Question

In the word ecologists, is eco the root morpheme or ology? Are the morphemes eco, log, y, ist, s or
ec, ology, ist, s ?

This is very confusing for me. Any explanation on how to find the root would be appreciated.

For example, on contributions are the morphemes con, trib, ute, ion, s or con, tribute, ion, s?

Answer 1

A good place to start is any good dictionary --

www.dictionary.com
www.onelook.com (there's a wide variety of dictionaries to choose from here)
www.answers.com

http://www.answers.com/topic/ecology-1
Look under the definitions. You'll see the major parts of this word that came to us from the Greek. The root is -log- from the Greek word for words or study; the prefix is from the Greek word oikos (house) and -ist is the suffix that indicates "a person who..."

I would divide up "ecologists" like this:

eco
log
ist
s

Try again with "contributions."

Answer 2

Would log be the root in ecologists?

contributions
con
tribu (t)(e)
ion
s

Answer 3

Yes, "log" is the root in "ecologists."

I almost agree with what you wrote for "contributions" -- see what you think:

con
tribu
tion
s

Answer 4

I am confused because I think on the word contribute, tribute would be the root. I'm just confused about why this would change on contributions.