The Word

WHAT IS A WORD?
WORK OUT YOUR OWN DEFINITION

What is the definition of

word?
A word is a minimal free form- Leonard Bloomfield
One of the smallest completely satisfying bits of
isolated meaning into which the sentence resolves
itself - Sapir
A word is defined by the association of a given
meaning with a given group of sounds, capable of a
given grammatical employment . - Meillet

WHAT IS A WORD?
1. WORDS ARE LISTED IN
DICTIONARIES
2. WORDS ARE SEPARATED IN
WRITING BY SPACE
3. WORDS ARE SEPARATED IN
SPEECH BY PAUSE

WORKING DEFINITION
Words are uninterruptible unit of structure
consisting of one more morphemes and which
typically occurs in the structure of phrases

DISTINCTION
TYPES

NATURE

EXAMPLE

1. Lexical Words

Have fairly
independent
meanings and may be
meaningful even in
isolation or in a series

Bottle- has an
independent meaning
and so does the series
boy, break, bottle,
stone.

2. Grammatical
Words

They are elements like A, the, to, with

prepositions, articles,
conjunctions, forms
indicating number or
tenses

Lexical Meaning of the

Word
component of meaning proper to a
word as a linguistic unit met in all
word-forms
e.g. go-goes-went
lexical meaning process of
movement
grammatical meaning tense

Characteristics of
words
(1)The word is an uninterruptible unit.
E.g. lock, read
Prefix: [Longman] technical a group of letters that is
added to the beginning of a word to change its
meaning and make a new word, such as 'un' in 'untie'
or 'mis' in 'misunderstand;
Suffix: [Longman] a letter or letters added to the end
of a word to form a new word, such as 'ness' in
'kindness' or 'ly' in 'suddenly'

Characteristics of
words
Suprafix- an affix may also occur not at the beginning
or at the end, but simultaneously with the word
e.g. export (noun) and export (verb)- they differ only
in the position of the primary stress
This stress pattern may be referred to as suprafix.

Stem and Root

Stem- The word to which affixes are added and
which carries the basic meaning of the resulting
complex word is known as the stem, which may
consist of one or more morphemes.
Root- it refers to the stem consisting of a single
morpheme.

Characteristics of
words
2. The word may consist of one or more
morphemes.
1. If one morpheme (e.g. dog, hand, out) , then a
simple word (minimum free form).
2. When words consist of more than one or more
morphemes, they are either complex words or
Compound words
Complex Words- may be broken down into one free
form and one or more bound forms: dog-s, happpi-ly,
work-ing
Compound Words consist of more than one free
form: birth-day, candle-stick

Characteristics of
words
3. The word occurs typically in the structure of
phrases.
Morphemes are used to build words
Words to build phrases
Phrases to build clauses
Clauses to build sentences
Final characteristics: it should belong to a specific
word class or part of speech

Ambiguity of Word
1. The generic character of the word
2. The multiplicity of aspects in every word
3. The lack of clear-cut boundaries in the nonlinguistic world
4. Lack of familiarity with the referent of the
words

Ambiguity of Word
1. The generic character of the word
The word has abstract reference- is more schematic.
e.g. mammal is more generic than the word cow; in
the same way, animal is more abstract that mammal.

Ambiguity of Word
2. The multiplicity of aspects in every word
The words we use are never completely homogenous
in their meaning: all of them have a number of facets
depending on the context and situation. E.g. table for
two in a restaurant; the table of contents in a book, a
multiplication table at school, to give money under
the table

Ambiguity of Word
3. The lack of clear-cut boundaries in the nonlinguistic world
Overlapping use of words which merge into one
another and which have to be divide up into discrete
units. E.g. the color spectrum in a continuum;
however, each language introduces into a certain
number of more or less arbitrary distinctions

Ambiguity of Word
4. Lack of familiarity with the referent of the
words
It depends on the general knowledge and the special
interest of each individual. E.g. educators may have
hazy notions about the meanings of tools which will be
perfectly clear to any mechanic

Language as a system of
signs
Language is a process of naming, but this
does not mean that ready made ideas exist
before words but rather:
The linguistic sign unites, not a thing and a
name, but a concept and a sound-image

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Words are arbitrary

The relationship between signifier and signified is
purely arbitrary.
There is nothing that logically links a particular
sound image to a concept.

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Denotation
The strict dictionary
meaning of a word

Connotation
The emotional and imaginative
association surrounding a word

DENOTATION is the straight forward or

common- sense meaning of a sign. Literally
what is actually shown in an image.
A red rose is a flower that is its straight
forward meaning or denotation
A lamb is a young sheep-

CONNOTATION

is the extra, linked

meaning that goes with any sign.
The connotations of a sign will be much more
personal than the straight forward denotation
because they are to do with personal ideas
and feelings about it.
The connotations will not be the same for
everybody.

Same Denotation, Different

Connotation?
Two words can have the same
definition while carrying different
emotional content. One word may
be cruel or insulting while another
word might be neutral or positive.

Same Denotation, Different

Connotation?
Example:
Aunt Myrna is proud of her nephew George.
Aunt Willa, by contrast, disapproves of
everything George does.
The fact is: George likes to save money when
shopping. Aunt Myrna says: Hes thrifty.
Aunt Willa says: Hes stingy.
Thrifty suggests that George is smart and knows how to find
bargains. Stingy depicts George as greedy and lacking
generosity.

Same Denotation, Different

Connotation?
The fact is: George
works hard.
Aunt Myrna says: Hes
very focused on his
job.
Aunt Willa says: Hes
obsessed with his
job.
focused implies that
someone is interested in
what theyre doing, while
obsessed suggests that
they are addicted to it.

The fact is: George has

a son and two
daughters.
Aunt Myrna says:
George has three
children.
Aunt Willa says:
George has three
brats.
Brat is a slang word for a
noisy, annoying child. Willa
is implying that Georges
children misbehave all the

Same Denotation, Different

Connotation?
Friendship, love,
vacation, freedom
usually arouse
pleasant feelings

Slum, drunkard,
torture, criminal
usually arouse
unpleasant feelings

Words can have context-specific connotations that

are not always obvious from their dictionary meaning.
e.g. the word elderly means old but it can only be
applied to a person; no matter how old a house is, it
would not be called elderly.
Similarly, blonde means yellow but it refers only to
hair and to some kinds of wood; it is never used to
describe other yellow objects.

Euphemism

Word or phrase used to avoid saying an

unpleasant or offensive word.
e.g. "Senior citizen" is a euphemismfor"old
person".
English has many euphemisms for death: instead of
saying that someone died, we might say they
passed away or departed.
This is a way to avoid the negative associations
with certain ideas.

ACTIVITY 1
For most people, 10 of the following words have
favorable connotations, and 10 have unfavorable
ones.
1. dessert
11. Monday
2. flu
12. weekend
3. monster
13. T.V.
4. Music
14. murder
5. Worm
15. war
6. Progress
16. daughter
7. Jewels
17. debt
8. Success
18. traffic
9. Gang
19.
10.circus
springtime
20. liar