A prefix such as in the word unhappy, can be called a?
My answer was a morpheme but can't it also be called a phoneme?
un-
Yes, it's a morpheme because it carries one unit of meaning.
However, it's made by combining two phonemes: /u/ and /n/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme
a trick question because? of can be called
I don't understand that. Please re-type and proofread before you hit Post.
is this a trick question, because the question contained the word (can)
and un is a morpheme, not can be called
Great question! In the word "unhappy," the prefix "un-" is indeed a morpheme, but it is not a phoneme. Let me explain the difference between these two terms.
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of language. It can be a whole word, like "cat," or a part of a word, like the "un-" in "unhappy." A prefix is a type of morpheme that is added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning or create a new word altogether.
On the other hand, a phoneme refers to the smallest distinct unit of sound in a language. Phonemes are the building blocks of spoken words. In the word "unhappy," the sounds /ʌnˈhæpi/ represent phonemes, but the prefix "un-" itself is not a phoneme because it doesn't represent a distinct sound.
So, while the prefix "un-" in "unhappy" is a morpheme because it has a specific meaning, it is not a phoneme because it does not represent a sound.