ATLAS OF LANGUAGE

AT-NAV-G05-016 · ATLAS 259

Stem

A stem is the base to which inflectional material attaches or on which an inflectional operation acts in a morphological analysis.

Part of the subject path Morphology and Word Formation

Why is this entry in the Atlas?

G · Foundational concept R2 · Necessary foundation

Stem provides a foundation for inflectional analysis and distinctions among root, base, and realised word form. The unit counted as a stem depends on the analytical operation concerned.

Colours and admission grounds

The rectangular label identifies the entry function: F – linguistic figure or procedure; A – analytical concept; G – foundational concept; E – selected concrete case. The rounded badge indicates the admission ground: R1 – distinctive contribution; R2 – necessary foundation; R3 – justified illustrative case. This editorial rationale explains the current selection rather than claiming an undocumented original selection history.

Explanation

A stem is the base to which inflectional material attaches or on which an inflectional operation acts in a morphological analysis. It may be simple, derived or compound. Stem is therefore not synonymous with root: a stem can contain several meaningful components. In the context of ablaut, a paradigm may also involve different stem shapes. Analysis must specify the relevant form and operation. Merely removing visible endings does not always produce a unique or theoretically neutral definition of the stem.

Movement of thought

1. Compare word forms. 2. Identify the inflectional operation. 3. Isolate its base. 4. Record stem alternations. 5. Analyse internal structure separately.

Scientific use case

Paradigm analysis can document stem forms and their distribution.

Example

In a simple segmentation of German Freundlichkeit-en (“kindnesses”), Freundlichkeit is the inflectional stem although it can itself be analysed morphologically.

Counterexample

The stem of a complex word need not be its smallest lexical base.

Distinction

Distinguish stem from root, lemma, complete word form and an arbitrary letter sequence.

Effect on thought and perception

The stem concept identifies the base of a particular operation.

Resonance

What an ending attaches to may already have a structure of its own.

Provenance

Parallel corpus 98f0950771ae4662f291d2f15f5c51b6797f3c20ba458a68615cdb177002ea18; case-bounded source review accepted; human specialist review not claimed.

Cite this entry

Reich, Michael (Hrsg./ed.): „Stem“. Atlas der Sprache, AT-NAV-G05-016. ATLAS 259, data model 1.6.0. https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-NAV-G05-016

https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-NAV-G05-016

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