Morphology Quiz: Test Your Linguistic Knowledge

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Heather Baxter, BSc (Elementary Education and Teaching) |
K-12 English Expert
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Heather is an educator, with four years of teaching experience. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Teaching. She is skilled in Teaching English as a Second Language and currently works as an Elementary School Teacher at Pinellas County Schools. She made a career transition one year ago to explore a new path in writing and copy editing. Heather's specialization lies in curriculum development and educational materials, but she maintains versatility to work across various industries. Known for her keen attention to detail and a deep passion for language, she possesses a sharp eye for precision.
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  • 1/20 Questions

    Which choice describes the basic properties of derivational morphemes?

    • Derivational morphemes are affixes that can change the meaning or parts of speech of words.
    • Derivational morphemes are affixes that change numbers or tenses.
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About This Quiz

Welcome to the Morphology Quiz! This quiz is designed to test your understanding of morphology, a fascinating aspect in linguistics that deals with the structure and formation of words. Are you ready to explore the world of prefixes, suffixes, roots, and more? Throughout this quiz, you'll encounter a variety of questions that will challenge your knowledge of how words are formed and modified in the English language.

From identifying the correct prefixes and suffixes to understanding how words change in different contexts, this quiz covers it all. Whether you're a language enthusiast or a student looking to ace your linguistics exam, this morphology quiz with answers is valuable for refining your skills. So, put your morphological knowledge to the test and see how well you can see the intricate world of English word formation.

Morphology Quiz: Test Your Linguistic Knowledge - Quiz

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  • 2. 

    What is the main difference between free and bound morphemes?

    • Free morphemes are dependent and must be attached to another morpheme whereas bound morphemes are independent.

    • Free morphemes belong in the open class and all bound morphemes belong in the closed class.

    • Free morphemes can stand alone, but bound morphemes have to be attached to a base morpheme/root.

    • Both free and bound morphemes are words that have the ability to express meaning on their own.

    Correct Answer
    A. Free morphemes can stand alone, but bound morphemes have to be attached to a base morpheme/root.
    Explanation
    Free morphemes can stand alone and have meaning on their own, while bound morphemes cannot stand alone and must be attached to a base morpheme or root to convey meaning. This is the main difference between free and bound morphemes.

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  • 3. 

    Which choice shows an example of an inflectional morpheme?

    • Replace --> replacement

    • Reform --> reformation

    • Regret --> regrets

    • Realize-->realization

    Correct Answer
    A. Regret --> regrets
    Explanation
    The example "regret --> regrets" shows an inflectional morpheme because the addition of the "-s" at the end of "regret" indicates the plural form of the word. Inflectional morphemes are used to express grammatical relationships, such as tense, number, or possession, without changing the core meaning or part of speech of the word. In this case, the addition of "-s" indicates that the word "regret" is being pluralized, but the meaning and part of speech are not changing.

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  • 4. 

    In the word "books," what does the morpheme "-s" represent?

    • Derivation

    • Inflection

    • Compound

    • Reduplication

    Correct Answer
    A. Inflection
    Explanation
    The morpheme "-s" in "books" is an inflectional morpheme that indicates the plural form of the noun.

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  • 5. 

    What type of morpheme is used to create new words or change the word class?

    • Inflectional

    • Derivational

    • Grammatical

    • Lexical

    Correct Answer
    A. Derivational
    Explanation
    Derivational morphemes create new words or change the word class. For example, adding "-ly" to "quick" changes it from an adjective to an adverb.

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  • 6. 

    What is a morpheme?

    • The smallest unit of a particular language

    • The minimal pair of a chosen phrase

    • The smallest meaningful unit of a word

    • The minimal item of a linguistic unit

    Correct Answer
    A. The smallest meaningful unit of a word
    Explanation
    A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of a word. It is a combination of sounds that has a specific meaning in a language. For example, in the word "cats," there are two morphemes: "cat," which refers to the animal, and "s," which indicates plurality. Each morpheme carries its own meaning and cannot be further divided into smaller meaningful units. Therefore, the correct answer is "The smallest meaningful unit of a word."

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  • 7. 

    Which of the following is an example of an inflectional morpheme in English?

    • Tall --> taller

    • Create --> creator

    • Write --> writer

    • Generate --> generator

    Correct Answer
    A. Tall --> taller
    Explanation
    An inflectional morpheme is a morpheme that does not change the grammatical category or meaning of a word, but rather indicates a grammatical feature such as tense, number, or comparison. In this case, the inflectional morpheme "-er" is added to the adjective "tall" to indicate the comparative form "taller". This does not change the word's meaning or category, but rather indicates a comparison between two things.

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  • 8. 

    How many morphemes does the word "antiestablishment" have?

    • 3

    • 4

    • 5

    • 6

    Correct Answer
    A. 3
    Explanation
    The word "antiestablishment" has three morphemes: "anti," "establish," and "ment." The prefix "anti" means against, "establish" is the root word, and the suffix "ment" is added to form a noun. Each of these morphemes carries its own meaning and contributes to the overall meaning of the word.

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  • 9. 

    What is morphology?

    • The study of the rules governing the sounds that form words

    • The study of the rules governing sentence formation

    • The study of the rules governing word formation

    • The study of the rules governing the relationship between word and social aspects

    Correct Answer
    A. The study of the rules governing word formation
    Explanation
    Morphology is the study of the rules that govern word formation. It focuses on the structure and formation of words, including the analysis of prefixes, suffixes, and other morphemes. This field of linguistics examines how words are created and how they can be modified to convey different meanings. By studying morphology, linguists can better understand the building blocks of language and how words are formed in different languages.

