The word as a fundamental unit of language

The word as a basic unit of language

The word is the subject matter of Lexicology. The
word may be described as a basic unit of language. The definition of
the word is one of the most difficult problems in Linguistics because
any word has many different aspects. It is simultaneously a semantic,
grammatical and phonological unit.
Accordingly the word may be defined as
the basic unit of a given language resulting from the association of
a particular meaning with a particular group of sounds capable of a
particular grammatical employment. This
definition based on the definition of a word given by the eminent
French linguist Arthur Meillet does
not permit us to distinguish words from phrases. We
can accept the given definition adding that a word is the smallest
significant unit of a given language capable of functioning alone and
characterized by positional mobility within a sentence, morphological
uninterruptability and semantic integrity.
In Russian Linguistics it is the word but not the morpheme as in
American descriptive linguistics that is the basic unit of language
and the basic unit of lexical articulation of the flow of the speech.
Thus, the word is a structural and
semantic entity within the language system. The word is the basic
unit of the language system, the largest on the morphological level
and the smallest on the syntactic level of linguistic analysis.
As any language unit the word is a two facet unit possessing both its
outer form (sound form) and content (meaning) which is not created in
speech but used ready-maid. As the basic unit of language the word is
characterized by independence or separateness (отдельность),
as a free standing item, and identity (тождество).

The word as an independent
free standing language unit is
distinguished in speech due to its ability to take on grammatical
inflections (грамматическая
оформленнасть) which makes it
different from the morpheme.

The structural
integrity (цельная
оформленнасть) of the word
combined with the semantic integrity and morphological
uninterruptability (морфологическая
непрерывность) makes the word
different from word combinations.

The identity of the
word manifests itself in the ability of
a word to exist as a system and unity of all its forms (grammatical
forms creating its paradigm) and variants: lexical-semantic,
morphological, phonetic and graphic.

The system showing a word in all its word forms is
called its paradigm. The lexical meaning of a word is the same
throughout the paradigm, i.e. all the word forms of one and the same
word are lexical identical while the grammatical meaning varies from
one form to another (give-gave-given-giving-gives;
worker-workers-worker’s-workers’).

Besides the grammatical forms of the words (or
word forms), words possess lexical varieties called variants of words
(a word – a polisemantic word in one of its meanings in which it is
used in speech is described as a lexical-semantic variants. The term
was introduced by A.I. Smernitskiy; e.g. “to learn at school” –
“to learn about smth”; man – мужчина/человек).
Words may have phonetic, graphic and morphological variants:

often – [Þfən]/[
Þftən] – phonetic
variants

birdy/birdie –
graphic variants

phonetic/phonetical – morphological
variants

Thus, within the language system the word exists as a system and
unity of all its forms and variants. The term lexeme may
serve to express the idea of the word as a system of its forms and
variants.

Every word names a given referent and another one and this
relationship creates the basis for establishing understanding in
verbal intercourse (общение). But because
words mirror concepts through our perception of the world there’s
no singleness in word-thing correlations.

As reality becomes more complicated, it calls for
more sophisticated means of nomination. In recent times Lexicology
has developed a more psycho-linguistic and ethno-cultural orientation
aimed at looking into the actual reality of how lexical items work.

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1. LECTURE 2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORD AS THE BASIC UNIT OF THE LANGUAGE www.philology.bsu.by/кафедры/кафедра английского языкознания/учебные материалы/кафедра английского языкозн

LEXICOLOGY COURSE
LECTURE 2
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
WORD AS THE BASIC UNIT OF
THE LANGUAGE
www.philology.bsu.by/кафедры/кафедра английского
языкознания/учебные материалы/кафедра английского
языкознания/папки преподавателей/Толстоухова В.Ф.

2. The questions under consideration

A word as a fundamental unit of language.
2. Motivation of words.
3. Functional style.
4. Informal style.
5. Colloquial words.
6. Slang.
7. Dialect words.
8. Learned words.
9. Archaic and obsolete words.
10. Professional terminology.
11. Basic vocabulary.
1.

