Difference between revisions of "Morpheme"

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A '''morpheme''' is the smallest meaning -bearing unit of language.
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A '''morpheme''' is the smallest meaning-bearing unit of language. The term thus refers to the smallest component of a word that (a) seems to contribute some sort of meaning, or a grammatical function to the word to which it belongs, and (b) cannot itself be decomposed into smaller morphemes.
  
 
===Examples===
 
===Examples===
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===Origin===
 
===Origin===
 
The term ''morpheme'' was coined by [[Jan Baudouin de Courtenay]] in c. 1880. It is based on Greek ''morph-'' 'form' and the suffix -eme, on the analogy of the term ''phoneme''. See Mugdan (1986) for detailed discussion.
 
The term ''morpheme'' was coined by [[Jan Baudouin de Courtenay]] in c. 1880. It is based on Greek ''morph-'' 'form' and the suffix -eme, on the analogy of the term ''phoneme''. See Mugdan (1986) for detailed discussion.
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===Controversy===
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The concept "morpheme" is not uncontroversial.  A number of linguists dispute the explanatory power of the morpheme as a theoretical construct, and also dispute the notion that the morpheme has any psychological reality (cf. Bochner).  Consider, for example, the following singular~plural pairs in English: "kangaroo"~"kangaroos"; "mouse"~"mice"; "child"~"children"; "sheep"~"sheep"; "person"~"people".
  
 
===related terms===
 
===related terms===
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===Reference===
 
===Reference===
 
Mugdan, Joachim. 1986. Was ist eigentlich ein Morphem?
 
Mugdan, Joachim. 1986. Was ist eigentlich ein Morphem?
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=== Links ===
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[http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Morpheme&lemmacode=562 Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics]
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===Other languages===
 
===Other languages===

Revision as of 19:14, 17 February 2009

A morpheme is the smallest meaning-bearing unit of language. The term thus refers to the smallest component of a word that (a) seems to contribute some sort of meaning, or a grammatical function to the word to which it belongs, and (b) cannot itself be decomposed into smaller morphemes.

Examples

Kangaroo is one morpheme. Kangaroos is two morphemes, kangaroo and plural -s. The -s expresses the meaning 'many' or 'more than one' in this example.

Polysemy

Morpheme may also be used for 'grammatical morpheme', see morpheme (i.e. grammatical morpheme).

Synonym

Origin

The term morpheme was coined by Jan Baudouin de Courtenay in c. 1880. It is based on Greek morph- 'form' and the suffix -eme, on the analogy of the term phoneme. See Mugdan (1986) for detailed discussion.

Controversy

The concept "morpheme" is not uncontroversial. A number of linguists dispute the explanatory power of the morpheme as a theoretical construct, and also dispute the notion that the morpheme has any psychological reality (cf. Bochner). Consider, for example, the following singular~plural pairs in English: "kangaroo"~"kangaroos"; "mouse"~"mice"; "child"~"children"; "sheep"~"sheep"; "person"~"people".

related terms

Reference

Mugdan, Joachim. 1986. Was ist eigentlich ein Morphem?

Links

Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics


Other languages

German Morphem Spanish morfema Chinese 语素 Russian морфема