If you are wondering what a lexeme is, you have come to the right place. In this article, I give you a brief introduction to what a lexeme is and give you an example of what a lexeme is.
What is a lexeme?
A lexeme is the smallest or minimal unit of lexicon in a language that bears meaning.
An example of a lexeme
Let’s look at the verb “work.” The word “work” can take the following forms:
- working
- worked
- works
All of these reference the same lexeme, or root. You can think of a lexeme like a headword that you would see when you look up a word in a dictionary.
What to read next
Make sure to read our article about deixis, another useful concept in semantics.
