MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VIET NAM AVIATION ACADEMY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-- o0o –

MORPHOLOGY

TOPIC:

Definition of words

CLASS : 21ĐHNAHK - 010100093901

INSTRUCTOR: : NGUYEN KIM LOAN Ph.D.
GROUP : 3.1
STUDENT NAME : VONG BAO NGOC - 2152210020
TRAN THAI ANH KIM - 2152210007
LE AU MAI DUNG - 2152210002
NGUYEN THUY HUYNH PHUOC - 2152210048

Ho Chi Minh City, 05/2023

 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VIET NAM AVIATION ACADEMY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-- o0o –

MORPHOLOGY

TOPIC:

Definition of words

CLASS : 21ĐHNAHK - 010100093901

INSTRUCTOR: : NGUYEN KIM LOAN Ph.D.
GROUP : 3.1
STUDENT NAME : VONG BAO NGOC - 2152210020
TRAN THAI ANH KIM - 2152210007
LE AU MAI DUNG - 2152210002
NGUYEN THUY HUYNH PHUOC - 2152210048

Ho Chi Minh City, 05/2023

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Date_____Month ____ Year ______

(Instrutor’s signature)
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................1
CONTENT.....................................................................................................................2
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................6
REFERENCE................................................................................................................7
English Morphology

INTRODUCTION
A word is a unit of language that native speakers can agree upon as a
separate and distinct unit of meaning. Languages are made up of words. [1]
A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical
meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language
speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among
linguists on its definition and numerous attempts to find specific criteria of the concept
remain controversial. Different standards have been proposed, depending on the
theoretical background and descriptive context; these do not converge on a single
definition. Some specific definitions of the term "word" are employed to convey its
different meanings at different levels of description, for example, based on
phonological, grammatical, or orthographic basis. Others suggest that the concept is
simply a convention used in everyday situations. [1]
How do we exactly about words? We have to learn and know clearly what the
word means.

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English Morphology

CONTENT

Bảo Ngọc: Yesterday I was reading a book when I suddenly thought about the
definition of “Word”. I have searched a lot

Huỳnh Phước: So, what does “word” mean?

Bảo Ngọc: This is...

‘The word may be described as the basic unit of language. Uniting meaning and
form, it is composed of one or more morphemes, each consisting of one or more
spoken sounds or their written representatives.’ [Arnold, 1986: 27]

Anh Kim: Wow, that sounds fantastic. Something else?

Bảo Ngọc: Hmmm…

A word is ‘the smallest linguistic unit which can occur on its own in speech or
writing.

Anh Kim: Yeah, I do agree with you.

It is difficult to apply this criterion consistently. For example, can a function

word like the ‘occur on its own’? Is a contraction like can’t (cannot) one word or two?
Nevertheless, there is evidence that native speakers of a language tend to agree on
what are the words of their language.

In writing, word boundaries are usually recognized by spaces between words.

In speech, word boundaries may be recognized by slight pauses.’ [Richards, Platt &
Weber, 1987: 311]

Anh Kim: What do you think about this, Huynh Phuoc?

Huỳnh Phước: Well, I think…

‘The definition of a word is one of the most difficult in linguistics because the
simplest word has many aspects.
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English Morphology

1. It has a sound form because it is a certain arrangement of phonemes;

2. It has its morphological structure, being also a certain arrangement of
morphemes; when used in actual speech,
3. It may occur in different word forms,
4. Have different syntactic functions and signal various meanings.’ [Arnold, 1986:
28]

Huỳnh Phước: Can you give us an example of this, Mai Dung?

Mai Dung: I have an example of the word “SLEEP”

1. It has a sound form

the sound form of sleep is /sli:p/;

2. It has its morphological

there is only one free morpheme (free base)
structure

3. It may occur in different word

the plain form sleep has four inflected forms:
forms
 sleeps,
 sleeping,
 slept (the past simple form),
 and slept (the past participle form)

4. Have different syntactic  ‘The child was sleeping soundly’

functions and signal various
the present participle form sleeping can
meanings.
be used either as a verbal, which is part
of the finite verb.

 ‘He stood sleeping’

or as an adverbial, which is the adjunct

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English Morphology

of the manner of ‘stood’

 or as an adjectival, which is the pre-

nominal modifier of child in ‘a sleeping
child’.

Mai Dung: Now, we all know exactly about words. Can you give us another example
of this, Bao Ngoc?

Bảo Ngọc: Yes, of course. I have an example of the word “PLACE”

1. The sound forms of place is /pleis/

2. There is only one free morpheme (free base) in place;

Bảo Ngọc: Can you help me continue this, Anh Kim?

Anh Kim: Yes. It may occur in different word forms, that is...

3. The plain form place has four inflected forms: places, placing, placed
(the past simple form), and placed (the past participle form)
4. The word “place” can be used either as a noun: “New York City is a
nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” or as a verb:
“Place all the ingredients in a bowl.”

Anh Kim: Can you help us to analyze to word “contrast”, Huỳnh Phước?

Huỳnh Phước: Yes, of course…

1. The sound forms of contrast is /ˈkɒn træst/

2. There is only one morpheme in contrast

Huỳnh Phước: Can you help me continue analyzing this, Mai Dung?

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English Morphology

Mai Dung: Yes

3. The plain form contrast has four inflected forms: contrasts,

contrasting, contrasted (the past simple form), and contrasted (the past
participle form)
4. Contrast can be used either as a noun: I observed an interesting
contrast in the teaching styles of the two womenor as a verb: Her
black dress and the white background contrast sharply.

Bảo Ngọc: Oh you guys have given me a lot of information about the definition of the
word. Thanks a lot. Oh, I have to take a leave now, I’m about to be late for the next
class. See you guys later.

CONCLUSION
There have been countless attempts, using a wide range of criteria, to define
what a word is ever since the field of linguistics was first studied. However, no
satisfactory definition that can be applied to all linguistic levels and to all languages
has yet to be discovered. Nevertheless, it is possible to locate consistent meanings of

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English Morphology

"word" at various levels of description. The smallest segment of sound that can
theoretically be isolated by word accent and boundary markers is one of these
definitions, as is the definition on the orthographic level as a segment indicated by
blank spaces in writing or print; the definition on the basis of morphology as the
fundamental component of grammatical paradigms like inflection, which is distinct
from word forms; and the definition on the phonetic and phonological level.
Under syntactic theory, as the smallest permutable and substitutable unit in a
sentence; and within semantics, as the smallest and largely autonomous carrier of
meaning in a lexicon.

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English Morphology

REFERENCE
[1]: Word, Wikipedia (Word - Wikipedia)
[2]: Tô Minh Thanh, English Morphology, Vietnam National University, HCM City,
2003