Structural Types of English Words

There are four structural types of words in English.

3.1. Simple (root) words consist of a root, which is a stem at the same time:

to do, desk, lamp, to try.

We should draw attention to the fact that the difference between the root and the stem is not just structural. The root is understood as a stable part of the word, the stem is understood as the part of the word to which word-building elements are added to build this or that word. i.e. it is understood as the working mechanism of production of new words. There can he formal, structural coincidence of the root and the stem, but mostly they do not coincide.

3.2. Derived words consist of a stem and one or more affixes:

active = act (stem) +-ive (suffix), activity = activ (stem) + -ity (suffix).

3.3. Compound words include two or more stems in their structure:

blackboard = black (stem) + board (stem),

penny-in-the-slot = penny (stem) + in (stem) + the (stem) + slot (stem).

3.4. Compound-derived words consist of two or more stems and one or more affixes:

light-minded = light (stem) + mind (stem) + ed (suffix).

Sometimes the coincidence of the structural type of the word and the structural type of the stem can be noticed but it does not often happen:

to act – simple (root) word / simple (root) stem,

but: active – derived word / simple (root) stem,

activity –derived word / derived stem.

Adding an affix to the root changes the structural type of the word:

beauty –simple (root),

beautiful (suffix)-derived,

but: pen –simple,

pens(inflexion) –simple.

By adding an affix, a new word is built, the structure of which can be different, but in adding an inflexion, just the grammatical form of the same word itself is changed.

Lecture 3.Word-building. Conversion.

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