Morphology & Syntax

WORD
Session 3

MEIYANTI NURCHAERANI S.S.,M.HUM

UNIVERSITAS ESA UNGGUL

JAKARTA
2021 – 2022
What is Word?

A word is a speech sound or a combination of sounds, or its representation

in writing, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist
of a single morpheme or a combination of morphemes.

The branch of linguistics that studies word structures is called morphology.

The branch of linguistics that studies word meanings is
called lexical semantics.

The term word is used to designate an intermediate structure smaller than

a whole phrase and yet larger than a single sound segment. It can be
defined depending on whether we focus on its representation, the thought
which it expresses, or purely formal criteria. However, although it may be
difficult to define word, even non literate speakers can divide the speech
chain into words.

„Word‟ is a term in common everyday use but one which linguists cannot
easily define. Is isn’t for example one word or two? And how about mother-
in-law? It denotes one concept but is formed out of three recognisable
„words‟: mother, in and law. Linguists therefore prefer other terms, referring
to morphs, morphemes and lexemes when talking about „words‟.

Words Are Tangible

The most tangible elements of a language are its words. You‟ve heard
people say “There‟s no such word” or “What does the word lollapalooza
mean?” Someone doing a crossword puzzle may have asked you, “What‟s
a three-letter word for excessively?” We say one person likes to use “two-
bit” words and another has a preference for “four-letter” words. In these
instances people have clear notions of what a word is. On the other hand,
when it comes to meaningful parts smaller than a word, our intuitions are
less confident. We readily understand that bookstore, laptop, and headset
have two meaningful parts each, but our intuitions may be less certain
about bookkeeper, sneakers, women’s, sang, and impracticality. This
chapter examines words and their meaningful parts, as well as the
principles that govern the composition of words and the functions of words
in sentences. You will learn what it means to know a word and how
languages expand their word stock.

What Does It Mean to Know a Word?

Consider what a child must know in order to use a word. The child who
asks “Can you take off my shoes?” knows a good deal more about the
word shoes than what it refers to. She knows the sounds in shoes and the
sequence in which they occur. She knows that the word can be used in the
plural (unlike, say, milk) and that the plural is not irregular like teeth or
children but is formed regularly. She also knows how to use the word
in a sentence. Using a word requires four kinds of information:

• its sounds and their sequencing (this is called phonological information)

• its meanings (semantic information)

• how related words such as the plural (for nouns) and past tense (for
verbs) are formed (morphological information, treated in this chapter)

• its category (e.g., noun or verb) and how to use it in a sentence

For children and adults, using any word requires information about sounds,
meanings, related words, and use in sentences, and that information must
be stored in the brain‟s dictionary (called the mental lexicon, or lexicon for
short).

There are some parallels between the kinds of information stored in the
lexicon and the kinds found in a desk dictionary. Both contain information
about pronunciation, meaning, related words, and sentence use. But a
 dictionary also contains information that is not needed for speaking—for
example, about a word‟s spelling and historical development (called its
etymology). Dictionaries also provide illustrations of how a word has been
used by writers or speakers. A mental lexicon does not normally contain
etymological, illustrative, or spelling information.

Types of words

1. Complex word

A complex word is defined as a base word combined with a derivational

element, such as an affix or a suffix. I.E, the word live + ly= lively. There
are four origins that explain the formation of complex words.

 GREEK origins- words are formed as a result of classical Greek and neo-
Latin roots. These are the words that, when read in Greek, show a very
similar structure as in English. Many medical and academic terms follow
this model, for example astigmatism, narcissism, dogmatism, magnetism.
 ROMANCE origins- words that come from a Latin origin and whose
structural composition is repetitive in English, Spanish, and French. For
example, the word "im-possible", is the same in all three language. Words
that end in -ion are also romance words that repeat their structure
throughout these languages as well: direct+ion, precipitat+ion,
durat+ion are examples of words that maintain their structure throughout
the three languages and only differ slightly in spelling or the use of tildes.
 GERMANIC origins- this is the main origin of the English language and
upon which most English words are based. For instance, the Proto-
Germanic word "skapiz" means "ship". It is used as a suffix in modern
English in complex words such as relation+ship, fellow+ship, for example.
This structure is the same in English as it is in Norse, Dutch, High German
and Old Saxon.
 VERNACULAR-words with mixed, native principles of Latin, French, and
Greek.
 HYBRID- the combination of every origin in one same word or two different
origins that keep the same structure as in English like un- words
(Vernacular), cre- words (Latin). The complex word uncre+ative is a
vernacular/Latin hybrid.

2. Compound word

A compound word is a combination of two simple words. Differing from the

complex word, the compound word does not acquire its definition from the
addition of affixes. In the case of compound words, the union of the two
simple words bring out an altogether different meaning than the words do
in their original form. An example of compound words are:

 bedroom
 basketball
 butterscotch
 eyesore

3. Simple word

Finally, a simple word is the basic word form with nothing added to it. A
word such as "active" has a meaning of its own and has not been altered in
any way. Now, for the word "active", a simple word, to become complex
you would add an affix.

 inter-active (Latin "inter"+ active)

 active-ly (active + Vernacular "ly")
 over-active (Proto-Germanic "uber"+active)
 References

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-definitions-types-words-simple-
compound-419962

https://www.thoughtco.com/word-english-language-1692612