In the word ecologists, is eco the root morpheme or ology? Are the morphemes eco, log, y, ist, s or

ec, ology, ist, s ?

This is very confusing for me. Any explanation on how to find the root would be appreciated.

For example, on contributions are the morphemes con, trib, ute, ion, s or con, tribute, ion, s?

A good place to start is any good dictionary --

www.dictionary.com
www.onelook.com (there's a wide variety of dictionaries to choose from here)
www.answers.com

http://www.answers.com/topic/ecology-1
Look under the definitions. You'll see the major parts of this word that came to us from the Greek. The root is -log- from the Greek word for words or study; the prefix is from the Greek word oikos (house) and -ist is the suffix that indicates "a person who..."

I would divide up "ecologists" like this:

eco
log
ist
s

Try again with "contributions."

Would log be the root in ecologists?

contributions
con
tribu (t)(e)
ion
s

Yes, "log" is the root in "ecologists."

I almost agree with what you wrote for "contributions" -- see what you think:

con
tribu
tion
s

I am confused because I think on the word contribute, tribute would be the root. I'm just confused about why this would change on contributions.

To determine the root morpheme in a word, you need to break it down into its constituent parts or morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of a word. Let's break down the two words you provided: "ecologists" and "contributions."

In the word "ecologists," we can identify the following morphemes:

- "eco" is a morpheme derived from the Greek word "oikos," meaning "house" or "environment." It is commonly used as a prefix in words related to the environment or ecology.
- "log" is a morpheme derived from the Greek word "logos," meaning "study" or "speech." It is commonly used as a root meaning "study" or "knowledge."
- "ist" is a morpheme derived from the Greek word "istes," meaning "one who does" or "follower of." It is commonly used as a suffix to denote a person or specialist.
- "s" is a morpheme used as a plural ending.

Therefore, the separate morphemes in "ecologists" are "eco," "log," "ist," and "s."

In the word "contributions," we can identify the following morphemes:

- "con" is a morpheme derived from the Latin word "con," meaning "with" or "together." It is commonly used as a prefix meaning "together" or "with."
- "trib" is a morpheme derived from the Latin word "tribuere," meaning "to allot" or "to assign." It is commonly used as a root meaning "to give" or "to allocate."
- "ute" is a morpheme derived from the Latin word "uti," meaning "to use." It is commonly used as a root meaning "to use" or "to employ."
- "ion" is a morpheme derived from the Latin word "io" or "ionis," which indicates action or condition. It is commonly used as a suffix to indicate a process, action, or result.
- "s" is a morpheme used as a plural ending.

Therefore, the separate morphemes in "contributions" are "con," "trib," "ute," "ion," and "s."

To find the root morpheme in a word, it is essential to understand the etymology, or origin, of the word and identify the meaningful components within it. By breaking down words into their constituent parts, you can determine the core or essential meaning of each morpheme, including prefixes, roots, and suffixes.