A Morphological Study of Lexical Items in the Novel the Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunathilaka

Abstract

Morphological processes in a variety of English are a fundamental element as they signal the processes of word- formation. English in Sri Lanka is influenced by its native languages (Sinhala and Tamil). Therefore, this study is aimed at studying the morphological processes of the lexical items in relation to the novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunathilaka. Moreover, when examining the existing literature, it is evident that, there is a lack of research done in the Sri Lankan context focusing on the morphological processes and their functions. Therefore, this study aims to fill the existing empirical research gap. The main objective of this research is to examine the morphological processes of the unique lexical items in the novel and to explore their functions in producing the intended meaning of the text. The research adopts a qualitative research methodology and textual analysis is the research method. The findings of the study illustrate that the writer has used borrowing, compounding, coinage, derivation, expression, abbreviations, acronyms as morphological processes among others. In conclusion, borrowing is the most frequently used process. Core and non-core borrowings are extensively used to familiarise the reader with the context of the text using varied, fitting morphological processes as a linguistic technique to highlight the Sri Lankan idiom and flavour in the content. According to Michel Halliday and Roman Jakobson every linguistic item fulfils a function of language. Therefore, borrowings fulfil the referential, and the conative functions of the language. Expressions fulfil the personal, phatic and emotive functions of language. The prominently identified language functions are, referential, conative, regulatory and representational functions. The study illustrates that there is a relationship between the morphological processes such as borrowing and compounding with the functions such as referential and conative.