35. Functions of roots, suffixes, prefixes, inflexions.

Morphemes (minimal units of meaning) are of two basic kinds: roots and affixes. While there is not an absolutely sharp dividing line between them, due to the natural, gradual historical progression from root to affix, there are various properties that typically cluster together, thus allowing us to distinguish the two types. For most morphemes, it is clear which class they belong in.

Properties of roots: main part of word, must be at least one in a word, in English, limited to two in a word (simple words have one, compound words have two); where roots are bound, as in Latin or Greek, more can occur in a word, but the number of roots in a particular word is generally small; can occur independently (free roots)--although bound roots, particularly classical, occur , tend to have richer, more specific semantic content ,position is relatively free with respect to other roots (cf. photograph vs. telephoto)

Properties of affixes: subordinate part of word , not necessarily present--some words occur without any , multiple affixes can occur in a word (e.g. in-divis-abil-ity) , are dependent (bound) elements (where independent form found, generally to some degree dissociated from the bound version) , have more "schematic" (non-specific) content; often grammar-like function , can either precede or follow their roots (prefixes and suffixes,respectively) , position for a given affix with respect to root is fixed

36. The structure of English words and its specific features.

First, the word is a unit of speech which, as such, serves the purposesof human communication. Thus, the word can be defined as a unit of communication. Secondly, the word can be perceived as the total of the sounds which comprise it. Third, the word, viewed structurally, possesses several characteristics. The modern approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between the external and the internal structures of the word. By external structure of the word we mean its morphological structure. For example, in the word post-impressionists the following morphemes can be distinguished: the prefixes post-, im-, the root press, the noun-forming suffixes – ion, -ist, and the grammatical suffix of plurality –s. The external structure of the word, and also typical word-formation patterns, are studied in the framework of word-building. The internal structure of the word, or its meaning, is nowadays commonly referred to as the word‘s semantic structure. This is the word‘s main aspect. The area of lexicology specialising in the semantic studies of the word is called semantics. One of the main structural features of the word that it possesses both external (formal) unity and semantic unity. A further structural feature of the word is its susceptibility to grammatical employment. In speech most words can be used in different grammatical forms in which their interrelations are realized. Thus, the word is a speech unit used for the purposes of human communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterized by formal and semantic unity.