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Inflection and parts of speech (POS) in English

  1. Nouny POS:

    1. Noun: inflecting
      • Case: {genitive, nongenitive}
      • Number: {singular, plural}
      • Gender: {masculine, feminine, neuter}
      • Examples: cat, dog, horse, sheep, oxen, man
      • Tasks:
        - Give the inflectional forms of each example, plus a general rule describing the inflection formation operation
        - For each inflection formation type, make a representing the relation between inflectional categories and forms.
    2. Adjective: non-inflecting
      • Comparative: positive, comparative, superlative
      • Task:
        - What are the arguments for regarding Comparative as an inflectional category, and what are the arguments for regarding it as a derivational category.
    3. Determiner: inflecting
      • Number: {singular, plural}
      • Task:
        - Make a list of all English determiners, their traditional names, and their inflectional forms
    4. Pronoun: inflecting
      • Case: {genitive, nongenitive}
      • Number: {singular, plural}
      • Task:
        - Make a list of all English pronouns, their traditional names, and their inflectional forms.
  2. Verby POS:

    1. Verb: inflecting
      • Person: {first, second, third}
      • Number: {singular, plural}
      • Tense: {present, past}
      • Examples: walk, rush, move, ride, come, go, bring, be
      • Tasks:
        - Give the inflectional forms of each example, plus a general rule describing the inflection formation operation
        - For each inflection formation type, make a representing the relation between inflectional categories and forms.
    2. Adverb: non-inflecting
  3. Small POS:
    1. Preposition: non-inflecting
      Task: How do prepositions relate to inflection, if at all?
    2. Conjunction: non-inflecting
      Task: How do conjunctions relate to inflection, if at all?
    3. Interjection: non-inflecting
      Task: How do interjections relate to inflection, if at all?

As a general point for discussion, list the POS of German and French, and compare their properties with those of English in respect of inflection, congruence, etc.


next up previous contents
Next: Inflectional morphotactics Up: 4 Inflection: forms Previous: Inflection

Dafydd Gibbon
Wed Jun 19 23:14:45 MET DST 1996