Knowing the morphemic composition of a word is necessary not only for the correct execution of the morphemic analysis, but also for the correct spelling of most words, because it is often necessary to know the correct spelling of a particular morpheme.
Morphemic, 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 morphemic. The main task of morphemic is the study and classification of morphemes, as well as an algorithm for dividing a word into morphemes.
Morpheme, being the basic unit of morphemic, represents the least significant part of the 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 sound by the presence of meaning, from a word by the absence of a grammatically formed name, from a sentence by the fact that it does not represent a communicative unit.
Root of the word
Each word of the Russian language can be divided into morphemes. All morphemes are divided into root (root itself) and non-root (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 “water-” carries the meaning “something related to water”. However, there are words whose meaning is not 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 a root, a word becomes a simple set of letters that does not make sense. An exception is the only word in the Russian language that has no root. This word "take out", which consists of the prefix you, suffix -u and inflection -t. One can explain the absence of a root in this word by studying its etymology. The fact is that in the process of language development this word changed its appearance, and instead of the original version “take out”, where it was possible to isolate the root “n”, the form “take out” came into use, where the root can be distinguished only etymologically.
All roots can be divided into free and connected. The first can be used both independently and in combination with various inflections (fireman, underwater, running, etc.). The second are used only in combination with inflections (on-d-et, o-d-et, raz-d-et, etc.).
The root word is also defined as the common part of related words. But here you need to remember that there are quite a few roots that can be found in only one word. For example, "alas", "cockatoo", some geographical names.
Gang words
Words that have the same part (root) in their composition and are close in meaning are called cognate. For example: rain, rainy, raincoat; shoot, shot, shot down.
In order to correctly identify the root in a word, it is necessary to select as many root words as possible. That part of the word, which is repeated in all the same-root, will be the root. However, there are nuances that should be considered when selecting cognate words.
First, do not confuse cognate words with related words. All of the same-root are related, that is, they have in common something common, but not all related are the same-root. This is due to the fact that some words in the process of their development lost their original meaning. For example, the words “black” and “ink” are related, but they have different roots, although the etymological relationship of the meanings of these words can be traced. In the modern language, the word "ink" in the meaning "paste inserted into the writing core" has lost its connection with the meaning "black", because 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 cognate words, you cannot use the forms of one word. So, the words "cook", "cooking", "cooking" are cognate. And the words "boiled", "boiled", "boiled" are only forms of one word.
Thirdly, 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 "drive" and "water."
Difficult words
It can be difficult to isolate a root in a word even when it contains several roots. Such words are called complex. They are formed by adding two or even three words and combine their meanings. To correctly identify the roots in a word that is complex, you need to correctly determine its meaning. For example, a pedestrian (walking), steel (pouring steel), concrete mixer (mix concrete). Usually, the connecting vowels -– (gas-o-wire) and -e (oil-e-wire) are used to form words by addition.
Alternating Roots
In Russian, there are roots that allow several spelling of a vowel or consonant in the root, depending on the form of the word. Such roots are called alternating roots. In such cases, identifying the root in the word will help knowledge of possible alternations. So, among the vowels, these are:
- o / a (burn - tan);
- o / e / and (burn - light - burn);
- o / s (s) (howl - howls, beaten - battle);
- o / s / y (dry - dry - dry);
- o / zero sound (dream - dreams);
- e / zero sound (day - day).
The spelling of such roots may depend on the stress, subsequent letters, location and lexical meaning and is determined by the rules.
Among the consonants, the following alternations are distinguished:
- g / f / s (friend - make friends - friends);
- to / h (hands - manual);
- d / w / railway (driver - counselor - escort);
- x / w (quietly - quieter);
- n / a (blind - blinded);
- m / ml (feeds - feeding);
- b / bl (to love - in love);
- in / ow (catch - catch).
Spelling in the root of the word
The spelling is the place in the word where it is possible to make a mistake. Such places can be in any part of the word, including in the root. Having highlighted the spelling in the root of the word, you first need to determine whether it is checked or unverified. The spelling of unverified spelling should be checked in the dictionary and be sure to remember. Among the checked spellings, there are: unstressed root vowels, 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 sonor (oak - oaks, hello - health, tooth - dental). For quick and correct selection of test words, it is necessary to accurately identify the root in the root words, which are test words.
Thus, the ability to correctly identify the root in a word is one of the keys to literate writing. In addition to memorizing the rules, reading can certainly help in the formation of this skill. After all, the more a person reads, the richer his vocabulary.