Morpheme
Morpheme
Morpheme (/ˈmɔːrfiːm/; from Ancient Greek: μορφή, morphḗ, 'form, shape') is the smallest meaningful unit of language. It is a fundamental concept in Linguistics, particularly in the field of Morphology.
Etymology
The term "morpheme" was coined by the French linguist Auguste Bréal in 1883. It is derived from the Greek word morphē, meaning 'form' or 'shape', and the suffix -eme, which is used in linguistics to denote a distinctive unit of language.
Types of Morphemes
Morphemes are typically classified into two main types: free morphemes and bound morphemes. Free morphemes can stand alone as words (e.g., "cat", "run"), while bound morphemes cannot stand alone and must be attached to another morpheme (e.g., "-s", "-ing").
Related Terms
- Allomorph: A variant form of a morpheme. For example, the English plural marker can appear as "-s", "-es", or "-en", depending on the word.
- Morph: The physical form representing a morpheme in a particular context.
- Morphology: The study of the structure of words, including the nature and behavior of morphemes.
- Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Morpheme
- Wikipedia's article - Morpheme
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