Vocabulary From reviews of the first edition: ‘A timely state-of-the-art overview of the whole subject ... the author’s stance is broad ... the work is eminently readable and coheres as a whole extremely well ... an extremely wide range of research and literature is covered. This is certainly recommended for anyone who has occasion to wonder about words and their meanings.’ EFL Gazette ‘Vocabulary is and deserves to be a widely-read and widely-used textbook in undergraduate courses on Semantics, Lexicology, and Corpus-Linguistics, and on diploma and postgraduate TESOL courses such as Teaching Vocabulary.’ Andrew Goatly, Lingnan University, Hong Kong How do we teach and learn vocabulary? How do words work in literary texts? How are words treated in dictionaries? In this book, Ronald Carter provides the necessary basis for the further study of modern English vocabulary with particular reference to linguistic descriptive frameworks and educational con- texts. Vocabulary: Applied Linguistic Perspectives includes an introductory account of linguistic approaches to the analysis of the modern lexicon in English and discusses key topics such as vocabulary and language teaching, dictionaries and lexicography and the literary, stylistic study of vocabulary. This Routledge Linguistics Classic includes a substantial new introductory chapter situating the book in the current digital age, covering changes and developments in related fields from lexicography and corpus linguistics to vocabulary testing and assessment as well as additional new references. Vocabulary: Applied Linguistic Perspectives has been widely praised since first publication for the breadth, depth and clarity of its approach and is a key text for postgraduate students and researchers studying vocabulary studies within the fields of English Language, Applied Linguistics and Education. Ronald Carter is Professor of Modern English Language at the University of Nottingham, UK, and has written and edited more than 30 books, including most recently Language and Creativity (2004). He is the author and editor of 12 books with Routledge, and has edited and co-edited five Routledge series. Vocabulary Applied Linguistic Perspectives Ronald Carter First published 1998 by Routledge First published in Routledge Linguistics Classics 2012 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1998, 2012 Ronald Carter The right of Ronald Carter to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Carter, Ronald, 1947– Vocabulary : applied linguistic perspectives / Ronald Carter. p. cm.—(Routledge linguistics classics) Previously pub.: 1998. 1. Lexicology. 2. Vocabulary—Study and teaching. I. Title. P326.C37 2012 418—dc23 2011038084 ISBN: 978–0–415–69933–4 (hbk) ISBN: 978–0–415–69934–1 (pbk) ISBN: 978–0–203–12465–9 (ebk) Typeset in Times by RefineCatch Limited , Bungay, Suffolk Contents List of figures and tables vii Acknowledgements ix Preface to the first edition x Preface to the second edition xii Vocabulary and applied linguistics: recent past and nearer future 1 PART I Foundations 17 1 What’s in a word 19 2 The notion of core vocabulary 47 3 Words and patterns 61 4 Lexis and discourse 86 PART II Reviews 119 5 Lexis and literary stylistics 121 6 Lexis and lexicography 148 7 Learning and teaching vocabulary 178 PART III Case studies 231 8 Case study: lexis, tones and ironies 233 9 Case study: style, lexis and the dictionary 248 vi Contents Bibliography 267 Select bibliography of dictionaries (updated 2012) 292 Select bibliography of language corpora (updated 2012) 293 Index 299 fi List of gures and tables Figures 1.1 Lexicality cline 29 1.2 Basic English word list 38 2.1 Superordinate relations: Furniture 53 4.1 Canute Kinnock: The lexis of reporting 116 6.1 A dictionary entry for mug 165 6.2 Example from BCOET corpus: Extract from concordance for declined 166 6.3 A dictionary entry for now 168 6.4 A dictionary entry for now 169 6.5 Frequencies of the verb mean in spoken and written English 171 6.6 A dictionary entry for freak 171 6.7 A sample dictionary page 173 6.8 A dictionary entry for borrow 175 7.1 Illustration of ‘keyword’ technique 187 7.2 General service list: Entry for head 199 7.3a A semantic grid for components of words meaning ‘being surprised’ 205 7.3b A scale marking degrees of intensity for words meaning ‘being surprised’ 205 7.3c A semantic grid of typical collocational patterns of words meaning ‘attractive’ 206 7.3d Semantic grids for words meaning ‘attractive’ 207 7.4 A game-like task for vocabulary learning 208 7.5 A game-like task for vocabulary learning 209 7.6 Suggestions for ways of teaching awkward and frequently occurring words such as just 216 8.1 Knowing the meaning of words 241 9.1a Representing semantic space: Using scales