What is the smallest unit of meaning in language called?

What is the smallest unit of meaning in language called?

• A. Syllable
• B. Morpheme
• C. Phoneme
• D. Lexeme

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how language is built from meaningful pieces called morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest unit that carries meaning or grammatical function. It’s different from a phoneme, which is just a distinct sound, and from a syllable, which is a rhythmical chunk of sounds without itself carrying meaning. Consider a word like cats. It has two morphemes: cat (the free morpheme that can stand alone) and s (a bound morpheme that marks plural). The combination gives the plural meaning of the word. Another example is unhappiness, which shows three morphemes: un- (bound, negation), happy (the root free morpheme with the core meaning), and -ness (bound, turning it into a noun). The overall meaning comes from how these morphemic pieces work together. Lexemes are related but different concepts: a lexeme is the dictionary form of a word (like go) and can have multiple related forms; morphemes are the building blocks that modify or extend meaning or grammar.

The idea being tested is how language is built from meaningful pieces called morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest unit that carries meaning or grammatical function. It’s different from a phoneme, which is just a distinct sound, and from a syllable, which is a rhythmical chunk of sounds without itself carrying meaning.

Consider a word like cats. It has two morphemes: cat (the free morpheme that can stand alone) and s (a bound morpheme that marks plural). The combination gives the plural meaning of the word.

Another example is unhappiness, which shows three morphemes: un- (bound, negation), happy (the root free morpheme with the core meaning), and -ness (bound, turning it into a noun). The overall meaning comes from how these morphemic pieces work together.

Lexemes are related but different concepts: a lexeme is the dictionary form of a word (like go) and can have multiple related forms; morphemes are the building blocks that modify or extend meaning or grammar.