Introduction:
Based on their frequency in bigger constructs, two categories of morphemes have been identified: free form and bound form.
Free Morpheme:
A free form is a morpheme that appears alone or may stand alone. It does not need the existence of another morpheme; in other words, such a morpheme does not require the assistance of another element.
Description:
All of the following content words are free forms: home, church, girl, cat, walk, see, red, short, book, water. Some form words, such as always, though, but, never, and, or, if, are also free forms. Such words' significance is 'contained in their capacity to allude to some location in the world outside.'
Bound Morphme:
The second kind of morpheme is a bound form, which contains components that must always be connected to another element. They cannot arise or exist on their own.
Explanation:
Such morphemic components as –y, in-, -er, -ty, -ness, -s, and –ly may be found in words like watery, invisible, reader, possibility, lunacy, cats, and masculine.
Their meaning is found in grammatical functions such as noun formation, verb formation, pluralization, adjectivization, and so on. To create identical segments, they may be joined to any other free forms of the same form class. They do not stand alone when they are alone.
Prefix and suffix
Prefix and suffix are two common sorts of bound forms. They are known as affixes as a class.
Prefix:
A prefix comes before a free form, stem, or root. These may be found in the terms unusual, decentralize, disappoint, and recycle. Prefixes include un-, de-, dis-, and re-. There are other additional prefixes. These are all word-formational components.
Examples:
Uneducated, Discourage, Regain,
Suffix:
A suffix, like a prefix, is a word-formative element that follows a free form. Sleeveless, temptation, government, activate, darkness, and reader are some examples. We may modify the form class of a word by adding a suffix;
Example:
For example, dark is an adjective, but by adding -ness, we can turn it into a noun. The particles -ate and -ide are used to form verbs. As a result, they are referred to as grammatical morphemes.