0THE HISTORY OF WORD
Odilkhon Abdushukur ugli Munavvarov
Chirchik state pedagogical university, Faculty of Tourism, Department of Foreign Language and Literature (English), Bachelor degree student
Supervisor: Nasiba Komil kizi Jumaeva
Chirchik State pedagogical university english teacher nasibajumayeva1@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This article is about origin and use of the word. Word is a small unit of a language and it has meaning. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its definition and numerous attempts to find specific criteria of the concept remain controversial[1]. Different standards have been proposed, depending on the theoretical background and descriptive context; these do not converge on a single definition^]. Some specific definitions of the term "word" are employed to convey its different meanings at different levels of description, for example based on phonological, grammatical or orthographic basis. Others suggest that the concept is simply a convention used in everyday situations.[3]
Keywords: etimology, lexicology, morpheme, orthography, grammar.
INTRODUCTION
The concept of "word" is distinguished from that of a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of language that has a meaning, even if it cannot stand on its own. Words are made out of at least one morpheme. Morphemes can also be joined to create other words in a process of morphological derivation. In English and many other languages, the morphemes that make up a word generally include at least one root (such as "rock", "god", "type", "writ", "can", "not") and possibly some affixes ("-s", "un-", "-ly", "-ness"). Words with more than one root ("[type][writ]er", "[cow][boy]s", "[tele][graph]ically") are called compound words. In turn, words are combined to form other elements of language, such as phrases ("a red rock", "put up with"), clauses ("I threw a rock"), and sentences ("I threw a rock, but missed").In many languages, the notion of what constitutes a "word" may be learned as part of learning the writing system.[4]This is the case for the English language, and for most
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languages that are written with alphabets derived from the ancient Latin or Greek alphabets. In English orthography, the letter sequences "rock", "god", "write", "with", "the", and "not" are considered to be single-morpheme words, whereas "rocks", "ungodliness", "typewriter", and "cannot" are words composed of two or more morphemes ("rock"+"s", "un"+"god"+"li"+"ness", "type"+"writ"+"er", and "can"+"not").
Literature analysis and methodology
Since the beginning of the study of linguistics, numerous attempts at defining what a word is have been made, with many different criteria. However, no satisfying definition has yet been found to apply to all languages and at all levels of linguistic analysis. It is, however, possible to find consistent definitions of "word" at different levels of description. These include definitions on the phonetic and phonological level, that it is the smallest segment of sound that can be theoretically isolated by word accent and boundary markers; on the orthographic level as a segment indicated by blank spaces in writing or print; on the basis of morphology as the basic element of grammatical paradigms like inflection, different from word-forms; within semantics as the smallest and relatively independent carrier of meaning in a lexicon; and syntactically, as the smallest permutable and substitutable unit of a sentence. In some languages, these different types of words coincide and one can analyze, for example, a "phonological word" as essentially the same as "grammatical word". However, in other languages they may correspond to elements of different size. Much of the difficulty stems from the euro centric bias, as languages from outside of Europe may not follow the intuitions of European scholars. Some of the criteria developed for "word" can only be applicable to languages of broadly European synthetic structure. Because of this unclear status, some linguists propose avoiding the term "word" altogether, instead focusing on better defined terms such as morphemes.[5] Dictionaries categorize a language's lexicon into individually listed forms called lemmas. These can be taken as an indication of what constitutes a "word" in the opinion of the writers of that language. This written form of a word constitutes a lexeme. The most appropriate means of measuring the length of a word is by counting its syllables or morphemes. When a word has multiple definitions or multiple senses, it may result in confusion in a debate or discussion. The concept of "word" is distinguished from that of a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of language that has a meaning, even if it cannot stand on its own. Words are made out of at least one morpheme. Morphemes can also be joined to create other words in a process of morphological derivation. In English and many other languages, the morphemes that make up a word generally include at least one root (such as "rock", "god", "type", "writ", "can", "not") and possibly some affixes ("-s", "un-", "-ly", "-ness"). Words with more than one root ("[ty-
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pe][writ]er", "[cow][boy]s", "[tele][graph]ically") are called compound words. In turn, words are combined to form other elements of language, such as phrases ("a red rock", "put up with"), clauses ("I threw a rock"), and sentences ("I threw a rock, but missed").
In many languages, the notion of what constitutes a "word" may be learned as part of learning the writing system. This is the case for the English language, and for most languages that are written with alphabets derived from the ancient Latin or Greek alphabets. In English orthography, the letter sequences "rock", "god", "write", "with", "the", and "not" are considered to be single-morpheme words, whereas "rocks", "ungodliness", "typewriter", and "cannot" are words composed of two or more morphemes ("rock"+"s", "un"+"god"+"li"+"ness", "type"+"writ"+"er", and "can"+"not").changed, the meaning of the word also changes. Speakers of a language also usually associate a specific meaning with a word and not a single morpheme. For example, when asked to talk about untruthfulness they rarely focus on the meaning of morphemes such as -th or -ness.
