is in life, makes everything feel a lot easier. And it’s not any different for language -

能讓每件事變得簡單許多。而語言也是如此—

all the pieces that make up our words have their own work and their own places, and they're only

所有組合成單字的成分都具有自己的作用和位置，

really happy when they’re filling those positions they were

它們必須處於適當的位置上，才會真心感到快樂。

born to hold. So let’s take a look at what those jobs are! I’m Moti Lieberman, and

那我們就來看看這些成分的工作是什麼！我是Moti Lieberman，

this is the Ling Space.

歡迎收看「語空間」。（主題17：尋找意義）

So today we’re going talking about different kinds of morphemes. Morphemes are

今天要介紹的是幾種不同的詞素。詞素是

the smallest pairings between sound and meaning, what you get when you can’t cut away any

「語音和語意的結合體」的最小單位，也就是在不改變語意的條件下，

more sound without changing what the meaning is.

不能用更少的聲音來表示該語意了。

We made a video about that already, so if you click here, you can go give yourself a

我們已經做了一段關於詞素的影片，有需要的話可以點這裡

refresher if you need one. Last time, we talked about what a morpheme is, and what it means

了解更多。上次我們談到了詞素是什麼，

for them to be free or bound.

以及詞素為何分為自由詞素和附著詞素。

But whether a given meaning bit can stand on its own, or whether it has to attach to

但是一個語意單位能否獨立存在、或是否需要附加在其他東西上，

something else, is far from the only thing you need to know to ID a morpheme. Another

遠比辨別出一個詞素還要複雜。

big thing is what kind of meaning those sounds attach to.

更重要的是那些聲音附加在什麼樣的意義上。

Let’s say you have some big, strong meanings: nouns like detective or dog, verbs like arrest or snoop,

有些詞素的意義是重要而完整的，像是名詞（警探、狗）、動詞（逮捕、窺探）、

adjectives like clever or short. All of these have meanings that are associated

形容詞（聰穎、短），這些詞素的語意都對應到

to real characteristics out there in the world.

世上存在的真實特性。

They tell you what things you’re talking about, what those things are like, and what

這種詞讓你知道你在談論什麼事物、那些事物的性質、以及它們的行為。

they’re doing. All that together is the heart of what you’re communicating - without

這些共同組成了溝通的核心，

those parts of speech, we’d be just flailing about talking about emptiness. We call these

說話若是少了這些部分，就會不知所云而且空洞。我們將這幾種

kinds of super contentful bits root morphemes.

內涵極為豐富的語言單位稱為「詞根」。

If you’re thinking about English, you probably feel like these root morphemes are always

以英文來說，你大概會覺得詞根在任何情況

able to stand on their own. After all, when you think of things like camera or corrupt,

都一定可以獨立存在。畢竟，想到相機或貪污時，

you know you can always get them out of your head and into the real world

你知道一定可以把它們從腦中的想法變成真實存在的事物，

without having to attach anything to them.

即使不附加任何東西到這些詞上。

And it’s true, pretty much all the roots in English are free, but it’s not quite

確實是，英文裡真的有很多詞根可以自由使用，但並不是全部都可以。

all of them. Think about something like the huckle in huckleberry.

想一下越橘莓這個詞中的huckle，

It’s definitely telling you what kind of berry it is, but it’s not like you can

huckle的確指出了它是哪一種莓果，但你卻不能

use it on its own, like, “My favorite kind of berry is huckle.”

單獨使用它，像是說「我最喜歡的莓果是huckle」。

Or you can inflate or deflate a tire, but good luck flating anything. In some other

又或者你可以把輪胎充氣或漏氣，但。而有些語言的

languages, roots always need to be bound to something.

詞根必須和其他東西組合在一起。

Sometimes, that’s because the language calls for all of the morphemes, roots and not roots,

有時是因為該語言的所有詞素（詞根和非詞根）

to be bound up together into one big word, like in Yupik or Chukchi.

