ROOT AND ENDING IN NOUNS, ADJECTIVES AND VERBS - LITERATURE - 2025

The concepts of root and ending refer to two basic constituents of variable words. Thus, a root is the invariable part of a word. In many cases, it provides the semantic meaning. For its part, the ending is the minimum unit of grammatical meaning. It offers information regarding gender, number, time, and other grammatical accidents.

For example, when analyzing the word drink we will find two elements: beb + eremos. In this case, "baby" is the root. If it is compared with other forms (beb / í, beb / erá, beb / e), it is observed that the particle remains unchanged. For its part, "eremos" provides information about person (us), number (plural) and time (future).

Now, many authors equate the notions of root and ending with those of lexeme and morpheme, respectively. According to some linguistic currents, it is simply a change of etiquette.

However, other authors point out an essential difference. In the case of the root, it may or may not have a lexical meaning, but the lexeme must have it. Thus, some words - such as articles or demonstratives - are considered roots, but not lexemes.

Sometimes it is difficult to establish the phonic border between root and ending. Such is the case of "I go." There it is more practical to speak of lexeme or lexical meaning: I go = to move from one place to another.

On the other hand, morphemes are divided into inflections and derivatives. The latter form word families (book, libr / ero, libr / reía, libr / aco). The former indicate inflectional forms such as gender, number, time, and others. Only inflectional morphemes are used in the ending.

In addition, it must be specified that the roots, although they are defined as invariant, can have variations. This is the case of the polirrizo verbs ser, ir and haber. Observe the different forms: I am / I was / I will be, you are going / you were / you will go and we have / have / will have.

Root and ending in nouns

In Spanish, when it comes to nouns, the ending only marks two grammatical accidents: gender and number. A noun is the word that names people, things (real or imaginary) and animals.

The grammatical gender is an inherent property of this class of words, and two are distinguished: masculine and feminine. For its part, the number indicates quantity: one (singular) or more than one (plural).

Gender

With respect to gender, there are two endings: “o” (masculine) and “a” (feminine). Note the following pairs:

• Hairdresser - Hairdresser
• Brother - Sister
• Candidate - Candidate
• Cat Cat

Some nouns have an ending ø; that is, it does not change its form for male or female. Examples:

• Patient (the patient)
• Victim (the victim)
• Artist (the artist)

Also, things (real or imaginary) have a fixed gender. A few accept both, but the ending is ø. Note the following cases:

• The bookstore (feminine)
• The living room (male)
• The revolution (male)
• The idea (feminine)
• The / the sea (male and female)
• The / the radio (male and female)

Number

In the case of the number, only the plural is marked. In general, the ending is "s". This has an allomorph (variant), dependent on the phonic context.

Examples:

• Hairdressers
• Sisters
• Patients
• Victims
• Artist
• Bookstores
• Lounges
• Revolutions
• Ideas
• Seas

Similarly, there is an ending ø for the plural of some nouns.

Examples:

• The thesis
• The hypothesis

Root and ending in adjectives

In general, the stem and ending in the case of adjectives behave in the same way as nouns. This means that it has endings for masculine, feminine and plural.

But it also has an ending for the superlative: ísimo. The superlative expresses a comparison in its maximum degree.

Examples:

• Attractive - Attractive (male - female)
• Small - Small (singular -plural)
• Free (ending ø)
• Excellent (ending ø)
• High (superlative)
• Great (superlative)

Root and ending in verbs

The ending, or variable part, of verbs indicates person, number, time and mood. These endings exhibit stable patterns depending on whether the infinitive ends in -ar, -er, or -ir. On the other hand, the roots (especially of the verbs ending in -ir) can have variants.

Verb ending in -ar

Frame 1 (swim)

Verb ending in -er

Table 2 (drink)

Verb ending in -ir

Table 3 (start)

References

1. García García, S.; Meilán García, AJ and Martínez García, H. (2004). Build well in Spanish: the form of words. Oviedo: Ediuno.
2. Gómez Manzano, P.; Estévez Rodríguez, A.; García-Page Sánchez, M. and Cuesta Martínez, P. (2002). Grammar and expression exercises: With theoretical notions. Madrid: Editorial Universitaria Ramon Areces.
3. Rodríguez Guzmán, JP (2005). Graphic grammar to the juampedrino mode. Barcelona: Carena Editions.
4. Rizo, JJ (2007). Castilian grammar. Jalisco: Threshold Editions.
5. Basterrechea, E. and Rello, L. (2010). The verb in Spanish. Madrid: Mill of ideas.
6. Stanley Whitley, M. and González, L. (2007). Grammar for composition. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
7. Cuenca Bravo, M. (2016). Communication in Spanish language. Level II. Madrid: Editorial CEP.