Merge (linguistics)

In linguistics, merge means to combine two or more units of language, like words or phrases, to create a new unit of language. It's like putting together two puzzle pieces to make a new shape.

Let's say you have the word "cat" and the word "house." If you merge them together, you get the phrase "cat house." This new phrase has a different meaning than the individual words, and it can be used in sentences like "The cat is in the house."

Merge is an important concept in linguistics because it helps us understand how languages create complex structures from simpler ones. By merging smaller units of language, we can create longer, more complex sentences with a lot of meaning.