Grammar: Morpheme & Allomorphs

Revised as of
2 Feb 2023

Morphemes are another of those background bits of linguistic information you MIGHT want to know about. It is a fancy word for the smallest possible word that is still understood as a whole word: dance, possible, fancy, man, dog, truck, meat, pail, etc.

Naturally, linguists have drilled down even further and divided this lone single unit into different categories: free morphemes, bound morphemes, and unique morphemes, which themselves are divided into subcategories.

A morpheme and a free morpheme are the same thing. A bound morpheme simply means it’s not a standalone word. A unique morpheme is similar to the bound form, but it imparts a very specific meaning to its root word. And let’s not forget the allomorphs.

There is no easy (or sensible) definition for an allomorph, as it is so many different things. I’m surprised that linguists haven’t come up with more, and in some cases, better terms and more categories. The easiest explanation for the allomorph is anything that changes a morpheme.

A lexeme is not the same thing, even though it seems to be.

Other Posts on Theoretical Linguistics

Other posts on the primary theoretical categories can be explored:

• Intro to Theoretical Linguistics
• Phonetics – the study of the physical production, acoustics, and hearing of speech sounds
• Phonology – the abstract study of the sound systems of languages in their cognitive aspects
• Pragmatics – the study of how language is used (in context)
• Semantics – the study of words and meanings
• Syntax – the study of how words and phrases make sentences

Linguistics is . . .

. . . the systematic study of the nature, structure, and variation of language (of which grammar is a part), which describes how people use language. For the writer, how words are used (or spelled!) determines a character’s social and educational level and the time period for the story.

As I discover more examples, also-known-ases, and additions, I’ll update this post. If you have a suggestion, I would appreciate you contacting me. If you found this post on “Morphemes & Allomorphs” interesting, consider tweeting it to your friends. Subscribe to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

