morphologicalVariant

A morphological variant is a form of a word that is derived from another word through a process of morphological change. Morphology is the study of the structure of words and how they are formed. Morphological variants can be created through various processes, including inflection, derivation, and compounding.

Inflectional variants are created by adding affixes (prefixes or suffixes) to a base word to change its grammatical function, such as tense, number, or case. For example, the verb "run" can be inflected to form "runs" (third-person singular present tense) or "running" (present participle).

Derivational variants are created by adding affixes to a base word to change its meaning or part of speech. For example, the noun "happy" can be derived from the adjective "happiness" by adding the suffix "-ness."

Compounding is the process of combining two or more words to form a new word with a new meaning. For example, the word "blackboard" is a compound of "black" and "board."

Morphological variants are an essential aspect of language, as they allow speakers to express a wide range of meanings and grammatical functions using a limited vocabulary. They are also a key area of study in linguistics, as they provide insights into the structure and function of words and the languages they belong to.