Difference between revisions of "Root (definition)"

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Roots are the base form of words that cannot be further analyzed into [[Morpheme (definition)|morphemes]]. Not to be confused with [[Stem (definition)|stem]]. For example, given the word “'''sing'''-er” the verb sing is the root, and –er is the derivational affix, which changes the word into a noun. Or in the word “'''child'''-ren” Child is the root, and –ren is the inflectional affix that indicates the plural.
It can be combined with other derivational or inflectional affixes in order to change form, tense, or number, but the root itself cannot be broken down into any smaller parts. For example, given the word “'''sing'''-er” the verb sing is the root, and –er is the derivational affix, which changes the word into a noun. Or in the word “'''child'''-ren” Child is the root, and –ren is the inflectional affix that indicates the plural.  
 
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==

Revision as of 12:10, 16 June 2012

Roots are the base form of words that cannot be further analyzed into morphemes. Not to be confused with stem. For example, given the word “sing-er” the verb sing is the root, and –er is the derivational affix, which changes the word into a noun. Or in the word “child-ren” Child is the root, and –ren is the inflectional affix that indicates the plural.

See Also

External Links

The link below takes you away from the Gaelic Wiki to Wikipedia. Since wikipedia pages can be edited by anyone, they often contain inaccurate information. So be careful! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_(linguistics)

References

  • Crystal, D. (2008) Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. 6th Edition. Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Matthews, P. H. (1997) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.