INTRODUCTION
The morpheme is sometimes confused with the syllable but it is
different. Syllables are made up of sounds which are grouped together for pronunciation purposes. For instance, the word ‘star’ is made up of the sounds /s/, /t/ and /a: / which add up to /sta: /. The division of words into the component sound (phonemes) makes it possible for languages to be written using letters. Words can also be broken down into syllables.
Some words are composed of one syllable as the word ‘pens’ /penz/.
Others are made up of two or more syllables as the words ‘today’/təde /, ‘saliva’ /sæ-la -və/, ‘embarrass’ / m-bæ-rəs/ and ‘companion’ /kəm-pæ- n מn/.
While the syllable is the unit of pronunciation, being the smallest stretch of sound that can be uttered with one breath (Abercrombie, 1975, p.
350), the morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning and of grammatical analysis. For instance, the words ‘today’ and ‘embarrass’ are made up of two and three syllables respectively but they are composed of only one morpheme each. On the other hand the word ‘pens’ is a monosyllabic
word (made up of one syllable) but has two morphemes namely: the
morpheme {pen} and the plural morpheme {s}.Therefore, when we divide words into morphemes, we isolate groups of sounds that have
semantic and grammatical meanings, the fact that they do not constitute syllables notwithstanding.
3.1 Types of Morphemes
Free and Bound Morphemes
Morphemes are free when they can stand on their own and constitute independent words as the following words: “black, board, tea, pot, sweet, heart”. Single words as the ones listed above are the smallest free morphemes which are capable of independent existence. When joined together to form compound words like “blackboard, teapot, sweetheart”, each of the two morpheme words still retain meanings of their own which add up to the meaning of the words of which they are part.
In contrast, bound morphemes are those morphemes which are not capable of independent existence. They occur usually with some other word-building element attached to them. Examples of bound morphemes are given below:
(a)
(b)
(c)
-ceive
-mit
-intro
as in receive, perceive
as in permit, commit
as introspect, introduce
Some words are made up of two bound morphemes as is the case in ‘introduce’ while many other words are made up of free and bound morphemes as in the words ‘pillows’ and ‘cleaner’. The bound morphemes also often occur as prefixes and suffixes but never in isolation as words.
Roots, Stems, and Bases
Some morphemes are the core of words while some are additions and appendages (cf Tomori 1977:32). The morpheme which carries the core meaning is referred to as the root of the word. In the word ‘faithfulness’ for instance, the core of the word or root morpheme is faith. Similarly, in the word ‘naturalisation’ the root morpheme is nature. The root of the word is that part that is always present.
The stem of the word is that part to which the last morpheme is added. It is thus the part in existence before any inflectional affixes (those additions required by the grammar of a language such as indicator of number in nouns, tense in verbs etc.). In the words ‘cats’ and ‘learners’, the {s} morpheme is added to the root ‘cat’ while the agentive morpheme {er} is added to the root ‘learner’ to mean one who learns. In ‘learners’ the root is learn while learner is the stem to which the inflectional morpheme {s} is added to give the additional meaning of ‘more - than - one’. A base on the other hand is a unit to which any affix can be added. The affix maybe inflectional (selected for grammatical reasons) or derivational in which case it alters the meaning or grammatical category of the base.
A root to which no affix has been added like ‘girl’ can be a base since it can take an inflectional affix like {-s} to form the plural ‘girls’ or a derivational like {–ish} to turn the noun into an adjective ‘girlish’. In effect, all roots are bases but roots are stems when they take inflectional suffixes. Thus although all roots are bases, not all roots are stems. In the word ‘faithfulness’, faith is the root of the whole word; it is also the stem of ‘faiths’ and the base of ‘faithful’ while faithful becomes the base for ‘faithfulness’. This explanation of roots, stems and bases is contrary to Tomori’s (1977:32) analysis which equates stems with bases rather than with roots. Katamba (1993:45) however sees all roots as bases but stems as bases only in the context of inflectional morphology. This is the sense in which we use roots, bases and stems although we are also aware of Eka’s (1994) use of root and base in the sense in which Tomori uses root and stem while Francis (1967) employs the terms root, stem and base as largely synonymous. All the usages referred to above tend to overlap in the sense in which root is used. The slight differences in the senses of base and stem appear idiosyncratic.
Knowledge of the root of words can be used to explain the origin and core meaning of words from Latin or Greek.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE (SAE)
Some common Latin and Greek roots are given below. Find the missing explanation.
Latin Root Words Meaning
ann-enn -year annual yearly
perennial through the years
centennial -
carn- flesh carnivorous -
incarnation presence in the flesh
culp- guilt culpable guilty
exculpate to be free
culprit -
doc- teach doctor one who teaches
docile easily taught
doctrine -
gress – march progress a marching toward
congress a coming together
regressive -
laps – fall
relapse
elapse
collapse
fallback (intohabit)
to glide away (as time)
-
loqu-– talk eloquent taking well
colloquial chatty
ventriloquist -
magn – great magnify -
magnitude size
magnificent -
metre – measure
chronometer barometre
thermometer
measures time
measures pressure
-
pos – put
compose
impose
depose -
put together
put up
Greek Root Words Meaning
bibl – book
bibliography
bible
`bibliophile
list of books
sacred books
-
path – feel
sympathy
pathology
psychopath
feeling for or with
study of diseases
-
phil – friend
philosopher philantrophist anglophile
friend of wisdom
friend of man
-
pyre – fire
pyre
pyrothenics
pyromaniac
pile for burning the dead fireworks
-
thermo – heat
thermometer
measures heat
thermostat -
4.0 CONCLUSION
The English Language accommodates several varieties of morphemes, and these are carefully structured into roots, bases and stems. Much more important is the fact that many English word are of the Latin or Greek origin.
5.0 SUMMARY
The following points have been raised in this unit:
The syllable is the unit of pronunciation while the morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning and of grammatical analysis.
Free morphemes can stand by themselves as words but bound morphemes are incapable of independent existence.
The morpheme which carries the core meaning of a word is the root.
The stem of the word is that part to which the last morpheme is added.
A base on the other hand is a unit to which any affix can be added.
Although all roots are bases, not all roots are stems.
Knowledge of the root of words can be used to explain the origin and core meaning of words from Latin or Greek.
6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)
Here are more Greek and Latin roots. Find out atleast two words formed from
them.
1.
psch – mind
6. auto – self
2.
hydr – water
7 bio – life
3.
man – hand
8 graph – writing
4.
urb – city
9. phon – sound
5.
audi – hear
10. bi – two
7.0 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
Eka, D. (1996) Elements of Grammar and Mechanics of English.
Uyo:Samuf Educational.
Katamba, F. (1993) Morphology. London: Macmillan:Lagos: Longman
Nida, E. (1949) Morphology: the descriptive analysis of words. Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press
Tomori, S. H. O. (1977) The morphology and syntax of present-day
English: an Introduction. Ibadan: Heinemann .
Udofot, I. (1999) An introduction to the morphology of English.
Uyo: Scholar’s Press.
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