Chapter 4: Words and Sentences
● When we set out to learn a new language, we begin with some words and simple
sentences
● How does anyone learn the complexities of a new language?
○ Classroom lessons give you lots of information in a short time and it is difficult
to remember when you need it
○ It is more useful to group words by likeness and difference and to take them
apart
● Linguistic anthropology can help you learn to analyze words, phrases, and sentences
Morphology
● Morphology: the analysis of words and how they are structures
● Most people think of words as the fundamental units of language but they are not the
smallest units of meaning
● Morpheme: The smallest unit of meaning in a language
● A word can include one or more morphemes
● Finding the morphemes of a language will take your understanding further than
memorizing lists of words
● Dictionary writers assume you already know something about the language
○ It would be inefficient to list every word in all its forms
○ It will give you basic information and assume you know what to do with it
● Thinking in terms of words rather than morphemes slows language learners down
● Examples: The English word HELPER is made of HELP + ER
○ The dictionary is more likely to define the word HELP than HELPERS,
HELPING, HELPED, HELPFUL, etc
○ If you know that a HELPER is a person who helps, you might guess that a
FARMER is a person who farms
○ FISHER might not be the word for a person who fishes, but we we would still
understand that was the intended meaning
Morphological Analysis
● Identifying morphemes and analyzing the way they are arranged in words
● Similar to a phonological analysis
● Identifying morphemes is fairly straightforward
Identifying Morphemes
● Finding the minimal units of meaning by comparing words and short phrases
● Look for similarities and differences of forms of meaning
● Example:
Farm Farmer Farmers
Walk Walker Walkers
Work Worker Workers
○ Farm, walk, and work are all morphemes describing actions
○ ER is a morpheme meaning “A person who ___”
● When we set out to learn a new language, we begin with some words and simple
sentences
● How does anyone learn the complexities of a new language?
○ Classroom lessons give you lots of information in a short time and it is difficult
to remember when you need it
○ It is more useful to group words by likeness and difference and to take them
apart
● Linguistic anthropology can help you learn to analyze words, phrases, and sentences
Morphology
● Morphology: the analysis of words and how they are structures
● Most people think of words as the fundamental units of language but they are not the
smallest units of meaning
● Morpheme: The smallest unit of meaning in a language
● A word can include one or more morphemes
● Finding the morphemes of a language will take your understanding further than
memorizing lists of words
● Dictionary writers assume you already know something about the language
○ It would be inefficient to list every word in all its forms
○ It will give you basic information and assume you know what to do with it
● Thinking in terms of words rather than morphemes slows language learners down
● Examples: The English word HELPER is made of HELP + ER
○ The dictionary is more likely to define the word HELP than HELPERS,
HELPING, HELPED, HELPFUL, etc
○ If you know that a HELPER is a person who helps, you might guess that a
FARMER is a person who farms
○ FISHER might not be the word for a person who fishes, but we we would still
understand that was the intended meaning
Morphological Analysis
● Identifying morphemes and analyzing the way they are arranged in words
● Similar to a phonological analysis
● Identifying morphemes is fairly straightforward
Identifying Morphemes
● Finding the minimal units of meaning by comparing words and short phrases
● Look for similarities and differences of forms of meaning
● Example:
Farm Farmer Farmers
Walk Walker Walkers
Work Worker Workers
○ Farm, walk, and work are all morphemes describing actions
○ ER is a morpheme meaning “A person who ___”
