Are morphemes commonly found at the end of words considered suffixes?

Question

Are morphemes commonly found at the end of words considered suffixes?

For example: "erate", found at the end of words like accelerate, operate, refrigerate, considerate, nonliterate, etc.

I am a bit unsure as to the full scope of affixes, whether they have to carry a concrete meaning with them, or if they could be common components of words with a more vague semantics.

Also, some affixes, if they are affixes, seem to carry a functional meaning, like "converting" a root from one word class to another, like "sentient" to "sentience". Here, ience/ence is the "converter", but is it considered a suffix, a morpheme, neither or both?

I also recognize that ient/ent is the same as ience/ence, only regarding adjectives.

So, let's get back to the "erate" thing. Common found combination of letters, is it a morpheme, affix, neither or both? Is it just common, or is it functional, like ience/ence, or does it carry a concise meaning, making it simply a suffix? Perhaps it's meaning is just "of or pertaining to a verb/adjective". And that's something I noticed, the pronunciation of "erate" differs whether it is a verb or an adjective.

So yeah, how does it all work?

Answer 1

Suffixes and prefixes are examples of affixes. And which in turn are examples of morphemes. These in turn are defined as the smallest unit of lexical sense.

For example the suffix 's' is a morpheme which denotes plurality.

However your 'affix' -erate seems to lack the quality of sense. What does it mean when affixed to another morpheme? I would suggest that it does not have any sense amd so is not a morpheme. Similarly, just becaise 'station', 'ration' and 'operation' all share the suffix 'tion' dpes not mean that 'tion' here is a morpheme because we would have to also show what sense it would carry.

Answer 2

The primary suffix usage is to bond with, hold, or incite use of; therefore dependent on context it could be any of the applied uses and classifications inquired upon. The affix classification applies within the confines of particular words and their implied use within syntaxes structures.

Accel-erate: inciting accel as a verb perhaps adverd, bonded to accel implying meaning of accel (propelled or momentous action particularly in a direction opposed to the initial point), or in a present tense but post tense held attribute or value and "holding" of accel; "it will accelerate... you accelerate "verb or adverb", or simply "it is an accelerate function of "said implement or noun".

In other use it may be found to fall outside the prescribed use but still be referred to and classified as the prior definition of suffix exemplified by the word: venerate

Ven being fairly vague but attributed to having or containing within, being of, expressing such, or being causal for and of:
Venn diagram (lol not a real example)
Vengeance
Vernacular
Venture
Vent
Vendor

Wherein we can see that VEN combined with ERATE becomes the combination of two similar meanings of prefix and suffix but together create a word which beholds:
The having or containing with or within, being of, expressing or being causal of bonding, with holding, or inciting use of; in this example the seemingly similar meanings compound each others meaning and become: having great reverence or regard for.