free morpheme and bound morpheme

Definition of Morphemes

As scientists have studied the composition of the universe, they've determined that the smallest unit for measuring an element is the atom. If you think of the periodic table of elements, atoms are what comprise elements, such as hydrogen, carbon, silver, gold, calcium, and so on. Scientists utilize this classification system for uniformity, so that they're on the same page in the terminology of their studies.

Similarly, linguists, or those who study language, have devised a category for the smallest unit of grammar:morphemes. Morphemes function as the foundation of language and syntax. Syntax is the arrangement of words and sentences to create meaning. We shouldn't confuse morphemes as only a given word, number of syllables, or only as a prefix or suffix. The term morpheme can apply to a variety of different situations. Let's take a look!

Types of Morphemes

In linguistics, we would further classify morphemes as either as phonemes (the smallest units of grammar recognizable by sound) or graphemes (the smallest units of written language). For our purposes, we will focus on graphemes.

Let's examine the word nonperishable, analyze it, and then discuss terms associated with it.

Nonperishable is comprised of three morphemes: non-, perish, and -able. It actually has five syllables though, which is a good example of why morphemes and syllables are not synonymous.

• non- is an example of a prefix, or a morpheme that precedes a base morpheme
• perish is an example of a base morpheme, as it gives the word its essential meaning
• -able is an example of a suffix, or a morpheme that follows a base morpheme

Both non- and -able are examples of an affix, a morpheme attached prior to or following a base that cannot function independently as a word.

We can also take a look at this chart to see some examples of how morphemes work:

A Morpheme as a Word

When we can take a morpheme independently and use it as a stand-alone word in a sentence, it is known as a base. As the chart indicated, these can be nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, or determiners. We also classify a morpheme that can function as a stand-alone word as free.

In the sentence:

The bird-like man hardly touched his food at dinner.

There are a total of twelve morphemes, and ten of the twelve are free:

• the (article)
• bird (noun)
• like (adjective)
• man (noun)
• hard (adjective)
• touch (verb)
• his (determiner)
• food (noun)
• at (preposition)
• dinner (noun) 

Free Morphemes and Bound Morphemes

Morphemes that can stand alone to function as words are called free morphemes. They comprise simple words (i.e. words made up of one free morpheme) and compound words (i.e. words made up of two free morphemes).

Examples:

Simple words: the, run, on, well

Compound words: keyboard, greenhouse, bloodshed, smartphone

Morphemes that can only be attached to another part of a word (cannot stand alone) are called bound morphemes.

Examples:

pre-, dis-, in-, un-, -ful, -able, -ment, -ly, -ise

pretest, discontent, intolerable, receive

Complex words are words that are made up of both free morpheme(s) and bound morpheme(s), or two or more bound morphemes.

Roll your mouse over the words below to see how many morphemes are there and whether they are free morphemes or bound morphemes.


http://vlearn.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/wordformation/internalstructure/freemorphemes/