Lemma (linguistic)

Constitution of the lemmas

In the Indo-European Languages (like French or English), the lemmas consist of Phonème S assembled in Morphème S. a lemma like anticonstitutionally , for example, is analyzed as follows:

it has nineteen or eighteen phonemes (according to whether one pronounces or not the '' E '' null and void: ;
it has in Diachronie a radical of origin Latin E, sta- / sti- ;
it is made up in Synchronie of six morphemes:

In others standard of languages like the insulating Languages, the lemma is reduced to a Lexème or an assembly of lemmas (made up Mot), without morphemes, generally rather short. Thus, in Mandarin the lemma for “heart” is 心 xīn , that for “friend” 朋友 péngyou (made up lemma). In this type of languages, syntax is often more rigid than in the languages whose lemmas are made of morphemes: indeed, nothing (or almost) makes it possible to distinguish the lexical classes. Thus, the verb “to eat” says 吃飯 chī=fàn when it is employed without Complément of object (literally: “I eat food”) but 吃 chī when the complement of object is expressed: 我吃飯 wǒ chī=fàn “I eat (food)” ~ 我吃肉 wǒ chī ròu “I eat () meat”.

Form lemmas

In the Indo-European Languages

A lemma can be:

simple: only one Word → to tighten , love , never ;
made up: a made up Word (formed word of several words) → red throat , () between (-) killing ;
complex:

a Syntagm (group words placed in a precise direction and organizing itself around a central term) →: verdigris , middle-class man , large-thing ,
an expression supplements → certain something , couldn't-give-a-damn .

In other languages

In Mandarin, for example, the concept of lemma appears differently (one saw a higher example of it). One will find the explanations wanted in the article Sinogramme .

Autonomy of the lemmas

Each lemma has a lexical Classe and a Signifié independent of its components when it is not a simple word (one will speak about lemma complexes ). In addition, its autonomy is found in the fact that it does not need to be associated with a morpheme or another lemma to exist. For example, garou , in werewolf is not a lemma. Indeed, garou cannot only be said. In the same way, - ons , in let us go is not a lexeme.

It is often difficult to determine the exact inventory of the forms concerned with a lemma. A well-known example is that of the participles of French:

In It died , one will see sometimes the made up Passé lemma dying (built using l'" auxiliary to be ": It died in a few moments ), sometimes the lemma to be followed dead lemma ( It really died ).
last editions of the Bescherelle (resp. Mr. Arrivé, ED. Hatier) are distinguished from the preceding ones by announcing the existence in French of a Gérondif made up of in + takes part present ; according to this approach, while dying (" gerund présent"), while having died (" gerund passé") are forms of the lemma to die .

But it would be also permissible to exclude the phenomena of auxiliation or grammatical Collocation of the field of the analysis in lemmas. According to the decision taken, an automatic operation of reduction of a text to the lemmas which constitute it (for example to build an index or agreement) will reveal or will not make the occurrences of to be or in in the examples given.

Direction of the made up or complex lemma

When the lemma exceeds the simple word, it is equipped with one meaning independent of its components: for example, the lemma cauliflower must be included/understood independently of cabbage and flower . It is not a cabbage in flower nor a flower of cabbage but a vegetable quite precise. In the same way, red throat does not say an all that with the red throat: only a particular species of sparrow is concerned.

Lexical class of the made up or complex lemma

Skinflint with beautiful being initially made up of a verb to seize up then of its mode, the name penny , it is a name. In the same way, couldn't-give-a-damn is a complete expression made up of pronouns ( I , me , in ) and of an adjectival form derived from the verb (of) foutre , it is a simple adjective.

It is seen well that a lemma loses the operating process of its components: gossip is a lexiconized expression (become a lemma) functioning like a Nom but not like a syntagm: one cannot say “it which you in-said”.

