Morphemes in “underpayment”
“underpayment” has 3 morphemes: under- + pay + -ment.
under
prefix
+
pay
root
+
ment
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are under- + pay + -ment.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| under- | derivational prefix | bound | too little; below |
| pay | free root | free | give money, usually in exchange for goods or services |
| -ment | derivational suffix | bound | action, result or means of |
How the word is built
pay → underpay → underpayment
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “pay” 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 "underpayment"?
"underpayment" has three morphemes: under- + pay + -ment.
How do you break "underpayment" into morphemes?
under- + pay + -ment. The root is "pay"; under- is a derivational prefix, -ment is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "underpayment"?
The root of "underpayment" is "pay", built up as pay → underpay → underpayment.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.