Root, base and stem

Linguistics

1. Morphology Level-5 Root , Base and Stem

2. Root Root is the irreducible core of a word, with absolutely nothing else attached to it. Roots can be free morpheme or a word element which the other new words grow, usually through addition prefixes and suffixes. Example : Unhappy >happy(root )

3. S tem Stem is a word element to which grammatical or inflectional suffixes can be added. Every word that ends with inflectional suffixes, we called it ‘stem’. Inflectional suffixes: –s (plural) –s (possessive) –s (third singular person) – ed (past tense) –en (past participle) – ing (present participle) – er (comparative) – est (superlative)   Example : Bag (root) – bag(s) = bags (stem) Play (root) > player (base) > players (stem)

4. B ase Base is any unit of word to which affixes of any kind derivational/lexical can be added. All roots are bases. Bases are called stems only in the context of inflectional morphology. Example : Like (root )>dislike (base )>disliked (stem ) It means that stem ‘disliked’ come from base ‘ dislike

5. Crow base consisting of a single root Crows base consisting of a single root ; stem+ gram. Affix Crowbar base consisting of two roots crowbars stem+ gram . Affix Minority base consisting of root+ affix Gentlemanly base consisting of two roots+ lexical affix Southernmost base consisting of root+ lexical affix Deserted base consisting of a root; also a stem Irish- American base consisting of two bases, each consisting of a root+ a lexical affix Examples