What term is used to describe the smallest meaningful units in language?

The term used to describe the smallest meaningful units in language is "morphemes." Morphemes are the building blocks of words and can consist of a single word or a part of a word that conveys meaning. For example, "unhappiness" can be broken down into three morphemes: "un-" (meaning not), "happy" (the base word), and "-ness" (which turns the adjective into a noun). This ability to break down words into their meaningful components highlights the fundamental role morphemes play in understanding language.

In contrast, syllables refer to the units of sound in a word that often carry rhythm but do not independently convey meaning. Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in speech that can differentiate meaning between words but are not meaningful by themselves. Graphemes are the written representation of phonemes, essentially the letters or letter combinations that represent the sounds in the written form of a language. Therefore, while each of these terms refers to significant aspects of language, morphemes specifically identify the smallest units that carry meaning.