What is the Difference Between Morpheme and Phoneme?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚The main difference between a morpheme and a phoneme lies in their function and meaning within a language.
- Morpheme: A morpheme is the smallest unit of a word that provides a specific meaning to a string of letters. Morphemes can be classified into two main types: free morphemes and bound morphemes. Free morphemes can exist on their own as individual words (e.g., "eat" or "water"), while bound morphemes cannot exist on their own and are used to change or modify the meaning of a word(e.g., -er, -ing).
- Phoneme: A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that may cause a change of meaning within a language but that doesn't have meaning by itself. Phonemes correspond to the sounds of the alphabet, although there is not always a one-to-one relationship between a letter and a phoneme. For example, the word "dog" has three phonemes: /d/, /o/, and /g/.
In summary:
- Morphemes are the basic units of meaning within words.
- Phonemes are the basic units of sound in a language.
- Morphemes provide meaning to a string of letters, while phonemes do not have meaning on their own.
On this pageWhat is the Difference Between Morpheme and Phoneme? Comparative Table: Morpheme vs Phoneme
Comparative Table: Morpheme vs Phoneme
Here is a table comparing morphemes and phonemes:
Feature | Morphemes | Phonemes |
---|---|---|
Definition | Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. | Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in a language. |
Structure | Morphemes are a combination of sounds that cannot be divided into smaller units without losing their meaning. | Phonemes are individual sounds that make up words. |
Function | Morphemes provide meaning to words. | Phonemes are used to create different words and sounds. |
Examples | The word "dog" has three morphemes: "dog" itself, the plural morpheme "-s", and the possessive morpheme "'s". | The word "dog" has three phonemes: /d/, /o/, and /g/. |
In summary, morphemes are the smallest meaningful units of a language, while phonemes are the smallest units of sound. Morphemes provide meaning to words, whereas phonemes are used to create different words and sounds.
Read more:
- Phonology vs Morphology
- Word vs Morpheme
- Phoneme vs Grapheme
- Morpheme vs Allomorph
- Phoneme vs Allophone
- Phonetics vs Phonology
- Phonological Awareness vs Phonemic Awareness
- Inflectional vs Derivational Morphology
- Homonym vs Homophone
- Digraph vs Diphthong
- Spelling vs Pronunciation
- Differentiation vs Morphogenesis
- Anatomy vs Morphology
- Genotype vs Phenotype
- Photon vs Phonon
- Articulation vs Pronunciation
- Speech vs Language
- Verb Phrase vs Phrasal Verb
- Fricative vs Affricate