Metaphor

Metaphor Definition

Metaphor is a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated but share some common characteristics.

Common Speech Examples of Metaphors

·  It is going to be clear skies from now on. (This implies that clear skies are not a threat and life is going to be without hardships)

·  The skies of his future began to darken. (Darkness is a threat; therefore, this implies that the coming times are going to be hard for him.)

Literary Metaphor Examples

Metaphors are used in all type of literature but not often to the degree they are used in poetry because poems are meant to communicate complex images and feelings to the readers and metaphors often state the comparisons most emotively. Here are some examples of metaphor from famous poems.
“Shall I Compare Thee to a summer’s Day”,
William Shakespeare was the best exponent of the use of metaphors. His poetical works and dramas all make wide-ranging use of metaphors.
“Sonnet 18,”also known as “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day,” is an extended metaphor between the love of the speaker and the fairness of the summer season. He writes that “thy eternal summer,” here taken to mean the love of the subject, “shall not fade.”
references

http://literarydevices.net/metaphor/

simile

simile (/ˈsɪməli/) is a figure of speech that directly compares two things. Although similes and metaphors are similar, similes explicitly use connecting words (such as like, as, so, than, or various verbs such as resemble),^[1] though these specific words are not always necessary.

Common Examples of Simile

• Our soldiers are as brave as lions.
• Her cheeks are red like a rose.
• He is as funny as a monkey.
• The water well was as dry as a bone.
• He is as cunning as a fox.

Function of Simile

From the above discussion, we can infer the function of similes both in our everyday life as well as in literature. Using similes attracts the attention and appeals directly to the senses of listeners or readers encouraging their imagination to comprehend what is being communicated. In addition, it inspires life-like quality in our daily talks and in the characters of fiction or poetry. Simile allows readers to relate the feelings of a writer or a poet to their personal experiences. Therefore, the use of similes makes it easier for the readers to understand the subject matter of a literary text, which may have been otherwise too demanding to be comprehended. Like metaphors, similes also offer variety in our ways of thinking and offers new perspectives of viewing the world.

references

http://literarydevices.net/simile/

Allomorph and Zero Allomorph

Allomorph and Zero Allomorph

Allomorphs is variant of a morpheme. Such variance occurs due to the phonological conditioning of the surrounding sound. For example the “(s)” morpheme in English which indicates plurality or third person singular present tense has three allomorphs:

Cat(s) / kaets/              Pig(s) / pigz/                Horse(s) / ho:sez/

Thus, orthographically the same “s” manifestation hold, but phonologically, there variants, /s/ /z/ and /ez/ making up the three allomorph of the morpheme (s).

Another example is the past tense morpheme “(ed)”, with the three allomorph /t/ /d/ and /ed/

   

1.            After an alveolar stop /d/, the allomorph /-ǝd/

Parted /partǝd/.

2      After a voiceless consonant other than /t/, the allomorph /-t/

        Laughed /lӕft/.

        Possed    /paest/.

                 

3      After a voiced consonant other than /d/, the allomorph /-d/

        Begged /bεgd/.

        Seemed /simd/

 NOTE: These three phonemic forms of “{ed}” are not interchangeable. They are positional variants. They are allomorphs belong to the same morpheme.

Zero Allomorph is the term given ti the unit involved whem a morpheme change status from one type of morpheme to another without any addition or subtraction of any of its parts. Zero allamorph is spoken of, therefore, in a situation where there is no overt change in the item. It is indicated by the sign { Ø }

For example:

1.      Masculine + {ess}’ = feminime

Prince + ess = princess

Baron + ess = baroness

2.      Masculine + lexical change’ = feminime

Drake + lexical change = duck

Rooster + lexical change = hen

3.      Masculine + { Ø }= feminime

Doctor + { Ø } = Doctor

Zebra + { Ø } = zebra

Referencse 

a linguistic primer for malaysian

Free Morphemes and Bound Morphemes

Definition:

Free Morphemes is morphemes that can stand alone to function as words.

Examples:

Simple words: the, run, on, well

Compound words: keyboard, greenhouse, bloodshed, smartphone

There are two main types of free morphemes:

• Lexical morphemes

Lexical morphemes are words such as ordinary nouns, adjectives and verbs which carry the ‘content’ of the message we convey.

Examples:

car, red, high, chase, copy, swallow

• Functional morphemes

Functional morphemes are functional words such as conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns.

Examples:

and, but, when, because, of, the, between.

Bound Morphemes is Morphemes that can only be attached to another part of a word (cannot stand alone).

Examples:

pre-, dis-, in-, un-, -ful, -able, -ment, -ly, -ise

pretest, discontent, intolerable, receive

There are two main types bound morphemes:

• Derivational morphemes

Derivational morphemes are morphemes that change the meaning or word class of a word.

Examples:

Negative: deactiviate, disconnect, inability, impossible, misunderstanding, unclassified

Size /degree: enlarge, underachieving, overestimated

Space /time: prerequisite, postgraduate, reuse

Change to adjective: manageable, faithful, anonymous

Change to noun: enjoyment, eagerness

Change to verb: privatise

Change to adverb: absolutely

• Inflectional morphemes

Inflectional morphemes are morphemes that indicate grammatical changes. All inflectional morphemes are suffixes.

Examples:

Attached to verb: reads, reading, ended, taken

Attached to noun: Peter‘s, dogs

Attached to adjective: taller, tallest