Is but a complex word

In English grammar and morphology, a complex word is a word made up of two or more morphemes. Contrast with monomorphemic word.

A complex word may consist of (1) a base (or root) and one or more affixes (for example, quicker), or (2) more than one root in a compound (for example, blackbird).

Examples and Observations

«[W]e say that bookishness is a complex word, whose immediate components are bookish and -ness, which we can express in shorthand by spelling the word with dashes between each morph: book-ish-ness. The process of dividing a word into morphs is called parsing.» (Keith M. Denning et al., English Vocabulary Elements. Oxford University Press, 2007)

Transparency and Opaqueness

«A morphologically complex word is semantically transparent if its meaning is obvious from its parts: hence ‘unhappiness’ is semantically transparent, being made up in a predictable fashion from ‘un,’ ‘happy,’ and ‘ness.’ A word like ‘department,’ even though it contains recognizable morphemes, is not semantically transparent. The meaning of ‘depart’ in ‘department’ is not obviously related to the ‘depart’ in ‘departure.’ It is semantically opaque.» (Trevor A. Harley, The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory. Taylor & Francis, 2001)

Blender

«Let us consider the complex word blender. What can we say about its morphology? One aspect we can mention is that it consists of two morphemes, blend and er. Besides, we can say that blend is the root, since it is not further analysable, and at the same time the base to which the suffix -er is attached. To conclude, if we carry out morphological analysis, we usually show what morphemes a word consists of and describe these morphemes in terms of their type.» (Ingo Plag et al, Introduction to English Linguistics. Walter de Gruyer, 2007)

The Hypothesis of Lexical Integrity

«The lexicon . . . is not just a set of words, but also comprises word combinations. For example, English (like most Germanic languages) has many verb-particle combinations, also called phrasal verbs of the type to look up which clearly consist of two words which are even separable:

(20a) The student looked up the information
(20b) The student looked the information up

The verb look up cannot be one word since its two parts can be separated, as in sentence (20b). A basic assumption in morphology is the hypothesis of Lexical Integrity: the constituents of a complex word cannot be operated upon by syntactic rules. Put differently: words behave as atoms with respect to syntactic rules, which cannot look inside the word and see its internal morphological structure. Hence, the movement of up to the end of the sentence in (20b) can only be accounted for if look up is a combination of two words. That is, phrasal verbs such as lookup are certainly lexical units, but not words. Words are just a subset of the lexical units of a language. Another way of putting this is to say that look up is a listeme but not a lexeme of English (DiSciullo and Williams, 1987).

«Other examples of lexical multi-word units are adjective-noun combinations such as red tape, big toe, atomic bomb, and industrial output. Such phrases are established terms for referring to certain kinds of entities, and hence they must be listed in the lexicon.» (Geert E. Booij, The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 2012)

Asked by: Laverna Halvorson

Score: 4.7/5
(70 votes)

It is not simple nor complex. Because it does not have a dependent clause, but a University of Cambridge Grammar book also says a compound sentence must consist of two independent clauses. If there are more than two independent clauses then rewrite them as two sentences.

What is a complex word?

A complex word is defined by the Siteimprove algorithm as a polysyllabic word, which is a word made up of more than three syllables.

What are some complex words?

7 Complex Words With Simple Definitions

What is considered a complex?

composed of many interconnected parts; compound; composite: a complex highway system. characterized by a very complicated or involved arrangement of parts, units, etc.: complex machinery. so complicated or intricate as to be hard to understand or deal with: a complex problem.

How can you tell if a word is simple or complex?

Thus, the (a) examples in (1) to (3) show that some words consist of just one morpheme. Such words are called simple or simplex. Other words consist of two or more morphemes. These are called complex words.

30 related questions found

1.      COMPLEX WORDS

The words that were described were called “simple”, word;  “simple”  in this context means, “not composed of more than one grammatical unit “ , so that, for example, the word ‘care’ is simple while ‘careful’ and ‘careless’  are complex; ‘carefully’ and ‘carelessness’ are also complex, and composed of three grammatical units each.

Complex word are of two major types: words made from a basic steam word with the addition of an affix, and compound words, which are made of two independent English words (i.e. ‘ice-cream’, armchair’,) Affix words.

