Morphology: Free or Bound? 1.1
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Question 1 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
'opt'
Many employees are opting out of becoming union members.
A | free |
B | bound
Hint: ‘opt’ can stand on its own as a word with meaning.
ex: Mary will opt to take a salary cut. |
Question 2 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
'ish'
Harriet's' childish behavior at the party embarrassed Clark.
A | bound
|
B | free Hint: ‘ish’ cannot exist as a word without being attached to a root. Note that this may be changing....... 'ish' alone may mean 'kind of' or 'sort of' in certain speech communities. Presently it is considered a bound suffix. Other words to which 'ish' may be attached: self-ish, green-ish |
Question 3 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
're'
Yori is returning from France tomorrow.
A | bound
|
B | free Hint: ‘re’ cannot exist as a word without being attached to a root.
Other roots to which it can attach: re-unite, re-write |
Question 4 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
'able'
The Batmobile is not available to drive until Monday.
A | free Hint: Although ‘able’ is an adjective (a free morpheme), as a suffix it must always be attached to a root. Other words to which 'able' may be attached: do-able, read-able |
B | bound
|
Question 5 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
'luke'
Spiderman likes his bathwater lukewarm.
A | free Hint: Don’t confuse the name ‘Luke’ with this bound morpheme (root). ‘luke’ only has meaning when attached to ‘warm’ in the compound word 'lukewarm', otherwise it has no meaning attached to it, thus it is bound. |
B | bound
|
Question 6 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
'sand'
Jack built a sandbox for Jill.
A | free |
B | bound
Hint: ‘sand’ can stand on its own as a word with its own meaning. When 'sand' is removed from the compound 'sandbox', it maintains the same meaning it has as a free root. |
Question 7 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
'fore'
Harriet's forehead was burning with fever.
A | bound
|
B | free Hint: ‘fore’ can stand on its own as an adjective or noun, however in the example above, 'fore' is a bound prefix meaning before, front, superior, etc.
Other roots to which it can be attached: fore-shadow, fore-most, etc. |
Question 8 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
'ept'
Mary Jo's inept attempt at finding a solution to the demise of the company got her fired.
A | free Hint: Although ‘inept’ is a word, ‘ept’ cannot exist alone as a word without being attached to the morpheme ‘in.’ Thus it is bound. |
B | bound
|
Question 9 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
'ly'
Barbie openly admitted to Ken that she loved Batman.
A | free Hint: 'ly' can only have meaning when attached to a root or stem.
Other roots to which it can be attached: sad-ly, light-ly |
B | bound
|
Question 10 |
Choose whether this morpheme is bound or free.
'gem'
As the Duchess placed the gemstones on the table, they sparkled in the sunlight.
A | bound
Hint: ‘gem’ can stand on its own as a word with its own meaning. In the context of the compound word 'gemstone', if 'gem' is removed from 'gemstone' it can stand on its on as a free morpheme. |
B | free |
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