morphemes - 2026 ACF Regionals

Question

Affixes called libfixes are created by the backformation of the “bound” form of these linguistic components, such as the affix “-athon” that is derived from the term “walkathon.” For 10 points each:

[10e] Name these smallest grammatical units of a language to have meaning, in contrast to phonemes.

ANSWER: morphemes [accept bound morphemes]

[10m] In addition to backformation, libfixes are formed through this process from historical linguistics, in which a word is resegmented, such as the shift from “Hamburg + -er” to “ham + burger.”

ANSWER: rebracketing [accept metanalysis; accept reanalysis]

[10h] By definition, libfixation results in an affix with this property, meaning it can still derive new words. Unlike “-ness,” other nominalizing suffixes like “-tion” lack this property, despite being transparently analyzable, since they are no longer fruitful.

ANSWER: productivity [or productive; accept productive suffix]

<NS, Social Science>

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Summary


California (North)	Main Site	Y	3	13.33	100%	33%	0%
Canada	Main Site	Y	10	16.00	100%	30%	30%
Florida	Main Site	Y	2	5.00	50%	0%	0%
Great Lakes	Main Site	Y	5	12.00	60%	40%	20%
Lower Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	Y	9	8.89	67%	22%	0%
Midwest	Main Site	Y	8	12.50	100%	25%	0%
Northeast	Main Site	Y	5	14.00	100%	0%	40%
Overflow	Main Site	Y	4	12.50	100%	25%	0%
South Central	Main Site	Y	2	10.00	100%	0%	0%
Southeast	Main Site	Y	7	8.57	71%	0%	14%
UK	Main Site	Y	6	15.00	83%	50%	17%
Upper Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	Y	8	18.75	100%	38%	50%
Upstate NY	Main Site	Y	4	20.00	100%	50%	50%

Data


Berkeley B	Stanford A	10	0	0	10
Berkeley A	Berkeley C	10	10	0	20
Stanford B	Berkeley D	10	0	0	10
McMaster A	McGill B	10	10	0	20
Toronto C	Waterloo A	10	10	0	20
Carleton University	Toronto E	10	0	0	10
Western C	Toronto F	10	0	10	20
Guelph	UBC A	10	0	0	10
UBC B	Toronto D	10	0	10	20
Waterloo B	Western A	10	0	10	20
Central Florida C	Central Florida A	10	0	0	10
Florida C	Florida A	0	0	0	0
Ohio State A	CWRU B	10	0	0	10
Ohio State B	Pittsburgh	0	10	0	10
Ohio State C	Michigan C	0	0	10	10
McMaster B	McGill A	10	0	0	10
Michigan State	Michigan A	10	0	0	10
CWRU A	Michigan B	10	10	0	20
Duke	North Carolina C	10	0	0	10
North Carolina A	VCU	10	0	0	10
Liberty C	North Carolina B	0	0	0	0
South Carolina B	NC State A	0	10	0	10
James Madison B	Virginia Tech A	10	10	0	20
Virginia Tech B	NC State B	0	0	0	0
South Carolina A	Virginia	10	0	0	10
James Madison A	Wake Forest	10	0	0	10
Liberty B	William and Mary	10	0	0	10
Toronto Metropolitan	Simon Fraser	10	0	0	10
Toronto B	Toronto G	10	10	0	20
Illinois B	Chicago B	10	0	0	10
Indiana A	Chicago C	10	10	0	20
Chicago D	Indiana C	10	0	0	10
Chicago E	Northwestern B	10	0	0	10
Indiana B	Northwestern C	10	0	0	10
Northwestern D	Purdue A	10	0	0	10
Notre Dame A	Chicago A	10	0	0	10
Illinois C	Notre Dame B	10	10	0	20
Brandeis A	Bowdoin B	10	0	0	10
Brown	Bowdoin A	10	0	0	10
Carleton College	Claremont	10	0	0	10
Minnesota A	Missouri B	10	10	0	20
Murray State A	Texas A&M A	10	0	0	10
Texas A	Texas B	10	0	0	10
Georgia Tech A	Washington A	10	0	0	10
Missouri A	Washington B	10	0	0	10
Brandeis B	Dartmouth B	10	0	0	10
Georgia Tech D	Alabama A	10	0	10	20
Bruin	Georgia Tech B	10	0	0	10
Georgia Tech C	WashU A	10	0	0	10
Louisville A	Tennessee B	10	0	0	10
WashU B	Mississipi State	0	0	0	0
Kentucky	Tennessee A	10	0	0	10
Alabama B	Vanderbilt B	0	0	0	0
Birmingham	Edinburgh A	10	0	0	10
Cambridge A	Manchester	10	10	10	30
Warwick A	Cardiff	10	0	0	10
Montpellier	Southampton B	10	10	0	20
Southampton A	Oxford C	0	10	0	10
Warwick B	Imperial B	10	0	0	10
MIT	Dartmouth A	10	0	10	20
Harvard A	Yale	10	0	10	20
Rutgers A	Columbia C	10	0	0	10
Georgetown	Catholic	10	0	0	10
Columbia A	NYU A	10	0	0	10
Columbia B	Swarthmore	10	0	10	20
Maryland C	Vassar	10	10	10	30
Cornell A	Penn State	10	10	10	30
Cornell B	Binghamton A	10	0	0	10
RIT	Cornell C	10	0	0	10
Rochester	Binghamton B	10	10	10	30
Johns Hopkins A	John Jay	10	10	10	30
Maryland A	Maryland B	10	10	10	30
Rutgers B	Johns Hopkins B	10	0	0	10