Derivational Morpheme vs. Inflectional Morpheme

Attribute	Derivational Morpheme	Inflectional Morpheme
Function	Changes the meaning or grammatical category of a word	Indicates grammatical information such as tense, number, or case
Position	Can occur at the beginning, middle, or end of a word	Usually occurs at the end of a word
Productivity	Highly productive, creating new words and meanings	Less productive, limited to specific grammatical functions
Examples	-ness, -able, un-	-s (plural), -ed (past tense), -ing (present participle)

Introduction

Derivational morphemes and inflectional morphemes are two types of morphemes in linguistics that play a crucial role in forming words and conveying meaning. While both types of morphemes are essential for understanding the structure of words in a language, they serve different functions and have distinct attributes.

Derivational Morpheme

Derivational morphemes are affixes that are added to a base or root word to create a new word with a different meaning or grammatical category. These morphemes can change the part of speech of a word, such as turning a noun into a verb or an adjective into an adverb. Derivational morphemes often alter the core meaning of a word, creating a new word that is related in some way to the original word.

One key attribute of derivational morphemes is that they are typically productive, meaning that they can be added to a wide range of base words to create new words. For example, the suffix "-er" can be added to verbs like "teach" to create the noun "teacher," or to adjectives like "quick" to form the comparative adjective "quicker." Derivational morphemes are also often used to create words with more specific meanings or nuances.

Another important characteristic of derivational morphemes is that they can change the grammatical category of a word. For example, adding the suffix "-ize" to a noun like "modern" can create the verb "modernize." This ability to change the part of speech of a word is a key feature of derivational morphemes and allows for greater flexibility and creativity in word formation.

Derivational morphemes are also typically more semantically significant than inflectional morphemes, as they often change the core meaning of a word rather than just indicating grammatical relationships. By adding derivational morphemes to base words, speakers can create new words that convey more specific or nuanced meanings, expanding the vocabulary of a language.

In summary, derivational morphemes are affixes that are added to base words to create new words with different meanings or grammatical categories. They are productive, can change the part of speech of a word, and are semantically significant, allowing for the creation of new words with specific meanings.

Inflectional Morpheme

Inflectional morphemes, on the other hand, are affixes that are added to a word to indicate grammatical relationships such as tense, number, person, or case. Unlike derivational morphemes, inflectional morphemes do not change the core meaning of a word or its grammatical category, but rather provide information about its grammatical function within a sentence.

One key attribute of inflectional morphemes is that they are typically non-productive, meaning that they are limited in the number of words to which they can be added. For example, the English plural marker "-s" can only be added to nouns to indicate plurality, and the past tense marker "-ed" can only be added to verbs to indicate past tense.

Another important characteristic of inflectional morphemes is that they are often obligatory in certain grammatical contexts. For example, in English, verbs must be inflected for tense to indicate when an action took place, and nouns must be inflected for number to indicate whether they are singular or plural. Inflectional morphemes play a crucial role in conveying grammatical information in a sentence.

Inflectional morphemes are also typically less semantically significant than derivational morphemes, as they do not change the core meaning of a word but rather provide information about its grammatical function. By adding inflectional morphemes to words, speakers can indicate relationships such as tense, number, or person without altering the fundamental meaning of the word.

In summary, inflectional morphemes are affixes that are added to words to indicate grammatical relationships such as tense, number, person, or case. They are non-productive, obligatory in certain contexts, and less semantically significant than derivational morphemes, providing important grammatical information in a sentence.

Comparison

While derivational morphemes and inflectional morphemes both play important roles in word formation and conveying meaning in a language, they have distinct attributes that set them apart. Derivational morphemes are productive, can change the part of speech of a word, and are semantically significant, creating new words with different meanings. In contrast, inflectional morphemes are non-productive, obligatory in certain contexts, and less semantically significant, providing grammatical information without altering the core meaning of a word.

Both types of morphemes contribute to the richness and complexity of a language, allowing speakers to create new words, convey grammatical relationships, and express nuanced meanings. Understanding the attributes of derivational and inflectional morphemes is essential for comprehending the structure of words and sentences in a language, as well as for analyzing the ways in which meaning is conveyed through morphology.