What are the smallest units of meaning within a language?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks about the smallest units of meaning within a language, so we need to evaluate each option for its relation to meaning.
Option 1: 'phonemes' are the smallest units of sound in a language, not units of meaning. They affect pronunciation and distinction between words, but by themselves they do not convey meaning. This makes phonemes incorrect as the smallest units of meaning.
Option 2: 'morphemes' are the smallest units of meaning or grammatical function in a language. They carry semantic content (like 'cat' as a word, or the plural suffix '-s' indicating more than one) or grammatical information, which directly ties to meaning. This makes morphemes the correct choice.
Option 3: 'sentences' are larger meaningful units composed of words and morphemes; they express complete propositions or questions but are far from the smallest units of meaning. Their structure and meaning rely on the combination of many smaller units, so this is not correct as the smallest units.
Option 4: 'words' are meaningful units, but they are not the smallest units of meaning because many words can be decomposed into morphemes that carry distinct semantic or grammatical information. For example, 'cats' contains the morpheme 'cat' plus the plural morpheme '-s'. Therefore, words alone are not the smallest meaningful units.
In summary, the option that aligns with the linguistic concept of the smallest meaningful units is morphemes, while the other choices refer to larger or non-meaningful units or overlook internal structure.

PSYC1_FA25_A00 Quiz 3

What are the smallest units of meaning within a language?

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