In linguistic morphology, the term bracketing paradox is used to describe the phenomenon in some languages where a morphologically complex word could conceivably be analyzed, or bracketed, in two or more incompatible ways. It may be the case that only one of the possible bracketings is likely to be understood by a native listener, in which case the paradox is not truly paradoxical to the listener, only to the linguist, or it may be the case that there exists some ambiguity for the listener as well. Morphology is a subdiscipline of linguistics that studies word structure. ... A word is a unit of language that carries meaning and consists of one or more morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together, and has a phonetical value. ... Robert Boyles self-flowing flask fills itself in this diagram, but perpetual motion machines cannot exist. ...

Bracketing paradoxes occur in English, and are perhaps best demonstrated by example. Consider compound words that are a name for a professional of a particular discipline, preceded by a modifier that narrows that discipline: nuclear physicist, historical linguist, political scientist, etc. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A compound is a word (lexeme) that consists of more than one free morpheme. ...

Taking nuclear physicist as an example, we see that there are at least two reasonable ways that the compound word can be bracketed (ignoring the fact that nuclear itself is morphologically complex):

1. [[nuclear][[physic(s)][-ist]]] - one who studies physics, and who happens also to be nuclear
2. [[[nuclear][physic(s)]][-ist]] - one who studies nuclear physics, a subfield of physics that deals with nuclear phenomena

What is interesting to many morphologists about this type of bracketing paradox in English is that the correct bracketing 2 (correct in the sense that this is the way that a native speaker would understand it) does not follow the usual bracketing pattern 1 for most compound words in English.

Another well known example of a bracketing paradox in English is an apparent exception to the normal morphophonological rules for adding the comparative suffix -er to an adjective. Normally, the suffix may be attached only to monosyllabic adjectives and a small class of bisyllabic adjectives with the primary and only stress on the first syllable. Thus, for example, old-er and grumpi-er are words, but *correct-er and *restrictiv-er are not. An apparent exception to this rule is adjectives that begin with the prefix un-. Consider the word unhappier. One could analyze this word as the prefix un- added to the adjective happier: Morphophonology or Morphonology is a branch of linguistics which studies: The phonological structure of morphemes. ... In grammar the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another. ... Suffix has meanings in linguistics, nomenclature and computer science. ... An adjective is a part of speech which modifies a noun, usually describing it or making its meaning more specific. ... In linguistics, stress is the emphasis given to some syllables (often no more than one in each word, but in many languages, long words have a secondary stress a few syllables away from the primary stress, as in the words cóunterfòil or còunterintélligence. ...

[[un-][[happi][-er]]]

but this would mean "not more happy", when the word really means "more not happy". A semantically correct bracketing:

[[[un-][happi]][-er]]

however violates the morphophonological rules for the suffix -er. Phenomena such as this present a problem to the theory of level ordering.

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