analytic

views updated Jun 11 2018

an·a·lyt·ic / ˌanlˈitik/ • adj. another term for analytical. ∎  Logic true by virtue of the meaning of the words or concepts used to express it, so that its denial would be a self-contradiction. Compare with synthetic. ∎  Linguistics (of a language) tending not to alter the form of its words and to use word order rather than inflection or agglutination to express grammatical structure. Often contrasted with synthetic.

ANALYTIC

views updated Jun 11 2018

ANALYTIC, also isolating. A term in linguistics for a language in which each basic grammatical unit (MORPHEME) tends to form a separate word, as in Vietnamese: tôi sé làm cho ông (I future do benefit man, ‘I'll do it for you’). English is a mildly analytic language, seen mainly in vocabulary from sources other than Latin and Greek: Pick it up and put it in the bag; The dog can sleep on the floor. See LINGUISTIC TYPOLOGY.

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