Affixes are of two sorts in English.

v  Prefixes

Which come before the stem (e.g. Prefix ‘un-’+stem ‘pleasant’, = ‘unpleasant’)                    

v  Suffixes

Which come after the stem (e.g. stem ‘good’ + suffix ‘-ness’ = ‘goodness’)

Affixes will have one of three possible effects on word stress:

The affix itself receivers the primary stress (e.g. ‘semi + circle’, ‘s3:k!’= semicircle, ‘semIs3:k!’).

The word is stressed just as if the affix was not there (e.g. ‘pleasant’ ‘Pleznt, unpleasant’, ‘^n’Pleznt)

The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is  shifted to a different syllable (e.g. ‘magnet’ mǽgnat, ‘magnetic’, mǽg’netik”.

2.      SUFFIXES

A suffix is a letter pattern that is fixed to the end of a word.

We will consentrate on those which are common and productive. That is applied to a considerable number of stems and could be applied to more to make English word. The suffixes are referred to in their spelling form.

Ø  Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves

The primary stress is on the first syllable of the suffix. If the stem consists of more than on syllable there will be a secondary stress on one of the syllables of the stem.

Ex : ‘Japan’     ʤә’pӕn

The primary syllable is on the last syllable, but we add stress-carrying suffix ‘-ese’ the primary stress is on the suffix and the secondary stress is placed not on the second syllable but on the first.

Ex : ‘Japanese’ , ʤӕpә’ni:z

            ‘-ain’                : ‘ entertain’ ,entә’teɪn

            ‘-ee’                 : ‘ refugee’ ,refjʊ’ʤi:

            ‘ –ese’              : ‘ portuguese’ ,pᴐ:ʧә’gi:z

Ø  Suffixes that do not affect stress placement

‘-able’              : ‘comfort’  ‘kʌmfәt ; ‘comfortable’  ‘kʌmfɪәbl

‘-age’               : ‘anchor’  ‘ӕɳkә ; ‘anchorage’ ‘ӕɳkrɪʤ

‘-en’                 : ‘wide’  ‘waɪd’ ; ‘wide’ ‘waɪdn

‘-ful’                : ‘wonder’ ‘wʌndә ; ‘wonderful’  ‘wʌndәfl

‘-ing’                : ‘amaze’  ә’meɪz ; ‘amazing’ ә’meɪzɪɳ

‘-ish’                : ‘devil’  ‘devl ; ‘devilish’ ‘devlɪʃ

This is the rule for adjectives, verbs with stems of stems of more than one syllable always have the stress on the syllable immediately preceding ‘ ish’

Ex :      ‘replenish’       ri’pleniʃ

            ‘demolish’       dɪ’molɪʃ

Ø  Suffixes that influence stress in stem

The primary stress on the last syllable of the stem.

      ‘-ial’                 : ‘proverb’  ‘prɒvɜ:b  ; ‘proverbial’  prә’vɜ:biәl

      ‘-ion’               : ‘perfect’   ‘pɜ:fɪkt ; ‘perfection’  pә’fekʃn

      ‘-ious’              : ‘injure’  ‘ɪnʤә ; ‘injurious’  ɪn’ʤʊәriәs

      ‘-ty’                 : ‘tranquil’  ‘trӕɳkwɪl ; ‘tranquillity’  trӕɳ’kwɪlɪti

The suffixes ‘-ance’, ‘-ant’ and ‘-ary’

If the final syllable of the stem contains a long vowel or diphthong, or if it ends with more than one consonant, that syllable receives the stress.

‘-ance’                   : ‘importance’  ɪm’pᴐ:tns

‘-ant’                      : ‘consonant’   ‘kɑnsnәnt

‘-ary’                     : ‘military’  ‘mɪlɪtri

Here is a list of commonly used suffixes. Knowing these suffixes will help you to:

(1) work out the meaning of words

• -able / -ible when added to a verb, mean ‘can be done’; e.g. correctable, edible, unmistakable
• -ise / -ize are used to make verbs from nouns, and mean to change something or to go through a process; e.g. accessorise, apologise, initialise, synchronise
• -ology implies the study of a subject; e.g. biology, sociology, psychology
• -ness is used to make nouns from adjectives, and means to be something; e.g. airsickness, assertiveness, blindness, cleanliness

