The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology

Citation

Booij, G. (2012). The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Chapter Summary

The third edition, in the Oxford Textbooks in Linguistics series, has about 350 pages of main text in twelve chapters grouped into parts: what linguistic morphology is (Chapters 1–2), word formation (3–4), inflection (5–6), interfaces (7–9), morphology and mind (10–11), and a concluding chapter. The back matter has answers to questions, a glossary of terms, references and indexes of languages and terms. The publisher's description says data from more than sixty languages are used, and that exercises with answers and advice for further reading are included. The book was first published in 2005.

Chapter 1: Morphology: basic notions

The opening chapter introduces the basic notions of morphology, the study of the internal structure of words, and the terms on which the rest of the book builds.

Chapter 2: Morphological Analysis

The second chapter turns to method: how to analyse word structure from data. With Chapter 1 it forms the introductory part, which ends around page 50.

Chapters 3–4: Derivation; Compounding

The word-formation part treats the two main ways of making new lexemes: derivation and compounding. The two chapters run from about page 51 to page 98.

Chapters 5–6: Inflection; Inflectional Systems

The inflection part first covers the basics of inflection, the forms a lexeme takes to express grammatical properties, and then looks at inflectional systems as wholes. The publisher's description groups it with word formation as the basic material of the book.

Chapters 7–9: The Interface Between Morphology and Phonology; Morphology and Syntax: demarcation and interaction; Morphology and Semantics

The publisher describes the treatment of interfaces as an important characteristic of the book. These chapters relate morphology to phonology, syntax and semantics, arguing that the formal structure of complex words need not be isomorphic to their phonological or semantic structure. The syntax chapter deals both with where the boundary between morphology and syntax lies and with how the two interact.

Chapters 10–11: Morphology and Psycholinguistics; Morphology and Language Change

The "Morphology and Mind" part uses facts about the processing of complex words as a window on the mind, and approaches change in word structure from the same perspective. The publisher presents these two chapters as a distinguishing feature: an introductory text that explores the role of morphology in language processing and language change.

Chapter 12: The Word as a Linguistic Unit

A summarizing chapter shows how the book has built up a theoretically sophisticated notion of "word", and argues that several distinct notions of "word" must be recognized in linguistic analysis.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–2: What is Linguistic Morphology

• Morphology: the study of the internal structure of words and of the grammatical patterns behind it.
• Lexeme: a word as an abstract unit, distinct from the various forms in which it appears.
• Morphological analysis: the method of identifying the parts of words and the patterns they form from language data.

Chapters 3–6: Word Formation and Inflection

• Derivation: forming new lexemes, typically with affixes.
• Compounding: forming new lexemes by combining existing words.
• Inflection and inflectional systems: the forms a lexeme takes to express grammatical properties, and how those forms are organized in paradigms.

Chapters 7–9: Interfaces

• Non-isomorphism: the formal structure of a complex word need not match its phonological or semantic structure.
• Demarcation of morphology and syntax: the question of which combinations are words and which are phrases.

Chapters 10–12: Morphology and Mind; Conclusions

• Processing of complex words: evidence from how speakers handle complex words, used to learn about the mental lexicon.
• Morphological change: change in word structure over time, approached from the same cognitive perspective.
• Notions of "word": the different senses of "word" that a proper linguistic analysis must distinguish.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Grammar-wide view of morphology. Instead of treating word structure in isolation, the book gives three chapters to the interfaces with phonology, syntax and semantics, which the publisher presents as an important characteristic. Students see morphology as one module of a grammar.
• Processing and change in an introduction. The publisher states that this is the only introductory text to explore morphology in language processing and in language change. The claim is promotional, but the two chapters of the "Morphology and Mind" part do give these topics full chapters.
• Cross-linguistic data with study support. Data from more than sixty languages, a glossary of terms, exercises with answers at the back and further reading make the book usable for self-study. Kanavillil Rajagopalan's review in English Today (2014) calls the third edition revised and updated and greatly enriched with additional features, and notes the book's popularity with its intended readers.
• Reviewed as clear and balanced. Reviews of earlier editions quoted by booksellers describe it as well organized, coherent and clear (Linguist List) and as a well-balanced overview of the major issues that serves both a teaching and a descriptive purpose (Ana Díaz-Negrillo and Salvador Valera Hernández, English Language and Linguistics).

Limitations

• Assumes a first course in linguistics. Rajagopalan notes that the series is aimed at second- and third-year undergraduates and postgraduates who have completed an introductory course in general linguistics. The interface chapters in particular presuppose basic phonology and syntax.
• Date of the edition. The third edition appeared in 2012, so research after that date, notably in psycholinguistics, is not covered.
• A definite theoretical line. The final chapter argues for a specific, theoretically sophisticated view of the word rather than leaving the question open. Readers who want a more neutral survey of competing models should read it alongside another textbook.

Where It Fits in the Course

Among the morphology books in this course, Aronoff and Fudeman's What is Morphology? is the shortest and most hands-on start, built around data problems; Rochelle Lieber's Introducing Morphology is a gentle undergraduate introduction for students with little linguistics. Booij fits after or alongside either of them: it is still an introduction, but it goes further on how morphology interacts with the rest of the grammar and on processing and change.

Haspelmath and Sims's Understanding Morphology is the nearest equivalent, a theory-aware textbook with strong cross-linguistic breadth that contrasts morpheme-based and word-based models; reading the two side by side shows different ways of framing the same questions. Katamba and Stonham's Morphology moves from traditional ideas to current theoretical models and is a good next step for students heading towards theory. Bauer, Lieber and Plag's Oxford Reference Guide to English Morphology is a large descriptive reference to consult on specific English facts, not a book to read through.

How to Use This Book

The book suits second-year undergraduates and beginning postgraduates who have had an introduction to linguistics covering basic phonology and syntax. A practical reading plan:

• Core: Chapters 1–6 in order. Chapters 1–2 give the terminology and method that the rest relies on; Chapters 3–6 cover derivation, compounding and inflection.
• Interfaces: Chapters 7–9 are the book's centre of gravity for a theory-oriented course. Revise basic phonology before Chapter 7 and phrase structure before Chapter 8.
• Optional by interest: Chapter 10 for students interested in psycholinguistics, Chapter 11 for historical linguists. Chapter 12 should be read last by everyone, since it pulls together the book's argument about the notion of word.

Work through the questions at the end of each chapter and only then check the answers at the back. Use the glossary while reading, since many terms are defined there. Keep a notebook of the languages and patterns met in examples; with data from over sixty languages, it helps to build up comparison sets for derivation, compounding and inflection.