Mississippi Foundations of Reading Practice Test

What is a morpheme?

1. The smallest meaningful unit of speech

2. A part of speech used in grammar

3. A group of words forming a phrase

4. A sentence structure for communication

The correct answer is: The smallest meaningful unit of speech

A morpheme is defined as the smallest meaningful unit of speech. This means it is the most basic building block of language that carries meaning. Morphemes can stand alone as words, like "cat" or "run," or they can be parts of words, such as prefixes or suffixes, like "un-" or "-ing." Understanding morphemes is essential because they play a crucial role in word formation and can affect the meaning and grammatical function of words. In contrast to the correct answer, the other options address different aspects of language and grammar. A part of speech refers to categories of words based on their function in a sentence, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives, but it does not capture the concept of the smallest unit of meaning. A group of words forming a phrase focuses on how words come together to create larger units but does not convey the concept of individual meaning units. Lastly, a sentence structure pertains to how sentences are organized grammatically to convey complete thoughts, again not relating to the smallest meaningful components of meaning.