A word and its structure

Meaning and structure

It was pointed out that many words have meanings that are predictable, more or less, on the basis of their components. Some words are so predictable, indeed, that they do not have to be listed as lexical items. This predictability of meaning depends on how the structure of complex word forms guides their interpretation. Even with words that are lexically listed, unless their meaning is entirely different from what one might expect, such guidance is relevant.

 

In some words, structure is straightforward. For example, the lexeme HELPFUL, is derived from the noun base HELP by means of the adjective-forming suffix -ful. Because there are only two elements in this word form, it may seem there is not much to say about its structure. Even with just these two components, however, there is clearly a distinction between the actual word form helpful and the ill-formed one *-ful-help – a distinction that will be discussed, deal with affixed words and compounds that have more than two components, such as unhelpfulness and car insurance premium. Finally, we will confront a dilemma posed by items like French history teacher in its two interpretations (‘French teacher of history’ and ‘teacher of French history’).

الاكثر قراءة في Morphology

Words and lexemes, types and tokens

Kinds of morphemes

Types of compounds

Predictable allomorphy

Unpredictable or partially predictable allomorphy

The index of synthesis and the index of fusion

Derivational and inflectional morphemes

What do affixes mean?

Morphs and allomorphs

Free and bound morphemes

Kamhmu

Lexical and functional morphemes

Multiple processes

Problems in morphological description

Productivity versus creativity

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

المجمع العلمي يقيم محطة قرآنية على طريق الزائرين بذكرى شهادة الإمام الكاظم (عليه السلام) في واسط

قسم العلاقات العامّة ينظّم برنامجًا ثقافيًّا لأكثر من 100 طالب من حفظة القرآن الكريم في النجف

قسم شؤون المعارف يختتم دورة حول تحقيق المخطوطات في جامعة كربلاء

قسم الشؤون الطبية يطلق برنامجًا تدريبيًّا لملاكاته بالتعاون مع مستشفى الكفيل التخصصي

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

6 فواكة تساعدك على الشعور بتحسّن عند المرض

حفاظا على صحة العين.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول فيتامين أ

الاستخدام اليومي لسماعات الأذن.. أخطر مما تتصور !

هل توقيت نشاطك اليومي يؤثر على صحة دماغك؟.. العلماء يجيبون

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

ابتكار ألماني قد يغيّر مستقبل صناعة البلاستيك

تحديثات وأرباح عبر المشاهدات.. ما الذي تخطط له "لينكد إن"؟

"الكوكايين الوردي".. مخدر جديد يثير قلق السلطات الأميركية

دراسة: تغيّرات في أسلوب القيادة قد تكشف مبكرا عن الخرف !

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Constituent structure

A typology of word structure

Analyzing position classes

Representing word structure

Different kinds of morphemes

Morphemes Definition of “morpheme”

Analyzing word structure

Mirror in nominal morphology

Appendix 2: Hapax legomena from the Cobuild corpus

Appendix 1: 20th century neologisms from the OED

Morphological Productivity Structural Constraints in English Derivation Conclusion

Verbal derivation and the separation hypothesis