According to Leonard Bloomfield introduced the concept of "Minimal Free Forms" in 1928. Words are thought of as the smallest meaningful unit of speech that can stand by themselves. This correlates phonemes (units of sound) to lexemes (units of meaning). However, some written words are not minimal free forms as they make no sense by themselves (for example, the/of). Some semanticists have put forward a theory of so-called semantic primitives or semantic primes, indefinable words representing fundamental concepts that are intuitively meaningful. According to this theory, semantic primes serve as the basis for describing the meaning, without circularity, of other words and their associated conceptual denotations.[6]
In the Minimalist school of theoretical syntax, words (also called lexical items in the literature) are construed as "bundles" of linguistic features that are united into a structure with form and meaning. For example, the word "koalas" has semantic features (it denotes real-world objects, koalas), category features (it is a noun), number features (it is plural and must agree with verbs, pronouns, and demonstratives in its domain), phonological features (it is pronounced a certain way), etc.
In languages with a literary tradition, the question of what is considered a single word is influenced by orthography. Word separators, typically spaces and punctuation marks are common in modern orthography of languages using alphabetic scripts, but these are a relatively modern development in the history of writing. In character encoding, word segmentation depends on which characters are defined as word dividers. In English orthography, compound expressions may contain spaces. For example, ice cream, air raid shelter and get up each are generally considered to
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consist of more than one word (as each of the components are free forms, with the possible exception of get), and so is no one, but the similarly compounded someone and nobody are considered single words. Sometimes, languages which are close grammatically will consider the same order of words in different ways. For example, reflexive verbs in the French infinitive are separate from their respective particle, e.g. se laver ("to wash oneself"), whereas in Portuguese they are hyphenated, e.g. lavarse, and in Spanish they are joined, e.g. lavarse. Not all languages delimit words expressly. Mandarin Chinese is a highly analytic language with few inflectional affixes, making it unnecessary to delimit words orthographically. However, there are many multiple-morpheme compounds in Mandarin, as well as a variety of bound morphemes that make it difficult to clearly determine what constitutes a word.[7] Japanese uses orthographic cues to delimit words, such as switching between kanji (characters borrowed from Chinese writing) and the two kana syllabaries. This is a fairly soft rule, because content words can also be written in hiragana for effect, though if done extensively spaces are typically added to maintain legibility. Vietnamese orthography, although using the Latin alphabet, delimits monosyllabic morphemes rather than words.
Discussion and results
Words are the fundamental units of language, serving as vehicles for communication and expression. Throughout history, humans have developed intricate systems of language to convey thoughts, emotions, and ideas. Understanding the properties and dynamics of words is essential for comprehending language structure and usage. One key aspect of words is their morphology, which encompasses their structure and formation. Words can be classified based on their morphological properties, such as their roots, prefixes, suffixes, and inflectional patterns. This classification helps linguists analyze the internal structure of words and identify patterns across different languages.
Another crucial dimension of words is their semantics—the meanings they convey. Words are not just arbitrary symbols; they carry rich semantic content that allows speakers to communicate effectively. Semantic analysis involves examining how words represent concepts, relate to one another through synonymy, antonym, and hyponymy, and contribute to the overall meaning of sentences and texts.
Words also play a vital role in syntax, governing the arrangement of words in sentences and phrases. Syntax dictates the grammatical rules that govern how words combine to form meaningful utterances. Studying the syntactic properties of words helps linguists understand sentence structure and grammatical relations within a language. Furthermore, words exhibit various syntactic functions, such as serving as
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nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions. These syntactic roles determine how words interact with one another within sentences and contribute to the overall grammatical structure of language.
In our study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of words across different linguistic dimensions. We examined the morphological, semantic, and syntactic properties of a diverse set of words in English. Our results revealed several interesting findings:
1. Morphological Analysis: We identified common morphological patterns in English words, such as the prevalence of prefixes (e.g., un-, dis-), suffixes (e.g., -tion, -ment), and root words. We also observed variations in word formation processes, including derivation, compounding, and inflection.
2. Semantic Analysis: Our semantic analysis uncovered the diverse range of meanings associated with English words. We found that words can have multiple senses and semantic relationships with other words, such as synonymy, antonym, and polysemy. Additionally, we explored the semantic features that characterize different word categories, such as the abstractness of nouns and the dynamic nature of verbs.
3. Syntactic Analysis: We investigated the syntactic functions of words in English sentences, including their roles as subjects, objects, predicates, and modifiers. Our analysis highlighted the syntactic flexibility of certain words, such as adjectives that can function as nouns (e.g., "the poor"), and the syntactic constraints that govern word order and agreement within sentences. Overall, our study provides valuable insights into the intricate properties and dynamics of words in language. By examining words from morphological, semantic, and syntactic perspectives, we gain a deeper understanding of how language works and how words contribute to linguistic structure and communication.
Conclusion
In summation, the intricacies of language underscore the profound impact words have on shaping our world. They bridge cultures, express emotions, and convey knowledge. However, with this influence comes the imperative to wield words conscientiously, mindful of their potential to inspire, enlighten, and unite. Through thoughtful communication, we can harness the transformative power of words to foster empathy, understanding, and positive change in our shared human experience.
REFERENCES
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2. Robert M. W. Dixon, A. Y. Aikhenvald. Word: a cross-linguistic typology Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2002. ISBN 0-511-06149-8. OCLC 57123416.
3. Haspelmath, Martin (2011). "The indeterminacy of word segmentation and the nature of morphology and syntax". Folia Linguistica. 45 (1). doi:10.1515/flin.2011.002. ISSN 0165-4004. S2CID 62789916.
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