Republic of the Philippines

UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PHILIPPINES

University Town, Catarman, Northern Samar
Web: [Link] Email: uepnsofficial@[Link]
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Morphology and Standard

Orthography of MT
Reporters # 9:

Submitted to:
Prof. Gina D. Galvez
 I. INTRODUCTION

Morphology and Standard Orthography of Mother Tongue

The concept of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) has

gained significant traction in recent years, recognizing the profound impact of a child’s
first language on their cognitive development, language acquisition, and overall
educational success. This approach, rooted in the understanding that a child’s mother
tongue serves as a powerful foundation for learning, emphasizes the use of the child’s
native language as the primary medium of instruction in early education. However,
effectively implementing MTB-MLE necessitates a deep understanding of the intricate
structure and writing system of the mother tongue, delving beyond the surface level of
spoken communication. This is where the concepts of morphology and standard
orthography come into play, offering a framework for unlocking the complexities of
language and fostering a deeper understanding of its nuances.

Morphology, the study of word structure and formation, delves into the smallest
meaningful units of language, known as morphemes. These morphemes, the building
blocks of words, can be either free (able to stand alone as words) or bound (requiring
attachment to other morphemes to form meaningful words). Understanding the
morphological structure of a language allows educators to break down complex words
into their constituent morphemes, facilitating comprehension and vocabulary acquisition.
It also enables learners to identify patterns of word formation, predicting the meaning of
unfamiliar words and expanding their linguistic repertoire.

Standard orthography, on the other hand, refers to the established system of

writing and representing the sounds, words, and grammar of a language in a consistent
and recognized manner. This encompasses rules for spelling, punctation, capitalization,
and word breaks, ensuring clear communication and promoting literacy. Standard
orthography provides a framework for introducing written language in a systematic and
consistent manner, laying the foundation for reading and writing skills. It also fosters a
shared understanding of the written form of the language, promoting communication
and collaboration among learners and educators.

This exploration of morphology and standard orthography within the context of

MTB-MLE aims to highlight their crucial role in fostering language proficiency and
literacy development. By understanding the intricate interplay between these concepts,
educators can effectively equip learners with the tools necessary to navigate the
complexities of their mother tongue, unlocking a word of knowledge and enriching their
educational journey.

II. Content of the Topic

AUGUST SCHLEICHER
 August Schleicher was born on February 19, 1821 in Meiningen, in the Duchy of
Saxe-Meiningen. He was a German linguist and the first to use the term
morphology in linguistics in 1859. The term “morphology” is a Greek word and
is makeup of “morph” meaning “shape or form”, and “ology” which means ‘the
study of something’.
MORPHOLOGY
Morphology is the study of forms. It is the branch of linguistics (and one of the
major components of grammar) that studies word structures, especially in terms of
morphemes. Morphology is the study and description of word formation (as inflection,
derivation, and compounding) in language. Also, morphology is the study of word
formation, of the structure of words. Morphology as a sub-discipline of linguistics was
named for the first time in 1859 by the German linguist August Schleicher who used the
term for the study of the form of words.
Types of Morphology
1. Affixes: involves adding prefixes, suffixes, or infixes to a base word to create
new words or to change their grammatical function or meaning.
What are the types of affixations?
 Prefixes- are one-to three- syllable affixes added to the beginning of a base
word to slightly change its meaning. For example, adding the prefix im – to
the base word possibly creates a new word, impossible, which means ‘not
possible’.

 Suffixes- is a letter or group of letters, for example ‘-ly’ or ‘-ness’, which is

added to the end of a word in order to form a different word, often of a
different word class. For example, the suffix ‘-ly’ is added to quick’ to form
“quickly”.

