Quick Study of Morphemes

Short Questions

Important Short Questions of Morphemes

1. Definition and Scope:

• Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. The study of morphemes, called morphology, focuses on understanding how these units combine to create words.

2. Types of Morphemes:

·       Free Morphemes:

·       Definition: Complete words with standalone meanings.

·       Examples:

1.     Book: a standalone noun.

2.     Run: a standalone verb.

3.     Happy: a standalone adjective.

4.     Tree: a standalone noun.

5.     Jump: a standalone verb.

·       Bound Morphemes:

·       Definition: Morphemes that cannot stand alone and must attach to a free morpheme.

·       Examples:

1.     -er: attaches to ‘teach’ to form ‘teacher.’

2.     -ing: attaches to ‘run’ to form ‘running.’

3.     un-: attaches to ‘happy’ to form ‘unhappy.’

4.     -ed: attaches to ‘jump’ to form ‘jumped.’

5.     -ful: attaches to ‘joy’ to form ‘joyful.’

3. Root Morphemes and Stem Bound Morphemes:

• Root Morphemes:
  • Definition: The primary, irreducible form of a word.
  • Examples:
    1. Teach: the root of ‘teacher,’ ‘teaching,’ etc.
    2. Run: the root of ‘running,’ ‘runner,’ etc.
    3. Happy: the root of ‘happiness,’ ‘unhappy,’ etc.
    4. Book: the root of ‘bookshelf,’ ‘bookstore,’ etc.
    5. Jump: the root of ‘jumper,’ ‘jumping,’ etc.
• Stem Bound Morphemes:
  • Definition: A morpheme that can stand alone but is typically attached to other morphemes.
  • Examples:
    1. Teach: the stem in ‘teacher,’ ‘teaching.’
    2. Run: the stem in ‘running,’ ‘runner.’
    3. Happi-: the stem in ‘happiness,’ ‘unhappiness.’
    4. Book: the stem in ‘bookshelf,’ ‘bookstore.’
    5. Jump: the stem in ‘jumper,’ ‘jumping.’

4. Affixes:

·       Definition: Morphemes attached to a base morpheme (either a root or a stem) to create a new word or a different form of the word.

·       Examples:

1.     -er: attaches to ‘teach’ to form ‘teacher.’

2.     -ing: attaches to ‘run’ to form ‘running.’

3.     un-: attaches to ‘happy’ to form ‘unhappy.’

4.     -ed: attaches to ‘jump’ to form ‘jumped.’

5.     -ful: attaches to ‘joy’ to form ‘joyful.’

5. Prefixes:

• Definition: Affixes attached to the beginning of a base morpheme.
• Examples:
  1. un-: added to ‘happy’ to form ‘unhappy.’
  2. pre-: added to ‘fix’ to form ‘prefix.’
  3. dis-: added to ‘appear’ to form ‘disappear.’
  4. sub-: added to ‘marine’ to form ‘submarine.’
  5. re-: added to ‘write’ to form ‘rewrite.’

6. Suffixes:

• Definition: Affixes attached to the end of a base morpheme.
• Examples:
  1. -ing: added to ‘run’ to form ‘running.’
  2. -ed: added to ‘jump’ to form ‘jumped.’
  3. -ful: added to ‘wonder’ to form ‘wonderful.’
  4. -less: added to ‘help’ to form ‘helpless.’
  5. -tion: added to ‘celebrate’ to form ‘celebration.’

7. Infixes:

• Definition: Morphemes inserted within a base morpheme.
• Examples:
  1. -bloody-: inserted into ‘fan’ to form ‘fan-bloody-tastic.’
  2. -gosh-: inserted into ‘darn’ to form ‘darn-gosh-it.’
  3. -flipping-: inserted into ‘ridiculous’ to form ‘ridiculous-flipping-ly.’
  4. -blasted-: inserted into ‘fool’ to form ‘fool-blasted-ish.’
  5. -freaking-: inserted into ‘amazing’ to form ‘amazing-freaking-ly.’

Understanding morphemes and their types is fundamental to grasping the intricacies of word formation in any language.