VOCABULARY II

Day 1
Prof. Simone Vieira Resende
 Vocabulary II
Based and inspired on the classes of Prof. John Whitlam
and Prof. Douglas Biber
Source: Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English
Lexicology & Lexicography

● Lexicology - The study of words and the lexicon

● Lexicography - The cataloguing of the lexicon in

dictionaries
Important aspects to consider:
● Real examples
● Language Variation
● Preference, Interpretation and Frequency
● Lexico-grammatical Patterns
● Register and Dialects
● Prescriptive and Descriptive approaches
Real Examples
● The examples used in class are authentic examples from the
Longman Corpus, showing how real people use real
language.
● Invented examples that sound artificial - a familiar feature
of many other approaches - are not used in this class.
 Language Variation
● The core corpus used here represents four major registers: conversation,
fiction writing, news writing and academic prose.
● Books on language are used to presenting a single view of English
language, as if language were one fixed and unchanged system. This is
clearly not true.
● Although there is an underlying system we exploit, that system in very
different ways to meet our communication needs in different
circumstances.
Preference and Frequency

● Whenever possible, we discuss the frequency of alternative

structures and the conditions that are associated with them.
● This is a major matter of interest to advanced learners,
translators and teachers.
● For example: it is important for either a translator or a teacher
to know that passive verbs are 10 times more frequent in
academic prose than they are in conversation.
Lexico-grammatical Patterns
● Both in theory and pedagogical practice, vocabulary has been
separate from grammar, as if they were two independent
aspects of language, however, this separation is artificial.
● When we use language, we bring together our knowledge of
word behavior (LEXIS) with our knowledge of grammatical
patterns. These two aspects interact in lexico-grammatical
patterns.
Lexico-grammatical Patterns
❖ Example:
➢ There is a set of verbs that commonly occur with a that -
clause (e.g. think, say, know) and a different set of verbs that
commonly occur a to-clause (e.g. want, like, seem).
➢ In addition, each register prefers different verbs with these
clause types.
➢ These patterns help explain the typical meanings and uses of
each clause type in each register.
Register and Dialects

● Registers: Varieties of languages associated with

different circumstances and purposes - They
reflect different communication circumstances
○ Within each register there are also sub-
registers: Fiction - detective fiction, fantasy
fiction
Register and Dialects
● Dialects: Dialect variation interacts with register variation.
They are varieties according to the speakers/writers
identity, their geographic area, gender, socio-economic
class and so on.
○ American and British English are very general level of
dialects.
○ The speech of female teenagers in the South bronx area
of New York City would be a more specific one.
A discourse perspective on
grammar
Prescriptive vs Descriptive
In this class we follow the descriptive approach, it means that
the patterns we study follow they language we use, regardless
of whether they conform to standard English presented in usage
books.
Corpus based vocabulary studies
One of the advantages of studying VOCABULARY
through a corpus-based approach is that it
describes how speakers and writers very their
word choices for different communicative
situations.
Communicative Situations
Corpus-based studies can reveal associations between grammatical
structures and vocabulary. They are called lexico-grammatical
patterns.

The different communicative situations define the register we use.

A REGISTER is a variety of language associated with certain

characteristics of a communicative setting, such as the purpose, the
amount of time for planning, and the mode (spoken or written).
REGISTERS
Different registers often have different frequencies for the use
of certain structures.

Examples: Conversation, Fiction, News, Academic

Review - Exercise 1
Give an example for each of the following (try to think of your own
original examples:

1. a very specific sub-register and a more general register.

2. a geographic dialect
3. a social dialect
4. a prescriptive rule for English
 Examples - Keys

a. a very specific sub-register: methodology section of medical

research articles
b. more general register: research papers, academic articles
1. a geographic dialect: the variety spoken in Texas
2. a social dialect: the language of middle-income Hispanic women
3. a prescriptive rule for English: never “split” an infinitive

Bush promised...to not raise taxes.

LEXICOLOGY
● What is a word? - the nature of words
● Morphology - the forms and elements of words
● Lexical semantics - the meaning of words
● Semantic relations - how words relate to one another
● Collocation and phraseology - how words combine with one
another
● The lexicon as a system
What is a word?
Single indivisible unit of language with discrete meaning

unit = combination of sounds

A single “word” in the semantic/phonetic sense may correspond to

more than one written word:

e.g. washing machine, cara de pau

What are words?
Words are generally considered to be the basic elements of language.

They clearly show up in writing and they are the items defined in
dictionaries. Yet, the definition of a ‘word’ is not simple.

Words are relatively fixed in their internal form, but they are
independent in their role in larger units. For examples, insertions can
usually be made between words but not within words:
Example

There were two pedal-bins against the wall (FICT)

There were two (large new) pedal-bins (standing) against

the (side) wall.
Words and Word Classes

● The notion of word is complex

● We have different senses of the word ‘word’
● how do we count and recognise a word?
● The structure of words: Morphology
Different senses of the “word” word

● Orthographic words: these are the words we are family with

in written language, where they are separated by spaces.
For example:
● They wrote us a letter
● It contains five distinct orthographic words.
Grammatical Words
A word falls into one grammatical word class (or Part of Speech) or
another. Thus the orthographic word leaves can be either of two
grammatical words

1. the present tense form of the verb leave (leaves)

2. or a noun - the plural of leaf
Lexemes
This is a set of grammatical words which share the same basic
meaning, similar forms, and the same word class.

