Final answer:
Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning, and syllables can contain multiple morphemes. It is not true that syllables and morphemes are always the same, or that morphemes are always one syllable. The correct options for what students should have learned about morphemes and syllables are A and B.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of understanding language and its structure, it is important to clarify the concepts of syllables and morphemes. Morphemes are indeed the smallest units of meaning in a language. This means that every morpheme contributes in some way to the meaning of a word. For instance, in the word 'unbelievable', 'un-', 'believe', and '-able' are all separate morphemes that contribute to the overall meaning of the word. A syllable, on the other hand, relates to the sound structure of a word and is a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word; for example, there are two syllables in 'water' and three in 'inferno'.
Considering the options provided, we can determine that:
- A. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning - True;
- B. Syllables can have multiple morphemes - True. For example, 'cats' has one syllable but two morphemes ('cat' + 's');
- C. Syllables and morphemes are always the same in a word - False, as seen in the word 'cats' with one syllable and two morphemes;
- D. Morphemes are always one syllable - False, as morphemes can be more than one syllable, such as 'computer', which has two syllables but is one morpheme.
Therefore, the student should learn that options A and B are correct. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning, and syllables can indeed have multiple morphemes within them. However, options C and D are incorrect as syllables and morphemes do not always equate to the same thing in a word, and morphemes are not necessarily confined to being one syllable long.