The smallest speech unit in a language is called a while the smallest unit of meaning in a language is called a A. morpheme, phoneme
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
The correct answer is phoneme for the smallest speech unit in a language and morpheme for the smallest unit of meaning in a language.
Explanation
Phoneme: A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish one word from another. For example, in English, the words “bat” and “pat” differ in their initial phoneme /b/ and /p/. Although phonemes do not have meaning by themselves, their combination creates meaningful words. English has about 44 phonemes, though the exact number may vary depending on the dialect.
Phonemes are abstract representations of sound, and their actual pronunciation can vary slightly depending on the context. These variations are called allophones. For instance, the /p/ sound in “spin” is less aspirated than in “pin,” but both are recognized as the same phoneme.
Morpheme: A morpheme, on the other hand, is the smallest unit of meaning in a language. It can be a whole word (e.g., “cat”) or a part of a word (e.g., the suffix “-s” in “cats,” which indicates plurality). Morphemes are categorized into two types:
- Free morphemes: Can stand alone as words (e.g., “run,” “happy”).
- Bound morphemes: Cannot stand alone and must attach to other morphemes to convey meaning (e.g., prefixes like “un-” or suffixes like “-ed”).
While phonemes are the building blocks of sound, morphemes are the building blocks of meaning. For instance, in the word “unhappiness,” there are three morphemes:
- “un-” (a prefix meaning “not”),
- “happy” (a free morpheme conveying the root meaning),
- “-ness” (a suffix denoting a state or condition).
Understanding these units helps linguists analyze language structure, development, and usage across different languages.