In a message dated 4/16/98 7:47:55 PM, you wrote:

I guess a "word" is a free morpheme (smallest unit of meaning) that doesn't
need to be bound to any other morpheme to make sense. That would give us free
morphemes like "boy" and bound morphemes like "ish."

>1) What gives a word meaning in a language?
There is a arbitrary, but socially determined relationship between sound/sign
and meaning.
>2) Can words not cross languages and have the same meaning?

They do that all the time, but sometimes they pay with a little change in
pronunciation and spelling: television, televisión

>3) Is " a " a word?

"a" is kind of an adjective, commonly refered toa as a "determiner." Note the
difference between "a book" and "the book."

>So the connection of a written word to sound is the key?

key to the bathroom?

>Do words change their meaning when included/grouped with other words?

Or key to the john?


John K

PS: There is some French fellow who gives words a real run around the block,
Jacque Derrida, I think.