Editing Morpheme (section)

== Classification ==
===Free and bound morphemes===
{{main|Bound and free morphemes}}
Every morpheme can be classified as free or bound:<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://ling.ohio-state.edu/~kdk/201/autumn01/slides/morphology-4up.pdf |title=Morphology |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320115048/http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu//~kdk/201/autumn01/slides/morphology-4up.pdf |archive-date=2014-03-20 |access-date=19 March 2014 |work=Linguistics 201: Introduction to Language in the Humanities |date=October 22, 2001 |first1=Kordula |last1=De Kuthy }}</ref>
* Free morphemes can function independently as words (e.g. ''town'', ''dog'') and can appear within [[lexeme]]s (e.g. ''town hall'', ''doghouse'').
* Bound morphemes appear only as parts of words, always in conjunction with a [[root (linguistics)|root]] and sometimes with other bound morphemes. For example, ''un-'' appears only when accompanied by other morphemes to form a word. Most bound morphemes in English are affixes, specifically [[prefixes]] and [[suffixes]]. Examples of suffixes are ''-tion'', ''-sion'', ''-tive'', ''-ation'', ''-ible'', and ''-ing''. Bound morphemes that are not affixed are called [[cranberry morpheme]]s.

=== Classification of bound morphemes ===
Bound morphemes can be further classified as derivational or inflectional morphemes. The main difference between them is their function in relation to words.

==== Derivational bound morphemes ====
* [[Derivation (linguistics)|Derivational]] morphemes, when combined with a root, change the semantic meaning or the [[part of speech]] of the affected word. For example, in the word ''happiness'', the addition of the bound morpheme ''-ness'' to the root ''happy'' changes the word from an [[adjective]] (''happy'') to a [[noun]] (''happiness''). In the word ''unkind'', ''un-'' functions as a derivational morpheme since it inverts the meaning of the root morpheme (word) ''kind''. Generally, morphemes that affix to a root morpheme (word) are bound morphemes.

==== Inflectional bound morphemes ====
* [[Inflection]]al morphemes modify the [[grammatical tense|tense]], [[aspect (linguistics)|aspect]], [[mood (linguistics)|mood]], [[personal pronoun#Person and number|person]], or [[number (linguistics)|number]] of a [[verb]] or the [[grammatical number|number]], grammatical [[gender (linguistics)|gender]], or [[case (linguistics)|case]] of a noun, adjective, or [[pronoun]] without affecting the word's meaning or class ([[part of speech]]). Examples of applying inflectional morphemes to words are adding ''-s'' to the root ''dog'' to form ''dogs'' and adding ''-ed'' to ''wait'' to form ''waited''. An inflectional morpheme changes the form of a word. English has eight inflections.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://faculty.unlv.edu/nagelhout/ENG411Bs12C/mod1concept2.html| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130218050235/http://faculty.unlv.edu/nagelhout/ENG411Bs12C/mod1concept2.html| archive-date = 2013-02-18| work= ENG 411B | title =Module 1 Concepts: Inflectional Morpheme }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Matthew |first1=Baerman |title=The Morpheme |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199591428 |page=8 |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199591428.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199591428-e-1?print=pdf |access-date=30 September 2019 |archive-date=16 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616052307/https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199591428.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199591428-e-1?print=pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Allomorphs===
[[Allomorph]]s are variants of a morpheme that differ in form but are semantically similar. For example, the English plural [[marker (linguistics)|marker]] has three allomorphs: {{IPA|/-z/}} (''bug'''s'''''), {{IPA|/-s/}} (''bat'''s'''''), or {{IPA|/-ɪz, -əz/}} (''bus'''es'''''). An allomorph is a concrete realization of a morpheme, which is an abstract unit. That is parallel to the relation of an [[allophone]] and a [[phoneme]].

===Zero-morpheme===
{{Main|Zero morpheme}}
A zero-morpheme is a type of morpheme that carries [[semantics|semantic]] meaning, but is not represented by [[auditory system|auditory]] phoneme. A word with a zero-morpheme is analyzed as having the morpheme for grammatical purposes, but the morpheme is not realized in speech. They are often represented by /[[∅]]/ within [[gloss (annotation)|glosses]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gerner|first1=Matthias|last2=Ling|first2=Zhang|date=2020-05-06|title=Zero morphemes in paradigms|url=https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/sl.16085.ger|journal=Studies in Language. International Journal Sponsored by the Foundation "Foundations of Language"|language=en|volume=44|issue=1|pages=1–26|doi=10.1075/sl.16085.ger|s2cid=218935697|issn=0378-4177|access-date=2020-09-15|archive-date=2020-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919195529/https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/sl.16085.ger|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Generally, such morphemes have no visible changes. For instance, ''sheep'' is both the singular and the plural form of that noun; rather than taking the usual plural suffix ''-s'' to form hypothetical ''*sheeps'', the plural is analyzed as being composed of ''sheep + -∅'', the null plural suffix. The intended meaning is thus derived from the [[co-occurrence]] determiner (in this case, "some-" or "a-").<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dahl|first1=Eystein Dahl|last2=Fábregas|first2=Antonio|title=Zero Morphemes|url=https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-592|access-date=3 November 2019|website=Linguistics|year=2018|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.592|isbn=978-0-19-938465-5|archive-date=3 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103023401/https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-592|url-status=live}}</ref>

In some cases, a zero-morpheme may also be used to contrast with other inflected forms of a word that contain an audible morpheme. For example, the plural noun ''cats'' in English consists of the root ''cat'' and the plural suffix ''-s,'' and so the singular ''cat'' may be analyzed as the root inflected with the null singular suffix -''∅''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Null morpheme – Glottopedia |url=http://www.glottopedia.org/index.php/Null_morpheme |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=glottopedia.org |archive-date=2022-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622125205/http://www.glottopedia.org/index.php/Null_morpheme |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Content vs. function===
[[Content morpheme]]s express a concrete meaning or ''content'', and function morphemes have more of a grammatical role. For example, the morphemes ''fast'' and ''sad'' can be considered content morphemes. On the other hand, the suffix ''-ed'' is a function morpheme since it has the grammatical function of indicating [[past tense]].

Both categories may seem very clear and intuitive, but the idea behind them is occasionally more difficult to grasp since they overlap with each other.<ref>{{cite web|title=Morphology II|url=http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_1998/ling001/morphology2.html|access-date=10 April 2014|archive-date=16 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316184334/http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_1998/ling001/morphology2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Examples of ambiguous situations are the [[preposition]] ''over'' and the [[determiner]] ''your'', which seem to have concrete meanings but are considered function morphemes since their role is to connect ideas grammatically.<ref name="language files">{{cite book|title=Language files: Materials for an introduction to language and linguistics|date=2011|publisher=Ohio State University Press|author=Department of Linguistics|edition=11th}}</ref> Here is a general rule to determine the category of a morpheme:
* Content morphemes include free morphemes that are nouns, [[adverbs]], [[adjectives]], and main verbs and bound morphemes that are bound roots and derivational affixes.<ref name="language files" />
* Function morphemes may be free morphemes that are prepositions, [[pronoun]]s, determiners, auxiliary verbs and [[Conjunction (grammar)|conjunctions]]. They may be bound morphemes that are inflectional affixes.<ref name="language files" />