MORPHOLOGY AND MORPHEMOLOGY: WORD STRUCTURE AND MORPHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article focuses on analyzing the foundational theoretical tenets of morphemology and morphology within contemporary Ukrainian linguistics, emphasizing their intrinsic interrelation. A comprehensive examination of the morpheme as the fundamental linguistic entity for morphemological studies is undertaken. The primary attributes of a morpheme as a linguistic unit are elucidated, facilitating a more proficient comprehension of the principles underlying the morphemic analysis of words. Furthermore, the research delves into the grammatical meanings embodied by morphemes within specific parts of speech, drawing on Ukrainian language lexemes for illustration. The discourse provides a rationale for considering morphemology as an autonomous branch of linguistics, intricately linked with morphology and derivatology. The article delineates distinctions in the application of terms such as "morphemics" versus "morphemology" and "morpheme" versus "morph." A crucial assertion is advanced, substantiating that a morpheme, functioning as the smallest semantically significant constituent of a word, can simultaneously convey lexical, grammatical, and word-formational meanings. The correlation between morphemology and morphology is substantiated by the integral semantics inherent in words, a phenomenon derived from the amalgamation of lexical and grammatical meanings. The confluence of these meanings establishes a word's classification within a specific grammatical category (part of speech) and its affiliation with a particular word-formational type. Similar to a word form, a morpheme exhibits reproducibility in language, possesses a semiological function, and serves to convey both subject (via the root) and non-subject (via affixes) meanings. As with other linguistic entities, morphemes and word forms can be regarded as historical categories, prompting the differentiation of word formation into historical and synchronic aspects. Throughout the historical evolution of a language, alterations in word structure manifest through phonetic changes, the loss of productive affixes, and modifications in the phonemic boundaries of morphemes. Consequently, the framework for synchronic morphemic analysis must not be indiscriminately applied to other synchronic facets of the language.