What is a lexeme: definition and examples

We started a lesson in a TEACHER to know exactly what is a lexeme. Next, we are going to know the definition, to which we will add some examples so that you do not have any doubts about it. It is important, before starting, to know that you can never confuse a morpheme and a lexeme. They are related concepts in Spanish grammar, but they differ in basic aspects that we will see shortly.

So, get ready to start, because here starts this lesson in which we will leave doubts regarding the definition of the lexeme that, to be totally clear, we will understand perfectly through various examples.

Let's first see what a lexeme is. Also know as lexical morpheme, is the minimum unit in a word that can be given lexical value. That is, to understand it perfectly, it is one that has meaning by itself.

We understand the lexeme as the root in a word It does not contain other grammatical morphemes. In other words, it is that part that always remains exactly the same regardless of the derivation or variation that is made.

Thus, other morphemes can be added to a lexeme that will have extra information, but it will never lose its central meaning. Even so, you can add grammatical details regarding sex or gender, quantity or number, person, mode or time.

To understand it perfectly, let's see it with a clear example taken from the word Book:

• Book
• Books
• Bookshop
• Bookseller
• Book
• Libr-azo

But, to fully understand what a lexeme is, it is important to distinguish the various types that we can find. To do this, let's see what these are:

• Free Lexemas: also known as independent lexemes, are those in which the form of the word itself totally coincide, so it is not necessary to add a grammatical morpheme to complete its meaning: blue - tree - light - clock - salt - Wall.
• Locked Lexemas: in this case, also known as linked lexemes, we refer to those in which one or more morphemes is needed, which will be in charge of completing the meaning. The aforementioned morphemes will provide grammatical information of mode, gender, time, person, or number: boy, girl. carriages, carriages. Am-o, am-as.

As we have already commented at the beginning, it is worth clearly establishing what the differences between morphemes and lexemes, so that we do not fall into error or confusion:

• The morpheme is the minimum unit in which a word is broken down, both lexical and grammatical. When we speak of lexical type, considered as lexical morpheme, we can speak of lexeme, but not at a grammatical level, since in this case it is considered syntactic morpheme.
• The lexical morpheme is the lexeme, a minimum unit with a lexical value. For its part, it contains grammatical morphemes, which are considered gramemas, which are the ones that in turn contain the syntactic information only.
• A lexeme will always be considered a morpheme, but the opposite is not always the case.

In Spanish grammar, we can also find various examples of lexemes according to the special circumstances of each case, as we observe below:

• We find lexemes that form words by themselves, as we have already seen. They serve to form derived words if more lexemes or morphemes are added, but they have meaning and lexical value by themselves: snail, alcohol, cancer.
• There are also cases in which a lexeme can be added to another lexeme to form a new word. In these cases, a particular meaning is added, and both make up that meaning: thanatophobia (union of thanato and phobia) - fear of death. Telephone (telephone and telephone connection) - device for talking at a distance.
• Likewise, a morpheme can be added to a lexeme to form words that vary their meaning, as we have already verified. In this case, it can be both suffixes and prefixes, depending on where the morpheme is added. That is, they are fixed at the end or at the beginning of the word to complement the final meaning: circulation, circulation. Lubricate, lubric-ar. Dehydration, dehydration.
• Other examples, for example with sports, a very common lexeme, are: sports-e, sports-ivo, anti-sports-ivo, sports-ists, sports-iva, pre-sports-ivo. And so, we could do it with an enormous number of lexemes that the Spanish language offers us.