Lexical Priming and Words and Phrases

Lexical Priming proposes a radical new theory of the lexicon, which amounts to a completely new theory of language based on how words are used in the real world. Here they are not confined to the definitions given to them in dictionaries but instead interact with other words in common patterns of use.

Using concrete statistical evidence from a corpus of newspaper English, but also referring to travel writing and literary text, the author argues that words are 'primed' for use through our experience with them, so that everything we know about a word is a product of our encounters with it. This knowledge explains how speakers of a language succeed in being fluent, creative and natural.

Michael Hoey is a leading figure in English Language and Applied linguistics and a highly respected researcher and author. His Patterns of Lexis of Text (OUP) won the Duke of Edinburgh English Speaking Union prize in 1991. He is currently Baines Professor of English Language at the University of Liverpool.

Paperback: 240 pages

Publisher: Routledge (June 15, 2005)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0415328632

ISBN-13: 978-0415328630

Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches

 

Words and Phrases: Corpus Studies of Lexical Semantics (Language in Society) [Paperback]

Paperback: 288 pages

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (October 16, 2001)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 063120833X

ISBN-13: 978-0631208334

Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches

This book fills a gap in studies of meaning by providing detailed case studies of attested corpus data on the meanings of words and phrases. It places lexis and phraseology at the centre of semantics and pragmatics.

Words and Phrases starts from traditional concepts of lexical semantics, including meaning as use, denotation and connotation, lexical field, sense relations, phraseology and collocation. It also uses innovative corpus data to explore these concepts with an exciting new technology.

The main chapters are detailed case studies of words in collocations, words in texts and words in culture. Concluding chapters discuss the implications of corpus analysis for linguistic theory, especially lexico-grammar and theories of competence and performance.