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

2.3
SUMMARY
In this chapter we have established that normally, the term ‘word’ is used ambiguously. To avoid ambiguity, we need to distinguish between three different types of word: (i) a word-form (i.e. a particular physical manifestation of one or more lexemes in speech or writing; (ii) a vocabulary item (i.e. lexeme); and (iii) a unit of grammatical structure that has certain morphological and syntactic properties.
We will revisit the distinction between lexemes, grammatical words and word-forms mainly in Chapters 7 and 11. In Chapter 7 our main concern will be the realization of words in speech and in writing. In Chapter 11 we will show that this distinction is not an artefact of the linguist’s analysis. Rather, it is a distinction that is well supported by studies in the way in which we store words in the mind and retrieve them for use in communication in real life.
In the coming chapters, in cases where the relevant sense of the term ‘word’ is clear from the context I will not spell out whether it is a word as a vocabulary item, grammatical word, phonological or orthographic form that is being dealt with. But where it is not clear, I will indicate the sense in which I am using this term. We are now in a position to consider in detail the internal structure of words. This is the task of next chapter.

EXERCISES

1. 
   Comment on the problem you encounter in determining the number of words in the following nursery rhyme. Relate you answer to the different senses in which the term ‘word’ is used.
   

The grand old Duke of York

He had ten thousand men.
He matched them up to the top of the hill.
Then he matched them down again.
When they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half way up
They were neither up nor down.

2. 
   Find and analyze at least three examples of advertisement that exploits the homonymy, polysemy or homophony of words.
   
3. 
   Which one of the italicized word-form in the following sentences belong to the same lexeme? What difficulties, if any, have you come across in determining whether word-forms belong to the same lexeme?
   

1. 
   She saw him through that plank of wood.
   
2. 
   Bill will pay the bill.
   
3. 
   I saw farmer near your farm again this morning.
   
4. 
   Jan looked pale when she walked towards the pail.
   
5. 
   I am sick of your claiming to be sick all the time.
   
6. 
   I was looking at the book when she booked the ticket.
   

4. 
   Using at least fresh examples, show how syncretism can be used to support the distinction between word-forms belong to the same lexeme?
   
5. 
   This is the beginning of W.H.Auden’s poem ‘Muse’e des Beaux Arts’.
   

About suffering they were never wrong.

The Old Masters…

These lines can be paraphrased as ‘The Old Masters were never wrong about suffering.’

Referring to the definition of the word given in this chapter, explains why it is correct to regard suffering as a word but incorrect to treat about suffering also as a word.