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Linguistics - Morphology and Lexicology

Here you will learn some English words related to morphology and lexicology such as "affix", "stem", and "lexeme".

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Words Related to Linguistics
abbreviation

the shortened form of a word, etc.

Ex: When writing a report , be sure to define any abbreviations the first time you use them .
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affixation

a process in morphology where affixes, which are bound morphemes, are attached to a base or root morpheme to create new words or modify the meaning or grammatical function of existing words

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affix
affix
[noun]

(grammar) a letter or group of letters added to the end or beginning of a word to change its meaning

Ex: In linguistics , affixes play a crucial role in word formation and derivation .
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contraction

a short form of a word or a group of words used instead of the full form

Ex: Contractions are often used in informal writing and speech .
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prefix
prefix
[noun]

(grammar) a letter or a set of letters that are added to the beginning of a word to alter its meaning and make a new word

Ex: The dictionary provided a list of prefixes and their meanings to help with word formation and understanding .
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ending
ending
[noun]

the last part of a word, added to the main part

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suffix
suffix
[noun]

(grammar) a letter or a set of letters that are added to the end of a word to alter its meaning and make a new word

Ex: Students practiced adding different suffixes to root words to see how their meanings changed .
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acronym
acronym
[noun]

a word formed from the initial letters of a phrase, pronounced as a single word

Ex: The company name was created as an acronym from its founders ' initials .
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blending
blending
[noun]

a process in language where two or more words are combined to create a new word that retains elements or sounds from the original words

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numeronym
numeronym
[noun]

a type of abbreviation in which a word or phrase is represented by a series of numbers, with the numbers typically corresponding to the number of letters omitted between the first and last letter of the word or phrase

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bound morpheme

a morpheme that cannot stand alone as an independent word and must be attached to other morphemes to convey meaning

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circumfix
circumfix
[noun]

a type of affix that consists of two parts, one attached to the beginning of a word and the other attached to the end

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transfixation

a morphological process in which a segment or a group of segments is inserted within a word, typically resulting in a change of the word's meaning or grammatical category

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analogy
analogy
[noun]

(linguistics) a process by which a new word or inflection is formed according to existing rules and regulations

Ex: The study of analogy shows how language adapts to the needs of its speakers .
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coinage
coinage
[noun]

the process of inventing a word

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stem
stem
[noun]

(in linguistics) the base form of a word after removing affixes

Ex: Identifying the stem helps in learning related words .
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root
root
[noun]

(in linguistics) the base form of a word, remaining after removing all prefixes and suffixes

Ex: The root determines the core meaning of the word .
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free morpheme

a morpheme that can function as an independent word in a language

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infix
infix
[noun]

a type of bound morpheme that is inserted within a word

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clitic
clitic
[noun]

a linguistic element that functions as a word but behaves phonologically or syntactically as a bound morpheme, often attaching to other words and lacking independent stress or full syntactic independence

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word formation

the process of creating new words or modifying existing ones through morphological and lexical mechanisms in a language

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lexeme
lexeme
[noun]

(linguistics) a basic linguistic unit that is meaningful and underlies a set of words which are related through inflection

Ex: Analyzing lexemes helps in identifying patterns of word formation and usage across different linguistic contexts .
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derivation

a morphological process in language where new words are formed by adding affixes or making internal modifications to a base or root word, resulting in a change in meaning, part of speech, or both

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inflection

(grammar) a change in the structure of a word, usually adding a suffix, according to its grammatical function

Ex: Understanding inflection is essential for mastering highly inflected languages like Finnish .
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back-formation

a word-formation process in which a new word is created by removing what is mistakenly perceived as a derivative affix from an existing word, often resulting in a shorter word with a different part of speech

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compounding

a word-formation process in which two or more individual words are combined to create a new word, typically resulting in a compound with a meaning that is related to or derived from the meanings of the individual words

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conversion

a word-formation process in which a word changes its grammatical category or part of speech without any accompanying morphological changes, such as when a noun becomes a verb or a verb becomes a noun

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paradigm
paradigm
[noun]

a structured set showing how a word changes to express different grammatical categories such as tense, mood, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, or case

Ex: In Greek , each verb has a paradigm that learners must memorize to master conjugation .
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lexicon
lexicon
[noun]

the complete set of meaningful units in a language or a branch of knowledge, or words or phrases that a speaker uses