• -ment (nouns) e.g. development, environment
• -ity (nouns) e.g. responsibility, prosperity, stability, stupidity
• -hood (abstract nouns) e.g. childhood, manhood
• -ship (abstract nouns) e.g. hardship
• -ive (adjectives) e.g. creative, alternative, comprehensive, qualitative
• -less (adjectives) e.g. careless, brainless, clueless, endless
• -al (adjectives and nouns) e.g. comical, cultural, historical, sexual, anal
• -ify (verbs) e.g. amplify, beautify, clarify, dehumidify, intensify

3.      PREFIXES

Stress in words with prefixes is governed by the same rules as those for words without prefixes. That is because the effect of prefixes on stress do not have the comparative regularity, independence and predictability of suffixes, and there is no prefix of one or two syllables that always carries primary stress.

4.      COMPOUND WORDS

Its main characteristic is that it can be analyzed into two (some can be more) English words. As woth the many of the distinctions being made in connection with stress, there are areas of uncertainty. For example; ‘photograph’ may be divided into two words, yet we usually do not regard it as compound, but as an affix words.

Some ways in writing compound words;

1. Written as one word, e.g. armchair, sunflower
2. Separated by hyphen, e.g. gear-change, fruit-cake
3. Separated by a space, e.g. desk lamp, battery charger

The third way causes confusion among the foreign learners because there is no clear dividing line between two-word compounds and pairs of words that simply happen to occur together quite frequently.

A few rules are given although there are not completely reliable. They are as the following;

1.      Words which do not receive primary stress normally have secondary stress. Normally, two-word compounds (two nouns) has the stress on the first element;

Typewriter – ‘taɪpraɪtә                       Suitcase – ‘sju:tkeɪs

Car-ferry – ‘ka:feri                              tea-cup – ‘ti:kΛp

Sunrise – ‘sΛnraɪz                             

2.      Compounds with an adjectival first element and the –ed morpheme at the end receive stress instead on the second element.

(Given in spelling only)

Bad-‘tempered

Half-‘timbered

Heavy-‘handed

3.      Compounds in which the first element is a number in some form also tend to have final stress:

(Given in spelling only)

Three-‘wheeler

Second-‘class

Five-‘finger

4.      Compounds functioning as adverb are usually final-stressed;

(Given in spelling only)

Head-‘first

North-‘East

Down ‘stream

5.       Compounds which function as verbs and have an adverbial first element take stress;

(Given in spelling only)

Down-‘grade

Back-‘pedal

Ill-‘treat

5.      VARIABLE STRESS

Stress pattern is not always fixed and unchanging in English word. Stress position may vary for one of two  reason:either as a result of the stress on the other words occurring next to the word in question , or because not all speakers of RP agree on the placement of stress in some words. The main effect is that the stress on a final –stressed compound tends to move to the preceding syllable if the following word begins with a strongly stressed syllable.

EX:

 bad –’tempered     but      a ‘bad- tempered ’teacher

half-’timbered        but       a ‘half-timbered  ‘teacher

heavy-’handed       but       a ’heavy-handed ‘sentence

The second is not a serious problem, but one that foreign learners should be aware of.  A  well-known example is ‘controversy’, which is pronounced by some speakers as  ‘kantrәv3:si           ’  and by others as kәn’travәsi; it would be quite wrong to say that one version was correct and one incorrect. Other example of different possibilities are ‘ice-cream’, ‘kilometer’ (‘kIlәmi:tә or kI’lamI).

WORD-CLASS PAIRS

There are several dozen pairs of two-syllable words with identical spelling which differ from each other in stress placement, apparently according two word class (noun, verb or adjective). When a pair of prefix-plus-stem word exists ,both them of which are spelt identically, one of which is a verb and the other is the either a noun or an adjective, the stress will be placed on the second syllable of the noun or adjective.

EXAMPLE :

• ‘export ’  ‘ekspƆ:t (N), Ik’spƆ:t (V)
• ‘import’ ‘‘ImpƆ:t (N), Im’pƆ:t (V)
• ‘present’ ‘preznt (N,A), prI’zent (V)
• ‘protest’ ‘prә⋃test (N), prә’test (V)

• ‘subject’  ‘sΛbd3Ikt (N), sәb’d3ekt (V)

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать разговорную лексику.

