By desmond bett; B. A- criminology m. A – public administration & policy

1.2
OVERVIEW OF COMING CHAPTERS
At the very outset we need to establish the nature of the subject we are going to be examining. So, Chapter 2 discusses the nature of words. The next three chapters delve deep inside words and investigate their internal structure. In the process, traditional morphological concepts of structural linguistics are introduced and extensively exemplified.
Morphology is not a stand-alone module. After the introductory chapters, in Chapter 6 you are introduced to a theory where morphology is an integral part of the LEXICON or DICTIONARY. This chapter focuses on the interaction of phonology and morphology in word-formation.
Chapter 7 explores the relationship between words in speech and in writing. What is the relationship between saying words and writing them down? Is writing simply a mirror of speech-and and apparently distorting one in the case of English?

The following chapter continues the discussion of the role of the lexicon. It attempts to answer the questions like ‘what is the lexicon for?’ ‘What items need to be listed in the dictionary?’ ‘What is the difference between idioms (like to nail one’s colours to the mast) and syntactic phrases (like to nail a notice to the door)?’ The next two chapters highlight the fact that the English word-store is vast and infinitely expandable. First, In Chapter 9 we consider the ways in which, using the internal resources of the language, speakers are able to produce an indefinitely large number of words. In Chapter 10 attention shifts to the expansion of English vocabulary through the importation of countless words from other languages. The story of imported words is in many ways also the story of the contacts that speakers of English have had with speakers of other languages over the centuries.

Most of the space in this book is devoted to an examination of the structure of English words. But the analysis of the word-structure is seen not as an end in itself, but rather as a means to an end. And that end is to understand what it means to know a word. What sorts of information about words do you need to have in order to use them in communication? So the final chapter is devoted to the MENTAL LEXICON. It addresses the question, ‘how it is that people are able to store a vast number of words in the mind and to retrieve the right one so fast in communication?’ We will see that words are not piled in a muddle in the mind. Rather, the mental lexicon is very highly organized. This concluding chapter will also pull together the various strands developed in the earlier chapters.
I have already stressed the point that morphology is not self-contained module of language. Any discussion of word-formation touches on other areas of linguistics, notably phonology and syntax, so I have provided a key to the list of pronunciation symbols at the beginning of the book. I have also included at the end a glossary of linguistic terms (many of them from other branches of linguistic) which might be unfamiliar. But still I may have missed out some terms. If you encounter any unfamiliar technical terms that are nor explained in this book, I suggest that you consult a good dictionary of linguistics like Crystal (1991). Sometimes it is useful to present data using phonetic notation. A key to the phonetic symbols used is to be found on pp. xix-xx.
After this introductory chapter, all chapters contain exercises. Several of the analytical exercises require you to look up words and parts of words in a good dictionary like the Oxford English dictionary. Access to such a dictionary is essential when you study this book. This is a practical way of learning about the structure of English words (and may also be a useful way of enriching your vocabulary).