3. TEST 2

1. Give definitions to the following:
lexical system, syntagmatic relations,
paradigmatic relations, a word,
motivation, phonetic motivation,
morphological motivation, semantic
motivation, folk etymology, colloquial
words, slang, dialect words, archaic and
obsolete words, professional
terminology, basic vocabulary.

4. Complete the following sentences using words and expressions given in the list below:

A. The smallest meaningful units of the
language are called … .
B. The biggest units of morphology and the
smallest units of syntax are … .
С. A set of elements associated and functioning
together according to certain laws is termed …
.
D. Contrastive relations of a lexical unit with all
other units that can occur in the same context
and be contrasted to it are known as … .

5. 2.Complete the following sentences using words and expressions given in the list below:

E. When there is a certain similarity between the
sounds that make up words and their meaning, the
motivation is … .
P. Morphological motivation, when both the lexical
meaning of the component morphemes and the
meaning of the pattern are perfectly transparent, is
called … .
G. Motivation based on the co-existence of direct and
figurative meaning of the same word within the same
synchronous system is termed … .
1) lexical system; 2) semantic; 3) paradigmaticс
relations; 4) complete; 5) words; 6) phonetical; 7)
morphemeв.

6. 3. Answer these questions

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What determines the choice of stylistically
marked words in each particular situation?
In what situations are informal words used?
What are the main kinds of informal words?
Give a brief description of each group.
What is the difference between
colloquialisms and slang? What are their
common features? Illustrate your answer
with examples.
What are the main features of dialect words?
Where are formal words used?

7. 3. Answer these questions

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Are learned words used only in books? Which type of
learned words, do you think, is especially suitable for
verbal communication? Which is least suitable and
even undesirable?
What are the principal characteristics of archaic
words?
What are the controversial problems connected with
professional terminology?
Do you think that students of English should learn
terms? If so, for which branch or branches of
knowledge?
What is understood by the basic vocabulary?
Which classes of stylistically marked words should
be included in the students’ functional vocabulary?

8. 1.A word as a fundamental unit of language.

The term system (definition)

9. The term system

denotes a set of elements associated and
functioning together according to certain
laws.

10. The lexical system of every epoch

contains
productive
elements typical of
this particular period
others that are
archaic and are
dropping out of
usage
some new
phenomena,
neologisms

11. The elements of lexical system

are characterized
by their
combinatorial and
contrastive
properties
determining their
syntagmatic and
paradigmatic
relationships.

12. EXAMPLE

compare the meaning of the verb «to get»
in the sentences
He got a letter.
He got tired
He got to London.
He could not get the piano through the
door.

13. On the syntagmatic level,

the semantic structure of the word is
analysed in its linear relationships with
neighbouring words in connected
speech. In other words, the semantic
characteristics of the word are observed,
described and studied on the basis of its
typical contexts.

14. Paradigmatic contrastive relations

Where do they exist ?
Example:
to go a mile
to run a mile
to walk a mile
To stroll a mile

15. Paradigmatic contrastive relations

exist between words belonging to one
subgroup of vocabulary items (e.g.,
verbs of motion, of sense perception,
sets of synonyms, etc.) that can occur in
the same context and be contrasted to
one another. Paradigmatic relations are
observed in the system of language.

16. On the paradigmatic level

the word is studied in its relationships
with other words in the vocabulary
system.
So, a word may be studied in comparison
with other words of similar meaning.

17. work n – labour n.