Перевод «сложное слово» на английский

complicated word

complex word

difficult word

tricky word

a compound term

a fancy word

Но это сложное слово немецкого языка связано не только с буквальным значением.

But this compound word of German is associated with more than the literal meaning.

Это сложное слово состоит из двух простых древнегреческих слов: психея — душа, и сома — тело.

This compound word consists of two simple ancient Greek words: psyche — the soul, and soma — the body.

В результате данного процесса образуется сложное слово (compound word).

The complicated word (compound word) is formed as a result of this process.

Биодоступность — это больше, чем просто длинное, сложное слово.

Перемена может звучать как сложное слово, хотя это простой процесс.

Rekeying might sound like a complex word though it is a straightforward process.

А в графе материал сложное слово, которое мы вроде бы слышали на уроке химии 10 лет назад.

And in the graph material is a complex word, which we seem to have heard in chemistry lesson 10 years ago.

Большое, сложное слово, но такое грустное.

Когда вы увидите сложное слово, которое можно с легкостью заменить более простым, сделайте это.

Whenever you see a complicated word that could easily be replaced with a shorter one, do so.

Это сложное слово уже завоевало популярность во всем мире, но все же есть много возможностей для тех, кто хочет получать прибыль от цифровых валют.

This complex word has already gained popularity across the world but still there is plenty of room for those, who want to make profits out of digital currencies.

Когда вы увидите сложное слово, которое можно с легкостью заменить более простым, сделайте это.

If a complicated word can be replaced by a simpler version of it, do it.

Это очень сложное слово с другим смыслом, но вы можете узнать об этом в Абхидхаммы.

This is a very complex word with different meaning but you can learn about this in Abhidhamma.

поставил по, Тит.:5 (сложное слово)

Таким образом, сложное слово «антармукхам» означает «лицом вовнутрь», «смотрящий внутрь», «обращенный внутрь» или «направлять внимание внутрь».

Thus the compound word antarmukham means ‘facing inward’, ‘looking inward’, ‘turned inward’ or ‘directing attention inward’.

Эйяфьятлайокудль — вероятно, самое сложное слово, которое пришлось учить представителям СМИ во всем мире в 2010 году.

Eyjafjallajökull was probably the most complicated word the newspersons around the world had to learn in 2010.

Таким образом, сложное слово атма-сварупа буквально означает «свою собственную истинную природу», то есть, подлинную природу нашего собственного Истинного Я, представляющую собой наше чистое осознание бытия, наше сущностное осознание Истинного Я, «Я есть».

Thus the compound word ātma-svarūpa literally means ‘oneself’s own true nature’, that is, the true nature of our own real self, which is our mere consciousness of being — our essential self-consciousness ‘I am’.

В глазах шумерских учителей и святых отцов главными компонентами Вселенной (в более узком смысле этого слова) были небо и земля; и правда, их термин для Вселенной — ан-ки — это сложное слово, означающее небо-земля.

In the eyes of the Sumerian teachers and sages, the major components of the universe were heaven and earth; indeed, their term for universe was an-ki, a compound word meaning «heaven-earth.»

Любовь — это сложное слово

Это сложное слово с двумя корнями.

Это сложное слово означает болезненную боязнь числа 13.

For the rest of us, this mouthful-of-a disorder means the fear of the number 13.

Это сложное слово, без понятия, что оно значит.

They’re two big words, I don’t know what they mean.

Ничего не найдено для этого значения.

Результатов: 55. Точных совпадений: 55. Затраченное время: 69 мс

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Can you relate to those moments when you come across some complex words with big spellings or confusing pronunciation and go “Oh my God!” Well, then, you aren’t alone. That’s the nature of these words; to scare us by the looks of it. But here’s a secret- not all these words have a complicated meaning. It’s just our first idea that it’s a difficult one to understand when we see a term brimming with letters or with a confused placement. But that is not true.

There are some words in the English language, that sure look scary, but their meanings are no match. They’re so simple that one couldn’t imagine it on the first look. We thought it would be fun to bring together 10 such words. Not just will it show us how the language isn’t as complicated as it seems, but also teach us some new words. Who would say no to an entertaining session of vocabulary upgrade? Let’s do this then!