For example: leave, leaves, left, and leaving are all members of the
same lexeme LEAVE.

This is the meaning of word that is employed in dictionaries.

Spelling and writing conventions

● English: to the man

● Portuguese: ao homem
● Hebrew: ‫אל האיש‬
● Arabic: ‫اىل الرجل‬
Same or different?

● Are dog and dogs the same word, or two different

words?
● Are speak, speaks, speaking, spoke and spoken five
different words, or one and the same?
 Types and Tokens
Each occurence of a word in a written or spoken text is a separate TOKEN.

For example, in the following line of conversation there are TEN separate
word tokens:

● The birds and the deer and who knows what else. (CONV)
 Types and Tokens
Word TYPES are the different vocabulary items that occur in a text,

such as you would look up in a wordlist. In the sentence

The birds and the deer and who knows what else. (CONV)

there are only eight word types, since and and the occur twice.

See that Type-Token distinction applies equally to orthographic words,

grammatical words and lexemes.
Types and Tokens - Exercise 2
How many word tokens are there in excerpt? (Count orthographic
words. Count contractions as one word.)

How many word types are there in each?

To get you started: the first word type you meet in 1 (don’t) is
repeated four times, so there are four tokens of the word type don’t.
Types and Tokens - Exercise 2
1. Don’t let me do that okay? Don’t let me marry Justin okay? Do not
let me marry him. I don’t care what I say, just don’t let me marry
him. (CONV)
2. The great metalworking centres of the time were in
Mesopotamia, iran, and Egypt. The best works of jazira have an
edge on the others. The inlay depicts intricate little scenes <...>
(NEWS)
Types and Tokens - Exercise 2
keys

1. 30 tokens; 15 types: don’t 4; let 4; me 4; do 2; that 1; okay 2;

marry 3; justin 1; not 1; him 2; I 2; care 1; what 1; say 1; just 1
2. 30 tokens; 25 types: the 5; great 1; metalworking 1; centres 1; of
2; time 1; were 1; en 1; Mesopotamia 1; iran 1; and 1; Egypt 1;
best 1; works 1; jazira 1; have 1; an 1; edge 1; on 1; others 1; inlay
1; depicts 1; intricate 1; little 1; scenes 1;
Lexemes
A LEXEME IS:

● an abstract unit of morphological and semantic analysis that corresponds to the

set of forms taken by a single word.
● a basic unit of meaning that exists regardless of the different forms a word may
take.

So, according to lexicology:

There is a lexeme DOG with two forms: dog, dogs

There is a lexeme SPEAK with five forms: speak, speaks, speaking, spoke, spoken

The lexeme FALAR has 60 forms.

 Lemmas
A LEMMA IS:

● the form of a lexeme that is considered to be the base form (stem)

● the form of the word listed in a dictionary

The lemma of English verbs is the base form (infinitive without to) and of nouns, the singular.

The lemma of portuguese verbs is the infinitive and of nouns and adjectives, the (masculine)
singular form.

In lexicology, the lemma is used to name the lexeme.

Morphemes
● Morpheme: minimal meaningful element of a word

DOGS consists of two morphemes:

root morpheme dog

inflectional morpheme -s

independently consists of four morphemes:

root morpheme depend

derivational morphemes in- -ent -ly

 Exercise 3: A taste of
morphology
Each of the words in the next slide contains two or more morphemes: a
stem (lemma) and at least one prefix or suffix.

● Write each word, putting a hyphen between its morphemes (e.g. dis-
agree-d) and underlying the stem (e.g. dis-agree-d)
● Distinguish between derivational and inflectional affixes: circle
derivational affixes and mark inflectional affixes with broken _ _lines.
Exercise 3: A taste of
morphology
reconsideration - unemployment - reviewed

overcarefulness - exchanging - healthier - independent

activity - strengthens - disrespectful - unfortunately

Exercise 3: A taste of morphology -
keys
Exercise 4: Different forms of the same
lexeme
1. Group word forms together if they belong to the same lexeme.
2. Identify the base form of each lexeme, and write it in capitals at
the beginning of each group.
a. LOOK - looked, looking, looks

Try to find six lexemes, each containing two or more word forms.
● Which word forms are ambiguous, because they belong to two different lexemes?
leaves belongs both to LEAF, a noun, and LEAVE, a verb.
● What word class does each lexeme belong to? Noun, Verb, Adjective or Adverb?
Exercise 4: Different forms of the same
lexeme
life build building soon

live lived sooner buildings

lives soonest liveliest built

lively builds livelier living

 Exercise 4: Different forms of the same lexeme -
keys

LIFE LIVE BUILD BUILDING SOON LIVELY

life live build building soonest lively

lives (noun) lives building buildings sooner liveliest

(noun) (adverb)

lived built livelier(adject

ive)

living (verb) builds (verb)

Ambiguous: lives (noun and verb); live (verb and adjective); building (verb or noun); living (verb or noun); Build and
builds might also be considered as nouns, as i” He has a good build”. or “They have good builds.”
Exercise 5
1. Hipermercado 9.Misfit

2.Pós-operatório 10.Not to be outdone, our neighbors also

bought a new car.

