base (n.)

A term used in MORPHOLOGY as an alternative to ROOT or STEM: it refers to any part of a WORD seen as a UNIT to which an operation can be applied, as when one adds an AFFIX to a root or stem. For example, in unhappy the base form is happy; if -ness is then added to unhappy, the whole of this item would be considered the base to which the new affix is attached. Some analysts, however, restrict the term ‘base’ to be equivalent to ‘root’, i.e. the part of a word remaining when all AFFIXES have been removed. In such an approach, happy would be the base form (the highest common factor) of all its DERIVATIONS – happiness, unhappy, unhappiness, etc. This meaning leads to a special use in PROSODIC MORPHOLOGY to define the portion of the output in CORRESPONDENCE with another portion of the form, especially the REDUPLICANT; often abbreviated as B.

In a more abstract approach to GRAMMAR (SYNTAX as well as morphology), the term basic form is used to refer to any abstract unit which has been set up in order to allow a range of FORMS to be interrelated, i.e. seen as VARIANTS. In morphology, for example, the basic or CANONICAL form of a MORPHEME might be identified as one of its ALTERNANTS (e.g. the basic form (or ‘basic alternant’) of the morpheme man is the morph man, with men being DERIVED from this in some way), or it might be a unit underlying both (e.g. a unit [mVn], where both man and men are derived by some process of VOWEL (V) replacement). Similarly in syntax a SENTENCE can be seen as having a basic form from which other sentences are derived (e.g. ACTIVE underlying PASSIVE sentences, POSITIVES underlying NEGATIVES), or related structures can be seen as being derived from a common UNDERLYING form. GENERATIVE grammar is the approach which has exploited the potential of such analyses most fully. This sense of ‘basic’, it should be clear, is different from the general sense used in language teaching or learning situations, where (possibly in addition to the above) the implication is that basic patterns of vocabulary are easier to learn, or are more useful for communication.