Inflectional and Derivational Morphology Interview MCQs

Inflectional and Derivational Morphology - Definitions

Inflectional morphology and derivational morphology are two fundamental processes through which languages modify and build words. While both involve adding affixes to base forms, they differ fundamentally in their purpose, output, and grammatical function.

Inflectional morphology involves adding affixes to words to express grammatical information without changing the word's basic meaning or part of speech. This process encodes grammatical features necessary for sentence structure and agreement. [For more information, click here]

Example:

NOUN + bound morpheme = plural NOUN

Free morpheme "cat" + bound morpheme "s" gives NOUN "cats"

VERB + bound morpheme = past tense VERB

Free morpheme "walk" + bound morpheme "ed" gives VERB "walked"

Derivational morphology involves adding affixes to create new words or substantially change a word's meaning and part of speech. When a derivational morpheme is applied, the resulting word is considered a new lexeme (dictionary entry) rather than simply another form of the same word. [For more information, click here]

Example:

VERB + bound morpheme = NOUN

VERB "teach" + bound morpheme "er" gives NOUN "teacher"

NOUN + bound morpheme "al" = ADJECTIVE

NOUN "nation" + bound morpheme "al" gives ADJECTIVE "national"


1. Which of the following BEST distinguishes derivational morphology from inflectional morphology?

A. Inflection never changes word class, derivation often does
B. Inflection always creates new dictionary entries
C. Derivation marks tense, number, and case
D. Inflection always affects meaning drastically

Answer: A
Explanation:

Derivational morphemes frequently change the grammatical category (e.g., adjective → noun), whereas inflectional morphemes never change the word class.

2. Which of the following is an example of an inflectional morpheme in English?

A. -ness
B. -er (as in teacher)
C. -est (as in biggest)
D. -ment

Answer: C
Explanation:

The suffix -est is a superlative inflectional ending. The other options are derivational morphemes. On the other hand, the suffixes "-ness", "-er" and "-ment" when attached with a root word (free morpheme) will change the part of speech (POS) of the derived word. Hence, they are derivational morphology endings.

3. In the word “nationalization,” the morpheme “-al” is:

A. Inflectional
B. Derivational
C. A bound root
D. An allomorphic inflection

Answer: B
Explanation:

The morpheme -al converts the noun “nation” into the adjective “national,” which is a derivational change. Hence, morpheme "-al" is a derivational morpheme.

4. Which property is true ONLY for inflectional morphemes in English?

A. They appear closer to the root compared to derivational morphemes
B. They never change the syntactic category
C. They can create entirely new meanings
D. They form new lexemes

Answer: B
Explanation:

Inflection maintains the same syntactic category (part of speech) of a word, while derivation may change it (e.g., verb → noun). Inflectional morphemes do not create new words. They only modify grammatical features

5. Which of the following words contains BOTH derivational and inflectional morphemes?

A. players
B. government
C. beautifully
D. unhappiness

Answer: A
Explanation:

play (root) + er (derivational) + s (inflectional) — players contains both morpheme types.

Can we have both derivational and inflectional morphemes together in a single word?

Yes — a word can contain both inflectional and derivational morphemes together in English language. But they must follow a fixed order.

In English morphology:

Root → Derivational Morpheme(s) → Inflectional Morpheme

Inflectional morphemes always appear at the end and never occur inside derivational ones in English morphology.

Example (highlighted "derivational" and "inflectional" morphologies for easy understanding):

modernized - modern + ize + d → root(adjective) to VERB to VERB past tense

teachers - teach + er + s → root(verb) to NOUN to NOUN plural


6. In the pair “modern → modernize,” the morpheme “-ize” performs which function?

A. Adds tense
B. Converts verb to noun
C. Creates a verb from an adjective
D. Adds plurality

Answer: C
Explanation:

The suffix -ize changes the adjective “modern” into the verb “modernize,” a derivational transformation.

7. Which statement about derivational morphemes is MOST accurate?

A. They always appear outside inflectional morphemes
B. They are obligatory in sentence formation
C. They often contribute to lexical meaning
D. They form closed-class grammatical markers

Answer: C
Explanation:

Derivational morphemes typically add or modify lexical meaning and may create new words.

What is lexical meaning and how do derivational morphemes contribute to lexical meaning?

Lexical meaning is the dictionary meaning of a word — the core concept or content it expresses.

Derivational morphemes create new words (new lexemes) by adding prefixes or suffixes to a base or root. This process changes the lexical meaning because the new word expresses a different concept.

In many ways derivational morphemes affect the lexical meaning as follows;
  • Change the word's meaning - Eg. happy - unhappy, write - rewrite
  • Create a new related concept - Eg. teach - teacher, beauty - beautiful
  • Change the part of speech - Eg. quick (adj) - quickly (adverb)

8. The morpheme “-ed” in "She walked" is classified as:

A. Derivational because it adds new meaning
B. Inflectional marking tense
C. Derivational because it changes category
D. An allomorphic derivation

Answer: B
Explanation:

The suffix -ed indicates past tense, which is an inflectional function.

9. Which example correctly shows only derivational morphology?

A. quick → quicker
B. bright → brightest
C. play → played
D. nation → national

Answer: D
Explanation:

The transformation nation → national is a derivational change (noun → adjective).

Why not other options?

A. Quick → Quicker - The suffix -er in quicker is the comparative inflectional morpheme used for adjectives. “quicker” is still the same adjective quick, just in comparative form.

B. Bright → Brightest - The suffix -est is the superlative inflectional morpheme for adjectives. “bright” and “brightest” are the same word in different grammatical forms and both are adjectives.

C. Play → Played - Play and played are verbs.


10. Which statement is TRUE about the ordering of morphemes in English?

A. Inflectional morphemes occur before derivational ones
B. Derivational morphemes occur before inflectional ones
C. Both can appear in any order
D. Ordering depends only on phonology

Answer: B
Explanation:

In English morphology, derivational morphemes attach to the root first, followed by inflectional endings (e.g., teach → teacher → teachers).