A word and its structure

Meaning and structure

It was pointed out that many words have meanings that are predictable, more or less, on the basis of their components. Some words are so predictable, indeed, that they do not have to be listed as lexical items. This predictability of meaning depends on how the structure of complex word forms guides their interpretation. Even with words that are lexically listed, unless their meaning is entirely different from what one might expect, such guidance is relevant.

In some words, structure is straightforward. For example, the lexeme HELPFUL, is derived from the noun base HELP by means of the adjective-forming suffix -ful. Because there are only two elements in this word form, it may seem there is not much to say about its structure. Even with just these two components, however, there is clearly a distinction between the actual word form helpful and the ill-formed one *-ful-help – a distinction that will be discussed, deal with affixed words and compounds that have more than two components, such as unhelpfulness and car insurance premium. Finally, we will confront a dilemma posed by items like French history teacher in its two interpretations (‘French teacher of history’ and ‘teacher of French history’).