3.Excluir (do Facebook) 11.Overachiever

4.Pouco convincente 12.ill-gotten-gains

5.Forno autolimpante 13.Underwhelmed

6.Sem recursos 14.In the foreground

7.Arquirrival 15.The apartment had to be deroached

8.Superaquecer 16.She underwent a surgery

1.Hipermercado - supermarket 9.Misfit - desajustado

2.Pós-operatório - post-op 10.Not to be outdone, our neighbors also

bought a new car. - Não ficar pra trás

3.Excluir (do Facebook) - unfriend 11.Overachiever - brilhante, vencedor

4.Pouco convincente - unconvincing 12.ill-gotten-gains - ganhos ilícitos

5.Forno autolimpante - self-cleaning oven 13.Underwhelmed - desiludidos

6.Sem recursos - underfunded 14.In the foreground - primeiro plano

7.Arquirrival - archrival 15.The apartment had to be deroached -

desbaratizar - dedetizar

8.Superaquecer - overheat 16.She underwent a surgery - submeter-se

Exercise 6 01 thimbleful

02 restless

03 ladylike

04 ovenproof

05 fashion-forward

06 Elizabethan

07 signage

08 flatten

09 momentous

10 peckish
Exercise 01 thimbleful dose

02 restless inquieto, agitado

6 03 ladylike refinada

keys 04 ovenproof refratário

05 fashion-forward da moda, tendências,

06 Elizabethan Elizabetano

07 signage sinalização

08 flatten achatar, nivelar

09 momentous importante, memorável,

crucial

10 peckish com fome

 01 um erro clássico
Exercise 7 02 uma igreja histórica

03 uma forma econômica de viajar

04 um casamento mágico

05 um fogão elétrico

06 um pianista clássico

07 um estudo histórico

08 um anel mágico

09 um problema elétrico

10 uma vitória histórica

 01 um erro clássico - típico a classic mistake

Exercise 02 uma igreja histórica a historic church

03 uma forma econômica de an economical way of

7 viajar traveling

Keys 04 um casamento mágico a magical wedding

05 um fogão elétrico an electric stove

06 um pianista clássico a classical pianist

07 um estudo histórico a historical study

08 um anel mágico a magic ring

09 um problema elétrico an electrical fault

10 uma vitória histórica a historic victory

Exercise 8
Exercise 8 - keys
We see that laugh is the base word, if we do not have a context
we can not say how the person is laughing.

Chuckle - risada - a short laugh, to be polite.

Chortle - a short quiet laugh, connected with children
Guffaw - hard laugh, (gargalhada)
Giggling (risadinha) associated to girls and teenagers
Titter - (riso silencioso) laughing when you are not supposed to
Snickering - (risadinha) laughing at someone's misfortune.
Roar -(rugido, urro, berro) lion’s voice, I told him the joke and he roared
Cackle - crack
REGISTERS

Registers are varieties of language that are associated with different

circumstances and purposes.

Comparison between registers can be made on many different levels.

The most general distinction can be made on the basis of mode:
written and spoken
 REGISTERS
If we consider conversation is spoken, while fiction, newspaper and
academic is written.

The main communicative purpose of these three registers:

1. Conversation focuses on personal communication

2. Fiction on pleasure reading
3. Newspaper and
4. Academic prose share a more informational purpose (expository
registers)
REGISTER VARIATION
Register differ in their grammar usage.

Consequently, they also differ in their vocabulary use (lexico-

grammar)

They reflect their different communication circumstances:

The circumstances of a register have a direct impact on which WORDS

are common in the register.
Circumstances of the 4 Core Registers:

Features CONV FICT NEWS ACAD

Mode spoken written written written

Interactiveness and yes restricted to no no

real-time production fictional dialog

shared situation yes no no no

Main communicative personal pleasure information argumentation

purpose-content communic reading evaluation explanation
ation

Audience Individual wide-public wide-public specialist

Standard and non-standard
(vernarcular)
There is no official academy that regulates usage for the English
language.

There is still a prevailing world-wide view that there is a “standard

English”: the language variety that has been codified in dictionaries,
grammars, and usage handbooks.

However, in the corpus, especially in conversation, usage regarded as

non-standard (also called vernacular) is also found.
Example:
1. They were by the pub what we stayed in. (CONV)
2. I ain’t done nothing. (CONV)
3. There ain’t nothing we can do. (FICT)

vernacular forms also occur in fiction texts, particular representing the

speech of a character.