Grammemes

Grammemes are a concept in linguistics, particularly within functional grammar and systemic functional linguistics, that represent abstract units of meaning related to grammatical structure. Unlike lexical items, which carry semantic content about the world, grammemes are concerned with the form and function of language itself. They are seen as the minimal meaningful units within a grammatical system, conveying relationships between words, clauses, or larger linguistic units.

For example, in English, the distinction between singular and plural nouns, such as "cat" versus "cats," can be analyzed as a grammeme. This distinction carries grammatical meaning about number. Similarly, verb tenses like past, present, and future are grammemes, conveying information about time in relation to the moment of speaking or writing. The grammatical marking of possession, as in "John's book," also represents a grammeme.

Grammemes are not words themselves but rather the grammatical features or patterns that words or combinations of words realize. They are abstract representations of grammatical choices that speakers and writers make to convey specific meanings within the grammatical system of a language. The study of grammemes helps linguists understand how grammatical structures contribute to the overall meaning of an utterance.