A morpheme is the smallest piece of a language that still means something. It is not a letter, and it is not a beat of sound. It is a bit of meaning you can point to.

A morphemeMorpheme is the smallest piece of a language that still means something是一種語言裡還帶有意義的最小單位。It is not a letter它不是一個字母, and it is not a beat of sound也不是一個音節的拍子。It is a bit of meaning you can point to它是一個你可以指出來的意義小塊。

Some words are only one morpheme: so, the, boy, banana. You cannot cut them into smaller meaning-pieces and still have English.

Some words are only one morpheme有些詞只是一個morpheme：so, the, boy, bananaso、the、boy、banana。You cannot cut them into smaller meaning-pieces你沒辦法把它們切成更小的意義片段 and still have English而還算是英語。

Other words are built from more than one. Boys is boy plus the plural -s. Unhappiness is un- plus happy plus -ness. Each of those pieces does a job: un- turns the meaning over, -ness makes an idea-noun, -s marks “more than one.” A morpheme can be a whole word, or a little add-on that never stands alone, like -ed or re-.

Other words are built from more than one其他的詞是由一個以上的morpheme組成的。Boys is boy plus the plural -sBoys是boy加上表示複數的-s。Unhappiness is un- plus happy plus -nessUnhappiness是un-加happy加-ness。Each of those pieces does a job每個部件都有自己的工作：un- turns the meaning overun-把意思翻轉過來, -ness makes an idea-noun-ness把概念變成名詞, -s marks "more than one"-s標示『不只一個』。A morpheme can be a whole word一個morpheme可以是一整個詞, or a little add-on that never stands alone也可以是一個從不單獨出現的小加件, like -ed or re-像-ed或re-。

Teachers use this word in language class, not in ordinary chat. People who are not linguists almost never say it.

Teachers use this word老師會用這個字 in language class在語言課上, not in ordinary chat不是在一般聊天裡。People who are not linguists不是語言學家的人 almost never say it幾乎不會說它。

Though actually, students often mix it up with “syllable,” because both feel like “small bits of a word.” They are different cuts. Dogs is one syllable when you say it, and two morphemes on the page of meaning.

Though actually不過其實, students often mix it up with "syllable"學生常常會把它跟『syllable（音節）』搞混, because both feel like "small bits of a word"因為兩個聽起來都像『一個詞的小片段』。They are different cuts但它們是不同的切法。Dogs is one syllable when you say itDogs這個詞你唸出來是一個syllable, and two morphemes on the page of meaning但在意義的層面上是兩個morpheme。