Definition ALLOMORPH

an allomorph is a variant form of a morpheme.
allomorph is a variety of a single morpheme, Just as an allophone is a variation of
a single phoneme

SELECTION OF ALLOMORPHS:

•The past-tense ending, the morpheme {-D pt}. has three phonemic forms.

 

The choice depends on the preceding sound:
1.      After an alveolar stop /t/ or /d/, the allomorph /-ǝd/ takes place as in parted /partǝd/.
2.      After a voiceless consonant other than /t/, the allomorph /-t/takes place as in laughed /lӕft/.
3.      After a voiced consonant other than /d/, the allomorph /-d/ takes place as in begged /bεgd/.

• This pattern of occurrence is called complementary distribution.
• The occurrence of one or another of them depends on its phonological environment.

It must be emphasized that many morphemes in English have only one phonemic form, that is, one allomorph – for example, the morpheme ( boy ) and ( hood ) each has one allomorph - /bɔy/ and /-hUd/ - as in boyhood.
•It is really not the morpheme but the allomorph that is free or bound.
•For example the morpheme {louse} has two allomorphs: the free allomorph /laws/ as in the singular noun louse , and the bound allomorph /lawz-/ as in the adjective lousy.

1.Allomorph ADDITIVE:To show some differences in meaning, something is added to a word. For example, the past tense of the English verb partly formed by adding the suffix -ed which can be pronounced as either / t /, / d / or / -ǝd /:ask + ed = / ӕsk / + / t /, liv (e) + ed = / LIV / + / d /, need + ed = / nid / + / -ǝd /.2. Allomorph REPLACIVE:To indicate some differences in meaning, sound used to replace other sounds in words. For example, / Ι / in drinks replaced with / æ / in the past taking a simple signal. It is represented as follows:/ Drænk / = / drΙnk / + / Ι> æ /.

3. SUPPLETIVE Allomorph:To indicate some differences in a sense, there is a complete change in the form of words.As an example:_ Go + which allomorph suppletive of {-D pt} = left;_ Will + which allomorph 3d suppletive of {S} = is;_ Poor + which allomorph suppletive of {er cp} = bad;_ Good + which allomorph -est suppletive of {sp} = best.
4. THE ZERO Allomorph:No change in shape of the word despite some differences in the sense identified. For example, the past tense of pain is formed by adding a zero allomorph of {-D pt} for this word.

 

Simile Definition

A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance with the help of the words “like” or “as”. Therefore, it is a direct comparison.

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.

Difference Between Simile and Metaphor

As stated above, simile and metaphor are often confused. Though the difference is simple between the definition of simile and that of metaphor, it can be profound. While simile compares two things with the connecting words “like” or “as,” metaphor simply states that one thing is the other. For example, a simile would be, “He was as aggressive as a tiger in that argument,” whereas a metaphor would be, “He was a tiger in that argument.” Metaphors are thus subtler and can be stronger in a rhetorical sense, because they equate the two things in comparison rather than just present them as similar. Similes, however, allow for truly bizarre comparisons that make the reader stretch to understand the connection between them.

you can see example simile and metaphor of the picture : http://mrraddish-lakecable.weebly.com/uploads/2/5/7/5/25759526/790599_orig.jpg

Significance of Simile in Literature

Simile can be an excellent way for an author either to make an unusual thing seem more familiar (i.e., “The planet Zenoth was as cold as ice”) or a familiar thing seem more unique (i.e., “Her smile was jagged like a broken zipper”). In this way, similes can help the reader imagine the fictive world of a piece of literature. Good similes can also make readers think about things in a new way, and can sometimes create a lasting effect. Scottish poet Robert Burns’s declaration that his “luve’s like a red, red rose” forever linked the concepts of love and red roses in our minds.
Simile can also sometimes be used to show a comparison, though with the conclusion that these two things really are unalike or even at odds with each other. This can either be a negative simile, which might come in the form of “A is not like B” (see Example #1 below) or an ironic simile, which communicates the opposite of what is expected at the beginning of the statement. For example, the famous feminist quote popularized by Gloria Steinem, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle,” ultimately concludes that a woman has no need for a man.
Simile can help to make new connections for the reader. One of literature’s purposes is to help better explain the world around us, and the technique of simile is one of those ways in which we are able to see things in a new way. All types of analogies are cognitive processes of transferring meaning from one thing to another, and thus the use of simile in literature has real synaptic effects. For this reason, and for aesthetic purposes, simile has been a popular literary technique for many hundreds of years.


 Examples of Similes
White as a ghost.
Swims like a fish.
Runs like a cheetah.
Slippery as an eel.
A simile can be as descriptive as the writer chooses.

Examples of more descriptive similes:

He was as brave as a lion in a fight.
He was as angry as a bull at a red flag.
He swam like a fish through rough waters.
Similes are used in poetry to create different effects, to create an image of comparison in the reader’s mind of what the writer is describing.

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. In other words, a resemblance of two contradictory or different objects is made based on a single or some common characteristics.