Lemmas and dictionaries

A Dictionnaire counts the lemmas of a language but not the Forme S of this lemma. When this language is flexional or agglutinant, the entry of the dictionary is made by means of a form known as canonical :

for the names: in the singular for the languages without variation (French: apples → apple ), with the personal singular for Latin ( solitudinibus → solitudo ) or the old Greek (φλεϐῶν/ phlebỗn → φλέψ/ phléps ), with personal or in the form of the morphological Topic in Sanskrit ( aśvasya → aśva- , form without ending), with the high-speed format in Turkish ( kaynağın → kaynak ), etc;
for the verbs: with infinitive in French ( will die → to die ) or Turkish ( okuyordum → okumak ), with the first nobody of the singular of the present indicative in Latin ( amabimus → amo ) and in Greek (ἐλελύκεσαν/ elelúkesan → λύω/ lúô ), etc

The rules of classification of the lemmas in the dictionary of a language must thus be learned and require a knowledge of the grammar of the language, all the more when this language is flexional and, worse, when the beginning of the word can be modified by the inflection (the alphabetical classification being done since the beginning of the word towards the end). The methods of training of the foreign languages concerned as well as grammars often explain to a student of this language how to seek the words in the dictionary when research can be complex. In the same way, the dictionaries count sometimes the difficult forms of certain lemmas while returning towards the canonical lemma.

Here some examples:

the student Latinist meeting the form poposcerunt must, in absolute, to seek with posco , which is the canonical form. A Latin language dictionary like the Gaffiot ( Latin Dictionary French summary of Felix Gaffiot, Delivers pocket, for example) counts poposci however by indicating that it is about the perfect of posco . The student knowing the grammar of this language will be able that poposcerunt is the third nobody of the perfect active code of the verb posco , “to claim”. A person who, without any knowledge of Latin, would seek this form could know only poposci and poposcerunt is two forms of the same time of the same verb and could not connect poposcerunt to posco ; worse, if the dictionary does not mark the reference of poposci to posco , one can establish no bond since the two forms are not classified in the same page, initial word being modified with the perfect one;
always in Latin, the form militate will not be in any dictionary, in form paper, connected to its canonical form, miles , “soldier”. Indeed, knowledge that a word finished by - ites of this type can be derived from a name finished by - are and initial by the same letters belongs to fundamental competences of the Latinist. A layman will not be likely any to decipher a Latin text even coarsely because to seek the direction of the words, independently of syntax, is not always possible;
on the other hand, always in Latin, certain data-processing dictionaries (as www.dicolatin.com) can find the lemma; the form militate will be connected to its canonical form, miles , “soldier”; To seek " latus" the canonical form " will post; fero" and its directions, but also " latus, has, um" and its directions. It is also the principle of Wiktionnaire (for all the languages). Such dictionaries then make it possible to find homographic lemmas.
the case is very frequent in Greek: this language using a Augment and the redoubling (to consult Conjugations of the old Greek ), the initial one of the verbs is often very faded. Even if the usual dictionaries of Greek provide tracks of research, it is already necessary to know the grammar of the language to know that the form ᾤμωξα ốimôksa depends on the lemma οἰμώζω oimốzô , “to deplore”. Even if the skeleton of the two forms is identical, the only joint letters form the syllable - μω- in the center of the word;
in the Celtic Languages, the phenomenon of the consonant shifts initial is notable: in Welsh, for example, it is necessary to seek garreg , charreg or ngharreg with carreg , “stone”. All these forms indeed result from the consonant shifts that function words like the determinants involve.

Lexiconizing

When a simple word, compound word, etc, enter the lexicon of a language, one speaks about Lexicalisation: one will say that certain something is lexiconized, in opposition to I do not include/understand nothing . Certain something , indeed, is equipped with a single lexical class (here the name, that one can make precede by an article) and returns to a Signifié precise. One cannot change some meaning it.

Terminology

The concepts of lemma and lexeme are employed in a very variable way according to the linguists and their school of thought. For some, which one names here lemma is a lexeme and the word lemma is not employed. In this encyclopedia, even if this choice is contestable, one will use lexeme and lemma in this manner:

the lemma is the autonomous unit of the lexicon;
the lexeme is constituent lexical the, autonomous one or not, of a lemma.

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