The smallest units of meaningful speech are called:
A phonemes
B anomemes
C morphemes
D alfemes
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is C morphemes.
Explanation:
Morphemes are the smallest units of meaningful speech. They are the building blocks of words, and they carry meaning by themselves or when combined with other morphemes. For example, the word “unhappiness” can be broken down into three morphemes: “un-“, “happy”, and “-ness”. Each part contributes meaning, with “un-” meaning “not,” “happy” referring to the emotional state, and “-ness” turning the adjective into a noun.
Morphemes can be classified into two types: free morphemes and bound morphemes. Free morphemes can stand alone as words, like “book” or “run.” Bound morphemes, on the other hand, cannot stand alone and must attach to free morphemes to create meaning. Examples include prefixes like “un-” and suffixes like “-ing.”
While phonemes (answer A) are the smallest units of sound in speech, they do not carry meaning by themselves. They are the individual sounds that make up words. For example, the word “cat” is made up of three phonemes: /k/, /æ/, and /t/. Phonemes are essential for distinguishing words in spoken language but do not convey meaning on their own.
Anomemes (answer B) and alfemes (answer D) are not recognized linguistic terms. Therefore, they can be ruled out as options.
Understanding morphemes is crucial in linguistics because they provide insight into how language is structured. Morphemes combine in different ways to create complex meanings and expressions, making them foundational to syntax, semantics, and language development. By analyzing morphemes, linguists can examine how words and sentences are formed and how they evolve over time.