The Oxford handbook of the word
John R. Taylor (Editor)
The word is central to both naïve and expert theories of language. Yet the definition of word remains problematic. The 42 chapters of this Handbook offer a variety of perspectives on this most basic and elusive of linguistic units. Topic ranges from the presentation of words in works of reference (dictionaries and thesauri), the statistical properties of words in text (frequency and length distributions), the internal structure of words, their categorization into parts of speech, and their role in theories of phonology, syntax, and semantics. Also addressed are multi-word units, the dynamic relation between words and their neighbours, the structure of vocabularies, and the ways in which words and vocabularies change over time. Separate sections are devoted to the representation of words in the mental lexicon, their acquisition (by first language learners and in second language pedagogy), and the distinctive properties of names. Words are the objects of games, and a chapter is devoted to the ways in which the various properties of words are exploited in the ever popular pastime of the cryptic crossword puzzle. A final chapter emphasises the elusiveness, and persistence, of this linguistic category. Written by experts, but with an eye on the general reader, the book will appeal not only to professional linguists, but also to a wider audience, in fact to anyone who shares a fascination with words
eBook, English, 2015
First edition
Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2015