Work работа, труд; 1 the job
that a person does especially
in order to earn money. This
word has many meanings (in
Oxford Dictionary – 14), many
synonyms and idioms
[`idiemz]: creative work
творческая деятельность;
public work общественные
работы; his life`s work дело
его жизни; dirty work
(difficult, unpleasant) 1
чёрная работа; 2 грязное
дело, подлость. Nice work!
Отлично! Здорово! Saying
(поговорка): All work and no
play makes Jack a dull boy
labour – 1 work, especially
physical work: manual labour,
a labour camp –
исправительно-трудовой
лагерь; 2 people who work: a
shortage of labour; cheap
labour; skilled labour –
квалифицированные
рабочие, Labour Party; labour
relations; a labour of Sisyphus;
Sisyphean labour [,sisi‘fi:en]
сизифов труд; тяжёлый и
бесплодный труд – of a task
impossible to complete

18. On the paradigmatic level

words of similar
meaning
e.g. to refuse v – to
reject v
of opposite meaning
(e.g. busy adj – idle
adj;
to accept v – to reject
v)

19. On the paradigmatic level

of different stylistic characteristics
(e.g. man n – chap n – bloke n – guy n).
Man – chap (coll.) – парень, малый; a good chap –
славный малый; old chap – старина; chap – BrE,
informal, becoming old-fashioned – used to talk about
a man in a friendly way: He isn`t such a bad chap really.
Bloke (coll.) тип, парень: He seemed like a nice bloke.
Guy – coll. US – малый; tough guy железный малый;
wise guy умник; guys (informal, especially US) a group
of people of either sex: Come on, you guys!

20. The main problems of paradigmatic studies

are synonymy,
antonymy,
functional styles.

21. Words vs Morphemes

the central elements of
language system
the biggest units of
morphology
the smallest units of
syntax
can be separated in an
utterance
can be used in isolation
as a complete utterance
is composed of one or
more morphemes
are also meaningful
units
can not be used
independently
are always parts of
words
cannot be divided into
smaller meaningful
words

22. Why is the definition of a word the most difficult?

The simplest word has many different
aspects:
• a sound form and morphological
structure;
• may occur in different word-forms,
different syntactic functions
• signal various meanings

23. Why is the definition of a word the most difficult?

the word is a sort of focus for the
problems of
phonology,
lexicology,
syntax,
morphology
sciences that have to deal with language
and speech, such as philosophy and
psychology

24. The definition of a word

The word has been defined semantically,
syntactically, phonologically and by
combining various approaches.

25. The definition of a word

Many eminent scholars such as V.V.
Vinogradov, A.I. Smirnitsky, O.S.
Akhmanova, M.D. Stepanova, A.A.
Ufimtseva contributed to creating a word
theory. It is based upon the
understanding of the relationship
between word and thought, on the one
hand, and language and society, on the
other.

26. The definition of a word

A word is the smallest unit of a given
language capable of functioning alone
and characterised by positional mobility
within a sentence, morphological
uninterruptability and semantic
integritу.

27. The definition of a word

«a word is defined by the association of a
particular meaning with a particular
group of sounds capable of a particular
grammatical employment.» (A. Meillet.
Linguistique historique et linguistique
generate. Paris, 1926. V. 1. P. 30.)

28. 2. Motivation of words.

The term mоtivation is used to denote
the relationship existing between the
phonemic or morphemic composition
and structural pattern of the word, on the
one hand, and its meaning, on the other.

29. Three types of motivation

phonetical motivation,
morphological motivation
semantic motivation

30. What motivation is it?

e.g., bump,
buzz,
chatter,
clatter,
giggle,
hiss,
whistle, etc.

31. The phonetical motivation is

when there is a certain similarity
between the sound that make up words
and their meaning.

32. morphological motivation

The main criterion in morphological
motivation is the relationship between,
morphemes.
e.g., «endless” is completely motivated
as both the lexical meaning of the
component morphemes and the
meaning of the pattern are perfectly
transparent.

33. morphological motivation

«cranberry» is only partially motivated
because of; the absence of the lexical
meaning in the morpheme «cran-«.
The words «matter», «repeat» are nonmotivated because the connection
between the structure of the lexical unit
and its meaning is completely
conventional.

34. Semantiс motivation

is based on the co-existence of direct and
figurative meaning of the same word
within the same synchronous system.
E.g., «mouth» denotes a part of a human
face and can be metaphorically applied to
any opening: the mouth of a river, the
mouth of a furnace, mouth of pipe.

