Data in the form of sentences
1. …” that killing at home make unreliable neighbors and threatens global security…”
(Time October 2007)
The suffix –Z1 ‘plural’ is in opposition with the suffix –Z2 ‘possessive’.
1. “The outcry over jockeys who beat horses as they race them to exhaustion…” (Time
September 2007)
2. “Yesterday morning my uncle gave a horse’s body a pill of vitamin C”.
4.2.1.2. R-Z2 ‘possessive’
-Z2 ‘possessive’ is an inflectional suffix that does no change the word class of the
noun. It is attached directly after the root.
Data
1. City’s security ‘possessive of city’ is from City ‘large important town’.
2. Farmer’s almanac ‘possessive of farmer’ is from Farmer ‘a person who owns or
manages a farm’.
Data in the form of sentences
1.”Every decision you make will affect the environment, the economy, and your city’s
security” (Time September 2007)
2. “The 2008 old farmer’s almanac predict that the coming year will be the warmest in a
century” (Time September 2007)
The suffix –Z2 ‘possessive’ is in opposition with the suffix–Z1 ‘plural’.
1.
“…to explain the fine print of her husband’s energy plan and the details…” (Time
September 2007)
2. “Some husbands are playing chest in front of the house right now”.
4.3 Improductive category
4.3.2.2 R– hood ‘the state or quality of, a group of people of the type mentioned’
– hood is an inflectional suffix that does not change the word class of the noun.
Data
1. Childhood ‘the period of somebody’s life when they are a child ‘is from child’ a young
human being who is not yet an adult‘.
Data in the sentences
1. “…which last month announced compulsory dance classes to curb rising rates of
childhood obesity…” (Times July 2007)
The suffix – hood ‘the state or quality of, a group of people of the type mentioned’ is in
opposition with the suffix -ship ‘showing status’’
1. “I was very happy in my childhood”.
2. “I quickly formed a lasting friendship with Burma” (Times October 2007)
4.3.2.3 R– ist ‘ a person who believes or practices, a member of a profession or business
activity, a person who use a thing’
– ist is an inflectional suffix that does not change the word class of the noun.
Data
1. Buddhist ‘a person who believes or practices in Buddhism’is from Buddhism ‘a devout
Buddhist’
2. Terrorist ‘a person who takes part in tourism’ is from terror ‘a feeling of extreme fear’.
Data in the sentences
1. “For Thailand’s majority Buddhist, sectarian atrocities make Surayud’s peace initiatives
smack of appeasement”. (Time July 2007)
2. “ … the unforgiving public mood by condemning any attempt to shake hands with brutal
terrorist.”
The suffix – ist ‘a person who believes’ is in opposition with the suffix –ism ‘the action or
result’.
1. “Bali and Toba Lake are the places usually full of tourists”.2. “Repairing a Monet in a
particularly outstanding act of art criticisms…” (Times October 2007)
The suffix – let ‘diminutive’ is in opposition with the suffix – ing’ the noun’
1. “The sales promotion girl gave me a booklet yesterday”.
2. “You have to booking that restaurant by telephone”.
4.3.2.5 R– ism ‘the action or result, the state of quality of, the teaching system, unfair
treatment or hatred for the reason method’
– ism is an inflectional suffix that does not change the word class of the noun.
Data
1. Journalism ‘the work of collecting and writing news stories for newspapers, magazines,
radio, or television’ is from Journal ‘a newspaper or magazine that deals with a particular
subject or profession’.
Data in the sentences
1. “We have come to expect journalism to point out the car crashes…” (Times October
2007)
The suffix –ism’ the action or result’ is in opposition with the suffix –ist ‘a person who
believes or practices
1. “My friend’s religion is Buddhism, so he is a vegetarian”.
2. “He is a Buddhist, so he doesn’t eat meat”.
4.3.2.6 R –man ‘the noun’
– man is an inflectional suffix that does not change the word class of the noun.
Data
1. Chairman ‘the person in charge of a meeting, who tells people when they can speak etc’ is
from chair ‘a piece of furniture for one person to sit on. With a back, a seat and four legs.
Data in the sentences
1. “… So the longtime chairman of the board of the American...” (Times October 2007)
2. “Those doormans are standing in the corner of door”.
The suffix –man ‘the noun’ is in opposition with the suffix –or ‘a person who does something
often as a job’
1. “Those doormans are standing in the corner of door”.
4.3.2.7 R– dom ‘the condition or state of, the rank of, the group of ‘
– dom is an inflectional suffix that does not change the word class of the noun.
Data
1. Kingdom ‘a country ruled by a king or queen’ is from king’ the male ruler of an
independent state that has a royal family.
Data in the sentences
1. “ … the kingdom or Sunnis might take the fight into Iran.” (Times July 2007)
2. “The report is critical of attempts by officialdom to deal with the problem of homelessness
The suffix –dom’ the condition or state of, the rank of, the group of’ is in the opposition with
the suffix –ment ‘nominal’
1.” Governments gave poor people money yesterday”
2.”Americans soon had a freedom of movement previously unknown”.
4.3.2.9 R– ology ‘the study of subject’
– ology is an inflectional suffix that does not change the word class of the noun.
Data
1. Scientology ‘a religious system based on getting knowledge of yourself and spiritual’ is
from science ‘knowledge about the structure and behavior of the natural and physical
world based on facts that you can prove for example by experiments’.
with human beings’.
Data in the sentences
1. “His prominent role in the church of scientology, the controversial belief and behavior
system”. (Times July 2007)
2. “When I was in high school, I ever had studied anthropology.”
