Question

The smallest unit of meaning in a language is termed

• A. morpheme
• B. phoneme
• C. diphthong
• D. consonant

Answer 1

Answer:

A. morpheme

• A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language.
  Example:

  • Unhappiness → un- (prefix) + happy (root) + -ness (suffix)
    Each part carries meaning.

• A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound, not meaning.

• A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds in one syllable (like oi in coin).

• A consonant is a speech sound, not a meaning unit.