Questions: A morpheme is an arbitrary signal in a language system any phrase in a given language an individual speech sound unique to a specific language the smallest component of speech that carries meaning

A morpheme is an arbitrary signal in a language system any phrase in a given language an individual speech sound unique to a specific language the smallest component of speech that carries meaning
Transcript text: A morpheme is an arbitrary signal in a language system any phrase in a given language an individual speech sound unique to a specific language the smallest component of speech that carries meaning
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Solution

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Answer

The answer is the smallest component of speech that carries meaning.

Explanation
Option 1: an arbitrary signal in a language system

This option is incorrect. While morphemes are part of the language system, they are not arbitrary signals. They have specific meanings and functions within the language.

Option 2: any phrase in a given language

This option is incorrect. A phrase is a group of words that functions as a unit within a sentence, whereas a morpheme is much smaller, often just a single word or part of a word.

Option 3: an individual speech sound unique to a specific language

This option is incorrect. An individual speech sound is known as a phoneme, not a morpheme. Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in a language, but they do not carry meaning by themselves.

Option 4: the smallest component of speech that carries meaning

This option is correct. A morpheme is the smallest grammatical unit in a language that carries meaning. Examples include prefixes, suffixes, and root words. For instance, in the word "unhappiness," "un-", "happy," and "-ness" are all morphemes.

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