Morphology: TerminologySome of these words may have other meanings; the meanings listed below are the ones relevant to the activityAllomorph: A variant of a morpheme. In English, the plural endings "s" and "es" are allomorphs-- they both mark the plural, but appear in different contexts determined by the consonant to which the ending is attached. Morph, morpho: A word element whose meaning is "form" or "structure". May join another element as a prefix or a suffix (e.g., morpheme, allomorph) Morpheme: A minimal unit of meaning, or a unit that cannot be further divided into smaller grammatical parts. E.g., "microwave" has two morphemes: "micro" (small) and "wave". None of these can be further divided into independent units of meaning. Morphology: The study of patterns in word formation and the behavior of morphemes. -logy: A final form used in names of sciences, areas of study, and writing collections (e.g., psychology, trilogy) |