morpheme en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈmoː.fiːm/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
- /ˈmɔː.fiːm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈmɔɹ.fim/ (Canada, General-American)
Etymology
From French morphème. Ultimately from Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “shape, form”). By surface analysis, morph + -eme.
Meanings
-
The smallest linguistic unit within a word that can carry a meaning. It may be a letter, a syllable, or otherwise.
Just as a regiment is ultimately made up of soldiers, so the sentence is of morphemes—they are its ultimate constituents.
1970, Thomas Pyles, John Algeo, English: An Introduction to Language, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, page 135:There is therefore a natural tendency in both American and European structural linguistics to insist that the word should be syntactically decomposed. For writers such as Hockett (1958), or for that matter the early Chomsky (1957), the indivisible unit of grammar was the morpheme, and the relationship of morpheme to morpheme within the word […] was to be handled no differently from that of word to word in any larger structure.
1993, Peter Matthews, “Central Concepts of Syntax”, in Joachim Jacobs, Arnim von Stechow, Wolfgang Sternefeld, Theo Vennemann, editors, Syntax, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 95:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| morphemes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
root morpheme · empty morpheme · morphemic · zero morpheme · morphemize · morphemehood · null morpheme · cranberry morpheme · tonomorpheme · free morpheme · bound morpheme · morphemed · morphemics · monomorpheme · bimorpheme · submorpheme
Holonyms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
root · infix · suprafix · suffix · affix · derivational suffix · bound morpheme · confix · cranberry morpheme · inflectional suffix · free morpheme · prefix · circumfix
Relateds
:Category:English morphemes · re- · -o- · thermo- · smart · chrono- · word form · -s- · techno- · pre- · mechano- · cat · -cephalic · nucleo- · allomorph · morph · -metre · non- · interfix · Anglo- · geo- · hemato- · biblio- · -hood · -cracy · bio- · -archy · -able · :Category:Morphemes by language · luke · -bloody- · -ness · -ity · -centric · electro- · sharp · -graphy · lemma · -logy · -phobia · -philia · cran · un- · anti-
Synonyms
Translations (80)
et morfeem (smallest linguistic unit) · is minnsta merkingarbær eining mál (smallest linguistic unit) · is myndan (smallest linguistic unit) · ar مُورْفِيم (smallest linguistic unit) · sh morféma (smallest linguistic unit) · el μόρφημα (smallest linguistic unit) · ca morfema (smallest linguistic unit) · fi morfeemi (smallest linguistic unit) · tr biçimbirim (smallest linguistic unit) · ms morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · la morphema (smallest linguistic unit) · ba морфема (smallest linguistic unit) · nb morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · fr morphème (smallest linguistic unit) · sv morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · km រូបសព្ទតា (smallest linguistic unit) · sw mofimu (smallest linguistic unit) · tl multuran (smallest linguistic unit) · uz morfema (smallest linguistic unit) · ar مُورْفِيم (smallest linguistic unit) · pt morfema (smallest linguistic unit) · ast morfema (smallest linguistic unit) · cy morffem (smallest linguistic unit) · az morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · he מוֹרְפֶמָה (smallest linguistic unit) · es morfema (smallest linguistic unit) · fo morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · mn морфем (smallest linguistic unit) · sh мо̀рфе̄м (smallest linguistic unit) · mn ᠪᠦᠲᠦᠭᠡᠪᠦᠷᠢ (smallest linguistic unit) · ky морфема (smallest linguistic unit) · sk morféma (smallest linguistic unit) · fa تکواژ (smallest linguistic unit) · ja 形態素 (smallest linguistic unit) · cmn 語素 /语素 (smallest linguistic unit) · is morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · de Morphem (smallest linguistic unit) · be марфе́ма (smallest linguistic unit) · nl morfeem (smallest linguistic unit) · ro morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · ar مَقْطَع صَرْفِيّ (smallest linguistic unit) · lt morfema (smallest linguistic unit) · bg морфе́ма (smallest linguistic unit) · lv morfēma (smallest linguistic unit) · tl morpema (smallest linguistic unit) · km មូលតា (smallest linguistic unit) · eo morfemo (smallest linguistic unit) · tr morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · sq morfemë (smallest linguistic unit) · mk морфе́ма (smallest linguistic unit) · sh морфе́ма (smallest linguistic unit) · ka მორფემი (smallest linguistic unit) · da morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · hi रूपिम (smallest linguistic unit) · sl morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · sh mòrfēm (smallest linguistic unit) · cmn 詞素 /词素 (smallest linguistic unit) · bo སྒྲ་དོམ་ཕྲ་མོ (smallest linguistic unit) · nl woorddeel (smallest linguistic unit) · cs morfém (smallest linguistic unit) · be марфэ́ма (smallest linguistic unit) · tr biçim birimi (smallest linguistic unit) · pl morfem (smallest linguistic unit) · vi hình vị (smallest linguistic unit) · ru морфе́ма (smallest linguistic unit) · ceb morpheme (smallest linguistic unit) · af morfeem (smallest linguistic unit) · it morfema (smallest linguistic unit) · hu morféma (smallest linguistic unit) · gl morfema (smallest linguistic unit) · kk морфема (smallest linguistic unit) · mn бүтээвэр (smallest linguistic unit) · ko 형태소 (smallest linguistic unit) · th หน่วยคำ (smallest linguistic unit) · hy ձևույթ (smallest linguistic unit) · uk морфе́ма (smallest linguistic unit) · tg морфема (smallest linguistic unit) · ban rupabaga (smallest linguistic unit) · io morfemo (smallest linguistic unit) · id morfem (smallest linguistic unit)