Examples of metaphor include "life is a dream" (describing life in terms of a dream), "the foundation of knowledge" (knowledge in terms of house construction), and "he was scraping the bottom of the barrel" (a lack of talent described in terms of a barren fruit container). A metaphor that is extended throughout a poem or story, and may involve further related comparisons, is an extended metaphor. If we use a metaphor so often that we don't realize it, the phrase may become a "dead" metaphor (e.g. "foot of the hill," "leg of the chair").

Sometimes metaphor is defined in very broad terms, and is used as another term for "figurative language" or "figure of speech". In this sense, "metaphorical language" incorporates all comparative language, including similes and symbols. For your English exams, however, it is safer to use the more formal phrase "figurative language." 

You may have often heard expressions such as:

    He drowned in a sea of grief.
    She is fishing in troubled waters.
    Success is a bastard as it has many fathers, and failure is an orphan, with no takers.

Purpose of Metaphors
Expressions are used to give effect to a statement. Imagine how bland a statement such as “he was sad” is, compared to a statement describing a “sea of grief.” The metaphor is sure to give the reader a better idea of the depths of grief in this situation.

Similarly, who would really spend time thinking of the vast differences between success and failure if the metaphor was missing, and the statement was just “Everyone wants to be successful, no one wants to be a failure?” That statement would be a failure itself, in inspiring interest in the conversation!

Metaphors are meant to create an impact in the minds of readers. The aim of this literary tool is to convey a thought more forcefully than a plain statement would.

They are exaggerated expressions no doubt, but they are exaggerated because they are supposed to paint a vivid picture, or become a profound statement or saying.

Metaphors vs. Similes

Then we have the simile. If your comparison uses the terms 'like' or 'as', your analogy is most likely a simile and not a metaphor, even though they function similarly. Some argue that a simile is a kind of metaphor, but I'll address that in a moment.

For instance, if I want to use an analogy to explain the process of writing a story, I might say that 'The outline is like a rough blueprint for the builders to follow, while the first, second and third drafts are a town built from that blueprint that keeps getting razed by Huns, with architects improving upon each version until they finally build houses strong enough to withstand fire; what you're left with is the final draft.'

Spot all the differences? While not every simile uses 'like' or 'as,' the important thing to remember is that the metaphor makes the subject equivalent to the thing it's being compared to, while the simile qualifies the comparison, letting you know that one thing is simply 'like' another thing - not equal to it.

Bound and free morphemes

Free morphemes:

o   constitute words by themselves – boy, car, desire, gentle, man

o   can stand alone

 Definition

A free morpheme is a morpheme (or word element) that can stand alone as a word. Also called an unbound morpheme or a free-standing morpheme. Contrast with bound morpheme.

Many words in English consist of a single free morpheme. For example, each word in the following sentence is a distinct morpheme: "I need to go now, but you can stay." Put another way, none of the nine words in that sentence can be divided into smaller parts that are also meaningful.
There are two basic kinds of free morphemes: content words and function words.

See Examples and Observations below. Also see:

• Monomorphemic Word
• Morph
• Morphology
• Root
• Stem
   

Examples and Observations

• "A simple word consists of a single morpheme, and so is a free morpheme, a morpheme with the potential for independent occurrence. In The farmer kills the duckling the free morphemes are the, farm, kill and duck. It is important to notice here that (in this sentence) not all of these free morphemes are words in the sense of minimal free forms--farm and duck are cases in point."
  (William McGregor, Linguistics: An Introduction. Continuum, 2009)
   

if you watch the video about topic, you can see http://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/freemorphterm.htm

• Free Morphemes and Bound Morphemes
  "A word like 'house' or 'dog' is called a free morpheme because it can occur in isolation and cannot be divided into smaller meaning units. . . . The word 'quickest' . . . is composed of two morphemes, one bound and one free. The word 'quick' is the free morpheme and carries the basic meaning of the word. The 'est' makes the word a superlative and is a bound morpheme because it cannot stand alone and be meaningful."
  (Donald G. Ellis, From Language to Communication. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1999)
   
• Two Basic Types of Free Morphemes
  "Morphemes can be divided into two general classes. Free morphemes are those which can stand alone as words of a language, whereas bound morphemes must be attached to other morphemes. Most roots in English are free morphemes (for example, dog, syntax, and to), although there are a few cases of roots (like -gruntle as in disgruntle) that must be combined with another bound morpheme in order to surface as an acceptable lexical item. . . .
  
  "Free morphemes can be further subdivided into content words and function words. Content words, as their name suggests, carry most of the content of a sentence. Function words generally perform some kind of grammatical role, carrying little meaning of their own. One circumstance in which the distinction between function words and content words is useful is when one is inclined to keep wordiness to a minimum; for example, when drafting a telegram, where every word costs money. In such a circumstance, one tends to leave out most of the function words (like to, that, and, there, some, and but), concentrating instead on content words to convey the gist of the message."
  (Steven Weisler and Slavoljub P. Milekic, Theory of Language. MIT Press, 1999)

          Bound morphemes:

o   can’t stand alone – always parts of words - occur attached to free morphemes

      

cats:  cat à free morpheme

                  -s à  bound morpheme 

            undesirable: desire à free morpheme

               -un, -able à bound morphemes  

Bound Morpheme (words and word parts)

Definition

A bound morpheme is a morpheme (or word element) that cannot stand alone as a word. Contrast with free morpheme.

