Fundamentals of Linguistics: Word Structure and Meaning

Word Structure: Monemes and Their Types

The moneme is the smallest meaningful unit into which a word can be divided.

Types of Monemes:

• Lexemes: Provide the core lexical meaning of a word (e.g., grade, name).
• Morphemes: Complement and extend the meaning of lexemes. They can be:
  • Dependent Morphemes: Attached to a stem.
    • Inflections: Convey grammatical notions such as gender, number, person, and tense.
    • Derivational Morphemes: Modify the meaning of a lexeme. When they precede the lexeme, they are called prefixes; when they follow, they are suffixes. An interfix appears between the stem and the suffix.
  • Independent Morphemes: Form words by themselves (e.g., conjunctions and prepositions).

Word Formation Processes

Simple Words:

Formed by a single lexeme, or a lexeme accompanied by one or more inflections, or an independent morpheme.

Derived Words:

Consist of a lexeme accompanied by one or more derivational morphemes.

Compound Words:

Consist of two simple words, two separate morphemes, or a morpheme and an independent lexeme.

Parasynthetic Words:

Formed when a word undergoes both prefixation and suffixation simultaneously.

Diaphasic Variation: Language Registers

Factors Influencing Diaphasic Variation:

• The hierarchical relationship between participants.
• The nature of their relationships.
• Age and sex.

Colloquial Register:

This language register is characteristic of spoken language. It also appears in written language (e.g., newspapers). Spontaneous conversations often exhibit typical traits of colloquial language.

Taboo Words and Euphemisms

Taboos are words that speakers, for various reasons, resist pronouncing. Terms that take the place of taboo words are called euphemisms.

Figures of Speech: Metaphor and Metonymy

Metaphor:

A semantic phenomenon by which we apply to a word the meaning of another based on comparison.

Metonymy:

Based on an association of ideas, where the terms involved, instead of sharing a relationship of resemblance, maintain a link of contiguity.

Understanding Acronyms

An acronym is a word formed by the initial letters of a complex expression. It is an abbreviation pronounced as a word, forming a cohesive unit that functions as a real word.