Morphemes in “cleanliness”
“cleanliness” has 3 morphemes: clean + -ly + -ness.
clean
root
+
li
suffix
+
ness
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are clean + -ly + -ness.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| clean | free root | free | free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits |
| -ly (written li) | derivational suffix | bound | like, having the qualities of (friendly); every (daily) |
| -ness | derivational suffix | bound | state or quality of being |
How the word is built
clean → cleanly → cleanliness
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “clean” is where the chain starts.
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Segmentation derived from MorphyNet (Batsuren, Bella & Giunchiglia, 2021; CC BY-SA 3.0, built from Wiktionary), with hand-written affix glosses and root meanings from WordNet. Reviewed for classroom use; tell us if you spot an error.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many morphemes are in "cleanliness"?
"cleanliness" has three morphemes: clean + -ly + -ness.
How do you break "cleanliness" into morphemes?
clean + -ly + -ness. The root is "clean"; -ly is a derivational suffix, -ness is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "cleanliness"?
The root of "cleanliness" is "clean", built up as clean → cleanly → cleanliness.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.