 Circumfixes- is an affix which has two parts, one placed at the start of a word,
and the other at the end. For example, the prefix ‘un’ and the suffix ‘able’ which is
added to a word “accept” it can create “unacceptable”.
 2. Compounding: This involves combining two or more words to create a new
word with a new or distinct meaning.
Examples:
 “sun” + “flower” = sunflower
 “black” + “board” = blackboard
 “high” + “way” = highway

3. Internal Vowel Change: Also known as vowel alternation or vowel shift, refers to
the alternation of a vowel sound within a word while retaining its roots or core
meaning.
Example:
 “sing” vs. “sang”
 “foot” vs. “feet”
 “good” vs. “better”

4. Reduplication: In this case a morpheme or is copied or reduplicated and

attached to a root or stem. Complete reduplication results from copying the entire
word, while partial reduplication copies any number of phonemes or syllables.
Example:
 Hagikhik – giggle
 Ala ala – memory

5. Zero – change: This occurs when a grammatical distinction is marked without

any change in the form of the word. This is less common but can be seen in
some languages.
Example: fish and sheep

Skills in Morphology?
1. Helps students read and spell.
2. Contribute to student performance on reading and spelling task.

MORPHEMES
Morpheme – is the smallest meaningful unit of grammar with meaning and cannot be
broken down into smaller units. Because morphemes make up all words in the English
language, learning morphemes unlocks the structure and meaning within words.
 Are important for phonics in both reading and spelling as well as in vocabulary
and comprehension.
Example: The word trainings have 3 morphemes
(train-ing-s)
THREE BASIC CRITERIA:
1. It is a word or a part of a word that has meaning.
2. It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful segments without changing its
meaning or leaving a meaningless remainder.
3. It has restively the same stable meaning in different verbal environments.
TWO TYPES OF MORPHEMES
1. FREE MORPHEMES
 A type of morpheme that can stand alone as own word and carry meaning
independently.
Examples: dog, house, run, happy, boy

2 CATEGORIES OF FREE MORPHEMES

1. Lexical Morphemes
These are the core units of meaning in a language. They carry the main,
concrete meaning of a word. Lexical Morphemes provide the “stuff” of language –
the nouns, verbs, and adjectives that make up the core meaning.
Examples:
 Nouns: cat, table, dog, person
 Verbs: walk, eat, sleep, think
 Adjectives: big, small, red, happy

2. Functional Morphemes
These morphemes provide grammatical information and help connect words and
phrases. They don’t carry a concrete meaning on their own but rather show
relationships between words or modify their function in a sentence. Functional
Morphemes provide the “glue” that holds those words together and shows how
they relate to each other in a sentence.
Examples:
 Preposition: on, in, at, to
 Conjunctions: and, but, or, because
 Pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

2. BOUND MORPHEMES
Morphemes that have no meaning on their own but they can create new words
with new meaning by being added to the free morphemes.
These are affixes that must be attached to the word.
AFFIXES:
A. PREFIX – unclean
B. INFIX – nowadays
C. SUFFIX – adjustment
2 CATEGORIES OF BOUND MORPHEME
1. Inflectional Morphemes
These morphemes change the grammatical function of a word, but they don’t
alter the core meaning. They indicate things like tense, number, or degree of
comparison.
Examples:
 -s (plural): cat s, table s
 -ed (past tense): walk ed, eat ed
 -ing (present participle): walk ing, eat ing
 -er (comparative): big er, small er
 -est (superlative): big est, small est

