Changes

Typically a word will consist of a root or stem and zero or more affixes. Words can be combined to create other units of language such as phrases, clauses, and sentences. A word consisting of two or more stems joined together form a compound. A word combined with an already existing word or part of a word form a [[portmanteau]].  

Typically a word will consist of a root or stem and zero or more affixes. Words can be combined to create other units of language such as phrases, clauses, and sentences. A word consisting of two or more stems joined together form a compound. A word combined with an already existing word or part of a word form a [[portmanteau]].  

==Definitions==

==Definitions==

:A speaker is told to say a sentence out loud, and then is told to say the sentence again with extra words added to it. Thus, ''I have lived in this village for ten years'' might become ''I and my family have lived in this little village for about ten or so years''. These extra words will tend to be added in the word boundaries of the original sentence. However, some languages have infixes, which are put inside a word.  Similarly, some have separable affixes; in the German sentence "Ich '''komme''' gut zu Hause '''an'''," the verb ''ankommen'' is separated.

:A speaker is told to say a sentence out loud, and then is told to say the sentence again with extra words added to it. Thus, ''I have lived in this village for ten years'' might become ''I and my family have lived in this little village for about ten or so years''. These extra words will tend to be added in the word boundaries of the original sentence. However, some languages have infixes, which are put inside a word.  Similarly, some have separable affixes; in the German sentence "Ich '''komme''' gut zu Hause '''an'''," the verb ''ankommen'' is separated.

;Minimal free forms

;Minimal free forms

:This concept was proposed by Leonard Bloomfield in 1926. Words are thought of as the smallest meaningful unit of speech that can stand by themselves. This correlates phonemes (units of sound) to [[lexeme]]s (units of [[meaning]]). However, some written words are not minimal free forms, as they make no sense by themselves (for example, ''the'' and ''of'').

:This concept was proposed by Leonard Bloomfield in 1926. Words are thought of as the smallest meaningful unit of speech that can stand by themselves. This correlates phonemes (units of sound) to lexemes (units of [[meaning]]). However, some written words are not minimal free forms, as they make no sense by themselves (for example, ''the'' and ''of'').

;Phonetic boundaries

;Phonetic boundaries

:Some languages have particular rules of pronunciation that make it easy to spot where a word boundary should be. For example, in a language that regularly stresses the last syllable of a word, a word boundary is likely to fall after each stressed syllable. Another example can be seen in a language that has vowel harmony (like Turkish]]): the vowels within a given word share the same ''quality'', so a word boundary is likely to occur whenever the vowel quality changes. Nevertheless, not all languages have such convenient phonetic rules, and even those that do present the occasional exceptions.

:Some languages have particular rules of pronunciation that make it easy to spot where a word boundary should be. For example, in a language that regularly stresses the last syllable of a word, a word boundary is likely to fall after each stressed syllable. Another example can be seen in a language that has vowel harmony (like Turkish]]): the vowels within a given word share the same ''quality'', so a word boundary is likely to occur whenever the vowel quality changes. Nevertheless, not all languages have such convenient phonetic rules, and even those that do present the occasional exceptions.

In Indian grammatical tradition, [[Panini]] introduced a similar fundamental classification into a nominal (nāma, suP) and a verbal (ākhyāta, tiN) class, based on the set of desinences taken by the word.

In Indian grammatical tradition, [[Panini]] introduced a similar fundamental classification into a nominal (nāma, suP) and a verbal (ākhyāta, tiN) class, based on the set of desinences taken by the word.

==References==

==References==

==External links==

==External links==

* [http://www.sussex.ac.uk/linguistics/documents/essay_-_what_is_a_word.pdf What Is a Word?] - a working paper by [[Larry Trask]], Department of Linguistics and English Language, [[University of Sussex]].

* [https://www.sussex.ac.uk/linguistics/documents/essay_-_what_is_a_word.pdf What Is a Word?] - a working paper by Larry Trask, Department of Linguistics and English Language, University of Sussex.

[[Category: Linguistics]]

[[Category: Linguistics]]

[[Category: General Reference]]

[[Category: General Reference]]