MORPHOLOGY

What is morpheme?

• A small unit of sound in a word.

• A small unit of meaning in a word.

• A combination of letters in a word.

• A type of punctuation mark.

Answer explanation

Morpheme, in linguistics, is the smallest grammatical unit of speech; it may be a word, like “place” or “an,” or an element of a word, like re- and -ed in “reappeared.” Variants of a morpheme are called allomorphs; the ending -s, indicating plural in “cats,” “dogs,” the -es in “dishes,” and the -en of “oxen” are all allomorphs of the plural morpheme. The word “talked” is represented by two morphemes, “talk” and the past-tense morpheme, here indicated by -ed. The study of words and morphemes is included in morphology (q.v.).

Which of the following is a bound morpheme?

• Un-

• Happy

• -ed

• Friend

Answer explanation

A bound morpheme is a word element that cannot stand alone as a word, including both prefixes and suffixes. Attaching a bound morpheme to a free morpheme, such as by adding the prefix "re-" to the verb "start," creates a new word or at least a new form of a word, in this case, "restart." Represented in sound and writing by word segments called morphs, bound morphemes can further be broken down into two categories, derivational and inflectional morphemes.

The word "unhappiness" consists of how many morphemes?

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Answer explanation

The word "unhappiness" consists of three morphemes:

1. "un-" (a bound morpheme, meaning "not")

2. "happy" (a free morpheme, root word)

3. "-ness" (a bound morpheme, used to form a noun meaning "state of")

Identify the prefix in the word "preview"

• view

• pre-

• re-

• pre-view

Answer explanation

A prefix is a type of morpheme, which is a meaningful linguistic unit that cannot be further divided into smaller meaningful parts. Specifically, a prefix is an affix that is added to the beginning of a word to modify or change its meaning. Prefixes can be used to create new words or alter the meanings of existing words.

What does the suffix "-able" mean in the word "comfortable"?

• Full of

• Without

• To make

• Able to

Answer explanation

The suffix "-able" in the word "comfortable" means "capable of" or "able to be."

In the context of "comfortable," the suffix "-able" is added to the root word "comfort" to form an adjective. The resulting word "comfortable" means "able to provide comfort" or "capable of giving a feeling of physical ease and relaxation."

Which of the following is a word family for the root word "play"?

• Player, played, playfully

• Plays, playing, playfully

• Played, playful, playtime

• Playful, played, playful

Answer explanation

The word family consists of words that are derived from the same root word "play."

In this case:

• "Player" is a noun form, referring to someone who participates in a game or sport.

• "Played" is the past tense of the verb "play," indicating an action that has already occurred.

• "Playfully" is an adverb form, describing an action done in a playful or light-hearted manner.

All these words are related to the root word "play" and form a word family with different parts of speech and meanings, showcasing the versatility of the word "play."

The word "unbelievable" is formed by adding which prefix to the root word?

• be-

• un-

• able-

• -able

Identify the root word in the word "happiness."

• Happy

• Happi-

• -ness

• happiness

Answer explanation

A root word is a basic word that carries the primary meaning of a word and cannot be further divided into smaller meaningful parts. It is the core of a word and forms the foundation upon which other words, known as derivatives, are built. Root words are the main lexical units from which many related words are derived through the addition of prefixes or suffixes.

What is the meaning of the root "bio" in the word "biography"?

• Life

• Study of

• Two

• Writing

Which of the following words contains a compound word?

• Suddenly

• Beautifully

• Daylight

• Careful

Answer explanation

A compound word is a type of word that is formed by combining two or more separate words to create a new word with a distinct meaning. When these individual words are combined, they work together to convey a single concept or idea. Compound words can be formed by combining nouns, verbs, adjectives, or other parts of speech.