General
What is a morpheme?
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in a language.
What is a free morpheme?
A free morpheme can stand alone as a word.
What is a root?
The root is the core meaning part of a word.
What is a monomorphemic word?
A word with only one morpheme.
What is a derived word?
A word formed by adding affixes to a root.
How many morphemes are in “unhappy
2 morphemes:un and happy
Identify the free morpheme in “teacher”.
teach is free; -er is bound.
Analyze “unhappiness”.
un- (prefix) + happy (root) + -ness (suffix)
Examples of monomorphemic words.
Book, pen, dog
Examples of compound words.
Blackboard, toothpaste, football
What is the difference between morpheme and word?
A word can have one or more morphemes, but a morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning.
Give examples of bound morphemes.
un, -ed, -ing, -s
What is the stem in “workers”?
Stem: worker (before plural -s)
Break down “unhappiness”.
un + happy + ness → polymorphemic (3 morphemes)
What is a compound-derived word?
A compound word with an additional affix.
What is an affix?
A morpheme added to a root (prefix or suffix)
What is a semi-bound morpheme?
A semi-bound morpheme can act both as a free word and as a bound morpheme.
How is a base different from a stem?
A stem takes inflectional affixes only, but a base can take both derivational and inflectional affixes.
Are all compound words polymorphemic?
Yes, because they contain multiple roots
Identify type of “teacher”
Derived word
What is derivational morpheme?
Changes meaning or word class (e.g., -ness, un-)
Give examples of semi-bound morphemes.
Over (overwork / over the hill), well (well-known / very well)
Is every root a stem? Why or why not?
Not always. A root becomes a stem only when it can take inflection.
Is “better” polymorphemic?
No (comparative form, but not separable morphologically)
What is inflectional morpheme?
Shows grammar (e.g., -s, -ed)