The minimum unit with lexical meaning is called the lexeme.
Before entering fully into the meaning of the term lexeme , we are going to discover its etymological origin. Thus, we can point out that it derives from Greek, specifically from lexeme , which is the fruit of the union of two components of said language:
-The noun lexis , which can be translated as “word.”
-The suffix -ma , which is the result of the “action”.
What is a lexeme
A lexeme is the minimal unit that has lexical meaning despite not having grammatical morphemes or dispensing with them through a segmentation mechanism. The term is used in the field of linguistics .
Lexemes and morphemes (units that present grammatical meaning) are the components of words. While lexemes provide the idea that is understandable to people, morphemes complement lexemes with indications about number, gender, etc.
There are different types of lexemes.
Some examples
In a word family , the lexeme is usually the part that is repeated. Let's take the case of shoe and related words such as shoe shop , shoemaker or zapatazo . The lexeme, in this case, is zapat- ( zapat-o , zapat-ería , zapat-ero , zapat-azo ). There is the lexical meaning (a shoe with a sole at the bottom, which does not exceed the height of the ankle).
Another example would be if we took the words book , bookseller , bookstore , booklet , little book ... Starting from all of them we can reach the conclusion that the lexeme is book- .
Likewise, if we start from words such as bread , bakery , panadero , panificadora or panera , we realize that the lexeme that all of these have in common is pan- .
Types of lexemes
It can be said, in short, that the lexeme is the root of the term. This is the segment that carries the meaning and does not vary.
It is important to establish that there are two very different types of lexemes:
-Dependent lexemes . These are the ones that are necessarily linked to a monema. They are also known as locked lexemes .
-Independent lexemes are, for their part, those that do not go together with another monemme. In the same way, they are also called by the name of free lexemes . Tree , for example, is an independent lexeme that also constitutes a word .
Let's look at the example of a house . Its lexical family includes words such as casita , caserón , homemade and caserío . The lexeme, as you can see, is cas- ( cas-a , cas-ita , cas-erón , cas-ero , cas-erío ). The lexical meaning, in this framework, refers to a construction intended for housing .
a medicine
To all of the above we have to add the existence of what is known as Lexxema . This is an anti-inflammatory type medication that is used for the skin and comes in an ointment or cream format.
Specifically, it is used to reduce both inflammation and allergic reactions that the aforementioned skin may have experienced due to different circumstances.