Sememe

Sememe is a term used in semiotics and linguistics to refer to the smallest unit of meaning in a language. It is derived from the Greek word "sema", meaning sign, and the suffix "-eme", which is used in linguistics to denote a basic, indivisible unit.

A sememe is the smallest component of a word or phrase that carries meaning. For example, in the word "unhappiness", "un-" is a sememe that negates the meaning of the root word "happiness". Similarly, in the phrase "red apple", "red" and "apple" are both sememes that contribute to the overall meaning of the phrase.

Sememes are closely related to morphemes, which are the smallest grammatical units in a language. However, while a morpheme may or may not carry meaning (for example, the "s" in "cats" is a morpheme that indicates plurality, but does not have a meaning on its own), a sememe always carries meaning.

The concept of the sememe is central to the study of semantics, the branch of linguistics that deals with meaning. Semantics is concerned with understanding how meaning is constructed and interpreted in language, and sememes are a key tool in this analysis.

Sememes can be further divided into pleremes and kenemes. A plereme is a sememe that carries full meaning, while a keneme is a sememe that carries only partial meaning. For example, in the word "unhappiness", "un-" is a keneme (as it only carries meaning in relation to another sememe) and "happiness" is a plereme.

The study of sememes also intersects with other areas of linguistics, such as phonology (the study of the sound systems of languages), syntax (the study of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences in a language), and pragmatics (the study of how context influences the interpretation of meaning).