Abstract

The objectives of the study are to analyse infl ections as they occur in the English language in nouns, verbs and adjectives, including both regular and irregular forms, in order to quantify how many types of variations there are and to determine what these variations are. The instrumentation of the study comprises of a content analysis of infl ections in English that yields an 8-point framework of the infl ection of nouns, verbs and adjectives: 1. plural nouns, 2. possessive nouns, 3. present verb third-person singulars, 4. present participle verbs, 5. past tense verbs, 6.past participle verbs, 7. comparative adjectives, and 8. superlative adjectives. Checklists were then derived from this framework and filled by data collection of lexical units from a variety of sources. The data obtained was then analysed with a focus on suffi x morphemes. Useful fi ndings include a complete inventory of infl ectional variation and irregularities that reveal the true complexity of this grammatical component of the English language. Insights regarding these infl ectional variations and irregularities are offered to encourage deeper
understanding and improvement of English skills as a foreign language in Thailand for both teachers and serious students of English.

Keywords: English Inflection, Noun, Verb, Adjective

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