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.We can find simile examples in our
daily speech. We often hear comments
like “John is as slow as a snail.” Snails are notorious for their slow
pace and here the slowness of John is compared to that of a snail. The
use of “as” in the example helps to draw the resemblance. Some more
examples of common similes are given below.
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.
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.
In simple English, when you portray a person, place, thing, or an action as being something else, even though it is not actually
that “something else,” you are speaking metaphorically. “He is the
black sheep of the family” is a metaphor because he is not a sheep and
is not even black. However, we can use this comparison to describe an
association of a black sheep with that person. A black sheep is an
unusual animal and typically stays away from the herd, and the person
you are describing shares similar characteristics.
Furthermore, a metaphor develops a comparison which is different from a simile
i.e. we do not use “like” or “as” to develop a comparison in a
metaphor. It actually makes an implicit or hidden comparison and not an
explicit one.
Common Speech Examples of Metaphors
Most of us think of a metaphor as a device used in songs or poems only, and that it has nothing to do with our everyday life. In fact, all of us in our routine life speak, write and think in metaphors. We cannot avoid them. Metaphors are sometimes constructed through our common language. They are called conventional metaphors. Calling a person a “night owl” or an “early bird” or saying “life is a journey” are common conventional metaphor examples commonly heard and understood by most of us. Below are some more conventional metaphors we often hear in our daily life:- My brother was boiling mad. (This implies he was too angry.)
- The assignment was a breeze. (This implies that the assignment was not difficult.)
- 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.)
- Her voice is music to his ears. (This implies that her voice makes him feel happy)
Functions
From the above arguments, explanations and examples, we can easily infer the function of metaphors; both in our daily lives and in a piece of literature. Using appropriate metaphors appeals directly to the senses of listeners or readers, sharpening their imaginations to comprehend what is being communicated to them. Moreover, it gives a life-like quality to our conversations and to the characters of the fiction or poetry. Metaphors are also ways of thinking, offering the listeners and the readers fresh ways of examining ideas and viewing the world.Affixes
One
of the main keys of becoming proficient of English spellings is
mastering the method of word formation. Morphologically intricate words
create a large quantity of words in the English language. The majority
of the words is composed of more than one morpheme and is formed by
joining a stem morpheme. Let’s consider the example ‘dark’ with an affix (–ness) it becomes darkness.
The study of purposeful parts of a word is known as morphology.
The study looks towards affixation as a way of word formation; in order
to see the meanings of letters added at the beginning or end of words,
and to look within the changes words meet with when affixes are joined
to them. Affixes play an indispensable role in linguistic efficiency in
most of the languages, as most affixes occur in various situations (e.g.
darkness, kindness, brightness, oneness) and combines with original
stems to express new views and ideas (e.g. aerobicize which means ‘to
perform aerobics’). Affixes modify the meaning and linguistic class of their stems in multiple ways.
An
affix is a morpheme that is attached before, after or within to a word
stem to form a new word. Affix is a grammatical part that is combined
with a word, stem, or phrase to create copied and modified forms. Most
English words are made up of the base word known as root which
contains the heart of the meaning of the word. The affix added at the
beginning of the root is known as prefix while that at the end of a word
is suffix. The process of attaching these affixes is referred to as affixation.
The root is the key to building new words. For example, advantage, forgive, measure are the core words or roots in disadvantageous, unforgivable and immeasurable.
| Prefix | Root Word | Suffix | New Word |
Im-
Dis-
Un-
Un-
|
measure advantage forgive help |
able ous able ful |
immeasurable disadvantageous unforgivable unhelpful |
Affixes are divided into several categories prefixes, infixes, circumfix and suffixes. Prefix and suffix are extremely common terms which occur at the beginning and at the end of a word stem. Infix and circumfix are less so, an infix occurs in the middle, they are not important in European languages.
Most Common Prefixes. The four most common prefixes are: dis-, in-, re-, and un-.
Examples of Prefix:
- Substandard
- pre-cooked
- sub-mit
- pre-determine
- un-willing
Most Common Suffixes. The four most common suffixes are: -ed, -ing, -ly, and -es.