35. Semantiс motivation

Semantic motivation is clear in popular
names of flowers, plants and birds
violet,
bluebell,
bluebottle,
blackcap,
blackbird,
nightingale,
hummingbird, etc.

36. Semantiс motivation

As to compounds their motivation is
morphological if the meaning of the
whole is based on the direct meaning of
the components (e.g., headache — pain in
the head), and semantic if the
combination of components is used
figuratively (headache — anything or
anyone very annoying).

37. fоlk etуmоlogy (popular etymology, false etymology)

E.g. «mushroom” from French
«moucheron» has nothing in common
with «room» (a borrowed word)

38. 3. Functional style (definition)

”a system of expressive means peculiar to
a specific sphere of communication”.
(I.V. Arnold )
The suitability or unsuitability of a word for
each particular situation depends on its
stylistic characteristics or, in other words,
on the functional style it represents.

39. Functional style (definition)

A system of expressive means peculiar to a
specific sphere of communication.
By the sphere of communication scholars
mean the circumstances attending the
process of speech in each particular case:
professional communication, a lecture,
an informal talk, a formal letter, an
intimate letter, a speech in court, etc.

40. Subdivisions of spheres of communications

formal (a lecture, a speech in court, an
official letter, professional
communication)
informal (an informal talk, an intimate
letter).

41. 4. Informal style (where?)

Informal vocabulary is used in one’s
immediate circle: family, relatives, or
friends. One uses informal words when at
home or feeling at home.

42. Informal style (characteristics)

relaxed,
free-and-easy
familiar

43. the informal talk differs

well-educated
people
adults (the choice of
words)
people living in cities
the illiterate or the
semi-educated
teenagers
people living in the
provinces
(regional words and
expressions)

44. The choice of words

is determined not
only by informal and
formal situations
but by
speaker’s
educational
background
speaker’s cultural
background
age group
occupational and
regional
characteristics

45. three types of informal words

colloquial
slang
dialect words and word-groups

46. 5. Colloquial words (Where? By whom?)

in everyday conversational speech both
by cultivated and uneducated people of
all age groups.

47. literary colloquial words

appear in dialogues in which they
realistically reflect the speech of modern
people
appear in descriptive passages as well
(in modern fiction)

48. examples of literary colloquial words

Pal (кореш, друг) and chum (приятель,
дружок) are colloquial equivalents of
friend; girl, when used colloquially,
denotes a woman of any age;
bite and snack (quick meal – перекусить)
stand for meal;
hi, hello are informal greetings, and so
long a form of parting;
start, go on, finish and be through
(покончить)

49. examples of literary colloquial words

A considerable number of shortenings
are found among words of this type.
E.g. pram, exam, fridge, flu, zip, movie.
Verbs with post-positional adverbs are
also numerous among colloquialisms:
E.g. put up, put over, make up, make out,
turn up,

50. literary colloquial words (are to be distinguished from)

familiar colloquial words (by the young
and the semi-educated )E.g. doc (for
doctor), ta-ta (for good-bye), to kid
smb.(for tease, banter – подшутить), to
pick up smb. (for make a quick and easy
acquaintance), shut up (for keep silent).
Low colloquial (просторечие)
(uncultivated people).

51. 6.Slang

The Oxford English Dictionary defines
slang as “language of a highly colloquial
style, considered as below the level of
standard educated speech, and
consisting either of new words or of
current words employed in some special
sense.”

52. Slang

All or most slang words are current words
whose meanings have been
metaphorically shifted. Each slang
metaphor is rooted in a joke, but not in a
kind or amusing joke. This is the criterion
for distinguishing slang from
colloquialisms: most slang words are
metaphors and jocular, often with a
coarse, mocking, cynical colouring.

53. Slang (the main reasons to use?)

To be picturesque,
To be arresting,
To be striking
To be different from others.
To demonstrate one’s spiritual
independence and daring.
To sound “modern” and “up-to-date”.

