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What is the difference between morpheme and word?

A morpheme is the smallest unit in language that carries a meaning. While, a word is the smallest free form in language that can be uttered in isolation and consist of one or more morphemes.

- Morpheme

- Morphemes are the building blocks of words and can be bound or free morphemes.

- Free morphemes can stand alone as a word, such as "dog", "run", and "happy."

- Bound morphemes must be attached to another morpheme to form a word, such as "-s" to make "dogs", "-ed" to make "runned", and "-ly" to make "happily."

- Word

- Words can consist of one morpheme (e.g., "dog") or multiple morphemes (e.g., "dogcatcher").

- While there can be multiple morphemes within a single word, each word corresponds to a single meaning.

In summary, morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in language, while words are the smallest units that can be uttered in isolation and consist of one or more morphemes.

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