Inflection The existence of a null morpheme in a
word can also be theorized by contrast with other forms of the same word showing alternative morphemes. For example, the singular number of English
nouns is shown by a null morpheme that contrasts with the plural morpheme
-s. •
cat =
cat +
-∅ = ROOT ("cat") + SINGULAR •
cats =
cat +
-s = ROOT ("cat") + PLURAL In addition, there are some cases in English where a null morpheme indicates plurality in nouns that take on irregular plurals. •
sheep =
sheep +
-∅ = ROOT ("sheep") + SINGULAR •
sheep =
sheep +
-∅ = ROOT ("sheep") + PLURAL Also, a null morpheme marks the present tense of English
verbs in all forms but the third person singular: •
(I) run =
run +
-∅ = ROOT ("run") + PRESENT: Non-3rd-SINGULAR •
(He) runs =
run +
-s = ROOT ("run") + PRESENT: 3rd-SINGULAR
Derivation According to some linguists' view, English verbs such as
to clean,
to slow,
to warm are converted from
adjectives by a null morpheme – in contrast to verbs such as
to widen or
to enable which are also converted from adjectives, but using non-null morphemes. Null derivation, also known as
conversion if the
word class changes, is very common in
analytic languages such as English. ==In other languages==