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Base, Stem & Root
Brad Johnson
Created on August 2, 2023
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Transcript
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Base
Stem
Root
In the scientific word study we practice, we need to distinguish between these three morphological terms. The way we define these terms may be different from other resources or linguists. Click on a term to get started.
Base, Stem & Root
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The root of a word is its historical origin. Many English words have roots in Latin, Greek, French, or an earlier version of English. From this root, we can obtain the base in Present-Day English (PDE). Pete Bowers reminds us the orthographic denotation of this root is "echoed" in all later connotations, even if the meaning may have drifted. This term is both morphological and etymological.
Root
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The base is the "unanalyzable element which is the kernel of a word's structure" according to Etymonline.com. Pete Bowers defines it as, "the morpheme that carries the main kernel of any word." Every word is a base or contains a base to which affixes have been added. By kernel, perhaps they were referring to the primary lexical meaning of the word. Examples: replayable disruptive biographer A word with more than one base is a compound word, as in the last example above.
Base
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Pete Bowers defines the stem in scientific word study as "a morphological term for an already complex word to which we can add another morpheme." In other words, we can analyze a stem into more than one element. We cannot analyze a base. For example, in the word respectable, the base is <spect> from the Latin spectare, "to watch." It cannot be analyzed any further. We cannot add the suffix <able> to that base. We can, however, add the suffix <able> to the stem respect. The stem respect can be analyzed into <re-> and <spect>.
Stem
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You now know how we define roots, stems, and bases!
Congratulations!