Morphemes in “northern”
“northern” has 2 morphemes: north + -ern.
north
root
+
ern
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are north + -ern.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| north | free root | free | situated in or facing or moving toward or coming from the north |
| -ern | derivational suffix | bound | direction (eastern) |
How the word is built
north → northern
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “north” is where the chain starts.
Break any word into morphemes
Prefixes, roots and suffixes with glosses, free and in your browser.
Open the morphological analyzer →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 "northern"?
"northern" has two morphemes: north + -ern.
How do you break "northern" into morphemes?
north + -ern. The root is "north"; -ern is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "northern"?
The root of "northern" is "north", built up as north → northern.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.