Word Boundary Issues
There are several issues regarding the definition of "word":
- Inflection can create several permutations of the same root (lexeme). (Most writers count lexemes, not inflectional variants, in their comparisons.)
- Polysynthetic languages can mechanistically combine what would be several words in a phrase in another language into a single "word".
- English compounds and compounds in other languages can be written with a space, creating controversy over whether a "word" should be defined by an orthographic word divider or by lexeme status (whether a compound has an independent entry in a dictionary or lexicon).
- The same morpheme can appear in multiple lexemes, creating controversy over whether the lexemes are sufficiently "different".
Read more about this topic: Eskimo Words For Snow
Famous quotes containing the words word, boundary and/or issues:
“Let your word be Yes, Yes’ or No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 5:37.
“It appeared that he had once represented his tribe at Augusta, and also once at Washington, where he had met some Western chiefs. He had been consulted at Augusta, and gave advice, which he said was followed, respecting the eastern boundary of Maine, as determined by highlands and streams, at the time of the difficulties on that side. He was employed with the surveyors on the line. Also he called on Daniel Webster in Boston, at the time of his Bunker Hill oration.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Cynicism formulates issues clearly, but only to dismiss them.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)