for words with the meaning ‘rude’ 253 9.1b Representing semantic space: Diagrammatic presentation of the meaning of cheeky 253 viii List of figures and tables 9.1c Representing semantic space: An informal–formal scale for words with the meaning ‘rude’ 254 9.2 Two scales, to measure formality and evaluation, for words with the meaning ‘thin’ 259 9.3 A dictionary entry for thin 260 9.4 Diagrammatic representation of semantic space for two words 262 Tables 0.1 High frequency chunks and single words 4 3.1 Lexis as a linguistic level 62 3.2 Types of fixed expression 76 4.1 The fifty most frequent words in written and spoken corpora 104 4.2 Total occurrences of start, begin, too and also in written and spoken corpora 104 4.3 Percentage coverage of words in rank 501–550 and 1001–1050 in written and spoken corpora 106 6.1 Some data about four learner’s dictionaries of English 174 7.1 Examples of new terms and overextensions in L1 acquisition 181 7.2 Associations made by native English speakers to French stimulus words 192 Acknowledgements Very few adjustments are required to the acknowledgements made for the first edition of Vocabulary, and thanks to Tony Cowie for his support and advice remain. My debt to Michael McCarthy remains as strong as ever and I have continued greatly to value our close personal, writing and research relationship. I am also grateful to him and Anne O’Keeffe for allowing me to use material co-written by us, especially Section 4.7 and in the new first chapter. Particular thanks also go to Paul Meara and Paul Nation who gave generously of their time to offer their views on developments in the field of vocabulary studies; to Gwynneth Fox and Della Summers who provided very helpful comments on necessary revisions and updates to Chapter 6; to Norbert Schmitt for keeping me in touch with many developments, especially with reference to vocabulary acquisition, and also for his generous help with parts of Chapter 7; to the late John Sinclair for remaining a singular inspiration in the field of lexical studies; to Louisa Semlyen at Routledge for being one of the most supportive editors ever. My debt to Jane, Matthew, Jennifer and Claire, and their healthy scepticism about academic books, remains undiminished. Nottingham, 1998 and 2012 fi Preface to the rst edition This book is a guide to some ways in which linguistic insights into the structure of the modern English lexicon might be applied. Applied linguistics is generally associated with second- and foreign-language teaching and this book contains an extensive review of developments in vocabulary teaching. The book will, however, demonstrate that the possibilities for application can be broader in scope. In addition to brief discussions of mother-tongue early language development and a number of social issues in vocabulary use, such as the relationship between lexis and ideology, the book examines some applications of lexicological description in three main areas: language learning and teaching, lexicography, and literary-text study. Although there are (in the third part of the book) two detailed case studies in which particular arguments are presented relevant to work in what might be termed ‘lexical stylistics’, the orientation of this book is mainly descriptive. It seeks to report on research, review developments in lexical description and comment on specific points of intersection between linguistic insight and areas of application. No description is entirely neutral, however, not least because, in a relatively wide-ranging book such as this, selection is inevitable and selection is itself a form of evaluation. For example, the importance of studying lexis in discourse and of using informants to assist description of lexical associations is stated regularly, both explicitly and implicitly, throughout the book. But, wherever possible, a descriptive overview constitute s the main design. This is not an apology. There are very few books or studies of lexis in relation to applied linguistics and it is hoped that to an extent this book helps to clear some ground from a number of different perspectives at the same time as indicating areas in which work needs to be done. However, I should have liked to have devoted more space to the social, cultural and political issues which the study of vocabulary necessitates, in particular in the follow- ing areas: the vocabularies of world Englishes, and the implications of this for lexicographic practice and for stylistic analysis of international literatures in English; sociolinguistic and historical accounts of lexical change, particularly with reference to dialect; the lexicology of sexism, ageism and racism – areas which are beginning to attract the attention of language researchers. I also