Morphemes
Many words in English are built from parts that each have a particular meaning. When you put these meanings together into one word, the meaning of the word is a combination of the meanings of the parts. Each part with a single meaning is called a MORPHEME.
unpack
| UN- | PACK |
| Prefix | Root |
| “reverse or not” | “put things inside something” |
“to take things out of something”
homeward
| HOME | -WARD |
| Root | Suffix |
| “where you live” | “in the direction of” |
“in the direction of home”
ungentlemanliness
| UN- | GENT | -LE | MAN | -LI | -NESS |
| Prefix | Root | Suffix | Root | Sufix | Suffix |
| “not” | “noble” | adj suffix | “man” | adj suffix | “state of being” |
“the state of being not like an noble man”
ROOTS
The main morpheme of a word is often called the ROOT. It carries the most important piece of meaning and many times, it can stand alone as its own word.
Find more roots organized by grade level in the book…
PREFIXES
Morphemes that are attached to the root are called AFFIXES. An affix that attaches to the beginning of a word before the root is called a PREFIX.
Find more prefixes organized by grade level in the book…
SUFFIXES
An affix that attaches after a root is called a SUFFIX.
Find more suffixes organized by grade level in the book…
INFIXES
INFIXES are affixes that are inserted between morphemes like spacers but have no meaning of their own.
- –O– as in ARACHNOPHOBIA
- –I– as in CARNIVORE
- –T– as in AQUATIC
- –N– as in EMBRYONIC
SUBMORPHEMES
SUBMORPHEMES are consonant clusters from Proto-Germanic (the grandfather of Anglox-Saxon and Norse) that seem to carry meaning.
Find a full explanation of submorphemes along with word lists in the book…