"The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy tried harder. They devoted over 17,000 words-whatever they are-to the topic of words. Foreshadowing the complexity of the matter, the entry starts with an understated heads-up to the reader, "The notions of word and word meaning are hard to pin down", and then proceeds to review dozens of ideas, problems, and controversies, citing over 200 references. 1"
"The Oxford Handbook of the Word also gave it a go, dedicating 42 chapters and over 800 pages to the understanding of the word. The volume starts with an introductory sentence by the editor, "Words are the most basic of linguistic units," and ends with a chapter by Alison Wray titled, "Why are we so sure we know what a word is". 2 Linguist Martin Haspelmath agreed with Wray, noting that there is "no clear definition of word." He took a stab himself:"
Words carry enormous perceived power, yet defining what a word is proves elusive. Simple dictionary definitions can include sounds that feel nonwordlike, exposing limits of basic lexical descriptions. Massive scholarly treatments and handbooks allocate extensive space to the problem and explicitly warn that notions of word and word meaning are difficult to pin down. Specialists offer technical, morphology-based attempts at definition that read as intricate and jargon-laden. The conceptual tension between intuitive examples and formal linguistic categories highlights persistent ambiguity about boundaries and criteria for wordhood.
Read at Psychology Today
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