2. Derivational Morphemes
These morphemes create new words or change the part of speech of a word.
They often change the meaning of the base word.
Examples:
 -ness (noun): happy ness
 -ly (adverb): quick ly
 -er (noun): teach er
 Un- (prefix): unhappy, unbreakable
 Re- (prefix): rewrite, reread
ORTHOGRAPHY
The prefix Ortho means "proper" or "correct" while graph means "writing". So,
Orthography means "correct writing". It is the norms of spelling, hyphenation,
capitalization, and word breaks, emphasis with punctuation. It is an art of studying
correct spelling of words according to its usage.
Refers to the established system of writing and representing sounds, words and
grammar of a particular language in a consistent and recognized manner. It is also
start in creating upon which are writing language is built in the study of letters on
how they are used to express sounds and form words.
Examples:
• Rose not Rows
•House not Howse
•Sapalok not Sampaloc
3 FILIPINO WRITING SYSTEM
[Link] or Alibata
- which is the earliest form of writing and the pre-colonial writing script in the
country. The ancient people in the country use the baybayin during the 16th and 17th
centuries.
2. Abakada or the Pilipinong Alphabeto
- Use from the 1930s until 1976 when the country was introduce and adapted the
latin alphabet. This writing system was influenced by the former American colonists
from there English Alphabet. It has 20 letters, including ng, in the letters c, f, j, q, v, x,
and z are excluded.
3. Modern Filipino Alphabet
- Is the same as Abakada, but the letters c, f, j, n, q, v, x, and z are added.
ALPHABETIC- the major type of orthography. • In which the visual symbols
represent individual sound in a spoking language (called phonemes) is not syllables
or words.
• This concept should seel familiar: you're reading an alphabetic language write now.
GREEK AND LATIN
- Are considered true alphabets because they explicitly include symbols for vowel
and consonant sound.
 What does Orthology mean in English?
•The art of writing word with the proper letters according to standard usage the rules
of English Orthography.
• The presentation of the sounds of a language by written or symbols.
• A part of language study deals with letters and spelling. A student of Orthography
is likely to be a good speller.
What is the skills of Orthography?
• It refers to the ability to identify pattern of specific letters as words.
Why is Orthography important in Language Development?
- Orthography is important to society because a uniform spelling system that
disregards individuals and dialect difference in pronunciation facilities the use of the
written language.

III. Conclusion / Analysis

The mother tongue, the language a person learns first, plays a crucial role in
shaping their identity, cognitive abilities, and cultural understanding. Within this linguistic
foundation, morphology and standard orthography hold significant importance.
Morphology, the study of word formation, provides the building blocks of
language. It allows speakers to create new words by combining existing units like
prefixes, suffixes, and roots. This process is crucial for understanding the meaning and
nuances of words, facilitating communication and enriching vocabulary. For example,
understanding the morphological structure of the word “unbreakable” helps us deduce
its meaning by analyzing the prefix “un-“, the root “break”, and the suffix “able”. This
knowledge not only aids comprehension but also enables efficient and precise
expression.
Standard orthography, the consistent system of writing a language, ensures clear
and effective communication. It establishes a standardized set of rules for spelling,
punctuation, and capitalization, allowing readers to interpret written language accurately
and efficiently. A well-defined orthography prevents ambiguity and fosters consistent
understanding across diverse speakers and writers. This consistency is vital for
education, literature, and overall societal communication.
The importance of morphology and standard orthography extends beyond mere
technical aspects. They contribute significantly to the preservation and transmission of
cultural heritage. By understanding the morphological structure of words, speakers gain
insights into the historical evolution of their language and the cultural influences that
shaped it. Standard orthography ensures that written works, including literature,
historical documents, and cultural artifacts, are accessible and interpretable across
generations.
Morphology and standard orthography are fundamental aspects of the mother
tongue, contributing to its overall richness and functionality. They are not merely
technical aspects but play a vital role in shaping cognitive abilities, fostering cultural
understanding, and enabling effective communication. The importance of these
elements lies in their ability to enhance language acquisition, preserve cultural heritage,
and facilitate seamless communication within a society.

IV. Recommendations
To effectively incorporate morphology and standard orthography into MTB-MLE
programs, the following recommendations are crucial:
> Teacher training: Educators must be equipped with a through understanding
of the morphology and orthography of the mother tongue. This can be achieved through
specialized training programs, workshops, and ongoing professional development.
> Curriculum development: Curricula should explicitly address morphology and
orthography, incorporating activities that foster understanding and application of these
concepts.
> Resource development: A wide range of resources, including textbooks,
workbooks, and digital materials, should be available to support learners and educators
in mastering the mother tongue’s morphology and orthography.
> Community involvement: Engaging with local communities can provide
valuable insights into the language’s nuances and variations, ensuring that materials
and teaching practices are culturally relevant and sensitive.
By embracing these recommendations, MTB-MLE programs can effectively leverage
the power of morphology and standard orthography to promote language proficiency,
literacy development, and cultural preservation among learners.

V. References
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