
Contents
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3.1 Introduction: Words, Essential Tools for Communication 3.1 Introduction: Words, Essential Tools for Communication
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3.2 What Is a Word? 3.2 What Is a Word?
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3.3 Is the Lexicon a Finite Set? 3.3 Is the Lexicon a Finite Set?
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3.4 Patterns of Word Distribution 3.4 Patterns of Word Distribution
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3.5 How Are Words Used to Make Meanings? 3.5 How Are Words Used to Make Meanings?
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3.5.1 Do Word Meanings Exist? 3.5.1 Do Word Meanings Exist?
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3.5.2 Leibniz: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Definition 3.5.2 Leibniz: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Definition
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3.5.3 Putnam: Stereotypes and the Division of Linguistic Labour 3.5.3 Putnam: Stereotypes and the Division of Linguistic Labour
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3.5.4 Rosch: Prototype Theory 3.5.4 Rosch: Prototype Theory
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3.5.5 From Langacker and Lakoff to Croft: Cognitive Linguistics 3.5.5 From Langacker and Lakoff to Croft: Cognitive Linguistics
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3.5.6 Wilks: Preference Semantics 3.5.6 Wilks: Preference Semantics
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3.5.7 Chomsky: Selectional Restrictions and the Projection Principle 3.5.7 Chomsky: Selectional Restrictions and the Projection Principle
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3.5.8 Jackendoff: Conceptual Semantics 3.5.8 Jackendoff: Conceptual Semantics
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3.5.9 Pustejovsky: The Generative Lexicon 3.5.9 Pustejovsky: The Generative Lexicon
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3.5.10 Bresnan and Kaplan: Lexical Functional Grammar 3.5.10 Bresnan and Kaplan: Lexical Functional Grammar
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3.5.11 Fillmore: Frame Semantics 3.5.11 Fillmore: Frame Semantics
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3.5.12 Fillmore and Goldberg: Construction Grammar 3.5.12 Fillmore and Goldberg: Construction Grammar
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3.5.13 Sinclair: Corpus-Driven Lexical Analysis 3.5.13 Sinclair: Corpus-Driven Lexical Analysis
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3.6 Conclusion and Implications for Future Research 3.6 Conclusion and Implications for Future Research
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Further Reading and Relevant Resources Further Reading and Relevant Resources
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References References
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3 Lexis
Get accessPatrick Hanks is Professor in Lexicography at the University of Wolverhampton and Visiting Professor in Linguistics at the University of the West of England. He holds an MA from Oxford University and a PhD from Masaryk University, and has served as chief editor of Collins English dictionaries (1970–1990) and of current English dictionaries at Oxford University Press (1990–2000). His monograph Lexical Analysis presents a phraseologically based theory of meaning in language. He is currently working on a theory of semantic resonance.
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Published:06 September 2017
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Abstract
The lexicon constitutes the basic raw material of natural language. The article starts by clarifying the various meanings of the term ‘word’: tokens, types, lemmas, phrasemes, and lexical entries. It goes on to ask whether names are words. Next, it asks whether the lexicon of a language is a finite set. Word frequencies in text can now be computed and compared, using data from large corpora. The distribution of words in any text or collection of texts conforms approximately to Zipf’s prediction of a harmonic progression down the frequency ranks from a few exceptionally frequent words to a large number of very rare words. The article goes on to summarize the main European theories of word use and word meaning, including semasiological approaches (Wikins and Roget), necessary and sufficient conditions for definition (Leibniz), prototype theory (Rosch), stereotype theory (Putnam), preference semantics (Wilks), selectional restrictions (Chomsky), generative lexicon theory (Pustejovsky), lexical functional grammar (Bresnan and Kaplan), frame semantics (Fillmore), and the contrast between the ‘idiom principle’ and the ‘open-choice principle’ (Sinclair). The article also discusses the views of modern lexicographers such as Sinclair, Kilgarriff, Atkins, and Hanks, who reject the notion that words have meaning, typically in favour of the idea that phraseology is equally important (if not more so) for understanding meaning.
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