Difference between revisions of "Morpheme"
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A '''morpheme''' is the smallest unit of meaning in a language. The study of morphemes is called [[morphology]]. | A '''morpheme''' is the smallest unit of meaning in a language. The study of morphemes is called [[morphology]]. | ||
| − | For example, the [[word]] "dogs" includes the morpheme "dog" (conveying lexical meaning) and the morpheme "-s" (indicating [[number (grammar)|number]]). The morpheme "dog" is called a free morpheme, as it can be used as a separate word; the morpheme "-s" is called a bound morpheme, as it cannot.<ref>[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAMorpheme.htm What is a morpheme?]</ref> | + | For example, the [[word]] "dogs" includes the morpheme "dog" (conveying lexical meaning) and the morpheme "-s" (indicating [[number (grammar)|number]]). The morpheme "dog" is called a free morpheme, as it can be used as a separate word; the morpheme "-s" is called a bound morpheme, as it cannot.<ref>[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAMorpheme.htm What is a morpheme?]</ref> Bound morphemes include [[affix]]es and [[clitic]]s. |
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
[[Category:Grammar]] | [[Category:Grammar]] | ||
Latest revision as of 16:02, December 3, 2011
A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language. The study of morphemes is called morphology.
For example, the word "dogs" includes the morpheme "dog" (conveying lexical meaning) and the morpheme "-s" (indicating number). The morpheme "dog" is called a free morpheme, as it can be used as a separate word; the morpheme "-s" is called a bound morpheme, as it cannot.[1] Bound morphemes include affixes and clitics.