Class 4: Morphology Part 2

In this class, we discuss derivational and inflectional morphology, free (or root) and bound morphemes. We posit that morphology, like syntax, is rule-governed and hierarchical (in the same way as labelled-tree diagrams represent clauses, according to generative grammarians. Therefore, in this class, our Traditional Grammar is being informed by notions that come from the Generative Approach to the study of Grammar). We analyze ambiguous realizations and demonstrate how rule-governance and hierarchy are key to our understanding and disambiguation of ambiguous terms. We also claim that words are units of writing - not of Grammar - and suggest that we need to resort to a the notion of constituency (and constituents) if we are to solve the "puzzle". We problematize the notions of "word" and "sentence"; we introduce units such as "phrase" and "clause" and announce that they will be dealt with in future classes.
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