CALT Morphology and Etymology 2 — Questions and Answers

Question 1: Which of the following is an example of a derivational morpheme?

The plural -s in cats
The past tense -ed in walked
The suffix -tion turning create into creation (Correct answer)
The article the

Correct answer: The suffix -tion turning create into creation

Derivational morphemes change the grammatical category or meaning of a base word, unlike inflectional morphemes that only modify grammatical features.

Derivational morphemes alter either the grammatical category or the meaning of the base word. The suffix -tion is a derivational morpheme that converts verbs to nouns such as create to creation. This contrasts with inflectional morphemes like -s for plural or -ed for past tense, which only modify grammatical features without changing the word class.

Question 2: The Latin root port as in transport, export, and import means:

To write
To carry (Correct answer)
To see
To speak

Correct answer: To carry

The Latin root port means to carry, linking words like transport meaning carry across, export meaning carry out, and import meaning carry in.

The Latin root port derives from the Latin portare meaning to carry. This root appears in numerous English words: transport meaning carry across, export meaning carry out of a country, import meaning carry into a country, and portable meaning able to be carried. Teaching Latin roots allows students to decode unfamiliar words by identifying familiar morphemes.

Question 3: In morphological analysis, a free morpheme is defined as:

A morpheme that must be attached to another word
A morpheme that can stand alone as a word (Correct answer)
A meaningless syllable added for rhythm
A morpheme borrowed from another language

Correct answer: A morpheme that can stand alone as a word

Free morphemes are complete words that can stand alone and carry meaning independently, unlike bound morphemes that must attach to a base.

Free morphemes are the smallest meaningful units of language that can stand alone as independent words. Examples include run, dog, happy, and blue. In contrast, bound morphemes must be attached to another word and cannot stand alone, such as prefixes like un- and re-, and suffixes like -ing and -tion.

Question 4: Teaching students the Greek root graph meaning write and the prefix bio meaning life allows them to decode biography as:

A book about animals
A written account of someone's life (Correct answer)
A type of biological diagram
A scientific writing method

Correct answer: A written account of someone's life

Breaking biography into bio meaning life plus graph meaning write plus the suffix -y reveals its meaning as a written account of a life.

Morphemic analysis allows students to use known word parts to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. Bio from Greek bios meaning life combined with graph from Greek graphein meaning to write plus the nominalizing suffix -y equals a written account of a life. Teaching students to apply this strategy extends to dozens of related words.

Question 5: Which correctly describes an inflectional morpheme?

It changes the part of speech of the base word
It modifies the grammatical form of a word without changing its core meaning or category (Correct answer)
It adds a negative meaning to the word
It derives new vocabulary items

Correct answer: It modifies the grammatical form of a word without changing its core meaning or category

Inflectional morphemes adjust grammatical features such as tense, number, possession, and comparison without changing the base word's part of speech or fundamental meaning.

Inflectional morphemes are bound morphemes that mark grammatical information without creating a new word or changing the word class. English has eight inflectional morphemes marking plural, possessive, third person singular, past tense, past participle, present participle, comparative, and superlative.

Question 6: The prefix mal- as in malfunction and malnourished comes from Latin and means:

Good
Bad or ill (Correct answer)
Small
Many

Correct answer: Bad or ill

The Latin prefix mal- means bad or ill, contributing a negative sense to words like malfunction and malnourished.

The Latin prefix mal- derives from malus meaning bad or evil. It appears in many English words: malfunction meaning to function badly, malnourished meaning badly nourished, malignant meaning having bad qualities, maltreatment meaning bad treatment, and malpractice meaning bad practice.

CALT Morphology and Etymology 2

Which of the following is an example of a derivational morpheme?