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Chapter 3
Lexicon
3.1 What is word?
1.
What is a lexeme?
A lexeme is the smallest unit
in the meaning system of a language
that can
be
distinguished
from
other
similar
units.
It
is
an
abstract
unit.
It
can
occur
in
many
different
forms
in
actual
spoken
or
written
sentences,
and
is
regarded
as the same lexeme
even when inflected. E.g. the word
“
write
”
is the lexeme
of
“
write, writes, wrote,
writing
and
written.
”
2.
What is a
morpheme?
A
morpheme
is
the
smallest
unit
of
language
in
terms
of
relationship
between
expression
and
content,
a
unit
that
cannot
be
divided
into
further
smaller
units
without destroying or
drastically altering the meaning, whether it is
lexical
or
grammatical.
E.g.
the
word
“
boxes
”
has
two
morphemes:
“
box
”
and
“
es,
”
neither
of
which
permits
further
division
or
analysis
shapes
if
we
don
’
t
want
to
sacrifice
its meaning.
3.
What is an allomorph?
An
allomorph
is
the
alternate
shapes
of
the
same
morpheme.
E.g.
the
variants
of
the plurality
“
-s
”
makes the allomorphs thereof in the following
examples:
map
–
maps, mouse
–
mice, ox
–
oxen, tooth
–
teeth,
etc.
4.
What is a
word?
A
word
is
the
smallest
of
the
linguistic
units
that
can
constitute,
by
itself,
a complete utterance
in speech or writing.
3.1.1
Three senses of
“
word
”
1.
A physically definable unit
2.
The common factor underlying a set of
forms
3.
A grammatical unit
3.1.2
Identification of words
1.
Stability
Words are the most
stable of all linguistic units, in respect of
their
internal
structure,
i.e.
the
constituent
parts
of
a
complex
word
have
little potential for rearrangement, 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 *
manchair
, it is an
unacceptable word in English.
2.
Relative uninterruptibility
By uninterruptibility,
we
men 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 the three parts of the word
disappointment
:
dis
+
appoint
+
ment.
Nor
is
one
allowed
to
use
pauses
between
the
parts
。
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of a word: * dis appoint ment.
3.
A
minimum free form
This
was
first
suggested
by
Leonard
Bloomfield.
He
advocated
treating
sentence
as
“
the
maximum
free
form
”
and
word
“
the
minimum
free
form,
”
the
latter
being
the
smallest
unit
that
can
constitute,
by
itself,
a complete
utterance.
3.1.3
Classification of words
1.
Variable and
invariable words
In variable words, one
can find ordered and regular series of
grammatically
different
word
form;
on
the
other
hand,
part
of
the
word
remains
relatively
constant.
E.g.
follow
–
follows
–
following
–
followed.
Invariable words refer to those words such as
since, when,
seldom, through, hello,
etc. They have no inflective endings.
2.
Grammatical
words and lexical words
Grammatical
words,
a.k.a.
function
words,
express
grammatical
meanings,
such
as,
conjunctions,
prepositions,
articles,
and
pronouns,
are
grammatical words.
Lexical words,
a.k.a. content words, have lexical meanings, i.e.
those
which
refer
to
substance,
action
and
quality,
such
as
nouns,
verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs, are lexical
words.
3.
Closed-class words and open-class words
Closed-class word: 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,
articles,
etc.
are all closed items.
Open-
class
word:
A
word
that
belongs
to
the
open-class
is
one
whose
membership
is
in
principle
infinite
or
unlimited.
Nouns,
verbs,
adjectives and many adverbs are all
open-class items.
4.
Word class
This is close to the notion of parts of
speech in traditional
grammar. Today,
word class displays a wider range of more
precisely
defined categories. Here are
some of the categories newly introduced
into linguistic analysis.
(1) Particles: Particles include at
least the infinitive marker
“
to
,
”
the
negative marker
“
not
< br>,
”
and the subordinate
units in
phrasal verbs, such as
“
get
by,
”
“
do
up,
”
“
look
back,
”
etc.
(2)
Auxiliaries:
Auxiliaries
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.
。
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(3) Pro-
forms:
Pro-forms
are
the
forms
which
can
serve
as
replacements
for
different
elements
in
a
sentence.
For
example,
in
the following conversation,
so
replaces
that
I can come
.
A: I hope you can come.
B: I
hope so.
(4) Determiners:
Determiners
refer
to
words
which
are
used
before
the noun acting as head of a noun
phrase, and determine the
kind of
reference the noun phrase has. Determiners can be
divided
into
three
subclasses:
predeterminers,
central
determiners and postdeterminers.
3.2 The formation of word
3.2.1
Morpheme and
morphology
Morphology studies the
internal structure of words, and the rules by
which words are formed.
3.2.2
Types of morphemes
1.
Free morpheme and bound morpheme
Free morphemes: Those which may occur
alone, that is, those which
may
constitute words by themselves, are free
morphemes.
Bound morphemes: Those which
must appear with at least another
morpheme are called bound morphemes.
2.
Root, affix and stem
A
root
is
the
base
form
of
a
word
that
cannot
further
be
analyzed.
An affix is the
collective term for the type of formative that can
be
used only when added to another
morpheme. A stem is any morpheme or
combination of morphemes to which an
inflectional affix can be added.
A root
is the base form of a word that cannot further be
analyzed
without total
loss
of identity. That is to
say,
it is
that
part
of the
word
left
when
all
the
affixes
are
removed.
In
the
word
internationalism
,
after the removal of
inter-,
-al
and
-ism
,
what is left is the root
nation.
All
words
contain
a
root
morpheme.
A
root
may
be
free
or
bound.
E.g.
black
in
blackbird,
blackboard
and
blacksmith
;
-ceive
in
receive
,
conceive
and
perceive.
A
few
English
roots
may
have
both
free
and
bound
variants. E.g. the word
sleep
is a free root
morpheme, whereas
slep-
in
the
past
tence
form
slept
cannot
exist
by
itself,
and
therefore
bound.
A
stem
is
any
morpheme
or
combination
of
morphemes
to
which
an
inflectional
affix
can
be
added.
E.g.
friend-
in
friends
and
friendship
-
in
friendships
are
both
stems.
The
former
shows
that
a
stem
can be equivalent to a root, whereas
the latter shows that a stem may
contain a root and a derivational
affix.
3.
Inflectional affix and
derivational affix
。
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