The Comparison Corner: What are Phonemes Graphemes & Morphemes?

There is so much terminology to learn and understand in teaching, and especially in literacy instruction. If you’re taking a deep dive into the Science of Reading, it can even feel overwhelming. One of the goals I have with my Comparison Corner series is to take some of the vocabulary and terminology that are commonly confused and explain them in an easy-to-digest format. Next up in the series is a look at one of the easiest to learn, in my opinion, due to their word structure, but also one of the most important to understand: phonemes, graphemes, and morphemes.

What are Phonemes Graphemes and Morphemes?

There are 44 phonemes in English. This includes short and long vowel sounds, r-controlled vowels, and consonants and digraphs. It’s also generally accepted that diphthong sounds such as /oy/ and /ou/ are single phonemes as well. The best way to understand the differences between phonemes, graphemes, and morphemes is to start with the roots.

Phonemes: Phon means sound so a phoneme is a sound. These are the smallest units of sound in our language. Think of them as the individual building blocks of spoken words. For example, the word “cat” has three phonemes: /k/, /ă/, and /t/. Sounds are represented between slashes, called virgules.

Graphemes: Graph means write so a grapheme is written. These are the written symbols that represent phonemes. They are the letters or combinations of letters, such as digraphs, we use to spell words. Each phoneme has corresponding graphemes that help us spell those sounds. In the word “cat,” the graphemes are ‘c’, ‘a’, and ‘t’. Sometimes, one phoneme can be represented by more than one grapheme, such as /oi/ is spelled with the graphemes “oi” and “oy”. And sometimes, one grapheme can represent more than one phoneme, such as ‘a’ in ‘cat’ and the ‘a’ in ‘about’. Or, as is the case with the grapheme ‘x’, which is pronounced with phonemes /k/ & /s/ graphemes may be comprised of two phonemes.

Morphemes: Morph means change so a morpheme gets added to graphemes to change it. These are the smallest units of meaning in our language. They can be whole words, or parts of words. For example, the word “unbreakable” has three morphemes: “un-” (a prefix meaning “not”), “break” (a root word), and “-able” (a suffix meaning “able to be”). Morphemes might also be a word, but they might just be a letter. For example “s” is a morpheme because when we add it onto a word we can change it into its plural form. “Ed is a morpheme because when we add it on to a word, we make it past tense.

Morphemes can also be words; “cat” and “dog” are morphemes. Morphemes can be free or bound. Bound morphemes are like that “s” that needs to be added to a word in order to have meaning. Otherwise it’s just a grapheme. Free morphemes have meaning on their own, such as base words like cat and dog.

Why It Matters

You might be thinking, “Okay, that’s interesting, but why do I need to know this stuff?” Understanding phonemes, graphemes, and morphemes is crucial for effective reading and spelling instruction because they are the foundation of how our written language works. For example, understanding that there isn’t one clear lateral connection between phonemes and graphemes means you are more precise in your language and more explicit in your phonics instruction. Phonemes, graphemes, and morphemes each represent a different, but connected, area of our reading instruction.

• Phonemic Awareness: A strong understanding of phonemes (phonemic awareness) is essential for learning to read. Kids need to be able to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words before they can connect those sounds to letters. Activities like rhyming, segmenting words into sounds, and blending sounds together are all about developing phonemic awareness. If a child struggles to hear the individual sounds in “dog,” they will likely have a hard time sounding it out when reading.

• Phonics: The connection between phonemes and graphemes (phonics) is the key to decoding and encoding written words. When children understand that letters represent sounds, they can start to “sound out” words they’ve never seen before. Knowing the different graphemes that can represent a single phoneme (like ‘k’, ‘c’, and ‘ck’ all representing the /k/ sound) helps kids read and spell more accurately.

• Morphology: Understanding morphemes helps students understand word meanings and build their vocabulary. When students recognize common prefixes and suffixes, they can figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words. For instance, if a student knows that “pre-” means “before,” they can figure out that “preheat” means to heat something before. This knowledge also helps with spelling, as students can break words down into their meaningful parts. As students begin reading and writing words with more complexity, morphology becomes even more important. The spelling of many words connects back to their morphology, or roots, more specifically than their phoneme-grapheme correspondence. It’s important that we teaching morphemes

The Tricky Part: How They Relate (and Don’t)

Here’s where things can get a little confusing, and why it’s so important to understand the distinctions. Phonemes, graphemes, and morphemes are all interconnected, but they don’t always line up perfectly.

• Phoneme to Grapheme One-to-One Correspondence (Sometimes): Sometimes, there’s a simple one-to-one relationship between a phoneme and a grapheme. For example, in the word “bat,” the phoneme /b/ is represented by the grapheme ‘b’, the phoneme /ă/ is represented by the grapheme ‘a’, and the phoneme /t/ is represented by the grapheme ‘t’.

• Many-to-One Phoneme to Grapheme Correspondence (Often): More often, things are not so straightforward. One phoneme can be represented by multiple graphemes. Think about the /k/ sound, which can be spelled with ‘c’ (cat), ‘k’ (kite), ‘ck’ (duck), or even ‘ch’ (school). Most long vowel sounds are represented by many different letter combinations.

• One-to-Many Grapheme to Phoneme Correspondence (Also Common): One grapheme can represent multiple phonemes. The letter ‘a’ in ‘cat’ has a different sound than the ‘a’ in ‘father’ , the ‘a’ in about, or the ‘a’ in ‘want’.

• Morphemes Add Complexity: Morphemes add another layer of complexity. A single morpheme can contain multiple phonemes and graphemes, or it could be just one phoneme and grapheme. For example, the morpheme “ing” in “running” contains the phonemes /ɪŋ/ and is represented by the grapheme combination ‘ing’.

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