According to their morphological composition, we distinguish simple, derivative, and compound nouns.
Simple Nouns
Simple nouns are nouns that have neither prefixes nor suffixes. They are indecomposable:
chair
table
room
map
fish
work
Derivative Nouns
Derivative nouns are nouns that have derivative elements (prefixes or suffixes or both): reader, sailor, blackness, childhood, misconduct, inexperience.
| Productive noun-forming suffixes | Unproductive suffixes |
| -er: reader, teacher, worker | -hood: childhood, manhood |
| -ist: communist, telegraphist, dramatist | -ance: importance |
| -ess: heiress, hostess, actress | -ence: dependence |
| -ness: carelessness, madness, blackness | -ty: cruelty |
| -ism: socialism, nationalism, imperialism | -ity: generosity |
| -ment: development | |
| -ship: friendship, relationship | |
| -dom: freedom |
Compound Nouns
Compound nouns are nouns built from two or more stems. Compound nouns often have one stress. The meaning of a compound often differs from the meanings of its elements.
The main types of compound nouns are as follows:
| noun-stem + noun-stem | adjective-stem + noun-stem | verb-stem + noun-stem |
| Appletree, snowball | blackbird, bluebell | pickpocket |
the stem of a gerund or of a participle may be the first component of a compound noun:
dining-room
reading-hall
dancing-girl