Bound morpheme is a morpheme which cannot stand on their own word. Bound morpheme must be attached to a free morpheme in order to form a new word.

Word Free morpheme Bound

morpheme

Function

walks Walk -          - s To show tenses

and plurality

Unhappy Happy Un   -   - To change the

meaning of a

word

Walked Walk -          - ed To show tenses

Disagree agree Dis - - To change the

meaning of a word

Prefix Main area of meaning Examples

Auto- Self, without help Automatic, automobile,

Bi- Two Bicycle, binary, biped,

bilingual, bifocal

Bio- Living organism Biology, biodegradable,

biography, biodiversity

Co- Together Cooperative, coordinate,

cohabit, coeducation

Dec- Ten Deciliter, decimate,

decapods, decade, decibel

Sub- Below Submarine, substandard,

subhuman, submerge

Tri- Three Triangle, tripod, triennium,

trilogy, tricycle

Prefix Part of speech Examples

--en Verb or adjective Soften, darken, widen,

broken, golden, spoken

--cal Adjective Musical, practical,

historical, theatrical

--ing Present participle and

gerund

Swimming, reading,

opening, walking,

listening, learning

--ism noun Tourism, fascism,

racism, Hinduism

--ly Adverb Happily, slowly,

--ship noun Relationship,

partnership

--wards Adjective and adverb Backwards,

homewards,

upwards

Apart from the regular morphemes as described above, there are “irregular” morphemes. Some linguists called them “marked” morphemes in that they do not follow the rules in word-information.

Affixes