Morphemes
* Definition: The smallest meaningful unit in a language. Think of them as the building blocks of words.
* Examples:
* "un-" (prefix meaning "not") as in "unhappy"
* "-ing" (suffix meaning "present participle") as in "running"
* "cat" (root word)
* "s" (plural morpheme) as in "cats"
* Key Features:
* Meaningful: They convey a specific concept.
* Can stand alone or be combined: "cat" can be a word by itself, but "un-" needs another word to make sense.
* Can be free or bound: "cat" is free, while "-ing" is bound.
Phonemes
* Definition: The smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish one word from another. Think of them as the sounds that make up words.
* Examples:
* /k/ (as in "cat")
* /æ/ (as in "cat")
* /t/ (as in "cat")
* /b/ (as in "bat") - notice how changing the first phoneme to /b/ changes the word entirely.
* Key Features:
* Sound-based: They are not about meaning, but rather how sounds are articulated.
* Not meaningful in isolation: They only get meaning when combined into words.
* Can be represented with symbols: The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a standard system for representing phonemes.
In a Nutshell:
* Morphemes are about meaning, phonemes are about sound.
* Morphemes build words, phonemes build morphemes.
Example:
Let's take the word "unhappily".
* Morphemes: "un-", "happy", "-ly" (meaning "not happy in a way")
* Phonemes: /ʌn/, /hæ/, /pi/, /li/
The morphemes create meaning, while the phonemes are the sounds that form the word.