Double articulation

Fundamental principle of linguistics

In linguistics, double articulation, duality of patterning, or duality is the fundamental language phenomenon consisting of the use of combinations of a small number of meaningless elements to produce a large number of meaningful elements. Its name refers to this two-level structure inherent to sign systems, many of which are composed of these two kinds of elements: 1) distinctive but meaningless and 2) significant or meaningful.

This keyword could refer to multiple things. Here are some suggestions: