Chapter 3Lexicon.docx

1、Chapter 3 LexiconChapter 3 Lexicon3.1 What is word? WORD is a unit of expression that has universal intuitive recognition by native-speakers, whether it is expressed in spoken or written form. This definition is, perhaps, a bit vague, as there are different criteria with regard to its identification

2、 and definition. It follows that it is hard to define word in the scientific sense. Nevertheless, it is agreed that three senses are involved in defining word, none of which, of course, is satisfactory to cope with all the situations.3. 1.1 Three senses of word (1) A physically definable unitAlthoug

3、h language is produced as a continuous stretch of utterance or writing, one can still find pauses and blanks every now and then. Thus, word may be seen as a cluster of sound segments or letters between two pauses or blanks as seen in the following examples p p= ph ex. 3-1 Phonological: / it is w / O

4、rthographic: It is wonderful. Based on the above criterion, three words in each case are recognized. However, in casual speech or writing, one tends to give expression to the same ideas as follows: ex 3-2 Phonological: /Its ? / Orthographic: It s wonderful. So, there is a problem. When liaison and c

5、ontracted form occur as in ex. 3-2, and they do occur very often in speech and writing, should they be identified as three words or two words? (2) The common factor underlying a set of forms When one is faced with a set of nouns, such as boy and boys or a set of verbs, such as check, checks, checked

6、, and checking, they are recognized as two words and four words respectively in the frequency count of a piece of writing or an utterance. However, they are each regarded as one word in a dictionary, as the two noun forms share the game root boy and all the four verb forms share the same root check.

7、 Consequently, WORD is the common factor underlying a set of forms, a unit of vocabulary, a lexical item, or a lexeme.In order to reduce the ambiguity of the term word, the term LEXEME is postulated as the abstract unit underlying the smallest unit in the lexical system of a language, which appears

8、in different grammatical Contexts. For example, write and fat are the lexemes of the two sets of words in ex. 3-3 respectively. ex. 3-3 write fat writes fatter wrote fattest writing written (3) A grammatical unit Word is a comparably abstract unit to be set up to show how words work in the grammar o

9、f a language. Since language presents itself as a hierarchy in different respects, it rises, in terms of lexicogrammar, from morpheme at the bottom up to the clause complex at top, and word is a rank between morpheme and word group, as is shown in the following hierarchical rank scale.sentenceclause

10、word group/phraseword morpheme A word, in this sense, is then a grammatical unit, of the same theoretical kind as morpheme and sentence. This understanding may be acceptable when speaking of polymorphemic words, such as black bird, aircraft, and downhill. However, there is a loophole in this stateme

11、nt, since it makes one confused when one is talking about monomorphemic words, such as black, bird, air, craft, town, and hall. They are free morphemes as well as words.3.1.2 Identification of words In addition to the three senses of word mentioned above, which are helpful in defining word in spite

12、of their inadequacies to account for all the language data, there are other factors which help us to identify words. (1) Stability Words are the most stable of all linguistic units, in respect of their internal structure, that is, the constituent parts of a complex word have little potential for rea

13、rrangement, compared with the relative positional mobility of the constituents of sentences in the hierarchy. Take the word chairman for example. If the morphemes are rearranged as *chairman, it is an unacceptable word in English. But it is all right for us to rearrange the constituents in a sentenc

14、e to a certain degree. ex. 3-4 The chairman looked at the audience. The audience looked at the chairman. (2) Relative uninterruptibility By uninterruptibility, we mean new elements are not to be inserted into a word even when there are several parts in a word. Nothing is to be inserted in between th

15、e three parts of the word disappointment: dis + appoint + ment. Nor is one allowed to use pauses between the parts of a word (* dis appoint ment). In contrast, one could add fane in the coordinating subject of the following sentence. ex. 3-5 Paul, (Jane) and Rebecca are my classmates. In an extreme

16、case, one could insert the adverb even between any two parts in the following sentence. ex. 36 (Even) Paul (even) didnt (even) love (even) Jane (even). (3) A minimum free form This was first suggested by Leonard Bloomfield. He advocated treating sentence as the maximum free form and word the mini :i

