Inflectional
morphemes of English
A.
Root,
derivational, and inflectional morphemes
Besides being bound or free, morphemes can also be classified as
root, derivational,or inflectional. A root morpheme is the basic form to which
othermorphemes are attached. It provides the basic meaning of the
word.Themorpheme {saw} is the root of sawers.
Derivational morphemes are addedto forms to create separate words:
{‑er}
is a derivational suffix whose additionturns a verb into a noun, usually
meaning the person or thing thatperforms the action denoted by the verb. For
example, {paint}+{-er} createspainter, one of whose meanings is “someone who
paints.”