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The word as the central unit of language. The problem of word definition. …
The word as the central unit of language. The problem of word definition.
Definition of a Word
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E.g., "cat" refers to a domestic feline.
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E.g., morphological, phonological, syntactic definitions.
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Phonological Perspective
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E.g., /k/, /æ/, /t/ in "cat."
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E.g., "pluralization" changes the /s/ sound in "cats."
Syntactic Perspective
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E.g., "cat" as a subject or object in a sentence.
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E.g., "The cat chased the dog"
vs. "The dog chased the cat."
Semantic Perspective
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E.g., "dog" represents the concept of a canine.
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Polysemy: Multiple related meanings (e.g., "bank" for a financial institution or river edge).
Homonymy: Unrelated meanings (e.g., "bat" for a flying mammal or a sports equipment).
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Historical Perspective
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Different languages may have different types of words (e.g., ideophones in some African languages).
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