The Hierarchical Structure of Complex Word

Abstract

The theory, or collection of views, presented by linguists in various scientific sources, known as Morpheme-Based Morphology, advocates for analyses and interpretations to be predominantly concentrated at the morphological level. It posits that the same principles applied in syntactic analysis can be used to interpret morphological phenomena. The core of this theory is linked to the method of morpheme combination, meaning that complex (non-simple) words are viewed as a sequence of morphemes arranged linearly. Consequently, within this framework, morphology, much like syntax, can define morphemes. Thus, the same grammatical rules are considered to play a role in the combination of morphemes. In this theory, the primary unit of morphological analysis is the morpheme, defined as a unit that can be a word or smaller than a word. Affixes, akin to independent lexical morphemes, are considered to have their own distinct lexical entries in the language’s lexicon. Within this theory, word formation rules operate on sequences of morphemes and determine the manner in which lexical units are constructed. According to this perspective, morphological processes involve morphemes as input and yield complete words as output. This perspective and theory are particularly suited for languages that exhibit clear boundaries between the morphemes constituting their words.