Bound Morpheme

Definition

A bound morpheme cannot stand alone and as a result can only occur polymorphically. That is to say, bound morphemes can only appear as a part of a larger word.

Examples

Example in the Secwepemctsín Context of Bound Morpheme pn as it Only Occurs in Polymorphemic Environments like Stem pehén (Gibson, 1973, p. 39)
Examples in the Skwxwu7mesh Context of (Potentially) Bound Morphemes ts’ayx & ulx that Necessarily Require -t but Need Further Research to Determine if they have an Independent Root Form (Jacobs, 2011, p. 438)
Examples in the Halkomelem Context of Bound Noun Roots that Appear Inseparable from the Prefix s- Nominalizer i.e., yáł is cannot stand alone as a morpheme and necessarily requires s- (Suttles, 2004, p. 200)

References

Gibson, J. A. (1973). Shuswap grammatical structure. [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Hawaii].

Jacobs, P. W. (2011). Control in Skwxwu7mesh. [Doctoral dissertation, The University of British Columbia].

Suttles, W. (2004). Musqueum reference grammar. UBC Press. SFU Student Access.