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A stem, in Linguistics , is the combination of the basic form of a Word (called the Root ) plus any Derivation al Morpheme s, but excluding Inflection al elements. This means, alternatively, that the stem is the form of the word to which inflectional morphemes can be added, if applicable. For example, the root of the English verb form ''destabilized'' is ''stabil-'' (alternate form of ''stable''); the stem is ''de·stabil·ize'', which includes the derivational affixes ''de-'' and ''-ize'', but not the inflectional past tense suffix ''-(e)d''. The definition of stem usually includes the possibility of Zero Derivation , so in fact any root is also a stem. That is, if ''X'' is a root, then the stem ''X'' is the root ''X'' plus a zero derivational affix. In languages with very little inflection, such as English and Mandarin Chinese, the stem is usually not distinct from the "normal" form of the word (the Lemma , citation or dictionary form). However, in other languages, stems are more noticeable since the citation forms almost always carry some non-zero inflection. For example, the English verb stem ''take'' is indistinguishable from its present tense (except in the third person singular); but the equivalent Spanish verb stem ''tom-'' never appears as such, since it is cited with the infinitive inflection (''tomar'') and always appears in actual speech as a non-finite (infinite or participle) or conjugated form. Latin and Greek Latin and Greek Noun s often have a distinct stem to which suffixed inflections are added for the Oblique Case s and which cannot be deduced from the Nominative Case ( Lemma ) and must be given explicitly in Lexicon s. This oblique stem is one of the Principal Parts of the noun. It is most often used as a combining form in English Derivations ; for example, Latin ''nox'' means "night" (as in ''equinox''), but the stem ''noct-'' is used for ''nocturnal.'' In Greek, φῶς ''phōs'' ("light") has the oblique stem φωτ- (''phōt {Link without Title} -'') which appears in ''photography'' and ''photosynthesis''. Latin and Greek Verb s have distinct stems for different tenses. Latin ''scribo'' ("I write"), for example, has a Present stem ''scrib-'', which can be found in the English words ''scribe'' and ''prescribe'', while the Perfect stem ''script-'' is found in ''prescription'' and ''postscript''. Likewise, Greek γράφω ''gráphō'' has a present stem ''graph-'', found in ''photography'' and ''graphics'', and a perfect stem ''gramm-'' which is found in ''telegram'' and ''grammar.'' Reference
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