54. Slang (who are users?)

The circle of users of slang is more narrow
than that of colloquialisms.
It is mainly used by the young and
uneducated.

55. 7.Dialect words

dialects are regional forms of English
Dialect is a variety of a language which
prevails in a district, with local
peculiarities of vocabulary, pronunciation
and phrase.
(e.g. the Lancashire, Dorsetshire, Norfolk
dialects).

56. Dialect words are constantly being incorporated into

everyday colloquial speech or slang
into the common stock (words which are
not stylistically marked)
a few of them even into formal speech
into the literary language
e.g.Car, trolley, tram began as dialect
words.

57. Dialect words (examples)

tha (thee) – the objective case of thou;
brass – money;
nivver – never;
nowt – nothing.

58. 8. Learned words (two main groups):

words associated with professional
communication
associated with the printed page. It is
in this vocabulary stratum that poetry
and fiction find their main resources.

59. Learned words (further subdivision)

We find here numerous words that are
used in scientific prose and can be
identified by their dry, matter-of-fact
flavour (e.g. comprise, experimental,
heterogeneous, homogeneous, conclusive,
divergent, etc).

60. Learned words

‘officialese’ (канцеляризмы). These are
the words of the official, bureaucratic
language. They should be avoided in
speech and in print, e.g. assist (for help),
endeavour (for try), proceed (for go),
approximately (for about), sufficient (for
enough), inquire (for ask).

61. Learned words (further subdivision)

the words found in descriptive passages
of fiction. These words, which may be
called ‘literary’, also have a particular
flavour of their own, usually described as
‘refined’. They are mostly polysyllabic
words drawn from the Romance
language and, though fully adapted to
the English phonetic system, some of
them continue to sound singularly
foreign.

62. Learned words

Here are some examples:
solitude=loneless, lonely place
(уединение, одиночество),
sentiment=feeling (чувство),
fascination=strong attraction
(очарование, обаяние), delusion
(заблуждение), meditation
(размышление), cordial=friendly
(сердечный, радушный).

63. Learned words (further subdivision)

There is one further subdivision of
learned words: modes of poetic diction.,
Poetic words have a further characteristic
– a lofty, sometimes archaic, colouring:

64. Examples of poetic words

“Alas! (увы) they had been friends in youth;
But wispering tongues can poison truth
And constancy (постоянство) lives in
realms (царства) above;
And life is thorny; and youth is vain…

65. Learned words (not only in printed page)

Though learned words are mainly
associated with the printed page, this is
not exclusively so. Any educated Englishspeaking individual is sure to use many
learned words not only in his formal
letters and professional communication
but also in his everyday speech. Educated
people in both modern fiction and real
life use learned words quite naturally and
their speech is richer for it.

66. Learned words

But on the other hand, utterances
overloaded with such words are absurd
and ridiculous.

67. Learned words and Writers

Writers use this phenomenon for stylistic
purposes. When a character in a book or
in a play uses too many learned words,
the obvious inappropriateness of his
speech in an informal situation produces
a comic effect.

68. Learned words

However any suggestion that learned
words are suitable only for comic
purposes, would be quite wrong. It is in
this vocabulary stratum that writers and
poets find their most vivid paints and
colours, and not only their humorous
effects.

69. Learned words

It is also true that some of these words
should be carefully selected and
“activized” to become part of the
students’ functional vocabulary.
Without knowing some learned words, it
is even impossible to read fiction (not to
mention scientific articles) or to listen to
lectures in the foreign language.

70. 9.Archaic and obsolete words

Archaic – are old and no longer used
words;
obsolete – no longer used because
something new was invented. Obsolete
words have completely gone out of use.

71. Archaic words

are restricted to the printed page. These
words are already partly or fully out of
circulation. They are used in historical
novels and in poetry which is rather
conservative in its choice of words.
Thou [θаu] – (ты) and thy [ðai] – (твой),
aye [ai] – (‘yes’) and nay [nei] – (‘no’) are
certainly archaic and long since rejected
by common usage, yet poets use them
even today.