Morphemes and Allomorphs
A Morpheme is . . . Definition: The smallest unit of a word that is still a word. An Allomorph is . . . Definition: A variant form of a morpheme that can refer to affixes, word endings, or adjacent word choices, and can change the sound of the word although the changes do not change the meaning of the word. It can include creating a plural, tenses, choice of article, and more. A.k.a., morphemic variant, morphemic POST CONTENTS: Deconstruction of a Morpheme Base Root Affix Clitic Proclitic Enclitic Deconstruction of an Allomorph Three Types of Morphemes: Free Morpheme, a.k.a., unbound morpheme Content Words Function Words Bound Morpheme Derivational Morpheme Inflectional Morpheme Unique Morpheme, a.k.a., cranberry morpheme Three Types of Allomorphs: Phonologically Conditioned Additive Allomorph Morphologically Conditioned Allomorphy Lexically Conditioned Allomorphy Replacive Allomorph Zero Allomorph Suppletion Allomorph
Deconstruction of a Morpheme
It’s easiest to explain what a morpheme is by breaking words down.
Structure of a Morpheme
Base	Definition: A morpheme that gives a word — without prefixes and suffixes — its meaning. A base morpheme must be able to stand alone. A.k.a. free morpheme
Return to top or post contents	Dog is a base morpheme and gives the word dogs its meaning: a particular type of animal.
	Examples of the Structure
	dog	one morpheme, one syllable
	dogs	two morphemes, one syllable – dog + s (The s is also a plural marker on the noun.)
	technique	one morpheme, two syllables Even though the word has two syllables, it is a single morpheme because it cannot be broken down into smaller meaningful parts.
	unladylike	three morphemes – un- + lady + -like, four syllables – un- + la + dy + -like None of these morphemes can be broken up any more without losing all sense of meaning: lady cannot be broken up into la and dy, even though they are separate syllables. Note that each syllable has no meaning on its own.
Root	Definition: Parts of words which contain meaning, usually stemming from Latin and Greek. They often cannot stand alone as words, although sometimes they can.
Return to top or post contents	Aud – hearing. It does not make sense on its own, but linked with other letters it does: audible. E.g., “The origin of audible is from the late Latin audibilis, from audire meaning hear.”
Affix	Definition: A morpheme that comes at the beginning (prefix) or end (suffix) of a base morpheme.
Return to top or post contents	Most are one morpheme, one syllable: pre- -s -ing in-
Clitic	Definition: It’s a contraction, a cross between an affix and a word. They must be joined to another word and are so short they can’t be pronounced alone. Using a clitic sets an informal tone and aids in describing your character(s). Not using a clitic sets a formal tone, creating a character who appears snobbish, prissy, or simply more formal, more educated. Never use a clitic in a formal paper or report. Nordquist
Return to top or post contents	have‘nt hafta I‘m she‘ll student‘s there‘re we‘ve will‘ve women‘s’ve Legend: Green indicates the clitic
Proclitic	Definition: A clitic formed at the start of a word.
Return to top or post contents	do you d’you it is ‘tis Legend: Green indicates the proclitic
Enclitic	Definition: A clitic formed at the end of a word.
Return to top or post contents	she is she has she‘s do not don’t Legend: Green indicates the enclitic
	NOTE: Sometimes a proclitic and an enclitic are combined in one word.
	it is not ‘tisn’t Legend: Green indicates the proclitic Blue indicates the enclitic
Types of Morphemes
Free Morpheme	Definition: A morpheme that can stand alone and cannot be divided into smaller word units. A good test McIntyre suggests is if the word can stand alone as the answer to a question, it’s a free morpheme. A.k.a. base, free form, free root, free-standing morpheme, unbound morpheme
Return to top or post contents	Breakdown of a Morpheme
	Free Morpheme Free + Bound Morpheme (allomorph) ant black car fish happy hunt think war dis-pleas-ure electr-ic nerv-ous tree-s walk-ed who-se
Content Word	Definition: A word that conveys information in a text or speech that conveys an idea to someone else. Typical content words include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. A.k.a., lexical word, open
Return to top or post contents	book geranium happy large quick purple run throw victory
Function Word	Definition: Performs some kind of grammatical role and carries little meaning of their own. They are only understood when combined with other words in a sentence. A.k.a., grammatical word, closed
Return to top or post contents	a and but in -ly of pre- some that the there to
Bound Morpheme	Definition: A morpheme that appears only as part of a larger word or that occurs in only one phrase. For a bound morpheme to make sense, you have to add another morpheme. Prefixes and suffixes are bound root morphemes. A.k.a., bound form, bound root morphemes, bound root
Return to top or post contents	Bound Morpheme Morpheme Bound Morpheme Morpheme -ed sailed -ing singing -est lightest -ly motherly -er girder -s houses funct defunct function
Derivational Morpheme	Definition: Modifies a word by forming a new word out of old words. Prefixes simply make a new noun out of a noun while suffixes are generally added to a verb or adjective to form a noun.
Return to top or post contents	Derivational Prefix
	Definition: When a prefix is added to a noun, it supposedly forms a new noun with a different meaning.
	Prefix Morpheme Becomes ex- terminate (noun) exterminate (verb) im- peach (noun, verb) impeach (verb) out- patient (noun) outpatient (noun) re- trial (noun, verb) retrial (noun) sub- group (noun, verb) subgroup (noun) un- nerve (noun) unnerve (verb)
	Derivational Suffix
	Definition: Suffixes are generally added to a verb or adjective to form a noun with a different meaning and changing the part of speech as well.
	Suffix Morpheme Becomes -able solve (verb) solvable (adjective) -er arch (adjective, noun, verb) archer (noun) -ish style (noun) stylish (adjective) -ous courage (noun) courageous (adjective) -y fizz (noun, verb) fizzy (adjective)
