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polysynthetic
[ pol-ee-sin-thet-ik ]
adjective
- (of a language) characterized by a prevalence of relatively long words containing a large number of affixes to express syntactic relationships and meanings. Many American Indian languages are polysynthetic. Compare analytic ( def 3 ), synthetic ( def 3 ).
- of or relating to polysynthesism.
polysynthetic
/ ˌpɒlɪˈsɪnθɪsɪs; ˌpɒlɪsɪnˈθɛtɪk /
adjective
- denoting languages, such as Inuktitut, in which single words may express the meaning of whole phrases or clauses by virtue of multiple affixes Compare synthetic analytic agglutinative
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Derived Forms
- ˌpolyˈsynthesism, noun
- polysynthesis, noun
- ˌpolysynˈthetically, adverb
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Word History and Origins
Origin of polysynthetic1
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Example Sentences
A polysynthetic language illustrates no principles that are not already exemplified in the more familiar synthetic languages.
Polysynthet′icism, Polysyn′thetism, the character of being polysynthetic.
This polysynthetic character undoubtedly does point to a common origin, just as the Indo-European tongues trace back to Sanskrit.
They may also be crossed by bars or stripes, each of which indicates a twin plate, for the crystals are usually polysynthetic.
The general character in this respect has caused the term Polysynthetic to be applied to the American languages.
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