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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, the researcher would like to discuss the theories which support this research. This chapter consists of two parts. The first part is the theoretical
description which explains the relevant theories that support the research. The second part is the theoretical framework which summarizes and synthesizes all major
relevant theories used by the researcher to answer the research questions.
A. Theoretical Description
The study of blends is included in morphology field. According to Baurier 2003, morphology is the study of forms of words and this term is etymologically
from the Greek morphe ‘form’ and –ology ‘study’ p. 335. Lieber 2015 also defines Morphology as the study of word formation which includes the process of new words
formed and the way forms of words are varied depending on how they are used in sentences p. 2.
1. Words
Words are the most familiar of all the units of linguistic analysis. Words play an important and integral role in the human ability to use language creatively.
According to O’Grady and Guzman, the most reliable defining property of words is that they are the smallest free forms found in language 1997, p. 132. A free form is
an element that can occur in isolation andor whose position with respect to
9 neighboring elements is not entirely fixed. Lieber 2015 defines a word as “one or
more morphemes that can stand alone in a language” p. 3. There are two categories of words: simple and complex. Simple words consist of only one morpheme, while
complex words are made up of two or more morphemes.
2. Morphemes
Words are composed of basic units, called morphemes. Morpheme is the most important component of word structure O’Graddy Guzman, 1997. It is the
smallest unit of language that carries information about meaning or function. According to Akmajian, Demers, Farmer and Harnish 2001, “morphemes are the
minimal units of word building in a language; they cannot be broken down any further into recognizable or meaningful parts” p. 17. There are two kinds of
morpheme: free morpheme and bound morpheme. A free morpheme is a morpheme that can stand as an independent word or can be a word by itself. On the other hand, a
bound morpheme cannot be an independent word since it has to be attached to another element. For instance, in the word ‘meaningful’, there are one free morpheme
mean and two bound morphemes –ing and –ful.
3. Word Formation
In Morphology, word formation can be defined as the study of processes on how new words are formed from the existing ones and come into being a language.
According to Yule 2006, there are several kinds of word formation process namely;
10 coinage, borrowing, compounding, blending, clipping, back formation, conversion,
acronyms, derivation and inflection as cited in Tahaineh, 2012.
4. Blends
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