Morphology

Morphology is the branch of science that studies form and structure. In biology, morphology examines the shape, size, and arrangement of body parts across organisms, from cells to whole organisms, and provides a basis for descriptive anatomy, systematics, and evolutionary biology. In linguistics, morphology analyzes the structure of words and how they are built from meaningful units called morphemes, shaping grammatical meaning and word formation.

In linguistics, morphemes are the smallest units with semantic or syntactic function. Morphology distinguishes inflection (grammatical variation) from derivation (creation of new words) and compounding (combining words). It also studies allomorphy, productivity, and morphological typology, including isolating, agglutinative, fusional, and polysynthetic languages. Morphologists investigate how morphemes attach to stems, how word forms reflect tense, number, case, mood, aspect, and gender, and how morphology interacts with phonology and syntax.

In biology, morphological analysis describes the external form and internal structure of organisms, including organ systems, tissues, and cellular anatomy. Morphology is central to taxonomy, phylogenetics, and developmental biology, and it informs functional interpretations of form, such as limb structure or leaf shape. Methods include comparative anatomy, morphometrics, imaging, and experimental manipulation. Plant morphology and animal morphology are common subfields; researchers also study ontogeny, adaptive design, and the evolutionary history of form.

The term derives from Greek morphe meaning form and logos meaning study.