1935–40; glosseme + -atics, on the model of Greek formations such as phṓnēma speech (stem phōnēmat-), adj. derivative phōnēmatikós (compare phoneme), and the names of disciplines formed from such adjectives, as mathematics
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| an expression exhibiting constructional homonymity or having two or more structural descriptions |
| a unit within a language, such as a word or base; vocabulary item |
glossematics
system of linguistic analysis based on the distribution and interrelationship of glossemes, the smallest meaningful units of a language-e.g., a word, a stem, a grammatical element, a word order, or an intonation. Glossematics is a theory and system of linguistic analysis proposed by the Danish scholar Louis Hjelmslev (1899-1965) and his collaborators, who were strongly influenced by the work of the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Glossematics has been an important component of European structuralism but has had relatively little influence in the United States, except in relation to stratificational grammar, a grammar originated by American linguist Sydney M. Lamb
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