LETRS Morphology & Spelling

Question 1

What is the smallest unit of meaning in a language?

Accepted Answer

Morpheme

Answer

A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in language, distinct from a phoneme which is the smallest unit of sound.

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of a free morpheme?

Accepted Answer

book

Answer

A free morpheme can stand alone as a complete word; 'book' is independent, while -ing, un-, and -tion must attach to other morphemes.

Question 3

How many morphemes are in the word 'unbreakable'?

Accepted Answer

3

Answer

'Unbreakable' contains three morphemes: the prefix 'un-', the base 'break', and the suffix '-able'.

Question 4

What type of morpheme is the suffix '-ed' in the word 'walked'?

Accepted Answer

Inflectional morpheme

Answer

The suffix '-ed' is an inflectional morpheme that marks past tense without changing the word's part of speech or core meaning.

Question 5

Which of the following words contains a derivational morpheme?

Accepted Answer

teacher

Answer

'Teacher' contains the derivational suffix '-er,' which changes the verb 'teach' into a noun, creating a new word with a different part of speech.

(LETRS) Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling Practice Test