Lingua e Linguistica Inglese 1 L 11 – lexical framework 1

1. Lingua e Linguistica Inglese 1 L 11 – lexical framework 1 Francesca Vigo - vigof@unict.it Classes: Mon – Tue – Wed 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Office hours: Mon. 15:00 – 16:30 Wed. 10:30 – 11:30 + avvisi 1

2. List of Tables • List of Figures • Acknowledgements and Sources • PART 1: INTRODUCTION • Introduction • PART 2: LEXICAL FRAMEWORKS • Word Classes • Word Formation • PART 3: GRAMMATICAL FRAMEWORKS • Inflections • Phrases • Clauses • Sentences • PART 4: DISCOURSE FRAMEWORKS • Beyond Sentences • PART 5: PHONOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKS • Phonetics and Phonemes • Segmental Phonology • Suprasegmental Phonology • Phonetic and Other Symbols • Answers to Exercises • Glossary • Index The book is descriptive and NOT PRESCRIPTIVE

3. What is the book about? • What is a framework? It is a structure which holds something together frame‧work [countable] (Longman Dictionary) 1 [usually singular] a set of ideas, rules, or beliefs from which something is developed, or on which decisions are based framework of/forThis paper provides a framework for future research. 2 social/legal/political etc framework the structure of a society, a legal or political system etc: We have to act within the existing legal framework. 3 the main supporting parts of a building, vehicle, or object: the metal framework of the roof

4. How many frameworks or levels do we have in a language?

5. How many frameworks or level do we have in a language? 4 Lexical, grammatical, discoursal and phonological. + Semantics Speech vs writing

6. Which English? English can take many different forms; • It is important to have one variety as a yardstick; • It is important not to think that this variety is better than the others; • Contemporary standard English is a dialect;

7. The meaning of a word is its use in the language

8. Features of a word: • it can be a single- or multi-item; • it can be a minimal free form; • it can be substituted by other words only; • it has mobility; • it cannot be interrupted;

9. Are <cat> and <cats> the same word? Are <start> and <begin> the same word? Are <set up something> and <set something up>, as in My uncles set up a new job, and My uncles set a new job up, the same verb/word?

10. We need abstract forms to encompass all the possible items: single words, multi-words, compound words etc. Words’ abstract forms are called: LEXEMES Lexis= vocabulary

11. The Guardian. Saturday 19 February 2011 Great people for the BIBLE William Tyndale (1494-1536), English translator of the Bible, being tied to a stake before being strangled and burnt to death. Photograph: Hulton Archive

12. J. Winterson My mother taught me to read from the Book of Deuteronomy because it is full of animals – mostly unclean. So while other children had horses, bunnies, kittens and ducks, I had hoopoes, sloths, snakes, rock badgers, rams, swine and shellfish. Mrs Winterson was in charge of language in our house. Morning and evening she made her way through all 66 books of the King James Bible – Creation to Apocalypse – took a week off for reflection, and started again. I did not find the language difficult and I was not unusual. The King James translation was written to be read out loud – and that simple overlooked fact changes every argument about "difficulty" and "comprehension". Even now, the phrasing of the King James has a naturalness to it. Awkwardness disappears within a few chapters of vocal reading – providing that you will trust yourself and trust the text. I say that because children are not brought up to read out loud any more, at home or at school. This is a new problem in the history of language development. Until mass literacy, reading aloud was essential and a pleasure.

13. J. Winterson My mother taught me to read from the Book of Deuteronomy because it is full of animals – mostly unclean. So while other children had horses, bunnies, kittens and ducks, I had hoopoes, sloths, snakes, rock badgers, rams, swine and shellfish. MrsWinterson was in charge of language in our house. Morning and evening she made her way throughall66 books of the King James Bible – Creation to Apocalypse – took a week off for reflection, and started again. I did not find the language difficult and I was not unusual. The King James translation was written to be read out loud – and that simple overlooked fact changes every argument about "difficulty" and "comprehension". Even now, the phrasing of the King James has a naturalness to it. Awkwardness disappears withina few chapters of vocal reading – providing that you will trust yourselfand trust the text. I say that because children are not brought up to read out loud any more, at home or at school. This is a new problem in the history of language development. Until mass literacy, reading aloud was essential and a pleasure.

14. J. Winterson My mother taught me to read from the Book of Deuteronomy because it isfull of animals – mostlyunclean. So while other children had horses, bunnies, kittens and ducks, I had hoopoes, sloths, snakes, rock badgers, rams, swine and shellfish. MrsWinterson was in charge of language in our house. Morning and evening she made her way through all 66 books of the King James Bible – Creation to Apocalypse – took a week off for reflection, and started again. I did not find the language difficult and I was not unusual. The King James translation was written to be read out loud – and that simple overlooked fact changes every argument about "difficulty" and "comprehension". Even now, the phrasing of the King James has a naturalness to it. Awkwardness disappears within a few chapters of vocal reading – providing that you will trust yourself and trust the text. I say that because children are not brought up to read out loud any more, at home or at school. This is a new problem in the history of language development. Until mass literacy, readingaloud was essential and a pleasure.

15. lexical frameworksWords can be divided into two main categories: CONTENT or LEXICAL words: wordswhichcarrymostmeaning (verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs), usually open classes. FUNCTIONwords: wordswhich ‘cement’ words in a phrasetogether (pronouns, prepositions, determiners, adverbialparticles, auxiliaryverbs, conjunctions), usuallyclosedclassesofwords 15

16. The bricks: content words Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs 16

17. The mortar: Function words Pronouns (subject, object, possessive, reflexive, reciprocal, relative) Determiners (articles, demonstratives, possessives, quantifiers) Prepositions Adverbial particles Auxiliary verbs Conjunctions 17

18. Parts of speech Sostantivo Verbo Aggettivo Avverbio Preposizione Pronome Participio Proposizione Noun Verb Adjective Adverb Preposition Pronoun Participle Clause 18

19. Differences between content and function words Content words are usually LONGER than function words; Function words are far MORE FREQUENT than content words How do you tell one from the others? • grammatical features; • dictionary