Examples of Suffix:
Examples of Suffix:
- Hopefully
- happiness
- wonder-ful
- depend-ent
- act-ion
Affixes are divided into many categories,
depending on the position, while Prefix and suffix are extremely common
terms. The other terms are uncommon. Such as:
- Prefix - occurs at the beginning of a root. Ex: Unhappy
- Suffix - occurs at the end of a root. Ex: Happiness
- Infix - occurs inside a root
- Circumfix - occurs in two parts on both outer edges of a root.
- Simulfix - replaces one or more phonemes in the root. Ex: Man + plural = Men, Tooth becomes Teeth, Eat becomes Ate.
- Suprafix - Overlap on one or more syllables in the root as a supra-segmental. Ex: stress in the words produce, noun and pro'duce, verb.
Here are some examples of affixes:
incapable - The affix is the prefix in-
ex-President - The affix is the prefix ex-
laughing - The affix is the suffix ing-
incapable - The affix is the prefix in-
ex-President - The affix is the prefix ex-
laughing - The affix is the suffix ing-
| Affix | Phonetic Pronunciation | Affix | Phonetic Pronunciation |
| a | afraid | ive | captive |
| able | drinkable | less | restless |
| age | package | ly | friendly |
| al | animal | ment | shipment |
| be | behold | mid | midterm |
| bi | bicycle | ness | goodness |
| com | commit | ous | monstrous |
| con | confess | out | outlast |
| de | deport | post | postseason |
| dis | dismiss | pre | pretend |
| er | hotter | pro | provide |
| est | saddest | re | resell |
| ex | expand | semi | semicircle |
| ful | helpful | ship | friendship |
| im | imperfect | teen | fifteen |
| in | inside | un | unhappy |
| ing | dusting | uni | uniform |
| ion | action | ward | seaward |
| ish | punish | y | muddy |
ALLOMORPHS: VARIATIONS OF MORPHEMES
DEFINITION:
An allomorph is ‘any of the different forms of a morpheme’. (Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 9)
EXAMPLE: long, length
MORPHEME FREE ALLOMORPH BOUND ALLOMORP {long} /lɔŋ/ /lεŋ-/
NOTE: a morpheme may have more than one phonemic form.
pt}
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/.
•The occurrence of one or another of them depends on its phonological environment.
•This pattern of occurrence is called complementary distribution.
NOTE: These three phonemic forms of {-Dpt} are not interchangeable. They are positional variants. They are allomorphs belong to the same morpheme.
•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. ADDITIVE ALLOMORPHS:
To signify some difference in meaning, something is added to a word. For example, the past tense form of most English verbs is 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. REPLACIVE ALLOMORPHS:
To signify some difference in meaning, a sound is used to replace another sound in a word. For example, the /Ι/ in drink is replaced by the /æ/ in drank to signal the simple past. This is symbolized as follows:
/drænk/ = /drΙnk/ + / Ι > æ /.
3. SUPPLETIVE ALLOMORPHS:
To signify some difference in meaning, there is a complete change in the shape of a word.
For example:
_ go + the suppletive allomorph of {–D pt} = went;
_ be + the suppletive allomorph of {–S 3d} = is;
_ bad + the suppletive allomorph of {–ER cp} = worse;
_ good + the suppletive allomorph of {–EST sp} = best.
4. THE ZERO ALLOMORPH:
There is no change in the shape of a word though some difference in meaning is identified. For example, the past tense form of hurt is formed by adding the zero allomorph of {–D pt} to this word.
In morpheme-based morphology, the term null allomorph or zero allomorph is sometimes used to refer to some kind of null morpheme for which there are also contexts in which the underlying morpheme is manifested in the surface structure. It is therefore also an allomorph. The phenomenon itself is known as null allomorphy, morphological blocking or total morpheme blocking.[1]
Source:
Stageberg, Norman C. and Dallin D. Oaks (2000). An Introductory English Grammar , Heinle, Boston:USA.
The smallest recognized unit of grammar and
syntax, morphemes function as the foundation of language. Explore this
foundation through a full definition, discussion of types, and examples.
Then, test your knowledge with a quiz.