17、nure free form, the latter being the smallest unit that can constitute by itself, a complete utterance. Look at the underlined part in the following exchange of utterances. ex. 3-7 -Is Jane coming this evening? -Possibly. Expressions such as Hi, Darting, Bother, Shit and others may function in the s

18、ame way. It is interesting to note that there is heated discussion with respect this statement. The opponents argue that not all word-like units would satisfy this criterion, as the articles a and the in English could not stand by themselves. But the advocators cite the following except ex. 3-8 -Wha

19、t is missing in a sentence such as Dog is barking? -A.3.1.3 Classification of words Although we can generalize some common features of words, we can also find this or that difference among various words, (1) Variable and invariable words Words can be classified according to their variability. In VAR

20、IABLE WORDS, one could find ordered and regular series of grammatically different word forms; on the other hand, part of the word remains relatively constant. Thus, each ordered series constitutes a paradigm. ex. 3-9 follow mat follows mats following followed Among Indo-European languages, one could

21、 find more variable words in Latin and Sanskrit, less in German, and the least in English. INVARIABLE WORDS refer to those words such as since, when, seldom, through, hello. They do not have inflective endings. (2) Grammatical words and lexical words In terms of the meaning expressed by words, they

22、can be classified into GRAMMATICAL WORDS and LEX1CAL WORDS. Those which express grammatical meanings, such as, conjunctions, prepositionv, articles, and pronouns, are grammatical words. Those which have lexical meanings, that is, those which refer to substance, action and quality, such as nouns, ver

23、bs, adjectives, and adverbs, are lexical words. As the lexical words carry the main content of a language while the grammatical ones serve to link its different parts together, the lexical words are also known as CONTENT WORDS and grammaticalones FUNCTION WORDS. (3) Closed-class words and open-class

24、 words The distinction of grammatical words and lexical words leads to the distinction of closed-class words and open class words. A word that belongs to the CLOSED-CLASS is one whose membership is fixed or limited. New members are not regularly added. Therefore, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions

25、, articles, etc., are all closed items. The OPEN-CLASS is one whose membership is in principle infinite or unlimited. With the emergence of new ideas, inventions, etc., new expressions are continually and constantly being added to the lexicon. Nouns, verbs, adjectives and many adverbs are all open-c

26、lass items. As a matter of fact, the distinction between closed class words and open-class words is not quite as clear cut as it seems. Preposition, though a closed-class, is a relatively open one in English. Expression such as regarding, throughout, out of, according to, with regard to, in spite of

27、, by means of. are now recognized as prepositions or complex prepositions. In respect of open-class items, auxiliary verbs, which used to be ranked as open-class words, are relatively closed in number. (4) Word class All the above classification seems to be general. A more realistic way is to classi

28、fy words either by analyzing the various grammatical, semantic, and phonological properties of the words in a language, or by grouping them into classes on the basis of formal similarities in terms of inflections and distribution. This is close to the notion of PARTS OF SPEECH in traditional grammar

29、. Based on this Latin tradition, eight or nine word classes are established, such as, noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, interjecction, interjection, and article. Today, word class displays a wider range of more precisely defined categories. Here are some of the categories newly in

30、troduced into linguistic analysis.i. Particles PARTICLES include at least the infinitive marker to (despite its surface similarity to a preposition, it really has nothing in common with that or any other word class), the negative marker not, and the subordinate units in phrasal verbs, such as get by

31、 (to continueones way of life), do up (to fasten), look back (to remember),etc. ii. Auxiliaries AUXILIARIRES used to be regarded as verbs. Because of their unique properties, which one could hardly expect of a verb, linguists today tend to define them as a separate word class. Compare the behaviour

32、of the auxiliaries with that of ordinary verbs in the followingexamples. ex. 3-10 NEGATION I cant come. * I wantnt come. INVERSION Is he coming? * Keeps he coming? CODE Ill come and so will Bill. *I intend to come and so intend Bill. EMPHASIS He has come. * He seems to come. iii. Pro-form In traditional grammar, pronoun is the only word class which can function as a substitute for anot