How many morphemes are in crocodile? 2. How many morphemes are in activity
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Correct Answers:
- Crocodile: 1 morpheme
- Activity: 2 morphemes
Explanation
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in the grammar of a language. Morphemes can be classified as either free morphemes (which can stand alone as words) or bound morphemes (which must attach to another morpheme to convey meaning).
1. Crocodile (1 morpheme):
The word crocodile consists of just one morpheme. It is a simple word that cannot be broken down into smaller meaningful parts in English. While crocodile may seem to have parts like croco- and -dile, these segments do not carry meaning independently in English. The word comes from the Greek krokodilos, meaning “lizard,” but this origin is not relevant for morpheme analysis in modern English unless the parts carry recognizable, independent meaning now. Thus, crocodile is considered monomorphemic.
2. Activity (2 morphemes):
The word activity has two morphemes:
- act (free morpheme): This is the root word, which carries the core meaning, related to action or doing something.
- -ivity (bound morpheme): This is a suffix that turns verbs or adjectives into nouns, indicating a state, quality, or condition. It cannot stand alone and must be attached to a base.
So, activity = act (meaning “to do” or “perform”) + -ivity (meaning “state or condition”). Together, they form a noun meaning “the condition or state of acting or doing.”
This combination shows the importance of morphological structure in understanding word formation in English. Recognizing morphemes helps in vocabulary development, spelling, grammar understanding, and even language learning.
In summary:
- Crocodile is a single morpheme, a basic lexical item.
- Activity contains two morphemes, with a clear root and a derivational suffix.
