In glossematic linguistic theory, a minimal unit of meaning or a fundamental structural element in language analysis.
Created by Louis Hjelmslev in the 1940s, combining gloss (explanation, tongue) with -eme suffix (as in phoneme, morpheme), referring to basic units of linguistic structure.
Hjelmslev wanted 'glosseme' to be linguistics' answer to the atom—the irreducible piece from which all language builds, but the idea proved too abstract to catch on.
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