A “morpheme” is a word or part of a word that has meaning. It includes no smaller part that has a meaning.
Examples
An example is probably the best way to explain this concept. Let’s start with the lexical item nation and roll out the morphemes from there.
- nation
- nation-al
- inter-nation-al
- inter-nation-al-ize
- inter-nation-al-iz-ation
So, in the above example, nation, -al, inter-, -ize, and -ation are all morphemes.
We have created four new lexical items by adding small units of meaning to the base form, nation. These items are closely related. Note that these units of meaning are totally dependent on the base form and, so, can’t exist on their own. These fundamental units of meaning are morphemes.
The examples above are called bound morphemes. They need to be added to an existing base. There are, nevertheless, many words which can’t be divided into smaller elements. These are known as free morphemes. Instances of those are: table, lion, platform, some, horror, label.
Functions
Morphemes can also be categorized by function. Derivational morphemes change the meaning or part of speech of a word. For example, adding -ness to “happy” gives us “happiness,” turning an adjective into a noun. Likewise, re- added to “write” gives us “rewrite,” changing the meaning entirely. On the other hand, inflectional morphemes don’t alter a word’s core meaning or category. They change it for tense, number, or comparison. These include endings like -ed, -s, and -er, as in “talked,” “cats,” or “faster.”
Word People should also be aware that not all morphemes are created equal in terms of clarity. Some are easily recognizable. Examples include pre- or un-. Others are trickier to spot. This is especially true when historical changes or pronunciation shifts come into play. That’s where etymology becomes your best friend. Peeling back the layers of a word often reveals unexpected roots, shared across languages and centuries.
Sources: Merriam-Webster and Tesol-Direct.com
See also:
The Origins of State Names
More articles for Word People
Master Morpheme List