Fundamentals of Language Structure and Meaning

The Double Articulation of Language

Language is characterized by its double articulation, meaning it is structured on two distinct levels:

• First Articulation: Monemes

  Monemes are the minimum units of meaning. They carry both lexical and grammatical information. For example, in the word cats, cat is a moneme carrying lexical meaning, and -s is a moneme carrying grammatical meaning (plurality).

• Second Articulation: Phonemes

  Phonemes are the minimum units without meaning. They are distinctive sound units that differentiate words. For example, the sounds /k/, /æ/, /t/, /s/ in cats are phonemes; individually, they have no meaning, but their combination creates meaningful units.

Properties of the Linguistic Sign

Language is a system composed of interdependent linguistic signs. The value of a linguistic sign in generative linguistics is defined by its relationship with other signs within the system. Language is a unique system, a system of systems, where not all forms are equal, and not all are organized in the same way.

Classification of Monemes

Monemes are classified into two main types:

• Lexemes

  These form the nucleus of words, providing their core lexical meaning. They include:

  • Nouns: (e.g., boy)
  • Adjectives: (e.g., tall)
  • Adverbs: (e.g., never)
  • Verbs: (e.g., sing)

• Morphemes

  Morphemes are used to connect or modify the meaning of lexemes. They are further classified into:

  • Independent Morphemes

    These can stand alone as words:

    • Determiners: (e.g., my)
    • Prepositions: (e.g., in)
    • Conjunctions: (e.g., or)
    • Pronouns: (e.g., you)

  • Bound Morphemes

    These are attached to lexemes to complete and modify their meaning:

    • Derivational Morphemes (Affixes)

      Add meaning to lexemes, often changing their part of speech:

      • Prefixes: (e.g., un-happy)
      • Infixes: (e.g., *fan-bloody-tastic*) (Note: Infixes are rare in English, more common in other languages.)
      • Suffixes: (e.g., port-er)

    • Inflectional Morphemes

      Always occupy the final position of a word and serve to express grammatical categories. They do not change the word's part of speech:

      • Gender/Number: (e.g., cat-s)
      • Verb Inflections: Express person, number, tense, mood, aspect, voice (e.g., walk-ed)

Word Formation Processes

Words can be formed through various linguistic processes:

• Derivation

  Consists of adding a derivational morpheme (prefix, infix, or suffix) to a lexeme to create a new word (e.g., happy → unhappy, nation → national).

• Composition

  Combines two or more existing words or lexemes to form a new word. Examples include:

  • Noun Compounds: (e.g., sun + flower → sunflower)
  • Adjective Compounds: (e.g., light + blue → light-blue)
  • Compound Phrases: Two or more separate words written apart but forming a single semantic unit (e.g., porthole, crow's feet, bombshell).

• Parasynthesis

  Involves forming words by simultaneously adding a prefix and a suffix to a lexeme, such that neither the prefix-lexeme combination nor the lexeme-suffix combination exists independently as a valid word. For example, in Spanish, en-grand-ecer (to enlarge) is parasynthetic because neither *engrand* nor *grandecer* exists as independent words. The example *unhappiness* (un-happy-ness) is a derived word, as both *unhappy* and *happiness* exist independently.

• Initialisms

  Words formed from the initial letters of other words, pronounced letter by letter (e.g., FBI, USA).

• Acronyms

  Words formed from the initial letters of other words, pronounced as a single word (e.g., NATO, NASA).

• Clipping (Shortening)

  Shortening a word by removing one or more syllables, typically from the beginning or end (e.g., professor → prof, telephone → phone).

• Lexicalization

  The process by which a word or phrase acquires a fixed, independent meaning, often losing its original etymological transparency (e.g., goodbye from 'God be with ye', or hot dog becoming a single concept).

Semantics: The Study of Meaning

Semantics explores the meaning of words and how they relate to each other:

• Hyperonymy

  A hyperonym (or superordinate) is a word with a broad meaning that includes other words (e.g., animal is a hyperonym of dog).

• Hyponymy

  A hyponym is a word whose meaning is included within a broader term (a hyperonym) and specifies a particular instance (e.g., dog is a hyponym of animal).

• Monosemy

  Refers to a word having only a single meaning (e.g., oxygen).

• Polysemy

  Refers to a word having multiple related meanings (e.g., bank can refer to a financial institution or the side of a river).

• Synonymy

  The relationship between words with similar meanings:

  • Total Synonymy: When words coincide in all their meanings and can be interchanged in all contexts (rare, e.g., couch/sofa in some contexts).
  • Partial Synonymy: When words coincide in only some of their meanings or can be interchanged in specific contexts but not all (e.g., big/large).