都需要經過組合才能形成有意義的單字，像是Yupik語和楚科奇語。

So to say in Chukchi that you have a terrible headache, you’d use this whole sentence-y

也就是說楚科奇語令人很頭痛，單字長得就像句子一樣：

word: t-ə-meyŋ-ə-levt-pəɣt-ə-ɹkən. But in many other languages, even if you don’t

t-ə-meyŋ-ə-levt-pəɣt-ə-ɹkən。但有很多其他的語言，即使不需要

bundle everything together, you still need to attach your root to something in order to get it pronounced.

把東西都綁在一起，還是需要把詞根附加在某個東西上才能發音。

Take a look at Japanese and its needy verbs. Verbs in Japanese are too shy to escape from

來看看日語裡黏人的動詞吧！日語裡的動詞非常害羞，

your mouth without bringing some friends along. Look at the verb for “take”, as in take a picture.

如果沒有朋友陪同就不敢從你的嘴巴跑出來。像是日語裡照相的「照」，

The root is [toɾ], but good luck finding that out in the world.

它的詞根是[toɾ]，

No, you get 撮る [toɾɯ] for take in the present tense, [toɾanai] for “don’t

[toɾɯ]是「照」的現在式，[toɾanai] 是「不要照」，

take,” and [toɾe] for the command form, “take!” There’s always something attached

而 [toɾe] 是命令語氣的「照！」。詞根的後面永遠都會加上東西，

on the end; it’s never left all lonely by itself. Or take Arabic. In Arabic, the verb

都不會孤零零地被使用。或者以阿拉伯語為例，阿拉伯語裡的

roots are usually just a combination of consonants.

動詞的詞根常常只是子音的組合。

So the root for enlighten, for example, is just [nwr]. That’s not something you can

例如和enlighten同義的詞根就只是[nwr]，這並不是個容易

really pronounce easily. If you want to pronounce it, you have stick other vowels and consonants

實際發出的音。如果想順利發音，必須再把其他母音和子音按照特定規律加在

in and around it in templates, which is how you conjugate in Arabic.

[nwr]的中間或前後， 也就是阿拉伯語中的動詞變化。

So you take your [nwr], and you put in some [a]s, and then you can get something like [nawara], “he enlightened”.

所以要把一些 [a] 音加在 [nwr] 的中間，變成 [nawara]，意思是「he enlightened」。

Or, add an extra [t] for [nawarat], “she enlightened.” Want present tense? That’s a different template.

或再加個 [t] 變成 [nawarat]，意思是「she enlightened」。想知道現在式？那是不同規則。

Command? Another template. But you never ever just get the bare root by itself.

命令語氣？又是另一種規則。總之就是不會單獨使用詞根本身。

So we’ve tiptoed around talking about what the other morphemes are, the ones that aren’t

我們剛剛其實大致上介紹完其他種詞素了（不是詞根的詞素）。

roots. These are the bits that serve other roles: telling us tense and number and gender,

這些詞素扮演著其他角色：告訴我們時態、數量、性別

or sometimes adjusting the meaning of the roots they attach to. We call these morphemes

或者改變它們所依附的詞根的意思，我們稱這些詞素為

affixes, and they come in a few different flavors.

詞綴，而詞綴又分成幾種不同類型。

Affixes are always bound – you mentally glue them onto the roots. And so we break

詞綴必定是附著的（不可單獨使用）—你在心理上會把它們黏在詞根上。

affixes into groups depending on where they go. Let’s start with the ones that come

因此可以按照詞根所處的位置把它們分類。我們先說加在詞根前面的，

before the root. These are known as prefixes, and there’s a lot of them.

這種叫作前綴，數量很多。

Just think of some of your favorites from English – the [æntaj] in anti-Lamb, if

想一下你常用的一些英語詞綴就知道了—— anti-Lamb 裡的 [æntaj]

you’re against Lamb; the [sjudə] in pseudonym, to put the fake in fake name; the [dɪs] in

（代表反對Lamb）、pseudonym 裡的 [sjudə]（代表假名中的假）、

disappear, so whatever you’re talking about you know is all gone. Even the [pɹi] pre-

disappear裡的 [dɪs]，。甚至 prefix 裡的[pɹi] pre-

in prefix is a prefix; it’s the part you fix before the root.

