What is the basic unit of meaning in language?

The basic unit of meaning in language is morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest grammatical units in a language that carry meaning. They can be whole words or parts of words, such as prefixes and suffixes. For example, the word "unhappiness" consists of three morphemes: "un-" (a prefix meaning "not"), "happy" (the root word), and "-ness" (a suffix turning the adjective into a noun). This illustrates how morphemes combine to convey specific meanings.

In contrast, phonemes are the smallest units of sound in a language and do not have meaning on their own. Lexemes refer to the abstract unit of meaning derived from a word, which can encompass multiple word forms or variations. Sentences are larger structures that consist of morphemes or words arranged in a specific grammatical order to express complete thoughts but are not the smallest unit of meaning. Thus, morphemes are identified as the key building blocks contributing directly to the meaning in language.