Units of Language

Units of language are divided into segmental ans supra-segmental units. Segmental units comprise units comprise phonemes, they form phonemic strings of various status. Supra- segmental units do not exist by themselves , they express different modificational meanings , which are reflected on the strings of segmental units. The segmental units of language form a hierarchy of level. The lowest level of lingual segments is the phonemic level. The phoneme has no meaning, its function is purely differential. Since it has no meaning; it cannot be considered a sign. Phonemes form syllables, the latter cannot be called either as they have no semantic meaning.

The second level is the morphemic level. The morpheme is the smallest meaningful part of the word.The shortest morpheme may include only one phoneme; e.g. -s in works.

The third level in the segmental lingual hierarchy is the lexemic level, the level of words. The shortest lexemic unit consists of one morpheme only.

The next higher level is the level of phrases, i.e. the phrasemic level. The grammatical description of phrases is referred to as Minor Syntax.