Which statement accurately defines a compound?

Which statement accurately defines a compound?

• A. Two bound morphemes joined
• B. Two free morphemes joined
• C. One bound morpheme with multiple meanings
• D. A borrowed phrase from another language

Answer: (B)

A compound is a word formed when two independent words are joined together to create a single new word. Each part is a free morpheme, meaning it can stand alone as a word, and together they give a new meaning (like sun + flower = sunflower or black + board = blackboard). The parts often retain their own meanings, and the whole behaves as one lexical unit. The other options don’t fit because a word made only of bound morphemes wouldn’t stand as a complete word on its own, a bound morpheme with multiple meanings describes polysemy rather than forming a compound, and a borrowed phrase from another language is a loanword, not a native compound formed from free morphemes.

A compound is a word formed when two independent words are joined together to create a single new word. Each part is a free morpheme, meaning it can stand alone as a word, and together they give a new meaning (like sun + flower = sunflower or black + board = blackboard). The parts often retain their own meanings, and the whole behaves as one lexical unit.

The other options don’t fit because a word made only of bound morphemes wouldn’t stand as a complete word on its own, a bound morpheme with multiple meanings describes polysemy rather than forming a compound, and a borrowed phrase from another language is a loanword, not a native compound formed from free morphemes.