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17 March, 04:49

In the word "toaster" there are two units of meaning: "toast" and "-er." What is the general term, used in descriptive linguistics, for these units of meaning?

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  1. 17 March, 06:26
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    Morpheme

    Explanation:

    Morpheme is the general term that is used in descriptive linguistics, for these units of meaning. A morpheme can be defined as the smallest unit with meaningful idea. Unlike a word, which can stand by its own, a morpheme may or may stand alone depending upon type of morpheme. They are classified into two types;

    1. Free Morpheme - they can function independently

    2. Bound Morpheme - they are dependent on other words, root, or other bound morphemes and also includes prefixes and suffixes.

    For example:

    un-trace-able is made up of three morphemes;

    un - a bound morpheme meaning 'not'

    trace - root, a free morpheme (can function independently)

    able - free morpheme meaning 'to do something'

    Morphemes are also categorized as either content morphemes or function morphemes.

    Function morphemes = > prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions etc.

    Content morphemes = > nouns, adverbs, adjectives, verbs etc
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