bimorphemic

9.9

A word made of two small parts that change meaning or form

adjective
/ˌbaɪˌmɔrˈfiːmɪk/

Specialized

: bimorfo

The word 'cats' is bimorphemic because it consists of 'cat' and the plural suffix '-s'.

Examples

Many verbs in English are bimorphemic, such as 'walked', which consists of 'walk' and '-ed'.
Plural nouns like 'cats' are typically bimorphemic because they combine a base and a plural suffix.
The word bimorphemic itself is bimorphemic, composed of 'bi-' and 'morphemic'.
In linguistics, a bimorphemic word combines two distinct morphemes.
Many verbs in English are bimorphemic, such as 'walked', which consists of 'walk' and '-ed'.
Plural nouns like 'cats' are typically bimorphemic because they combine a base and a plural suffix.
The word 'cats' is bimorphemic because it consists of 'cat' and the plural suffix '-s'.

How Many Morphemes

polymorphemic

Specialized

9.6

bimorphemic

Specialized

9.9

monomorphemic

Specialized

9.9

Surface Forms

bimorphemic positive

Morphology

bimorphemic = morphemic (transparent) = bi + morphem + ic

The prefix 'bi-' clearly indicates two, and 'morphemic' relates to morphemes, making the meaning straightforward.

Etymology

Bimorphemic comes from bi- meaning 'two' and morpheme meaning 'a small part of a word'. So bimorphemic means 'made of two word parts', like 'cats', which is 'cat' + '-s', or 'walked', which is 'walk' + '-ed'.