Branches of linguistics. Synchronic vs diachronic approaches to the language study. Lexicology – ‘the science of the word’ Lexicon

Depending on the number of morphemes, words are divided into:

monomorphic are root-words consisting of only one root-morpheme, i.e. simple words, e.g. to grow, a book, white, fast etc.

polymorphic are words consisting of at least one root-morpheme and a number of derivational affixes, i.e. derivatives, compounds, e.g. good-looking, employee, blue-eyed etc.

According to their functions and meaning, affixes fall into:

derivational, e.g. suffixes: abstract-noun-makers (-age, -dom, -ery, -ing, -ism); concrete-noun-makers (-eer, -er, -ess, -let); adverb-makers (-ly, -ward(s), -wise); verb-makers (-ate, -en, -ify, -ize/-ise); adjective-/noun-makers (-ful, -ese, -(i)an, -ist), etc.; they are attached to a derivational base; they are the object of study of derivational morphology which investigates the way in which new items of vocabulary can be built up out of combinations of elements;

functional (inflectional), e.g. -s (plurality; 3rd person singular); ‘s (genitive case); -n’t (contracted negative); -ed (past tense; past participle); -ing (present participle); -er, -est (comparison); they are attached to a morphological stem; they are the object of study of inflectional morphology which deals with the way words vary in their form in order to express a grammatical contrast.