Cooking Python in Emacs

Lesson Num.9 stems and derivatives

Warming up - Tongue Twisters (15 minutes)

The tongue twisters below are tailored to practice /æ/, /ŋ/, /ɹ/, /ð/, and /θ/ sounds, fostering improved pronunciation and fluency.

  1. "Dan can fan a tan man with a pan."
  2. "Jack stacked black cans in a rack."
  3. "The magpie sat on a cracked cap."
  4. "The cat in the hat sat on a flat mat."
  5. "Anna's apples and Amanda's apricots attracted ants."
  6. "The king's ring is ringing in the spring."
  7. "Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye."
  8. "The young linguist clings to his strong wings."
  9. "Long strings of strong springs swing."
  10. "The king's song clung to the rung of the ladder."
  11. "Rowdy roosters were running around the ranch."
  12. "Roger ran around the rugged rock."
  13. "Red roses wrapped around the rusty rail."
  14. "Ryan's rabbit races rapidly around the ring."
  15. "Rachel's rare red roses are really remarkable."
  16. "This is the thatch that the rat thought thick."
  17. "The other brother smothers with love."
  18. "Those thieving thieves thought they were sly."
  19. "They thought they would rather gather feathers."
  20. "Neither of the brothers bothered to mother the other."
  21. "Thirty-three thirsty thieves thought they thrilled the throne."
  22. "Theo thought of three thick things."
  23. "Thin threads on the thick thatched roof."
  24. "The thin cloth is the thickest thing there."
  25. "Thirty-three thousand feathers fluttered."

LoopBack (20 minutes)

What is your favourite English proverb or saying?

What is the recent English word you're stumble upon?

What is your day routine as an English learner?

How you're struggle with distractions?

The Fable

Paddy the Irishman bought a donkey from a farmer for £100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.

The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry Paddy, but I have some bad news. The donkey's died.'

Paddy the Irishman bought a donkey from a farmer for £100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.

The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry Paddy, but I have some bad news. The donkey's died.'

Paddy replied, 'Well then just give me my money back.'

The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I've already spent it.'

Paddy said, 'OK, then, just bring me the dead donkey.'

The farmer asked, 'What are you going to do with him?'

Paddy said, 'I'm going to raffle him off.'

The farmer said, 'You can't raffle a dead donkey!'

Paddy said, 'Sure I can. Watch me.. I just won't tell anybody he's dead.'

A month later, the farmer met up with Paddy and asked, 'What happened with that dead donkey?'

Paddy said, 'I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at £2 each and made a profit of £898'

The farmer said, 'Didn't anyone complain?'

Paddy said, 'Just the guy who won. So I gave him his £2 back.'

Morphology in Linguistics

Glossary

Morphology is the study of the internal structure of words and the rules for word formation, including the study of morphemes, which are the smallest units of meaning or grammatical function.

A morpheme is the smallest unit in a language that carries meaning or grammatical function.

The Role

Studying morphology is crucial because it:

  1. Enhances Vocabulary: Understanding roots, prefixes, and suffixes helps learners decipher meanings of unfamiliar words.
  2. Improves Grammar: Knowledge of morphological rules assists in using correct verb tenses, plural forms, and other grammatical constructs.
  3. Aids in Spelling: Recognizing morphemes can provide clues for spelling difficult words.
  4. Facilitates Language Acquisition: Helps in understanding word derivations and building a rich vocabulary.
  5. Supports Reading Comprehension: Allows learners to break down complex words into understandable parts, improving comprehension.
  6. Bridges Language Connections: Facilitates the learning of other languages by recognizing universal morphological patterns.

Types of Morphemes in English

  1. Free Morpheme: A morpheme that can stand alone as a word without needing additional morphemes (e.g., "book", "run").
  2. Bound Morpheme: A morpheme that cannot stand alone and must be attached to a free morpheme (e.g., "-s", "-ed", "un-").
  3. Root Morpheme: The core part of a word that carries the primary meaning (e.g., "tract" in "retract").
  4. Affix: A bound morpheme added to a root. There are subcategories:
    • Prefix: An affix placed before the root (e.g., "un-" in "unhappy").
    • Suffix: An affix placed after the root (e.g., "-ment" in "agreement").
    • Infix: An affix inserted within a word, not commonly used in English.
  5. Inflectional Morpheme: A bound morpheme that modifies a word's tense, number, aspect, mood, or gender without changing its class or meaning (e.g., "-s" for plurals, "-ed" for past tense).
  6. Derivational Morpheme: A bound morpheme that changes the meaning or part of speech of a word (e.g., "happy" to "happiness" with the addition of "-ness").

Suffixes, prefixes and endings

Definitions

Suffix: A type of affix attached to the end of a root or base word that alters its meaning or grammatical function (e.g., "-ness" in "kindness").

Prefix: A type of affix added to the beginning of a root or base word that modifies its meaning (e.g., "un-" in "unhappy").

Ending: Though sometimes used interchangeably with "suffix," in morphological context, it often refers specifically to inflectional morphemes that indicate grammatical distinctions such as tense, mood, number, or case (e.g., "-ed" in "walked" for past tense).

Common English Suffixes and Their Meanings

-s / -es

Indicates plural form of nouns or third person singular present tense of verbs (e.g., "cats", "runs").

-ed

Forms the past tense or past participle of regular verbs (e.g., "walked").

-ing

Denotes the present participle or gerund form of verbs (e.g., "running").

-ly

Converts adjectives into adverbs, indicating manner (e.g., "quickly").

-er / -or

Used to form nouns indicating a person who performs an action (e.g., "teacher", "actor").

-ion / -tion / -ation / -ition

Forms nouns indicating an action or process (e.g., "completion").

-able / -ible

Denotes capability or worthiness (e.g., "readable", "audible").

-al

Forms adjectives meaning "relating to" (e.g., "natural").

-ment

Creates nouns referring to an action or resulting state (e.g., "achievement").

-ous

Forms adjectives meaning "possessing the quality of" (e.g., "joyous").

Common English Prefixes and Their Meanings

un-

Indicates negation or opposite (e.g., "unhappy" = not happy).

re-

Signifies repetition or backward motion (e.g., "rewrite" = write again).

in- / im- / il- / ir-

Denotes negation or lack (e.g., "inactive" = not active, "impossible" = not possible).

dis-

Implies negation or reversal (e.g., "disagree" = not agree).

en- / em-

Means to cause to be or to put into (e.g., "enable" = cause to be able).

non-

Indicates negation or absence (e.g., "nonexistent" = not existing).

over-

Signifies excess or superiority (e.g., "overcook" = cook too much).

mis-

Refers to incorrectness or wrong action (e.g., "misunderstand" = understand wrongly).

sub-

Denotes below or under (e.g., "submarine" = under the sea).

pre-

Indicates before in time or order (e.g., "preview" = view beforehand).

inter-

Means between or among (e.g., "international" = between nations).

fore-

Signifies before in time (e.g., "forecast" = predict beforehand).

de-

Implies removal, reversal, or reduction (e.g., "defrost" = remove frost).

Conclusion

Studying the morphology of English significantly enhances language proficiency. It deepens understanding by revealing the structure and formation of words, allowing learners to expand their vocabulary and improve spelling intuitively. Grasping morphological rules aids in mastering grammar, facilitating more accurate and versatile language use. This knowledge also bolsters reading comprehension and assists in interpreting new words through context and component analysis.

Moreover, it equips learners with skills transferable to other languages, empowering them to recognize and apply linguistic patterns universally. Ultimately, studying English morphology fosters more effective communication and a richer, more nuanced mastery of the language.