Difference between inflectional and derivative morpheme

One of the most difficult grammar topics for students is knowing the difference between inflectional and derivative morpheme. It is really simpler than it seems to distinguish them, but it is necessary first to know what they are and what characterizes them, that is why today's lesson from a PROFESSOR goes fully into it. Pay close attention because we are going to see what they are and what their differences are.

An inflectional morpheme is a non-dependent morpheme, that is, it is added to the end of a word to provide grammatical information in the form of an ending. That said, it should be clear that we find two types of inflectional morphemes, the nominal and the verbal. Let's see what they consist of:

Nominal inflectional morpheme

Includes the gender and number morpheme:

• Nominal inflectional morpheme of gender: dog / bitch
• Nominal inflectional morpheme of number: dog / dogs

Verbal inflection morpheme

Provides information about the verb:

• We marched / marched / marched ...

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For his part, derivative morpheme is added to a root or lexeme to include changes in meaning. That is, they end up constituting words with new meanings. The derivative morpheme cannot constitute words by itself, so it needs the addition of elements, which usually affect its grammar.

Thus, also in this case we find different types of derivative morphemes:

• Derivative morpheme prefix, which is the one that goes before the root or lexeme: counter-time.
• Derivative interfix morpheme, which is located in the middle: café-t-eria.
• Derivative suffix morpheme: goes to the end of the lexeme or root: play-era.

In this video by a TEACHER you will find a lesson on the derivative morpheme types.

The inflectional morpheme is regular

One way to distinguish an inflectional morpheme is related to its regularity. That is, it is easy to imagine its meaning. So they become predictable. A to usually means female gender, a or is for the male gender, a s means plural, etc.

On the other hand, the derivative morpheme is much less predictable. As we have seen in the example, counter-time is a problem, but password is a key.

The inflectional morpheme is richer

It can also be said that the inflectional morpheme is very rich. That is, there are a number of words in Spanish with different genders, or with plural. As we saw in the example, we can say dog, bitch, dogs, bitches... Thus, with many more, especially names. Cat, cat, cats, cats ...

On the other hand, the derivative morpheme is much more restricted. In other words, and returning to the example, against cannot be added to a large number of words: setback, password, time trial... There are more, but not many more.

The inflectional morpheme expresses meaning

Normally, many derivative morphemes can be expressed with various expressions. For example, a password can be a secret number. But with the inflectional morpheme the same does not happen. Its meaning does not admit detours.

The inflectional morpheme does not vary the grammar

A never inflectional morpheme the grammar varies of a word. However, it is something that can happen with the derivative morpheme. Going back to our example, against is a preposition, but setback becomes a noun.

From a PROFESSOR we hope that the difference between inflectional and derivative morpheme has been much clearer for you. With a little care, and if we look closely, we see that it is not complex to know which is one and which is the other. Good luck guys!