morphology

Definitions of Morphology

1. (noun) The study of the structure of words.
2. (noun) The formal rules for structuring words.

Morphology Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: mor·phol·o·gy

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /mɔrˈfɑlədʒi/
• British English – /mɔːˈfɒlədʒi/

Usage Notes

• Plural: morphologies
• Morphology focuses on the syntactical (structural) aspects of words or morphemes to understand word creation, such as compound formation and derivation.
• Also called:
  • sound structure
  • syllable structure
  • word structure
• A linguist or specialized (noun) morphologist studies phonology to understand (adjective) morphologic or (adjective) morphological aspects of language (adjective) morphologically.

Related Videos

Additional Information

• Sociolinguistics Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “morphology” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

• grammar
• language
• morpheme
• phoneme
• phonology
• semantics
• speech
• symbol
• syntax

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Cite the Definition of Morphology

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “morphology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved January 16, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/morphology/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

morphology. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/morphology/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “morphology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/morphology/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“morphology.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/morphology/>.