Inflectional Morpheme	Definition: Modifies a word to fit its role in a sentence — conjugation and declension — without changing its underlying meaning. This can be done through tense, number, possession, or comparison Be aware that some suffixes can perform in either derivational or inflectional.
Return to top or post contents	Inflectional Morpheme (Prefix or Suffix) Morpheme Becomes Part of Grammar -s flower flowers plural -es teach teaches 3rd person present ‘s Ann Ann’s possessive, singular s’ girls girls’ possessive, plural -ed book booked past tense -en dead deaden new word -er teach teacher noun, person -est black blackest comparison -ing bait baiting gerund, present participle
Unique Morpheme	Definition: Resembles bound morphemes because they cannot stand alone and mean something, but they still contribute meaning to a word. Another name for the unique morpheme is cranberry morph because the cran provides a “unique” explanation for the unique morpheme. While not a free morpheme, cran is considered a root because of its similarity to the roots in black-berry, blue-berry, snow-berry, or wax-berry. Cran differentiates the (cran)berry from any others. A.k.a., cranberry morph, cranberry word, blocked morpheme, bound root, leftover morpheme
Return to top or post contents	Unique Resulting Unique Resulting -ter laughter -ept inept mul- mulberry -kempt unkempt luke- lukewarm -ane inane -ert inert -teen umpteen -gruntled disgruntled aff- affable
Deconstruction of an Allomorph
It’s easiest to explain an allomorph by dissecting it.
Structure of an Allomorph
Morpheme With Allomorph Morpheme With Allomorph ceive con-ceive de-ceive re-ceive re-ceive-er re-ceiv-able em em-bitter em-body em-bolden em-panel em-power em-prison cept con-cept con-cept-ion con-cept-ual de-cept-ive re-cept-ion en en-chain en-danger en-large en-list en-slave en-snare en-tangle duke duke-dom duch-ess duch-y
Types of Allomorphs
Phonologically Conditioned Allomorphy	Definition: Sound-based allomorphs which includes indefinite articles and additive allomorphs.
Return to top or post contents	Basic Word Ending Sounds Morpheme Allomorph Sounds Like… Morpheme Allomorph Sounds Like… awesome -zm fished talked -t boxes -zz grabbed -d busses -iz hats -s cats -s wanted əd dogs judges -z
	Rule: Whether a or an is the allomorph chosen depends on how an adjacent morpheme is pronounced.
	Indefinite Article Allomorphs a ball a dog a flower a window an eagle an hotel an inch an Oscar
Additive Allomorph	Rule: Adding an affix changes the tense or creates a positive or negative impression, and the word sound may change.
Return to top or post contents	Regular Past Tense Morphemes Negative Prefixes Sounds like id after d or t: defeated heated threaded waded Sounds like il before l: illegal illegible Sounds like t after all other voiceless sounds: hissed picked ripped Sounds like im before bilabial sounds: immature impossible Sounds like d after all other voiced sounds: fizzed howled measured wedged Sounds like in elsewhere: ineligible inexpensive independent Sounds like un elsewhere: unassailable
Morphologically Conditioned Allomorphy	Rule: Structure-based allomorphs. This is typical of English in that there is no one-size-fits-all rule.
Return to top or post contents	assume assumption assumptive assumable consume consumption consumptive consumable presume presumption presumptuous presumable resume resumption resumptive resumable subsume subsumption subsumptive subsumable -ally an-throp-olog-ic-ally lin-guist-ic-ally lit-er-ally phys-ic-ally -ly ac-cid-ent-ly ac-cid-ent-al-ly
Lexically Conditioned Allomorphy	Definition: Forms a plural for nouns using a simple plural of -s or -es, the replacive, or zero allomorphs. It’s also about the formation of different verb tenses — suppletion allomorphs. Caution: The choice of allomorph is unpredictable and must be memorized on a word-by-word basis.
Return to top or post contents	Simple Plural uses -s or -es
	girl girls box boxes school schools minus minuses flower flowers fox foxes plane planes wrench wrenches
Replacive Allomorph	Definition: Replaces letters within the word to create plurals using -en, irregular plurals, or past tense forms.
Return to top or post contents	-en Plurals brother brethren child children man men woman women ox oxen
	Noun-Verb Replacives
	Definition: A rare type of replacive morpheme which distinguishes nouns from verbs.
	Noun Verb Noun Verb advice advise sheath sheathe bath bathe shelf shelve grief grieve strife strive half halve teeth teethe safe save thief thieve serf serve wreath wreathe
	Irregular Plurals
	foot feet goose geese mouse mice tooth teeth alumnus alumna alumni alumnae criterion criteria stratum strata
	Irregular Past Tenses
	swim swam swum drink drank drunk sing sang sung bring brought take took taken break broke broken
Zero Allomorph	Definition: There is no change from singular to plural.
Return to top or post contents	deer cattle fish sheep
Suppletion	Definition: Allomorphs of a morpheme are phonologically unrelated and changes the shape of the word.
	be am are is was been go goes went gone good better best one first bad worse worst

Return to top

C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Linguistics posts by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

Return to top

Resources for Morphemes and Allomorphs

Galasso, Joseph. Analyzing English Grammar: An Introduction to Feature Theory. California State University-Northridge. 5 May 2002. 6 April 2019. <http://www.csun.edu/~galasso/handbook1.pdf>.

Nordquist, Richard. “Clitics in English.” Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms. English. Humanities. ThoughtCo. 21 July 2019. Web. 9 May 2022. <https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-clitic-words-1689757>.

Quinion, Michael. “Affixes: The Building Blocks of English“, based on his book Ologies and Isms: Word Beginnings and Endings Oxford University Press, 2002.

“Roots and Shoots Spelling.” Highland Literacy. n.d. Web. 1 Feb 2023. <https://highlandliteracy.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/greek-and-latin-roots-for-roots-and-shoots-spelling.pdf>.

Return to top

Pinterest Photo Credits:

Building Blocks for Kids is courtesy of Simple Home Design.