72. Archaic words

Numerous archaisms can be found in
Shakespeare, but it should be taken in
consideration that what appear to us
today as archaisms in the works of
Shakespeare, are in fact examples of
everyday language of Shakespeare`s
time.
Further examples of archaisms are: morn
(for morning), eve (for evening), errant
(for wandering, e.g. errant knights), etc.

73. Archaic words

Sometimes an archaic word may undergo
a sudden revival. So, the formerly archaic
kin (for relatives; one`s family) is now
current in American usage.

74. 10.Professional terminology

Every field of modern activity has its
specialized vocabulary, and similarly
special terminologies for psychology,
music, management, finance, economics,
jurisprudence, linguistics and many
others.

75. Professional terminology

Term, as traditionally understood, is a
word or a word-group which is
specifically employed by a particular
branch of science, technology, trade or
the arts to convey a concept peculiar to
his particular activity.

76. Professional terminology

So, share, bank, balance sheet are finance
terms;
court, lawyer, civil law are legal terms;
and top manager, creative team,
motivation are used in management.
Bilingual, interdental, labialization,
palatalization, glottal stop, descending
scale are terms of theoretical phonetics.

77. controversial problems in the field of terminology.

a term loses its terminological status
It is quite natural that under
circumstances numerous terms pass into
general usage without losing connection
with their specific fields.

78. Professional terminology

There are linguists in whose opinion terms are
only those words which have retained their
exclusiveness and are not known or recognized
outside their specific sphere. From this point of
view, words associated with the medical
sphere, such as unit (доза лекарственного
препарата), theatre (операционная), contact
(носитель инфекции) are no longer medical
terms as they are in more or less common
usage.

79. Professional terminology

There is yet another point of view,
according to which any terminological
system is supposed to include all the
words and word-groups conveying
concept peculiar to a particular branch of
knowledge, regardless of their
exclusiveness. It would be wrong to
regard a term as something “special” and
standing apart.

80. polysemy and synonymy

According to some linguists, an “ideal”
term should be monosemantic (i.e. it
should have only one meaning).
Polysemantic terms may lead to
misunderstanding, and that is a serious
shortcoming in professional
communication. This requirement seems
quite reasonable, yet facts of the
language do not meet it. There are
numerous polysemantic terms.

81. synonymy

The same is true about synonymy in
terminological systems. There are
scholars who insist that terms should not
have synonyms because, consequently,
scientists and other specialists would
name the same objects and phenomena
in their field by different terms and would
not be able to come to any agreement.
This may be true. But, in fact, terms do
possess synonyms.

82. 10.Basic vocabulary

are stylistically neutral,
used them in all kinds of situations, both
formal and informal, in verbal and written
communication
are used every day, everywhere and by
everybody, regardless of profession,
occupation, educational level, age group
or geographical location.

83. Basic vocabulary

without them no human communication
would be possible as they denote objects
and phenomena of everyday importance
(e.g. house, bread, summer, child, mother,
difficult, to go, etc.).
is the central group of the vocabulary, its
historical foundation and living core.

84. Basic vocabulary

Basic vocabulary words can be
recognized not only by their stylistic
neutrality but, also, by lack of other
connotations (i.e. attendant meanings).
Their meanings are broad, general and
directly convey the concept, without
supplying any additional information.

85. Basic vocabulary

For instance, the verb to walk means merely ‘to
move from place to place on foot’ whereas in
the meanings of its synonyms to stride
(шагать), to stroll (прогуливаться), to trot
(семенить, бежать вприпрыжку), to stagger
– to sway while walking (идти шатаясь) and
others, some additional information is encoded
as they each describe a different manner of
walking, a different gait, tempo, purpose or
lack of purpose.