In English, bound morphemes include prefixes and suffixes. Attaching a bound morpheme to a free morpheme (for example, adding the prefix re- to the verb start) creates a new word or at least a new form of a word (in this example, restart).

Morphemes are represented in sound and writing by morphs.
There are two main types of bound morphemes: derivational morphemes and inflectional morphemes.

See Examples and Observations below. Also see:

• Affix
• Cranberry Morpheme
• Inflectional Morphology
• Morph
• Morphology
• Stem
   

Examples and Observations

• "There are two basic types of morphemes: unbound and bound. Unbound or free-standing morphemes are individual elements that can stand alone within a sentence, such as <cat>, <laugh>, <look>, and <box>. They are essentially what most of us call words. Bound morphemes are meaning-bearing units of language, such as prefixes and suffixes, that are attached to unbound morphemes. They cannot stand alone.
  
  "Their attachment modifies the unbound morphemes in such things as number or syntactic category. Adding the bound morpheme <s> to the unbound morpheme <cat> changes the noun's number; the addition of the <ed> to <laugh> changes tense. Similarly, the addition of <er> to <run> changes the verb to a noun."
  (Stephen Kucer and Cecilia Silva, Teaching the Dimensions of Literacy. Routledge, 2006)
   

• Inflectional Morphemes and Derivational Morphemes
  "Linguistics recognizes two classes of bound morphemes. The first class is called inflectional morphemes and their influence on a base word is predictable. Inflectional morphemes modify the grammatical class of words by signaling a change in number, person, gender, tense, and so on, but they do not shift the base form into another word class. When 'house' becomes 'houses,' it is still a noun even though you have added the plural morpheme 's.' . . .
  
  "Derivational morphemes constitute the second class of morphemes and they modify a word according to its lexical and grammatical class. They result in more profound changes on base words. The word 'style' is a noun, but if I make it 'stylish,' then it is an adjective. In English, derivational morphemes include suffixes (e.g., 'ish,' 'ous,' 'er,' 'y,' 'ate,' and 'able') and prefixes (e.g., 'un,' 'im,' 're,' and 'ex')."
  (Donald G. Ellis, From Language to Communication. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1999

o   affixes 

o   prefixes – occur before other morphemes

§  unhappy, discontinue, rewrite, bicycle, bipolar

o   suffixes – following other morphemes

§  sleeping, excited, desirable

o   infixes – inserted into other morphemes

§  Bontoc, a language in the Philipines –

            fikas    ‘strong’    fumicas    ‘to be strong’

            kilad    ‘red’         kumilad    ‘to be red’

§  English

                                              full word obscenities into another word –

                                                in+fuggin+credible

                                                also+bloomin+lately

o   circumfixes – attached to another morpheme both initially and finally

§  German

       Past participle of irregular verbs – ge+lieb+t

Roots and affixes

Many roots are free morphemes, e.g., ship- in "shipment", while others are bound. Roots normally carry lexical meaning. Words like chairman that contain two free morphemes (chair and man) are referred to as compound words.
Affixes are always bound in English, although languages such as Arabic have forms which sometimes affix to words and sometimes can stand alone. English language affixes are almost exclusively prefixes or suffixes. E.g., pre- in "prefix" and -ment in "shipment". Affixes may be inflectional, indicating how a certain word relates to other words in a larger phrase, or derivational, changing either the part of speech or the actual meaning of a word.
Cranberry morphemes are a special form of bound morpheme that does not have an independent meaning or grammatical function, only serving to distinguish one word from another, as in cranberry, where the free morpheme berry is preceded by the bound morpheme cran-, which does not have independent meaning.

Roots and Stems

o   morphologically complex words consist of

                                    a root + one or more morpheme(s)

         

o     root

§  a lexical content morpheme that

§  cannot be analyzed into smaller

·        painter , reread, conceive

§  may or may not stand alone as a word

·        read, -ceive

o     stem 

§  a root morpheme + affix

§  may or may not be a word

·        painter à both a words and a stem

·        -ceive+er à only a stem

§  as we add an affix to a stem, a new stem and a new word are formed

root:       believe

stem:      believe + able

word:     un + believe + able

root:       system

stem:      system + atic

stem:      un+ system + atic

stem:      un+ system + atic + al

word:     un+ system + atic + al + ly            

Morphemes and syllables

The terms morpheme and syllable should not be confused:

§ many morphemes are syllabic (i.e., contain at least one vowel) - cat

§ many others are non-syllabic (contain no vowels): -s à 'more than one'