Knowing the morpheme composition of a word is necessary not only for the correct performance of morpheme analysis, but also for the correct spelling of most words, since it is often necessary to know the correct spelling of a particular morpheme.
Morfemics, its subject and goals
In Russian linguistics there is a section devoted to the study of the system of morphemes and the morphemic structure of words and word forms, called morphemics. The main task of morphemics is the study and classification of morphemes, as well as the algorithm for dividing a word into morphemes.
Morpheme, being the basic unit of morphemic, is the smallest meaningful part of a word. At the same time, it is the smallest unit of language that matters. It is worth noting that the morpheme has differences with units of all other language levels. So, it differs from a sound by the presence of a meaning, from a word - by the absence of a grammatically formalized name, from a sentence - by the fact that it does not represent a communicative unit.
Word root
Each word of the Russian language can be divided into morphemes. All morphemes are divided into root(the root itself) and non-root ones (prefix, suffix, ending). And if non-root morphemes carry the grammatical meaning of the word, then the root expresses the lexical meaning. For example, in the words "underwater" and "water" the root "vod-" carries the meaning of "something associated with water." However, there are words whose meaning is not contained precisely in the root or in another morpheme. For example, the word "matinee" in the meaning of a children's holiday does not express its meaning in any of the morphemes.
The root is the main part of the word, without which it cannot exist. There are many words that can be used without a prefix, suffix or ending (forester, chair, taxi, etc.), but without the root, the word becomes a mere set of letters that does not make sense. The only exception is the only word in Russian that does not have a root. This is the word "take out", which consists of the prefix you-, the suffix -nu and the inflection -t. The absence of a root in this word can be explained by studying its etymology. The fact is that in the process of the development of the language, this word changed its appearance, and instead of the original version "take out", where the root -n- could be distinguished, the form "take out" came into use, where the root can only be distinguished etymologically.
All roots can be divided into free and bound. The former can be used both independently and in combination with various inflections (fireman, underwater, run, etc.). The latter are used only in combination with inflections (na-d-et, o-d-et, raz-d-et, etc.).
The word root is also defined as the common part of related words. But here, too, you need to remember that there are quite a few roots that can occur in only one word. For example, "alas", "cockatoo", some place names.
Single-root words
Words that have the same part (root) and are close in meaning are called single-root. For example: rain, rainy, raincoat; shoot, shot, shot down.
To correctly identify the root in a word, you need to pick up as many words with the same root as possible. That part of the word that is repeated in all cognates will be the root. However, there are nuances that should be taken into account when choosing cognate words.
First, do not confuse cognate words with related ones. All cognates are related, that is, they have something in common in their meaning, but not all related ones are cognate. This is due to the fact that some words in the process of their development have lost their original meaning. For example, the words "black" and "ink" are related, but they have different roots, although it is possible to trace the etymological connection between the meanings of these words. In modern language, the word "ink" in the sense of "a paste tucked into a writing rod" has lost its connection with the meaning of "black", since the ink can be of any color. Therefore, in order to correctly identify the root in related words, it is often necessary to trace their etymology.
Secondly, when selecting single-root words, you cannot use forms of one word. So, the words "cook", "cook", "cook" are the same root. And the words "boiled", "boiled", "boiled" are only forms of one word.
Third, we must not forget that there are homonymous roots. Such roots sound and look the same, but have different meanings. For example, the roots in the words "lead" and "water".
Compound words
Selecting a root in a word can be difficult even when it contains several roots. Such words are called compound. They are formed by adding two or even three words and combine their meanings. In order to correctly identify the roots in a word that is complex, you need to correctly determine its meaning. For example, a pedestrian (walks), a steel foundry (pouring steel), a concrete mixer (mixing concrete). Usually, the connecting vowels -o- (gas-o-wire) and -e- (oil-e-wire) are used to form words by addition.
Roots with alternation
In Russian, there are roots that allow several options for writing a vowel or consonant letter in the root, depending on the form of the word. Such roots are called interleaved roots. In such cases, knowing the possible alternations will help to highlight the root in the word. So, among the vowels, these are:
- o/a (burn - tan);
- o/e/i (burn - ignite - burn);
- o / s (and) (howl - howls, beaten - fight);
- o/s/y (dry - dry - dry);
- o/zero sound (sleep - dreams);
-e/zero sound (day - daytime).
The spelling of such roots may depend on stress, subsequent letters, location and lexical meaning and is determined by the rules.
Among the consonants, the following alternations are distinguished:
- g/f/z (friend - be friends - friends);
- c/h (hands - manual);
- d / railway (driver - counselor - escort);
- x/w (quiet - quieter);
- p/pl (blind - blinded);
- m/ml (feeding - feeding);
- b/bl (to love - in love);
- v / vl (catch - catch).
Spellings at the root of the word
Spelling is a place in a word where it is possible to make a mistake. Such places can be in any part of the word, including the root. Having singled out the spelling at the root of the word, first of all, you need to determine whether it is verifiable or unverifiable. The spelling of unchecked spellings must be checked in a dictionary and must be memorized. Among the checked spellings, there are: unstressed vowels in the root of the word, spelling of paired voiced and deaf consonants, spelling of unpronounceable consonants. To choose the correct spelling, you need to put the letter in doubt in a strong position. Such a position for a vowel will be stressed (fly - pilot), and for a consonant - before a vowel or sonorant (oak - oaks, hello - he alth, tooth - tooth). For quick and correct selection of test words, it is necessary to accurately selectroot in single-root words, which are test.
Thus, the ability to correctly identify the root in a word is one of the guarantees of a competent letter. To help in the formation of this skill, in addition to memorizing the rules, of course, reading can. After all, the more a person reads, the richer his vocabulary.
