Definition

The study of how the sounds of words change when they are combined with other sounds, especially in different grammatical forms.

Example

Linguists often explore morphophonemics to understand how sounds interact in different languages.

Conversation

I just started learning about morphophonemics in my linguistics class.

Oh really? That sounds interesting! What is it about?

It's all about how sounds change in different contexts, like plurals and verb forms.

That makes sense! I never thought about how much pronunciation can vary.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Morphophonemics → It is formed from "morpho-" (from Greek "morphe", meaning form) and "phonemics" (from Greek "phonema", meaning sound). The term refers to the study of how morphemes (the smallest units of meaning) are realized in different phonetic forms, thus combining the concepts of form and sound in linguistics.

Memory Tip

Think of 'form' ('morphe') and 'sound' ('phonema') coming together to study how meanings change with different sounds.

Visually Confused Words