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Lexical Semantics of the eternal problem of how to specify what an Lexicology and Lexicography individual sense of a word ‘means.’ The study of lexical semantics is less ‘autonomous’ than that of, say, phonology, or syntax. Especially if 1. Introduction one takes a cognitive linguistic view, there is no clear dividing line between lexical semantics and the study Each language has a lexicon and a grammar, i.e., a set of conceptual categories within cognitive psychology; of elementary expressions and a set of rules according and advances in one field tend to have repercussions in to which complex expressions are constructed from the other. Advances in certain areas of psycho- simpler ones. Some of these rules form complex words; linguistics can also be expected to throw light on word others operate beyond the boundaries of the word, meaning. For instance, there is currently a developing thus producing phrases and sentences. These distinc- body of work on the time course of semantic ac- tions, familiar from the days of the Greek gram- tivation. The meaning of a word is not activated all at marians, are not always clear cut, for at least two once when a word is recognized, and the details of the reasons. First, the notion of ‘word’ is not very well- activation process cannot fail to have relevance to our defined(seealsoWordClassesandPartsofSpeech).Sec- understanding of the internal structure of a word’s ond, there are complex expressions, whose meaning is meaning. more or less predictable from the meaning of its One area of practical concern, which is poised for a components, whereas this is not true for other complex major take-off, but is currently held back by lexical expressions. The former are said to be ‘compositional,’ semantic problems, is the automatic processing of whereas the latter are ‘lexicalized’; slightly different natural language by computational systems. The main terms to characterize this opposition are ‘productive’ problems are the complexity of natural meanings and vs. ‘idiomatic,’ and ‘free’ vs. ‘fixed’; in each their contextual variability. The work currently being case, the distinction is gradual. Lexicalization is rarely done in this area can be expected to spill over, not only observed for inflected words (a possible exception are into general lexicography, but also into the linguistic ‘participles’ such as crooked in a crooked street), but study of word meanings. very frequent for compound words, such as landlord or (to) withdraw, or phrases such as to kick the bucket, See also: Dementia, Semantic; Lexical Processes which has a compositional as well as a lexicalized reading. Do lexicalized expressions belong to the (Word Knowledge): Psychological and Neural As- lexicon of a language or to its grammar? There is no pects; Lexicology and Lexicography; Lexicon; Se- straightforward answer; their form is complex and mantic Knowledge: Neural Basis of; Semantics rule-based, their meaning is not. Therefore, it is useful to take the term ‘lexicon’ in a somewhat broader sense; it contains all elementary expressions (lexicon in the Bibliography narrower sense) as well as those expressions which are compound in form but not accordingly in meaning Cruse D A 1986 Lexical Semantics. Cambridge University Press, (see also Lexicon). The scientific investigation of the Cambridge, UK lexicon in this sense is usually called lexicology; it Cruse D A 2000 Meaning in Language: An Introduction to includes, for example, the historical development of Semantics and Pragmatics. Oxford University Press, Oxford. UK the lexicon, its social stratification, its quantitative Levin B, Hovav Rappaport M 1992 Wiping the slate clean: A composition or the way in which some subfield is lexical semantic exploration. In: Levin B, Pinker S (eds.) encoded in lexical items (e.g., ‘terminology of hunting,’ Lexical and Conceptual Semantics. Blackwell, Oxford, UK, pp. ‘verbs of movement’). Lexicography, by contrast, 123–52 deals with the compilation of dictionaries. There is Lyons J 1963 Structural Semantics. Cambridge University Press, considerable overlap between both disciplines, and in Cambridge, UK fact, not all authors make such a terminological Lyons J 1968 Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge distinction. University Press, Cambridge, UK Lyons J 1977 Semantics. Cambridge University Press, Cam- bridge, UK Nida E A 1975 Componential Analysis of Meaning: An In- troduction to Semantic Structures. Mouton, The Hague, The 2. The Lexicon Netherlands The lexicon of a language is stored primarily in the Taylor J R 1989 Linguistic Categorization: Prototypes in Linguis- head of its speakers, and for most of the history of tic Theory. Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK Ungerer F, Schmid H-J 1996 An Introduction to Cognitie mankind, it was only stored there. We do not know Linguistics. Longman, London what form the ‘mental lexicon’ has (see also Psycho- Wierzbicka A 1996 Semantics: Primes and Uniersals. Oxford linguistics: Oeriew). There is agreement, however, University Press, Oxford, UK that it consists of individual lexical units which are somehow interrelated to each other. There is no D. A. Cruse generally accepted term for lexical units. The familiar 8764 Lexicology and Lexicography term ‘word’ is both too broad and too narrow; one Schwarze and Wunderlich 1985); in fact, if there is any would not want to consider goes as a lexical unit, piece of linguistic description for some language, it is although it is a word, whereas expressions such as (to) probably an elementary bilingual dictionary. The cut up or red herring are lexical units but consist of depth of this work varies massively not only across several words. Other terms occasionally found are languages, but also with respect to the particular ‘lexeme,’ ‘lemma,’ or ‘lexical entry,’ but since these are lexical properties. Whereas the phonological, graph- also used in other ways, it is probably best to speak of ematic and morphosyntactic features of the lexicon in lexical units. Latin, English, French, and some dozen other It is important to distinguish between a lexical unit languages with a comparable research tradition are and the way in which it is named. The word house in a fairly well described, there is no theoretically and dictionary, followed by all sorts of explanations, is not empirically satisfactory analysis of the semantics of the lexical unit—it is a name for such a unit. The the lexicon for any language whatsoever. This has lexical unit itself is a bundle of various types of three interrelated reasons. First, there is no well- properties. These include: defined descriptive language which would allow the (a) phonological properties, which characterize how researcher to represent the meaning of some lexical the lexical unit is pronounced; they include sounds, unit, be it simple or compound; the most common syllabic structure, lexical accent and, in some practice is still to paraphrase it by an expression of the languages, lexical tone; same language. Second, there is no reliable and easily (b) graphematic properties, which characterize how applicable method of determining the lexical meaning the lexical unit is written (see also Spelling); of some unit; the most common way is to look at a (c) morphosyntactic properties, which characterize number of occurrences in ongoing text and to try to how the unit can become part of more complex understand what it means. Third, the relation between expressions; typically, they concern inflectional para- a particular form and a particular meaning is hardly digm, word class, government relations, and others; ever straightforward; this is strikingly illustrated by a (d) semantic properties, which concern the ‘lexical look at what even a medium-sized English dictionary meaning’ of the unit, i.e., the contribution which it has to say about the meaning of, for example, on, makes to the meaning of the construction in which it sound, eye or (to) put up. As a rule, there is not just one occurs. lexical meaning, but a whole array of uses which are Some of these properties may be absent. This is more or less related to each other. This is not merely a most obvious for graphematic properties, since not all practical problem for the lexicographer; it also casts languages are written. There are a few lexical units some doubt on the very notion of ‘lexical unit’ itself without lexical meaning, such as the expletive there in (see also Lexical Semantics). English. Many linguists also stipulate ‘zero elements,’ i.e., units with morphosyntactic and semantic pro- perties but without phonological properties (such as 3. Making Dictionaries ‘empty pronouns’); but these are normally treated in the grammar rather than in the lexicon. Lexicographers often consider their work to be more Whereas these four types of properties are the of an art or a craft than a science (see, e.g., Landau defining characteristics of a lexical unit, other in- 1984, Svense! n 1993). This does not preclude a solid formation may be associated with it, for example, its scientific basis, but it reflects the fact that their concrete etymology, its frequency of usage, its semantic work depends largely on practical skills such as being counterpart in other languages, or encyclopedic ‘a good definer,’ on one hand; and that it is to a great knowledge (thus, it is one thing to know the meaning extent determined by practical, often commercial, of bread and a different thing to know various sorts of concerns, on the other. Dictionaries are made for bread, how it is made, its price, its role in the history

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