86. Basic vocabulary

Basic vocabulary 1.begin, 2.continue
3.end 4.child, baby
Informal 1.start, get started 2.go on, get
on 3.finish, be through, be over 4.kid,
brat, bairn (dial.),
Formal 1.commence 2.proceed 3.
terminate 4.infant, babe

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  Word as the basic unit of language
  Lecture 2.

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  § 1. The Definition of the Word
  A successful definition should 1) contain essential features of a word and 2) draw a sharp borderline between various linguistic units:
  1.1. word and phoneme (Oh! I)
  1.2. word and morpheme (man, wise, ism)
  1.3. word and phrase (all right, alarm clock, the reciprocal pronouns each other and one another)

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  1.1. Unity of form and meaning
  Word — Form

  phonetic/graphic morphological structure grammar form
  Essential features
  Word – Meaning

  denotational connotational lexico-grammatic grammatic

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  1.2. When used in sentences words are syntactically organized. Their freedom of entering into syntactic constructions is limited by rules and constraints
  They told me this story vs. They spoke me this story
  to deny smth categorically vs. to admit categorically

  1.3. Words are characterized by (in)ability to occur in different situations
  In a business letter: ‘I was a bit put out to hear that you are not going to place the order with us’
  To a friend: ‘I regret to inform you that our meeting will have to be postponed.

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  Distinctive features: Within the scope of linguistics the word has been defined syntactically, semantically, phonologically and by combining various approaches.
  Syntactic: H. Sweet «the minimum sentence“
  L. Bloomfield «a minimum free form».
  Syntactic and semantic aspects:
  E. Sapir — «one of the smallest completely satisfying bits of isolated ‘meaning’, into which the sentence resolves itself. It cannot be cut into without a disturbance of meaning”.
  Indivisibility criterion: A lion is a word-group because we can insert other words between them: a living lion. Alive is a word: it is indivisible, nothing can be inserted between its elements.
  Semantic:
  Stephen Ullmann: “words are meaningful units.»

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  Semantic-phonological approach:
  A.H.Gardiner: «A word is an articulate sound-symbol in its aspect of denoting something which is spoken about.»
  Thus, a satisfying word-definition should reflect the following features as borrowed from the above explanations:
  the association of a particular meaning with a particular group of sounds
  capable of a particular grammatical employment
  the smallest significant unit, used in isolation
  capable of functioning alone
  characterized by morphological uninterruptability and
  having semantic integrity

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  § 2. Types of lexical units
  The units/elements of a vocabulary are lexical units, which means that they are two-facet elements possessing form and meaning.
  Set expressions or groups of words into which words may be combined
  Morphemes which are parts of words, into which words may be analyzed
  They are, apart from words:

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  Morphemes are structural units which either form a new word or modify its meaning. Their meaning is of more abstract and general nature. Morphemes can’t function alone and deny grammar change.

  Set expressions are word groups consisting of two or more words whose combination is integrated so that they are introduced in speech ready-made as units with a specialized meaning of the whole that is not understood as a mere sum total of the meanings of the elements.

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  are the biggest units of morphology and the smallest of syntax
  embody the main structural properties and functions of the language (nominative, significative, communicative and pragmatic)
  can be used in isolation
  are thought of as having a single referent or represent a concept, a feeling, an action
  are the smallest units of written discourse: they are marked off by solid spelling
  segmentation of a sentence into words is easily done by an illiterate speaker, but that of a word into morphemes presents sometimes difficulties even for trained linguists
  are written as a sequence of letters bounded by spaces on a page (with exceptions)
  Wоrds are the central elements of language system = we speak in words and not otherwise, because they :

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  Thus, the vocabulary of a language is not homogeneous, it’s made of sets with blurred boundaries
  WORDS
  morphemes
  set expressions
  phrasal verbs
  adaptive abstract system
  selective reflection
  Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations
  Functional vs. referential approach

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  § 3. Types of words
  Eight Kinds of Words by Tom McArthur:

