Discussion Post: Anthropology of Language & Communication
All languages have resources for making new words to encode new meanings. This week you read about morphemes, which are the smallest linguistic units for conveying meaning. In some languages we can use morphemes to create new words. For example, if we decided not to be friends with someone anymore, we can "defriend" them. This word has two morphemes - the prefix of de, and the word friend. However, in many cases English lacks a simple word to describe something. For example, there is no single word to describe "the enemy of an enemy". If we had to make one up, we would have to follow the criteria of our language so people would understand what we were talking about, similar to how most of us could figure out what defriend means. Maybe we could use the word grandenemy - similar to how a grandchild is the child of a child.
For this discussion, use the rules of grammar that you read- especially phonemes, morphemes, and syntax - to create a new word for one of the following phrases, or a phrase that you come up with on your own. Once you create the word, discuss the rules of grammar that you used to create it and why you think it would be widely understood in the English language.
The response should include a reference list. One-inch margins, Using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, double-space and APA style of writing and citations.