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Lexeme Definition
What is the definition of lexeme? A lexeme is a unit of language that represents a single, distinct meaning. It is the abstract form of a word that includes all its inflected forms and variations. For example, the word "walk" is a lexeme that includes variations such as "walks," "walked," and "walking." In linguistics, lexemes are used to study the ways in which words are related to one another and how they function in sentences. By analyzing lexemes, linguists can gain insights into the structure and meaning of language.
In other words, Lexemes are the headwords of dictionaries. This means it is the most grammatically basic form of the word.
Lexemes, also called word stems, are minimal units of language (often words) with distinctive meanings.
The word cut is a lexeme that would be a dictionary entry, but its inflected versions, e.g., cuts, cutting, etc., may be included depending on the dictionary. These inflected versions may be included as variations in the entry for cut.
Inflection is a change in the form of a word that expresses a shift in tense, mood, case, gender, person, or number. Such change is commonly seen with the addition of an affix to a root word. Sometimes the word changes spelling with inflection. For example, with the root word dig, you simply add -s for the present tense and -ging for the present progressive form, but for the past tense, you must alter the spelling to dug.
Inflected forms of a lexeme are called word-forms. So, the basic dictionary entry shows the word fly, and might also show the word-forms flies, flying, and flied. Lexemes, not word-forms, are the fundamental unit of a lexicon.
Fig. 1 - Every dictionary layout is different. This dictionary includes the inflected, plural affixes of each word (i.e., -ties for dignity).
A lexicon is a compilation of words in a given language or branch of knowledge.
Your brain contains a lexicon of every word you know. There are lexicons for various professions and fields of study, such as medicine, law, and even linguistics.
Lexemes are usually, though not always, a single word. Multiword (or composite) lexemes are composed of more than one standard word. Think of phrasal verbs (e.g., lie down, or sit up), open compounds (e.g., garbage can or boy scout), or idioms (e.g., break a leg or spill the beans)—these are composite lexemes.
In corpus linguistics, lexemes are called lemmas. Corpus linguistics is the concept that linguistic patterns can be derived from large bodies of naturally occurring language. It’s the evaluation of linguistic data. A corpus is a body of language, and corpus linguistics is the study of that body of language. A judge may try to understand how a particular term is used and interpreted in a collection of laws developed from judicial opinions over time. In this case, the collection of laws is a corpus.
Types of Lexemes
There are two types of lexemes: variable and invariable.
Variable lexemes are word-sized lexical items that may have two or more forms. These lexemes may be inflected by adding an affix or some other transformation of the word (remember the dig/dug example).
The following are ways to inflect words belonging to various syntactic categories.
Nouns can change in number (bird, birds)
Verbs can change in tense or number (shape, shapes, shaped, shaping)
Adjectives can change in degree (big, bigger, biggest)
Adverbs can change in degree (good, better, best)
Pronouns can change in case (you, your, yours)
Invariable lexemes, on the other hand, only have one word corresponding to a particular meaning. Think of the words the and so; they only have one form. There are no other versions of these words.
Invariable lexemes are largely conjunctions (and, although, but) and prepositions (like through, by, up) which are largely function words. Essentially, the difference between variable and invariable lexemes is whether the word has various forms.
Lexeme Examples
A lexeme is a fundamental unit of the lexicon of a language that belongs to a particular syntactic category, carries a particular meaning, and in most cases, has corresponding inflectional versions of itself.
Lexeme: park
Syntactic category: noun
Meaning: an outdoor recreational space.
Inflectional versions: parks, park’s, parks’
This word park is a lexeme that might be confused with another lexeme; its homonym park.
Lexeme: park
Syntactic category: verb
Meaning: to bring a vehicle to a temporary stop
Inflectional versions: parks, parked, parking
Although these two words sound and are spelled the same, they are two distinct lexemes because their meanings are different. Due to the difference in syntactic category—one is a verb, and one is a noun—the corresponding inflections also vary.
These examples serve to illustrate the true function of lexemes. Simply put, they convey the true intended meaning.
Fun fact: Russian has the most lexemes in its language. English is second, while Hebrew is third.
The Function of Lexemes (and Function Words)
The function of lexemes is to communicate concepts. They are the main parts of speech that convey meaning, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on. In other words, they are the words that carry the significance of a statement like, “I placed the flowers and vegetables on a table.”
Fig. 2 - The sentence, "I placed the flowers and vegetables on the table" contains four lexemes.
What about the other words in that sentence, like the, a, and on? These are called function words, and they act like the mortar between the bricks (lexemes), i.e., they hold the sentence together. Function words have very little lexical meaning.
Here are a few other examples of function words:
Articles
The
A
Pronouns
She
He
Her
It
They
Conjunctions
And
That
When
While
Lexemes carry the main meaning of a sentence, and function words join them to create a grammatically correct sentence or phrase.
Lexeme vs. Morpheme
Lexemes can understandably be confused with morphemes, which are the smallest meaningful unit of language that can’t be subdivided. An example of a morpheme is the suffix -ful, which, when added to a root word, essentially means “full of.”
The difference between lexemes and morphemes is that lexemes are never partial words; they are always complete words. Morphemes can be both whole and partial words.
Morphemes are categorized as either “bound” or “free.” Free morphemes are those that are complete words and are thus “free” to stand alone without additional components. Bound morphemes must attach to another morpheme to create a complete word.
Here are some examples of free morphemes:
Eat
Week
Beach
The
Here are some examples of bound morphemes:
-est
-er
Pre-
dis-
Lexemes are essentially free morphemes, but a lexeme is not necessarily the same thing as a morpheme.
Lexeme - Key takeaways
- Lexemes, also called word stems, are minimal units of language with distinctive meanings.
- Lexemes are the headwords of dictionaries.
- An example of a lexeme is the word "walk" which is a lexeme that includes variations such as "walks," "walked," and "walking."
- Lexemes are always free morphemes, but a lexeme is not necessarily the same thing as a morpheme.
- There are two types of lexemes:
- Variable lexemes are word-sized lexical items that may have two or more forms.
- Invariable lexemes only have one word corresponding to a particular meaning.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Lexeme
What is a lexeme in morphology?
Lexemes and morphemes are frequently studied in morphology, which is the study of the structure of words. The difference between lexemes and morphemes is that lexemes are always complete words. Morphemes can be both whole and partial words as they are the smallest unit of linguistic meaning.
What are the lexeme types?
There are two types of lexemes: variable and invariable. Variable lexemes are word-sized lexical items that may have two or more forms. Invariable lexemes, on the other hand, only have one word corresponding to a particular meaning. The difference between variable and invariable lexemes is whether the word has various forms.
What is the function of lexeme?
The function of lexemes is to communicate concepts—they are the main parts of speech that convey meaning, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on.
What is the difference between a lexeme and a word?
Lexemes, also called word stems, are minimal units of language (often words) with distinctive meanings. Words, however, are a speech sound or a string of sounds that convey meaning.
How many lexemes are there in the English language?
Generally, there are approximately 170,000 words and 38,122 lexemes in the English language.
What is an example of a lexeme?
Two examples of lexemes are:
- Walk: This is a lexeme that represents a basic action of moving by foot. Other words derived from this lexeme include walked, walking, walker, and walkable.
- Happy: This is a lexeme that represents a feeling of joy or contentment. Other words derived from this lexeme include happiness, happier, and happily.
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