Ex: Building a diverse lexicon through reading and exposure to different contexts enriches one 's language skills and communication abilities .
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clipping
clipping
[noun]

the process of shortening a word by dropping one or more syllables

Ex: The process of clipping often retains the original word's meaning and can occur in various parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
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hypocorism

a word-formation process in which a word or name is modified to create a shorter, affectionate, or informal version, often used to express familiarity, endearment, or intimacy

Ex: The formation of hypocorisms can involve various linguistic processes such as clipping , adding diminutive suffixes , or phonetic modification .
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morphemization

the process of creating or treating a group of phonological segments as a distinct morpheme, which carries meaning and can be combined with other morphemes to form words

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agglutination

a linguistic process where affixes attach to a root word, each keeping a distinct meaning and form

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lexical morpheme

a type of morpheme that carries the core lexical or semantic meaning of a word

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vocabulary

all the words used in a particular language or subject

Ex: She uses a vocabulary app on her phone to learn new English words.
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derivative

(in linguistics) a word that is developed from another word or base

Ex: Linguists analyze how derivatives evolve over time .
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base
base
[noun]

(linguistics) the form to which affixes or other morphological operations are added to create a new word

Ex: English compound words like "sunflower" combine two bases ("sun" + "flower").
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nominalization

a process in language where a word or phrase, typically a verb or an adjective, is transformed into a noun, either by adding a suffix or by changing its syntactic function, allowing the expression of concepts or actions as nominal entities

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lexicalization

a process in which a word or phrase evolves from being a combination of grammatical elements or a non-lexicalized expression to becoming an established lexical unit with its own meaning and usage

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diminutive

a word form or affix that is added to a base word to express smallness, endearment, or a sense of familiarity

Ex: "Teacup" is a diminutive form of "cup," indicating a smaller version.
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protologism

a newly created word or expression that has not yet gained widespread acceptance or recognition within a language community

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ghost word

a non-existent or erroneous word that has been mistakenly created and entered into a dictionary or other linguistic sources

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pseudoword

a string of letters or sounds that resemble real words but do not have any actual meaning or lexical representation in a particular language

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nonce word

a term or expression created and used for a specific occasion or context, typically with a limited or one-time purpose, and not intended for long-term or widespread usage

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hapax legomenon

a word or form that appears only once within a specific corpus or body of text

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morph
morph
[noun]

the smallest unit of a word's sound or written form that conveys a distinct grammatical or lexical meaning

Ex: Each morph carries a specific meaning in the sentence .
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morpheme
morpheme
[noun]

(linguistics) the smallest meaningful unit of a language that does not necessarily stand alone and cannot be divided

Ex: The study of morphemes, known as morphology , examines how these units combine to create complex words .
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functional morpheme

a type of morpheme that conveys grammatical information and serves a functional role in a sentence, rather than carrying lexical or content-related meaning

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lexical unit

(linguistics) a word, a group of words or a part of word that has a meaning and forms the basic element of any language

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portmanteau word

a new word that is formed by the combination of two other words blending their meaning and sounds

Ex: The creation of portmanteau words can be playful and creative , as seen in " chillax , " a combination of " chill " and " relax . "
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lexis
lexis
[noun]

(linguistics) all the words and phrases of a language, including the function words

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word
word
[noun]

(grammar) a unit of language that has a specific meaning

Ex: Understanding every word in a sentence helps with comprehension .
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collocation

a particular combination of words that are used together very often

Ex: The teacher explained the meaning of each collocation.
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idiom
idiom
[noun]

a group of words or a phrase that has a meaning different from the literal interpretation of its individual words, often specific to a particular language or culture

Ex: The idiom ' piece of cake ' refers to something that is very easy to do , which has nothing to do with an actual piece of dessert .
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lexical ambiguity

a situation in which a word or phrase has multiple meanings or interpretations, often leading to confusion or uncertainty in understanding the intended message or context

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reduplication

the process of duplicating all or part of a word or morpheme to create a new form, often with a change in meaning or grammatical function

Ex: Reduplication can serve various functions across languages , including emphasis , diminishment , or the creation of onomatopoeic expressions .
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blocking
blocking
[noun]

a phenomenon where the presence of one linguistic form prevents the occurrence or acceptance of another form with a similar meaning or function

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lexical rule

a set of principles or patterns that govern the formation or derivation of words and their meanings within a particular language or lexical system

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sniglet
sniglet
[noun]

a playful, made-up word used to describe something for which there is no existing term, often adding humor and creativity to language

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phono-semantic matching

the process in which a new word or morpheme is created by combining a sound component that resembles an existing word with a semantic component that reflects its meaning

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