Base (in morphology)

In morphology, a base is a bigger unit to which an affix attaches or to which a morphological process applies.

• "I shall try to use the term root to refer to a single morpheme which bears the 'core' meaning of a word. The term stem will be reserved for that part of a word to which inflectional affixes are added, and base for that part to which any other morpheme is added (inflectional, derivational, compound). Unfortunately, this terminology isn't standardized..." (Spencer 1991: 461)

Synonym

• stem (though this term is somewhat narrower, applying mostly to bases of inflectional affixes or processes)
• host (though this term is more commonly used in relation to clitics)

Reference

Spencer, Andrew. 1991. Morphological theory. Oxford: Blackwell.

Other languages

• German Basis
• Russian основа