都是個前綴；是固定放在詞根前面的部分。

Of course, prefixes aren’t limited to English – they show up in tons of languages, playing

當然，不是只有英語有前綴，許多語言都有前綴，

a ton of roles. Look at Japanese again – there’s that [o] that makes the

而且有很多種功能。再次以日語為例，日語的名詞加上 [o] 這個音

nouns it’s attaching to honorific. So you don’t drink 酒 [sake] for alcohol; you

會變成敬語。所以喝酒的酒不會只說酒 [sake]

drink お酒 [osake].

而是 お酒 [osake]。

Same with police officers – there’s that [o] in お巡りさん [omawaɾisan]. In Hebrew,

「警官」也是同樣的道理，前面加了 [o] 變成 お巡りさん [omawaɾisan]。希伯來語的

prepositions like in and to show up as prefixes, also. If you wanted to say “in school,”

介係詞，例如「在」和「往」，也是以前綴的形式出現的。如果要說「在學校」，

you’d go for [bve:t sɛfɛʁ] בבית ספר. where that [b] is the part that means in.

你要說 [bve:t sɛfɛʁ] בבית ספר，最前面的 [b] 音是代表「在」。

But maybe you want to put stuff on the other side of the root. If you attach an affix to

但你可能想把東西加在詞根的另一邊。如果把詞綴加在

the end of the root, that’s a suffix. Suffixes are actually more common across languages

詞根的後面，那就是後綴。後綴在語言中其實是比前綴更常見的，

than prefixes, and so it’s not really hard to find a lot of them.

所以要找到後綴的例子是很容易的。

That -ness that changes an adjective like dark into a noun like darkness? Or that -ed

像是 -ness 可以把形容詞變成名詞（例如 dark 變 darkness），或 -ed

that takes a verb like watch and lets you put it in the past tense like watched? Those are

可以把動詞變成過去式（例如 watch 變 watched），這些都是後綴；

suffixes. Or we can go looking in other languages, too. We’ve already seen some suffixes today -

也可以再想想其他語言。我們今天已經認識過一些後綴了，

the Japanese examples for [toɾ] were all suffixes.

前面講到日語 [toɾ] 的詞綴全部都是後綴。

Or let’s say we wanted to say in Spanish, “Veronica ate a small piece of marshmallow.”

或者假設我們要用西班牙語說「維若妮卡吃掉了一小塊棉花糖」，

That would be “Verónica comió un pedacito de nube.” That ito there is a suffix - it

那會是 “Verónica comió un pedacito de nube” 。這裡的 ito 是個後綴，

takes the noun pedazo, piece, and makes it small and cute.

讓 pedazo 這個名詞（意思是「塊」）變得小巧可愛。

Or the suffixes that mark names in lots of Slavic languages, like Czech or Russian. If you’re

或者很多斯拉夫語系的語言是用後綴來標記名字（例如捷克語和俄羅斯語），

Russian, and your father’s name is Vladimir, then if you’re male, your middle

如果你是俄國人、你父親名叫Vladimir，那假如你是男性，

name is Vladimirovich, and if you’re female, your middle name is Vladimirovna.

你的中間名就是Vladimirovich；如果你是女性的話，你的中間名則是Vladimirovna。

So morphemes come with these options: before, and after. But what about… inside? Some

所以詞素有這些可能：在前或在後。那如果是......在中間呢？

languages also have affixes that get stuck right in the middle of the roots they’re

有些語言會有恰好塞在詞根中間的詞綴，

working with. These are known as infixes, since they go straight into the word. Take,

這種詞綴叫作中綴，因為直接跑進那個詞中間了。

for example, Tagalog.

以塔加洛語為例，

Let’s say you wanted to say search, like Keith is searching the office for the gun:

假設你想說搜尋，像是「Keith正在辦公室裡尋找槍」，

That’d be “Hinahanap ni Keith ang baril sa opisina”. That’s with the verb [hanap].

那會是“Hinahanap ni Keith ang baril sa opisina”，真正的動詞是 [hanap]。

But what do you say after the search, once it’s done? Now it should be in the past

那當你搜尋完畢後要怎麼說呢？這時就要用過去式，

tense.

