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Date: 2015-10-07; view: 492.

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What is the difference between root word and stem word?

For example: in words disagreement and disagree what is the root, stem and affix?
Can anybody suggest me the difference with some other examples?

• Natural Language Processing
• Linguistics

Sep 7, 2012

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Sasikumar Mukundan · Centre for Development of Advanced Computing

I think the distinction is in the derivation. Stem-word is essentially chopping of the affix/suffix and what remains. Root needs to be a proper and valid word. That is, it must be morphologically the base. Root of went is go, but not the stem. When addition of suffix/affix transforms the root word, then root and stem may not be same.

Sep 9, 2012

Nebi Caka · University of Prishtina

Root, stem, base
Taken from: Bauer, Laurie (1983:20-21): English word-formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

‘Root', ‘stem' and ‘base' are all terms used in the literature to designate that part of a word that remains when all affixes have been removed.

A root is a form which is not further analysable, either in terms of derivational or inflectional morphology. It is that part of word-form that remains when all inflectional and derivational affixes have been removed. A root is the basic part always present in a lexeme. In the form ‘untouchables' the root is ‘touch', to which first the suffix ‘-able', then the prefix ‘un-‘ and finally the suffix ‘-s' have been added. In a compound word like ‘wheelchair' there are two roots, ‘wheel' and ‘chair'.

A stem is of concern only when dealing with inflectional morphology.
In the form ‘untouchables' the stem is ‘untouchable', although in the form ‘touched' the stem is ‘touch'; in the form ‘wheelchairs' the stem is ‘wheelchair', even though the stem contains two roots.

A base is any form to which affixes of any kind can be added. This means that any root or any stem can be termed a base, but the set of bases is not exhausted by the union of the set of roots and the set of stems: a derivationally analysable form to which derivational affixes are added can only be referred to as a base. That is, ‘touchable' can act as a base for prefixation to give ‘untouchable', but in this process ‘touchable' could not be referred to as a root because it is analysable in terms of derivational morphology, nor as a stem since it is not the adding of inflectional affixes which is in question.

Feb 13, 2014