Which example illustrates an inflectional morpheme?

Which example illustrates an inflectional morpheme?

• A. Prefixing a with a prefix to form approve
• B. Adding -ed to prove to form proved
• C. Changing the root to a new word class by adding -tion
• D. Combining two words to form a compound

Answer: (B)

Inflectional morphemes add grammatical information to a word without changing its basic category or meaning. The suffix -ed attached to the verb prove signals past tense, so the form proves a past action while remaining a verb. It doesn’t create a new word or change the part of speech; it just marks when the action occurred. The other processes create new words or change word classes rather than just tense. For example, adding a prefix to form approve introduces new meaning and a new word, and adding -tion to form a noun changes the word class. Combining two words to make a compound also yields a new lexical item rather than an inflectional form. So the past-tense -ed is the best example of an inflectional morpheme.

Inflectional morphemes add grammatical information to a word without changing its basic category or meaning. The suffix -ed attached to the verb prove signals past tense, so the form proves a past action while remaining a verb. It doesn’t create a new word or change the part of speech; it just marks when the action occurred.

The other processes create new words or change word classes rather than just tense. For example, adding a prefix to form approve introduces new meaning and a new word, and adding -tion to form a noun changes the word class. Combining two words to make a compound also yields a new lexical item rather than an inflectional form. So the past-tense -ed is the best example of an inflectional morpheme.