Morphology
In general, the term morphology designates the study of forms, and in particular, those of words. Morphology is thus one of the two fundamental components of grammar, with syntax representing the other. The description of conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs and adjectives or the declension of nouns forms part of morphology, while syntax is concerned with clauses and sentences.
Semiotic theory, when proposing to apply the concept of syntax to elementary structures of signification, introduced also that of morphology. Morphology here relates to taxonomic (classificatory) terms represented on the semiotic square, and syntax to the operations and dynamics they sanction.
The folklorist Vladimir Propp, author of Morphology of the Folktale, applies the term not in a linguistic but in a botanical sense, essentially producing a series of 'dramatis personae.
See also grammar, Propp and syntax.
