2. 2. Derivational Affixes
e.g. weak (adj.)
weakness (n.)
weaknesses (n. plural)
globe (n.)
global (adj.)
globalize (v.)
globalization (n.)
danger (n.)
dangerous (adj.)
dangerously (adv.)
observe (verb)
observer (n.)
observant (adj.)
English is rich in derivational affixes, that is word stems
are expanded or modified.
3. 2.1 English “strong verbs”
• Strong and weak are common
characteristics of European languages.
• Strong verbs are irregular morphological
forms e.g. speak – spoke - spoken
• Weak verbs are verbs which conforms to a
set of rules e.g. talk- talked
4. The division of verbs makes it difficult
for many Thai students because…
1.) difficult to know from the form of the verb itself
whether it is strong or weak.
2.) Irregular (strong) verbs are commonly found so
they are introduced in fundamental English
classes.
3.) Some derivational patterns that occur in strong
verbs are unproductive. They are phonetically
similar but different derivational forms.
e.g. sing sang sung / ring rang rung but not
fling *flang *flung and never bring *brang *brung
5. • Can you think of any irregular verbs in
English that confuse Thai students?
Ans: bend-bent
spend-spent
lend-lent
Thai students may have over-generalization
for mend - *ment
blend-*blent
“False derivations” of word forms that are
similar to in sound but come from different
stems e.g. found, find, rend, rent
6. Are there any derivational verb
forms in Thai?
NO, that’s why this becomes the area
of difficulty for Thais to learn.
7. 2.2 Changes in part of speech
• English and Thai share similar features in
transforming of adj. into adv. through the
additional of suffix –ly e.g. slow-slowly
quiet-quietly successful-successfully
• The same derivational change in Thai is
done through the prefix
e.g. /goodwell
slowslowly
9. Error analysis
*He spoke very loud.
*He drive careless.
The fact that can be deleted make it
possible that Thais don’t add –ly to the
stems.
11. Restrictions and inconsistencies
1. Adj that never occur as predicate. Adj do not seem to be
able to function as true adv if the –ly suffix is added:
The principal witness was late.
*the witness was principal.
He is principally involved with industry.
*He spoke principally to everyone.
The sole survivor is still sick.
*The survivor is sole.
12. Restrictions and inconsistencies
2. Some words ending with –ly are not adv at all
but adj e.g. manly, friendly, comely, homely,
unlikely…)
3. Irregular forms that neither completely regular or
irregular:
able – ability
ample -*ampility
doctor – doctoral
actor – *actoral
13. Some similarities of derivational
processes in changes in part in speech
• The Thai prefix is roughly equaling to
the gerund form of verbs e.g.
running
speaking
• The Thai prefix is roughly equaling
to the English suffix ‘-ness’ e.g.
goodness
happiness
14. 2.3 Changes in Meaning
• There are words which has the same word
stem but have different meanings:
He is an observer of the games.
A wise coach insists on the observance of training
rules.
The observation of habits of bird has brought to
light some very curious facts.
A healthful diet makes him healthy.
The tasty food was laid out in a tasteful
arrangement.
16. 2.4 Changes in both meaning
and part of speech.
• A happy girl lives happily with her parents
in a peaceful town where peace can be
found everywhere.
• She hopes everything will turn out ok and
hopefully that her mom will understand
what she did.
Again, Thai has no derivational processes
like this, this makes it difficult for Thai to
understand word formation in English.
17. 2.5 Changes in meaning
through prefixes
Prefix = an affix which is placed before the
stem/root to modify or change its
meaning. English prefixes are derived
from Greek and Latin whereas Thai
prefixes are derived from Pali and
Sanskrit.
19. Thai prefixes
• Actually, Thai is an isolation language,
consisting of a single morpheme. But
there are some prefixes which are derived
from Pali and Sanskrit.
สุ (โส สุว เสาว)
สุภาพ โสภาค สุวคนธ์
ทุ (ทร ทุร)
ทุศีล ทรพิษ
ทุรชน
ทุจริต
อุป
อุปราช
อุปนายก อุปาทาน
ปฏิ
ปฎิทิน ปฎิรูป
20. Some difficulty for Thais
• There are some irregularities of
derivational English prefixes that cause
confusion for Thais e.g.
unimportant disconnect
malnutrition
indirect
impolite
misunderstand
21. 2.6 Changes in in gender
(Gender inflection)
• The changing of suffixes to indicate
whether the noun is masculine or
feminine. There are not many of this
process in Thai.
24. There are some words in both Thai and
English that can indicate gender in
themselves by not having gender
inflection.
father
mother
พ่อ
แม่
uncle
aunt
ลุง
ป้า
husband wife
สามี
ภรรยา
boy
girl
เด็กชาย
เด็ก
หญิง
25. Finish vs. Complete
When you marry the right woman, you are
complete and when you marry the wrong
woman you are finished! When your wife
caches you with another woman, you are
completely finished and when your wife
likes shopping so much, you are finished
completely!
