Morphemes in “loneliness”
“loneliness” has 3 morphemes: lone + -ly + -ness.
lone
root
+
li
suffix
+
ness
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are lone + -ly + -ness.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| lone | free root | free | lacking companions or companionship |
| -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
lone → lonely → loneliness
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “lone” 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 "loneliness"?
"loneliness" has three morphemes: lone + -ly + -ness.
How do you break "loneliness" into morphemes?
lone + -ly + -ness. The root is "lone"; -ly is a derivational suffix, -ness is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "loneliness"?
The root of "loneliness" is "lone", built up as lone → lonely → loneliness.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.