The past tense morpheme is [in], but it goes in the word after the first consonant. So

代表過去式的詞素是 [in]，但是它要插入單字中第一個子音的後面，

it’s [hinanap], like “Hinanap ni Keith ang baril sa opisina”. So that -in- is an

變成 [hinanap]，整句話就是“Hinanap ni Keith ang baril sa opisina”；所以這裡的 -in- 是個中綴。

infix. So now you’re probably thinking, do we have any of these infix things in English? The

你現在大概在想：那英文裡有中綴這種東西嗎？

answer is… well, we sort of have one, but it uses some profanity. We’ll tone it down for here, though.

答案是……勉強算有一個，但挺不雅的，不過我還是會說明一下。

This is using swearing as an intensifier, as in Wallace is fan-fricking-tastic at

像是「Wallance打籃球真是他媽的強（fan-fricking-tastic）」是用粗話來加強語氣。

basketball. So clearly, you’re sticking this fricking morpheme smack in the middle

很明顯地，你把 fricking 這個詞素直接加在 fantastic 這個詞根中間了，

of the root, fantastic. But the thing is, this does follow a rule - you know where this

但重點是，就連這個用法也有規則可循——

morpheme should go, even if you’ve never thought about it.

你就是知道詞素該擺在哪裡，即使你不曾特別思考過，

So you know that it’s not fanta-fricking-stic. No, it has to go in right before that main

所以你不會說 fanta-fricking-stic，因為它就是得恰好出現在主要重音之前，

stress there, to make the word flow right. And that’s what this unique English infix

好讓這個單字能流暢地發音，而這也是這個特殊的英語中綴存在的用意；

looks for. So when we’re trying to decide what kind of morpheme we have, we need to

因此當我們嘗試將詞素歸類時，

think about what kind of meaning we’re talking about.

必須先思考我們在探討是何種意義。

You’ve got your full main content, like nouns and verbs, as your roots; and you twine

你已經有內涵完整的詞也就是詞根（例如名詞和動詞），

around those roots with the affixes, wherever they go: before, after, or right in-fricking-side.

然後把詞綴加在詞根上（不管是放在前面、後面或中間），

But however you’re doing it, there’s more to morphemes than just knowing whether they

無論你怎麼運用，都不只是在分辨詞素能否獨立存在而已。

can stand on their own.

So we’ve reached the end of the Ling Space for this week. If you were affixed to to my

這禮拜的「語空間」已經到了尾聲，如果你有跟上我的詞素教學，

morphemes, you learned that roots are the most contentful bits of words; that English

就知道：1.詞根是單字中內涵最豐富的部分。

roots are mostly free, but other languages have them all bound up; that affixes adjust the

2.英語的詞根大部分可以獨立存在，但有些語言的詞根不可以。

meanings of the roots they’re attached to; and that affixes get different names, depending

3.詞綴會改變所附加的詞根的意思。4.詞綴有不同的名稱，

whether they're attached before, during, or after the root.

是依照它們「附加在詞根之前、中間、或之後」來決定。

The Ling Space is produced by me, Moti Lieberman. It’s directed by Adèle-Élise Prévost,

「語空間」的製作人是我——Moti Lieberman，導演是 Adèle-Élise Prévost，

and it’s written by both of us. Our production assistant is Georges Coulombe, our music and

而腳本由我們共同撰寫。我們的製作助理是 Georges Coulombe，

sound design is by Shane Turner, and our graphics team is AtelierMuse.

配樂及音響設計是 Shane Turner，圖像團隊是 AtelierMuse。

We’re down in the comments below, or you can bring the discussion back over to our website,

歡迎您在下方留言，或上我們的官網進行討論，

where we have some extra material on this topic. Check us out on Tumblr, Twitter and

更多關於這個主題的資料，請上Tumblr、Twitter還有Facebook查看。

Facebook, and if you want to keep expanding your own personal Ling Space, please subscribe.

如果想持續拓展自己的「語空間」，請訂閱我們。

And we’ll see you next Wednesday. Fins despres!

我們下週三見，再見（譯註：西班牙語）！