Glossem

/ˈɡlɒsɛm/ noun

Definition

In glossematics, a minimal unit of meaning in language; a fundamental component in the analytical system of linguistic meaning.

Etymology

From gloss plus -em suffix (borrowed from phoneme, morpheme), created by Danish linguist Louis Hjelmslev in the 1940s for his glossematic theory.

Kelly Says

Hjelmslev's 'glosseme' is one of linguistics' most obscure concepts—he tried to break language into the smallest possible units of meaning, even smaller than words.

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