Morphology for Middle School Students
In this 4-session course on the science of human language, students learn how languages construct words out of the smallest units of meaning: morphemes. Topics include word-formation, morphological processes, typology, hierarchy, and more.
Serena W, PhD
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(18)
What's included
4 live meetings
3 hrs 40 mins in-class hoursHomework
1 hour per week. Break down 5-10 new words into their morphemes. Find examples of compounding and derivation in your own language or another language you know. Classify a set of languages or sentences by their morphological types.Progress Report
Using homework to assess and report progressClass Experience
US Grade 6 - 9
Linguistics is the science of human language, including what the more than 7,000 languages on Earth have in common and what distinguishes one language or variety from another. Studying linguistics allows us to understand the cognitive possibilities for how the brain structures language. Morphology is part of our mental grammar-- the part that deals with word types, word formation, how words are formed out of morphemes, the smallest units of meaning in human language. It looks at the internal structure of words, how they can be marked for grammatical features such as number or verb tense, and the rule-governed nature of the systematic combination of morphemes. This course is a great way to practice analytical skills, learn a topic usually only available to students at the college level, and is fantastic preparation for studying foreign languages, gaining insight into the nature of your own language, and indispensable for the rewarding hobby of creating constructed languages (con-lang) for world-building. We will see examples from over 10 different languages during the class.
Learning Goals
Students will explore the idea that words have their own internal structureStudents will learn the representation of different morphemes and morphological processes in the mind
Syllabus
4 Lessons
over 2 WeeksLesson 1:
What is linguistics, and where does morphology fit?
Understanding morphemes: the smallest units of meaning.
Free morphemes vs. bound morphemes.
Examples from English and other languages.
Word structure basics: roots and affixes including prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and circumfixes. 55 mins online live lesson
Lesson 2:
How do languages create new words?
Inflectional morphology: changing grammatical forms (e.g., tense, number) and derivational morphology: creating new words (e.g., "teach" → "teacher"). We will also look at compounding: combining words to form new ones (e.g., "snowman"), reduplication, blending, and other creative processes. 55 mins online live lesson
Lesson 3:
How do languages organize their word structures?
Analytic vs. synthetic languages; Agglutinative, fusional, and polysynthetic morphology; Hierarchical structure of words: morpheme trees and how parts combine systematically. 55 mins online live lesson
Lesson 4:
How can you apply morphology?
Using morphology to study foreign languages: spotting patterns in new languages; Morphology and constructed languages (con-langs): how to create your own systems; Morphology in everyday life: how it connects to spelling, grammar, and creativity. 55 mins online live lesson
Other Details
Parental Guidance
There is no sensitive content in this course.
We will be using an online keyboard https://ipa.typeit.org/full/ to type international phonetic alphabetic characters-- no account is required.
We will also be visiting the World Atlas of Language Structures at https://wals.info/ and no account is required.
Finally, I may refer to the IPA charts located at https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/IPA_chart_orig/pdfs/IPA_Kiel_2020_full.pdf and https://www.ipachart.com/ during the course.
Language of Instruction
English
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Sources
World Atlas of Language Structures https://wals.info/
Type IPA Phonetic Symbols https://ipa.typeit.org/full/
IPA Chart https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/IPA_chart_orig/pdfs/IPA_Kiel_2020_full.pdf
Interactive IPA Chart https://www.ipachart.com/
Joined March, 2020
5.0
18reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
I have been teaching on Outschool since 2020 and have 25 years experience teaching from K-12 to the college level. I have a doctorate in Linguistics, and a degree in education. I have homeschooled all subjects K-4th grades, and particularly enjoy adapting college-level content to younger students.Reviews
Live Group Course
$100
weekly or $200 for 4 classes2x per week, 2 weeks
55 min
Live video meetings
Ages: 11-13
3-12 learners per class
Financial Assistance
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