Morphology is the study of words and the ways that words can be formed from smaller units of meaning. In the text analytics industry, Morphology is used to identify the root form of a word, which can help understand the meaning of a word, and also in identifying different forms of a word (inflections). For example, the word “walk” is the root form of the word, and the word “walks” is an inflection of the root.
Morphology can also be used to identify compound words, which are two or more words that are joined together to form a new word. For example, the word “firefighter” is a compound word formed from the words “fire” and “fighter”.
Aside from its usage in Text Analytics Industry, Morphology can also be used in natural language processing (NLP), wherein, Morphology is used to understand the meaning of words, and to generate new words.
Types of Morphology
There are three main types of Morphology:
1. Inflectional Morphology: This is the process of adding inflections to words, such as “-ed” (walk/walks) or “-s” (dog/dogs).
2. Derivational Morphology: This is the process of creating new words from existing words, usually by adding a prefix or suffix ( such as “un-” or “-ness”). For example, the word “happy” can be derived from the word “hap” by adding the suffix “-y”.
3. Compounding: This is the process of combining two or more existing words to create a new word. As mentioned above, the word “firefighter” is an example of a compound word.
Morphology vs. Other Similar Terms
Morphology is related to syntax and semantics, but it is not the same as either one. Morphology is concerned with the structure of words, and how words can be formed from smaller units of meaning. Syntax is concerned with the rules that govern how words are combined to form phrases and sentences. Secondly, Semantics is concerned with the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences. Lastly, Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language.