Lexeme
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A '''lexeme''' ({{audio|En-us-lexeme.ogg|pronunciation}}) is an abstract [[Unit of measurement|unit]] of [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] [[Semantic analysis (linguistics)|analysis]] in [[linguistics]], that roughly corresponds to a set of forms taken by a single [[word]]. For example, in the [[English language]], ''run'', ''runs'', ''ran'' and ''running'' are forms of the same lexeme, conventionally written as <span style="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">RUN</span>.<ref><span style="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">RUN</span> is here intended to display in [[small caps]]. Software limitations may result in its display either in full-sized capitals (RUN) or in full-sized capitals of a smaller font; either is anyway regarded as an acceptable substitute for genuine small caps.</ref> A related concept is the [[lemma (linguistics)|lemma]] (or '''citation form'''), which is a particular form of a lexeme that is chosen by convention to represent a canonical form of a lexeme. Lemmas are used in dictionaries as the [[headword]]s, and other forms of a lexeme are often listed later in the entry if they are unusual in some way.
A lexeme belongs to a particular [[syntactic category]], has a particular [[Meaning (linguistic)|meaning]] ([[Semantics|semantic value]]), and in inflecting languages, has a corresponding [[Inflection|inflectional paradigm]]; that is, a lexeme in many languages will have many different '''forms'''. For example, the lexeme <span style="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">RUN</span> has a present [[Grammatical person|third person]] [[Grammatical number|singular]] form ''runs'', a present non-third-person-singular form ''run'' (which also functions as the [[past participle]] and [[Non-finite verb|non-finite]] form), a past form ''ran'', and a present [[participle]] ''running''. (It does not include ''runner, runners, runnable,'' etc.) The use of the forms of a lexeme is governed by rules of [[grammar]]; in the case of English verbs such as <span style="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">RUN</span>, these include subject-[[verb]] agreement and compound [[tense]] rules, which determine which form of a verb can be used in a given [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]].
A [[lexicon]] consists of lexemes.
In many [[Theoretical linguistics|formal]] theories of [[language]], lexemes have [[subcategorization frame]]s to account for the number and types of complements they occur with in [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentences]] and other [[syntax|syntactic structures]].
The notion of a lexeme is very central to [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], and thus, many other notions can be defined in terms of it. For example, the difference between [[inflection]] and [[derivation (linguistics)|derivation]] can be stated in terms of lexemes:
* Inflectional rules relate a lexeme to its forms.
* Derivational rules relate a lexeme to another lexeme.
==Decomposition==
Lexemes are often composed of smaller units with individual meaning called [[morpheme]]s, according to '''root morpheme''' + '''derivational morphemes''' + '''desinence''' (not necessarily in this order), where:
* The [[root (linguistics)|root morpheme]] is the primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced to smaller constituents.<ref>[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsARoot.htm SIL dictionary of linguistic terms: What is a root?]</ref>
* The derivational morphemes carry only [[derivation (linguistics)|derivational]] information.<ref>[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsADerivationalAffix.htm SIL dictionary of linguistic terms: What is a derivational affix?]</ref>
* The [[desinence]] is composed of all inflectional morphemes, and carries only [[inflection]]al information.<ref>[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnInflectionalAffix.htm SIL dictionary of linguistic terms: What is an inflectional affix?]</ref>
The compound '''root morpheme''' + '''derivational morphemes''' is often called the [[stem (linguistics)|stem]].<ref>[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAStem.htm SIL dictionary of linguistic terms: What is a stem?]</ref> The decomposition '''stem''' + '''desinence''' can then be used to study inflection.
==See also==
{{Wiktionary|lexeme}}
* [[Ending (linguistics)]]
* [[Inflection]]
* [[Lexical unit]]
* [[Lexical word|Lexical word vs. grammatical word]]
* [[Lexicography]]
* [[Lexis (linguistics)]]
* [[Marker (linguistics)]]
* [[Morpheme]]
* [[Morphology (linguistics)]]
* [[Multiword expression]]
* [[Null morpheme]]
* [[Root (linguistics)]]
* [[Stem (linguistics)|Stem]]
==Notes==
<references/>
[[Category:Lexical units]]
[[ay:Saphi (aru)]]
[[br:Leksema]]
[[bg:Лексема]]
[[ca:Lexema]]
[[cs:Lexém]]
[[de:Lexem]]
[[es:Lexema]]
[[eo:Leksemo]]
[[fr:Lexème]]
[[gl:Lexema]]
[[hr:Leksem]]
[[id:Leksem]]
[[it:Lessema]]
[[hu:Lexéma]]
[[nl:Lexeem]]
[[ja:語彙素]]
[[no:Leksem]]
[[nn:Leksem]]
[[nds:Lexem]]
[[pl:Leksem]]
[[qu:Rimana saphi]]
[[ru:Лексема (лингвистика)]]
[[sk:Lexéma]]