Free Form (Noun)
Meaning
A morpheme that can occur alone.
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Examples
- The word "run" is a free form that can be used as a verb to describe the act of moving quickly.
- In linguistics, the term "free form" refers to a word or morpheme that is not bound to another word, such as the word "happy".
- A root word like "eat" is a free form that can stand alone as a word.
- The word "dog" is an example of a free form that can be used as a noun to refer to a type of animal.
- In morphology, free forms are typically contrasted with bound forms, which are morphemes that cannot occur alone, like the suffix "-ed".