Definition of Morphemes
As scientists have studied the composition of the universe, they've determined that the smallest unit for measuring an element is the atom. If you think of the periodic table of elements, atoms are what comprise elements, such as hydrogen, carbon, silver, gold, calcium, and so on. Scientists utilize this classification system for uniformity, so that they're on the same page in the terminology of their studies.Similarly, linguists, or those who study language, have devised a category for the smallest unit of grammar: morphemes. Morphemes function as the foundation of language and syntax. Syntax is the arrangement of words and sentences to create meaning. We shouldn't confuse morphemes as only a given word, number of syllables, or only as a prefix or suffix. The term morpheme can apply to a variety of different situations. Let's take a look!
Types of Morphemes
In linguistics, we would further classify morphemes as either as phonemes (the smallest units of grammar recognizable by sound) or graphemes (the smallest units of written language). For our purposes, we will focus on graphemes.Let's examine the word nonperishable, analyze it, and then discuss terms associated with it.
Nonperishable is comprised of three morphemes: non-, perish, and -able. It actually has five syllables though, which is a good example of why morphemes and syllables are not synonymous.
- non- is an example of a prefix, or a morpheme that precedes a base morpheme
- perish is an example of a base morpheme, as it gives the word its essential meaning
- -able is an example of a suffix, or a morpheme that follows a base morpheme
We can also take a look at this chart to see some examples of how morphemes work:
 |
A Morpheme as a Word
When we can take a morpheme independently and use it as a stand-alone word in a sentence, it is known as a base. As the chart indicated, these can be nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, or determiners. We also classify a morpheme that can function as a stand-alone word as free.In the sentence:
The bird-like man hardly touched his food at dinner.
There are a total of twelve morphemes, and ten of the twelve are free:
- the (article)
- bird (noun)
- like (adjective)
- man (noun)
- hard (adjective)
- touch (verb)
- his (determiner)
- food (noun)
- at (preposition)
- dinner (noun)
A Morpheme as an Affix
An affix is a bound morpheme, which means that it is exclusively attached to a free morpheme for meaning. Prefixes and suffixes are the most common examples.- Common prefixes are : re-, sub-, trans-, in-, en-, ad-, dis-, con-, com-
- Common suffixes are: -s, -es, -able, -ance, -ity, -less, -ly, -tion
Inflectional morphemes can only be a suffix, and they transform the function of a word, such as adding an -ly suffix to the base noun of friend.This becomes the word friendly, which has two morphemes. The -ly is an inflectional morpheme because it changes the noun into an adjective.
Derivational morphemes can be either a suffix or a prefix, and they have the ability to transform either the function or the meaning of a word. An example would be adding the suffix -less to the noun meaning. The suffix then makes the word the opposite of itself, thus drastically changing meaning.
| Examples (English) | |
| |
| Classification | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Morphemes may be classified, on the basis of word formation, characteristics into the following types: | |||||||||||||||||||||
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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.We can find simile examples in our daily speech. We often hear comments
like “John is as slow as a snail.” Snails are notorious for their slow
pace and here the slowness of John is compared to that of a snail. The
use of “as” in the example helps to draw the resemblance. Some more
examples of common similes are given below.
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.
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.
In simple English, when you portray a person, place, thing, or an action as being something else, even though it is not actually
that “something else,” you are speaking metaphorically. “He is the
black sheep of the family” is a metaphor because he is not a sheep and
is not even black. However, we can use this comparison to describe an
association of a black sheep with that person. A black sheep is an
unusual animal and typically stays away from the herd, and the person
you are describing shares similar characteristics.
Furthermore, a metaphor develops a comparison which is different from a simile
i.e. we do not use “like” or “as” to develop a comparison in a
metaphor. It actually makes an implicit or hidden comparison and not an
explicit one.
Common Speech Examples of Metaphors
Most of us think of a metaphor as a device used in songs or poems only, and that it has nothing to do with our everyday life. In fact, all of us in our routine life speak, write and think in metaphors. We cannot avoid them. Metaphors are sometimes constructed through our common language. They are called conventional metaphors. Calling a person a “night owl” or an “early bird” or saying “life is a journey” are common conventional metaphor examples commonly heard and understood by most of us. Below are some more conventional metaphors we often hear in our daily life:- My brother was boiling mad. (This implies he was too angry.)
- The assignment was a breeze. (This implies that the assignment was not difficult.)
- 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.)
- Her voice is music to his ears. (This implies that her voice makes him feel happy)
