morphème

Forms

morphème m (plural morphèmes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French morpho- + -ème, from Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”), on the model of phonème.^{[2][1][3][4][5]}

Its modern sense, “smallest unit of meaning”, is taken from the American English morpheme, a linguistic term since 1896 that spread through the work of Leonard Bloomfield.^[2][6] Etymonline traces the English word to the German term coined in 1895 by Jan Baudouin de Courtenay, also after the word for “phoneme”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Joseph Vendryes's Le Langage (1921), where it is an element that gives a grammatical aspect to an element of meaning.^[2][5][8] The Petit Robert dates the word to 1905.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Vendryes's sense, a morpheme was a grammatical element (an affix, an ending, or a word such as a preposition or conjunction) as opposed to the sémantème that carries the meaning.^[2][6] This sense was pushed aside by the American one, “smallest element of meaning, lexical or grammatical”, found in French from 1952 in Cantineau.^[2][6]

French functional linguistics, after André Martinet, calls the minimal unit of meaning a monème and keeps morphème for a grammatical moneme, as against the lexème.^[6][2][4] The adjective morphématique was formed from it in the 1960s.^[6][2]

Timeline

• 1905 – Date given by the Petit Robert.^[4]
• 1921 – Vendryes uses it in Le Langage.^[2][5]
• 1952 – Cantineau uses it for the smallest unit of meaning.^[2]
• 1968 – Morphématique is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (linguistics) The smallest unit of meaning in an utterance, a morpheme: morphème libre, morphème lié.^[4][9][10]
2. (linguistics, dated) A grammatical element of a word, as opposed to the sémantème.^[2][4]
3. (linguistics) In Martinet's terminology, a grammatical monème, as opposed to a lexème.^[2][4][10]

Word family

• morphématique

Related words

• phonème
• monème
• lexème
• sémantème
• morphologie
• Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ)
• English morpheme

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)