Bound Morphemes
Definition :
These are morphemes that cannot stand alone as independent words and must be attached to free morphemes to convey meaning. Bound morphemes include prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and circumfixes.
Example :
In the word unhappiness, the prefix un- and the suffix -ness are bound morphemes because they cannot function independently.
Fundamental :
Bound morphemes can also be categorized into:
Derivational morphemes: These change the meaning or part of speech of a word.
Inflectional morphemes: These modify a word's grammatical function without changing its core meaning[2][1][1].
Example :
Derivational morphemes: adding -er to teach creates teacher, changing the verb into a noun.
Inflectional morphemes: adding -s to cat creates cats, indicating plurality.