morpheme
Smallest meaning-bearing piece
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in a language.
The word unbreakable contains three morphemes: un- (meaning not), break (the core meaning), and -able (capable of being).
Some morphemes stand alone as words; others only attach to other morphemes.
Every word contains at least one morpheme.
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- lexemeFundamental dictionary unit
- stemPlant's central axis
- rootUnderground absorbing structure
- baseSupporting bottom structure
affix · prefix · suffix · infix · clitic · bound · free · syllable
Word-part modifier
- prefixRoot-modifying front element
- suffixWord-ending addition
- infixAffix within a word
- derivationSource or origin tracing
affixation · compounding · word-formation · neologism · coinage · productive · agentive · nominalization
Verb form variation system
- declensionNoun form variation
- tenseStrained or nervous
- aspectFeature or dimension
- moodPrevailing emotional condition
voice · case · number · gender · person · agreement · pluralization · comparative
What something signifies
- signifierMeaning-bearing form
- lexemeFundamental dictionary unit
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
polysemy · homonymy · synonymy · etymon · cognate · semantic · content · function
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- alternationSequential interchange of elements
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
- elisionDropped sounds in speech
- umlautDouble-dot diacritical mark
ablaut · underlying · surface · conditioned · mutation · liaison · reduction
phoneme
Minimal distinctive sound unit
base · affix · prefix · suffix · infix · clitic · bound · free · syllable · word
affix
Word-part modifier
derivation · affixation · compounding · word-formation · neologism · coinage · productive · agentive · nominalization · adjectival
conjugation
Verb form variation system
- declensionNoun form variation
- tenseStrained or nervous
- aspectFeature or dimension
mood · voice · case · number · gender · person · agreement · pluralization · comparative · superlative
meaning
What something signifies
- signifierMeaning-bearing form
- lexemeFundamental dictionary unit
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
connotation · polysemy · homonymy · synonymy · etymon · cognate · semantic · content · function · transparent
phoneme
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- alternationSequential interchange of elements
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
- elisionDropped sounds in speech
umlaut · ablaut · underlying · surface · conditioned · mutation · liaison · reduction
- vocabularyword, words, new words, term, terms
- language termsgrammar, word, vocabulary, syntax, synonym
- etymologyword origins, word history, word origin, etymon, root words
- linguisticslinguistics, phoneme, phonemes, lexeme, nouns
- word studyword origins, word roots, word meaning, word meanings, word formation
- linguistic unitsword, phoneme, grapheme, syllable, letter
- bound morphemesWord-parts requiring attachment