What type of morpheme can create new words through prefixes or suffixes?

Derivational morphemes are the type of morphemes that can create new words when added to a base or root word, either through prefixes or suffixes. For example, adding the prefix "un-" to the word "happy" forms a new word, "unhappy," which has a different meaning. Similarly, adding the suffix "-ness" to "happy" creates the word "happiness," which also carries a different meaning.

This word formation process is crucial in expanding the vocabulary of a language, enabling the expression of new concepts and ideas. Derivational morphemes not only alter the meaning of the base word but often change its grammatical category as well; for instance, from a verb to a noun, as in "beautify" becoming "beautification."

In contrast, other types of morphemes serve different functions. Free morphemes can stand alone as words and do not need to be attached to other morphemes to convey meaning, while inflectional morphemes modify a word's tense or number without creating a new word. Bound morphemes cannot stand alone and must be attached to other morphemes, but they do not generate new meanings in the same way that derivational morphe