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| In [[linguistics]], particularly [[Morphology (linguistics)|linguistic morphology]], '''bracketing''' is a term of art that refers to how an [[utterance]] can be represented as a hierarchical tree of constituent parts. Analysis techniques based on bracketing are used at different levels of [[grammar]], but are particularly associated with morphologically complex words.
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| To give an example of bracketing in [[English language|English]], consider the word ''uneventful''. This word is made of three parts, the prefix ''un-'', the root ''event'', and the suffix ''-ful''. An English speaker should have no trouble parsing this word as "lacking in significant events".<ref>Definition from [[American Heritage Dictionary]]</ref> However, imagine a foreign linguist with access to a dictionary of English roots and affixes, but only a superficial understanding of English grammar. Conceivably, he or she could understand ''uneventful'' as one of: | |
| * "not eventful", where ''eventful'' in turn means "full of events"
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| * "full of unevents", where ''unevent'' in turn means "something different from or opposite to an event" <ref>''un-'' is usually attached to adjectives, but less [[Productivity (linguistics)|productively]] can also attach to nouns (e.g. [[7 Up|un-Cola]], [[The Ungame]])</ref>
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| We can represent these two understandings of ''uneventful'' with the ''bracketings'' <math>\left[ [ \mbox{un-} ] \left[ [ \mbox{event} ] [ \mbox{-ful} ] \right] \right]</math> and <math>\left[ \left[ [ \mbox{un-} ] [ \mbox{event} ] \right] [ \mbox{-ful} ] \right]</math>, respectively. Here, bracketing gives the linguist a convenient technique for representing the different ways to parse the word, and for forming hypotheses about why the word is parsed the way it is by speakers of the language.
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| Since bracketing represents a hierarchical tree, it is associated to some extent with [[generative grammar]]. Some theories in [[cognitive linguistics]] rely on the idea that bracketing represents to some degree of accuracy how listeners parse complex utterances (e.g. [[level ordering]]). In [[computational linguistics]], rules for how a program should parse a word can be represented in terms of possible bracketings.
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| It is not completely clear that bracketing accurately represents the structure of utterances. In particular, there are [[bracketing paradox]]es that challenge this idea. However, there is some evidence for bracketing, such as the creation of new words via ''rebracketing''.
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| ==Rebracketing==
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| {{main|Rebracketing}}
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| ''Rebracketing'' is a type of [[folk etymology]] that can result in the creation of new words. An often cited example in English is certain common [[nickname]]s that begin with ''N'', where the given name does not begin with ''N'' (e.g. ''Ned'' for ''Edward'', ''Nelly'' for ''Ellen''). In [[Old English]], the first person [[possessive pronoun]] was ''[[wiktionary:min#Old English|mīn]]''. Old English speakers commonly addressed family and close friends with "min <Name>", for example, "min Ed". Over time, the pronoun shifted from ''min'' to ''mi''<ref>This shift was never complete. In [[Modern English]], we still have ''mine'' in addition to ''my'', used in different contexts.</ref> and children learning the language rebracketed the utterance /mined/ from the original "min Ed" (<math>\left[ [ \mbox{min} ] [ \mbox{ed} ] \right]</math>) to "mi Ned" (<math>\left[ [ \mbox{mi} ] [ \mbox{ned} ] \right]</math>). Interestingly a similar process is responsible for the word "nickname".
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| ==See also==
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| *[[Bracketing paradox]]
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| ==Notes==
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| {{reflist}}
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Bracketing (Linguistics)}}
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| [[Category:Linguistic morphology]]
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