Which field studies the structure of words and their meaningful units?

• A. Phonology
• B. Morphology
• C. Semantics
• D. Pragmatics

Answer: (B)

Morphology studies the structure of words and their meaningful units. Words are built from morphemes, the smallest units that carry meaning or grammatical function. Free morphemes can stand alone as words, while bound morphemes attach to others as prefixes or suffixes that modify meaning or part of speech. By combining roots with affixes, we form new words and adjust meaning or grammatical category, as in adding a plural suffix to a noun or deriving a new word with a prefix or suffix. This focus on the internal makeup of words distinguishes morphology from phonology (sounds and sound patterns), semantics (word and sentence meanings), and pragmatics (meaning in context and language use). Because the question asks about how words are built from meaningful parts, morphology is the best fit.