ON THE DEFINITION OF ÒWORDÓ

 

(1) Defining ÒwordÓ seems simple.  Indeed, for written lg the word designation is Òbuilt in;Ó spaces.

 

(2) But there are problems:

á      Spoken lg; most lgs donÕt have written form

á      Semi-words (all right, nonetheless, today)

á      Contracted forms (thereÕs, havenÕt)

á      Compounds (greenhouse, dirty hat cleaner)

á      Derived words; inflectional and derivational forms

á      Phrases that are words, words that are phrases

         (Di Sciullo & Williams) (to take to task, anti-x-x)

á      Idioms, phrasal verbs

á      Clitics

á      Polysemy and homonymy

á      Spoken lg does not have the ÒspacesÓ

á      Cross-linguistic issues

 

(3) Definition of word:

                                    Stress

Phonological                 Vowel harmony

                                    Phonological processes

                                                      Mobility

Morphological-syntactic                    Uninterruptibility

                                                      Internal stability

 

 

Recommended readings on Morphology & the definition of Òword:Ó

Bauer, Laurie (1988) Introducing Linguistic Morphology, Edinburgh

         Univ. Press.

Miller, G.A. (1991) The Science of Words, Scientific Amer.

Di Sciullo, Anna-Maria, and Edwin Williams, (1987) On the

         Definition of Word, MIT Press.

Spencer, Andrew (1991) Morphological Theory, Basic Blackwell.

 

(4) The Linguistic Lexicon

á      Objects included in it

á      Information represented

á      Internal architecture

á      Interfaces