  The orthographic word
  (a visual sign with space around: colour vs. color)
  The phonological word
  (a spoken signal: a notion vs. an ocean)
  The morphological word
  (a unity behind variants of form
  The lexical word
  (lexeme, full word as related to a thing, action or state in the world)

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  The grammatical word
  (form word, a closed set of conj-s, determiners, particles, pronouns, etc.)
  The onomastic word
  (words with unique reference: Napoleon)
  The lexicographical word
  (a word as an entry in the dictionary)
  The statistical word
  (each letter or group of letters from space to space)

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  Types of words as regards their structure, semantics and function (E.M. Mednicova):

  MORPHOLOGICALLY:
  Monomorphemic: root-words
  Polymorphemic: derivatives, compounds, compound-
  derivatives, derivational compounds

  SEMANTICALLY:
  Monosemantic: words having only one lexical meaning and denoting, accordingly, one concept

  Polysemantic: words having several meanings, thus denoting a whole set of related concepts grouped according to the national peculiarities of a given language

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  SYNTACTICALLY:
  Categorematic: notional words
  Syncategorematic: form-words

  STYLISTICALLY:
  Neutral
  Elevated (bookish) (steed, to commence, spouse, slay, maiden)
  Colloquial (smart, cute, chap, trash, horny)
  Substandard words (vulgarisms, taboo, jargon argot, slang), etc (there are various other stylistic groupings).

  ETYMOLOGICALLY:
  Native
  Borrowed
  Hybrid
  international words

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  Practical tasks # 2
  Which criterion can be used to distinguish word from other language units? Match:
  a) Phoneme1) meaningful unit able of functioning alone
  b) Morpheme2) unity of form and meaning
  c) Free phrase 3) semantic integrity
  2. Which units from the list below are not lexical units?
  Shchd) he is a genius
  To make firee) in a nutshell
  Did f) dogs

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  3. How many lexemes are there in the phrase:
  Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you.
  4. Which one of these words is monosemantic?
  to get, a cat, an aspen-tree, to borrow, a ball, to follow.

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Morphemic structure of words

There are two levels of approach to the study of word- structure: the level of morphemic analysis and the level of derivational or word-formation analysis. It has been universally acknowledged that a great many words have a composite nature and are made up of morphemes, the basic units on the morphemic level, which are defined as the smallest indivisible two-facet language units.

The four types (root words, derived words, compound, shortenings) represent the main structural types of Modern English words, and conversion, derivation and composition the most productive ways of word building.

According to the number of morphemes words can be classified into monomorphic and polymorphic. Monomorphic or root-words consist of only one root-morpheme, e.g. small, dog, make, give, etc. All polymorphic word fall into two subgroups: derived words and compound words – according to the number of root-morphemes they have. Derived words are composed of one root-morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes, e.g. acceptable, outdo, disagreeable, etc. Compound words are those which contain at least two root-morphemes, the number of derivational morphemes being insignificant. There can be both root- and derivational morphemes in compounds as in pen-holder, light-mindedness, or only root-morphemes as in lamp-shade, eye-ball, etc.

The morphemic structure of the word is being established by the method of immediate and ultimate constituents (непосредственных и конечных составляющих). This method is based on a binary principle which means that at each stage the word is broken into the components (immediate constituents) after that these components are broken further into two other components. When the components can’t be further divided and the analysis is completed we have arrived at the ultimate constituents — the morphemic structure of the word.
Friend-ly-ness

Pseudo- morphemes – sound clusters recognized as morphemes but lack lexical meaning of their own, they are set apart from all other types of morphemes. Pseudo- morphemes of the same kind are also encountered in words like rusty-fusty.

Those pseudo-morphemes that are attested in only one single word of a language (e.g. the morpheme cran- which can only occur in combination with one free morpheme: the morphemeberry) are termed unique morphemes or cranberry morphs. Synchronically, the semantic meaning of the unique morpheme cran- can no longer be deciphered. It cannot stand independently and even in a dictionary you will not find a lexical entry under the notion cran-.

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