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  • 10. 

    The closed class is the functional category of words that are not derivable.

    • True

    • False

    Correct Answer
    A. True
    Explanation
    The closed class refers to functional categories, such as prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns, that cannot be derived from other words. These categories are considered closed because they have a limited number of members and do not easily admit new words. Therefore, the statement that the closed class is the functional category of words that are not derivable is true.

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  • 11. 

    ______________ is a word formation process in which you put existing words together to create new words.

    • Compounding

    • Conversion

    • Affixation

    • Clipping

    Correct Answer
    A. Compounding
    Explanation
    Compounding is a word formation process where existing words are combined to create new words. This process involves putting together two or more words to form a new word with a different meaning. For example, the words "sun" and "flower" can be compounded to create the word "sunflower." This process is commonly used in English to create new words and expand the vocabulary of the language.

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  • 12. 

    What is the process of creating a word by combining two parts of existing words, such as "brunch" from "breakfast" and "lunch"?

    • Blending

    • Clipping

    • Compounding

    • Affixation

    Correct Answer
    A. Blending
    Explanation
    Blending involves merging parts of two words to form a new one, as seen in "brunch" (breakfast + lunch). It is different from compounding, which combines entire words.

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  • 13. 

    What is the process called when a word is shortened and a new word is formed, like "phone" from "telephone"?

    • Clipping

    • Blending

    • Reduplication

    • Back-formation

    Correct Answer
    A. Clipping
    Explanation
    Clipping involves shortening a longer word without changing its meaning. In this case, "telephone" is shortened to "phone," making it more efficient in casual use.

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  • 14. 

    Which is an example of using affixation to form new words?

    • Disappear

    • Storeroom

    • Blanket (v.) --> blanket (n.) --> blanket (adj.)

    Correct Answer
    A. Disappear
    Explanation
    The word "disappear" is an example of using affixation to form new words. In this case, the prefix "dis-" is added to the base word "appear" to create a new word with a different meaning. The prefix "dis-" indicates negation or reversal, so "disappear" means to cease to be visible or to vanish. This process of adding a prefix to a base word to create a new word is a common way of forming words in the English language.

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  • 15. 

    Derivation rules can be applied only once to a stem to produce new lexical items (e.g. friend --> friendly).

    • True

    • False

    Correct Answer
    A. False
    Explanation
    Derivation rules can be applied multiple times to a stem to produce new lexical items. For example, from the stem "friend," we can apply the derivation rule "-ly" to create the word "friendly," and then apply another derivation rule "-ness" to create the word "friendliness." Therefore, the statement that derivation rules can only be applied once to a stem is false.

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  • 16. 

    Which is not an example of derivational morphemes?

    • Walk --> walked

    • Entertain --> entertainment

    • Move --> remove

    • Paint --> painter

    Correct Answer
    A. Walk --> walked
    Explanation
    The given examples show various derivational morphemes that change the meaning or part of speech of the base word. In the case of "walk --> walked," the suffix "-ed" is added to form the past tense of the verb "walk." The meaning of the word does not change, nor does the part of speech.

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  • 17. 

    In the word "antidisestablishmentarianism," which morpheme indicates negation?

    • Anti-

    • Dis-

    • Establish

    • -ism

    Correct Answer
    A. Anti-
    Explanation
    The morpheme "anti-" means opposition or negation. In "antidisestablishmentarianism," it signifies opposition to a concept.

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  • 18. 

    Which choice shows the correct representation of the hierarchical structure of words?

    Correct Answer
    A.
  • 19. 

    Which is not an example of an "allomorph"?

    • The plural morpheme in English (-s, -es, en)

    • The negative morphemes in English (un-, im-, il-, in-)

    • Some derivational morphemes in English (-ment, ly, -able)

    Correct Answer
    A. Some derivational morphemes in English (-ment, ly, -able)
    Explanation
    Because these derivational morphemes change the part of speech of a word (for example, “-ment” changes word from a verb to a noun) and they all have different meanings, they are not allomorphs. Allomorphs are different representations of the same morpheme that all change the meaning of the word in the same way, such as making the word plural or negative. They do not change the part of speech of a word.

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  • 20. 

    Which of the following is not one of the required word properties?

    • Being used to convey meaning

    • Having a written form

    • Having speech sounds

    • None of the above

    Correct Answer
    A. Having a written form
    Explanation
    The property of "having a written form" is not a required property of a word. Words primarily need to convey meaning and have speech sounds (in spoken languages) to function as words. Many languages and words exist and are fully functional without a formal written system, relying solely on oral tradition and spoken communication. Thus, having a written form is not essential for a word to fulfill its role in language.

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Heather Baxter |BSc (Elementary Education and Teaching) |
K-12 English Expert
Heather is an educator, with four years of teaching experience. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Teaching. She is skilled in Teaching English as a Second Language and currently works as an Elementary School Teacher at Pinellas County Schools. She made a career transition one year ago to explore a new path in writing and copy editing. Heather's specialization lies in curriculum development and educational materials, but she maintains versatility to work across various industries. Known for her keen attention to detail and a deep passion for language, she possesses a sharp eye for precision.

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