What is the smallest meaningful unit of language, which can be a syllable or a part of a word?

The smallest meaningful unit of language is a morpheme. Morphemes can be whole words or parts of words, such as prefixes, suffixes, or root words. They carry semantic meaning, which is crucial for vocabulary development and understanding language structure. For instance, the word "unhappiness" consists of three morphemes: "un-" (a prefix meaning 'not'), "happy" (the root word), and "-ness" (a suffix indicating a state or condition).

This illustrates how a morpheme helps convey meaning beyond simply being a sound (which would pertain to phonemes) or just a rhythmic unit (which relates to syllables). Lexemes, on the other hand, refer to the abstract representation of a word, encompassing all its inflected forms, but they are not the smallest unit of meaning. Thus, identifying morphemes is vital for mastering word formation and enhancing reading comprehension skills.