A two-word relation as the minimum unit of language
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: This paper presents the idea that the relation between two words can be treated as the minimum unit of language. With only one word, there is no relation between words, but when a second word appears, a relation between the two words becomes possible. The change from one word to two is therefore treated as the point at which a relation first appears. Sequences of three or more words can be represented as chains in which two-word relations are connected through shared words. The paper also examines two perspectives on two-word relations: co-occurrence within the same range (cw) and sequential relations that preserve word order (cm). These provide two ways to consider context and grammar from two-word relations.
Author: Yamamoto, Hilofumi
Institution: Institute of Science Tokyo
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225800223
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