The suffix –ology’ the study of subject’ is in the opposition with –ist ‘a person who believes
or practices’
1.” Sociology is the study about society and their behavior”.
2. “My father is a sociologist”.
4.4 The transposition of the verb and adjective into noun word class
4.4.1 The transposition of the verb into noun word class
4.4.1.1 Productive category
4.4.1.1.1 R– er’ agent’
– er is a derivational suffixes that transpose the verb into noun word class.
Data
1. Reporter ‘a person who collects and reports news for newspaper, radio or television’ is
from report ‘to give people information about something that you have heard, seen, done’.
Data in the sentences
1. “That has made it something of a holy- grail dateline for reporters covering the military”
(times September 2007)
The suffix –er ’agent’ is in the opposition with –or ‘a person who believes or practices’
1. “My teacher gives us some assignments for holiday”.
2. “One of my students is a famous actor”.
4.4.1.2 Improductive category
4.4.1.2.2 R– ment ‘nominal’
– ment is a derivational suffixes that transpose the verb into noun word class.
Data
1. Agreement ‘an arrangement, a promise or a contract made with somebody ‘is from agree
‘to have the same position as somebody; to say that you have the same opinion’.
2. Government ’ the group of people who are responsible for controlling a country or a state’
is from govern ‘to legally control a country or its people and be responsible for
introducing new laws, organizing public services, etc.’
Data in the sentences
1. “You just have to copy and paste the basic agreements of the Antarctic treaty system”.
(Time October 2007)
The suffix – ment’ nominal’ is in opposition with the suffix – ee’ a person affected by an
action
1.”The employment in Indonesia is very hard”.
2.”The firm has over 500 employees”.
4.4.1.2.6 R – or’ agent’
- or ‘is a derivational suffixes that transpose the verb into noun word class.
Data
1. Director ‘one of a group of senior managers who run a company’ is from direct
‘something to or toward something/somebody to aim something in a particular direction or
at a particular person’.
Data in the sentences
1. “Who produced Gone baby gone and knows from up-and-coming directors”. (Time
October 2008)
The suffix – or ‘agent’ is in opposition with the suffix – ion’ agent’
1. “In 18th century Beijing-cast a spell on collectors today” (Time October 2008)
2. “In the museum of Beijing, there are many collections of Gucci”.
4.4.1.2.9 R– ity’ the quality or state’
- ity ‘is a derivational suffixes that transpose the verb into noun word class.
Data
1. Activity ‘a situational in which something is happening or a lot of thing are being done‘ is
from act ‘to do something for a particular purpose I order to deal with a situation‘.
Data in the sentences
1.” My skill set for this activity was lacking”. (Time July 2007)
2. “The connectivity of this internet uses a wireless.”
The suffix –ity ’ the quality or state’is in the opposition with the suffix – ist ‘a person who
believes or practices’
1.” My skill set for this activity was lacking”. (Time July 2007)
2.” My mother becomes an activist in her organization”.
4.4.2 The transposition of the adjectives into noun word class
4.4.2.1 Productive category
4.4.2.1.1 R- ness ‘the quality, state or character’
- ness ‘is a derivational suffixes that transpose the adjectives into noun word class.
Data
1. Lightness ‘full of light’ is from light ‘having the natural light’.
2. Sickness ‘illness, bad health’ is from sick ‘physically and mentally ill’.
Data in the sentences
1.”yet Gone Baby Gone has a lightness and humor to it”. (Time October 2007)
2.”even after you control for sickness and all sort of things”. (Time October 2007)
The suffix –ness ‘the quality, state or character’ is in the opposition with the suffix –hood ’
1. “Diana left the world an infinitely rewarding message of generosity and
kindness”. (Time September 2007)
2. “Burma’s monkhood and military are roughly the same size…” (Times October
2007
4.4.2.2 Improducive category
4.4.2.2.2 R– ance ‘the action or state of’
- ance ‘is a derivational suffixes that transpose the adjectives into noun word class.
Data
1. Elegance ‘graceful and attractive’ is from elegant
2. Clearance ‘the removal of things that are not wanted’ is from clear ‘easy to understand
and not’.
Data in the sentences
1. “She dresses with casual elegance”.
2. “Some courteous said I didn’t have the proper clearance”
The suffix – ance ‘the action or state of’ is in opposition with the suffix –ant ‘the noun
1. “Tonight she uses an elegance clothe”.
2. “Tonight we will meet my assistant in the office”.
4.4.2.2.3 R– ery ‘being of,
- ery ‘is a derivational suffixes that transpose the adjectives into noun word class.
Data
1. Bravery ‘the state of being brave’ is from brave ‘willing to do things which are difficult,
dangerous or painful, not afraid’.
Data in the sentence
1. “Jane came to the party in all the bravery of her new dress and pink ribbon”
The suffix – ery ‘being of’ is in he opposition with the suffix –ity ‘the quality’
1. “When you want to be a reporter, you must have the bravery”
2.”He got into difficulty while swimming and had to be rescued”.
4.4.2.2.4 R– ism ‘the state principle or the teaching of’
- ism ‘is a derivational suffixes that transpose the adjectives into noun word class.
Data
1. Idealism ‘the belief that a perfect life, life, situation, etc. the word base is ideal ‘most
suitable
Data in the sentences
1.” He was full of youthful idealism”.
2. “My teacher is an idealism person”.
The suffix –ism’ the state principle or the teaching of’ is in the opposition with the suffix –ic
‘the adjective’
1. “My teacher is an idealism person”
2. “She’s still young and idealistic”.