tagmeme
Very Low / ObscureHighly technical / academic
Definition
Meaning
In linguistic theory (especially tagmemics), the smallest meaningful unit of grammatical form, consisting of a slot and its filler class.
A theoretical construct representing a correlation between a functional position (slot) in a grammatical structure and the class of items that can fill it. In broader usage, sometimes refers to a basic pattern or unit of cultural behavior in anthropological linguistics.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
This term is specific to the tagmemic theory of grammar developed by Kenneth Pike and is primarily used in descriptive linguistics and anthropological linguistics. It is not used in mainstream generative or formal grammar.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant regional differences in meaning or usage. The term is confined to specific academic linguistic circles.
Connotations
Technical, theoretical, associated with mid-20th century American structural linguistics (Pike).
Frequency
Extremely rare in both varieties, encountered almost exclusively in historical or specialized linguistic literature.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
The [Subject: noun phrase] tagmeme is filled by a pronoun.Analyse the sentence into its constituent tagmemes.Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “(none)”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Not used.
Academic
Used in historical/descriptive linguistics papers and textbooks discussing tagmemics.
Everyday
Never used.
Technical
Core term within tagmemic theory for describing grammatical or behavioral patterns.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- (The verb 'tagmeme' is not attested in standard usage.)
American English
- (The verb 'tagmeme' is not attested in standard usage.)
adverb
British English
- (The adverb 'tagmemically' is extremely rare and not in general use.)
American English
- (The adverb 'tagmemically' is extremely rare and not in general use.)
adjective
British English
- The tagmemic approach fell out of favour by the 1980s.
- His analysis was based on tagmemic principles.
American English
- Tagmemic theory was developed at the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- She presented a tagmemic description of the verb phrase.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- (This word is far above A2 level. No example provided.)
- (This word is far above B1 level. No example provided.)
- The linguist tried to identify each tagmeme in the unfamiliar language's sentence structure.
- In tagmemic grammar, a clause can be analysed as a sequence of tagmemes such as Subject, Predicate, and Object, each with its permissible filler class.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think 'TAG' (as in label or slot) + 'MEME' (as in unit of cultural information). A tagmeme is a labeled slot for a grammatical piece of information.
Conceptual Metaphor
GRAMMAR IS A SET OF SLOTS (The sentence is a frame with specific slots to be filled by appropriate word classes).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'тег' (tag) or 'мем' (meme).
- The '-eme' suffix relates to linguistics (cf. фонема, морфема), not internet culture.
- There is no direct, common Russian equivalent; a descriptive phrase like 'минимальная грамматическая единица' or 'единица тагмемики' is needed.
Common Mistakes
- Using it as a synonym for 'meme' on the internet.
- Assuming it is a current, widely-used term in linguistics.
- Pronouncing it as /tægˈmiːm/ (stress is on the first syllable).
Practice
Quiz
In which field is the term 'tagmeme' primarily used?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, not at all. The '-meme' part comes from the linguistic suffix '-eme' (as in phoneme, morpheme), meaning 'smallest unit'. It predates the modern concept of an internet meme by decades.
Rarely. Tagmemic theory was influential in mid-20th century American structural linguistics, especially in language description and missionary linguistics, but has been largely supplanted by other frameworks like generative grammar.
A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a word (e.g., 'un-', 'happy', '-ness'). A tagmeme is a grammatical unit representing a slot (like 'Subject') and the class of items (like 'Noun Phrase') that can fill it in a sentence structure.
In the sentence 'Dogs bark', the 'Subject' tagmeme has the slot 'Subject' filled by the class 'Noun' (specifically, the noun 'Dogs'). The 'Predicate' tagmeme has the slot 'Predicate' filled by the class 'Verb' (specifically, the verb 'bark').