1. Querulous

Did we get you right from the beginning? We did indeed! So here is the first one on our list. We promise it has the simplest meaning that you can use in your daily conversations. The simplest explanation of the word is fussy. When someone cannot stop complaining about something, you can describe them with this adjective.

Example Sentence: Newman was very querulous and irritating at the party last night. 

2. Desideratum

Before you learn a word, always try and pronounce it several times. It helps retain the word in your personal glossary. The noun Desideratum refers to something that is wanted or needed. It finds a place on our list of complex words because it is a difficult-looking word with a simple meaning.

Example sentence: If you want to be a member of our team, then honesty and hard work is a desideratum.

3. Antediluvian

Also, belonging to the category of words we would usually skip on the first look, antediluvian has a beyond easy meaning. It is an adjective, which is a beautiful substitute for saying old-fashioned or outdated. It refers to something very old.

Example sentence: My company maintains antediluvian stereotypes when it comes to diving work between males and females. 

4. Floccinaucinihilipilification

Alright, let’s take a deep breath before we even attempt to pronounce this word. Hands down, this does seem like it can be nowhere else but this list of complex words. Are you ready for its straightforward meaning now? Floccinaucinihilipilification is a noun, which means the action or habit of estimating something as worthless. 

Example Sentence: I am very offended by my friend’s floccinaucinihilipilification of my amazing new vocabulary.

5. Pulchritudinous

Here is a break from the lengthy word we read above with a very usable adjective word. Could you have guessed that the word pulchritudinous means beautiful? Not at all, right? Well, take a sigh then. Giving a compliment to someone that sounds fancy, and yet very to-the-point just got easy.

Example Sentence: Dan gazed admiringly at the pulchritudinous sunset.

6. Idiosyncratic

At first glance, doesn’t it seem like the word Idiosyncratic comes from science? Drumroll then! The word has nothing to do with any field of science. Also, an adjective, you will find it surprising that this word from our complex words list has one of the very basic meanings. It means peculiar. 

Example sentence: She turned out to be one idiosyncratic talent in our society, which we didn’t know of until the day of the function. 

7. Milieu

You will be so glad that you came across this word because you will want to use it time and again. A noun word, Milieu, means one’s social environment. Our social media posts are going to be a notch cooler now that we know how this word related to our social world.

Example Sentence: Jessica never felt happy in a student milieu.

8. Sesquipedalian

Sesquipedalian is also an adjective word that has a lot to do with this article. An exceptionally long word made up of several letters is a sesquipedalian. Not that you would have to use this word every day, but then, you could use it as a vocabulary upgrade.

Example sentence: The word Floccinaucinihilipilification included in this article is a sesquipedalian.

9. Gasconade

Here is another word that you can regularly use from this list of complex words. Gasconade is a noun word that means boastful talk. There are some people we come across in our routine lives whose boasting we cannot stand.

Example sentence: The politician loved to gasconade about his poll numbers, high donations, and success to anyone who would listen.

10. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

For sure, not many of us would choose to use this word in our daily lives by looking at the length of this word. But it does indeed fulfill the idea of this lesson, which is that it has a very simple definition. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust. What better way to finish this lesson? Count, and you will find 45 letters in this word!

11. Conundrum

Conundrum is a noun.  It means, a problem or situation that is difficult to understand or solve.  An example, “The conundrum of how to balance work and family life is a common one for many people.”

12. Disenfranchised

Disenfranchised is an adjective.  It means, deprived of the rights and privileges of a citizen, especially the right to vote.  An example, “Many marginalised communities feel disenfranchised from the political process.”

13. Proclivity

Proclivity is a noun.  It means, a natural inclination or tendency towards something.  An example, “He has a proclivity for adventure and travel.”

14. Salubrious

Salubrious is an adjective.  It means, promoting health or well-being.  An example, “The salubrious climate of the mountains is good for those with respiratory problems.”

15. Perspicacious

Perspicacious is an adjective.  It means, having the ability to see through things and understand them quickly and well.  An example,”She is a perspicacious businesswoman who can spot opportunities quickly.”

If you enjoyed this lesson, then let us know!

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Complex word: перевод, синонимы, произношение, примеры предложений, антонимы, транскрипция