What is a morpheme?

A morpheme is defined as the smallest unit of meaning in a language. This definition is central to understanding how language is constructed, as morphemes can be whole words or parts of words such as prefixes, suffixes, or roots. For example, the word "unhappiness" can be broken down into three morphemes: the prefix "un-", the root "happy", and the suffix "-ness". Each of these morphemes contributes to the overall meaning of the word.

Understanding morphemes is crucial in linguistics and in the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students because it helps learners grasp the building blocks of language, which is essential for developing vocabulary and comprehension skills. In contrast, other options, such as a complete sentence, a type of phonetic sound, or a grammatical structure in syntax, refer to larger constructs in language that do not capture the foundational nature of what a morpheme represents.