Chapter III Words.ppt

---Lexicon:~deals with the analysis and creation of words, idioms and collocations. how many words do you know? How large is your vocabulary? What is a word? Lexicon---whatisaword Three senses of word A physically definable unit A cluster of sound segments or letters between two pauses or blanks The common factor underlying a set of forms The common factor underlying a set of forms, a unit of vocabulary, a lexical item, or a lexeme A grammatical unit Word rises , in terms of lexico-grammar, from morpheme at the bottom up to the clause complex at the top, as a rank between morpheme and word group. Inadequacy of the “three senses” (1)It’s wonderful (2) boys vs boy checks checked checking vs check Lexeme: the abstract unit underlying the smallest unit in the lexical system of a language, which appears in different grammatical contexts. (3) aircraft vs air Morpheme word word group/phrase clause sentence Identification of words (1)stability Most stable in respect of the internal structure, with little potential of rearrangement Chairman vs manchair The chairman looked at the audience. The audience looked at the chairman. (2) relative uninterruptiblity New elements are not to be inserted into a word even when there are several parts in a word like disappointment. (3) a minimum free form(Leonard Bloomfield) “the maximum free form” “the minimum free form” I.e. the smallest unit that can constitute by itself a complete utterance. Are you coming this afternoon? Possibly. Classification of words (I) Words are practically classified by the grammatical , semantic and phonological properties of the words in a language. Parts of speech ( traditional grammar) What is “part of speech” for? A natural first step in a scientific approach to words is to seek to establish the different types of words which appear in languages. Why? A. it is the basis for grammatical analysis B. it is