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What is lexis?

The individual words or sets of words.


Units of vocabulary which have a specific
meaning.
E.g.
tree, get up, first of all, alls well that ends
well, etc.

Denotative meaning
Meaning that describes the thing or idea
behind the vocabulary item. Literal
meaning.
E.g.
Tree = a large plant with a
wooden trunk, branches
and leaves.

Figurative meaning

Imaginative (connotative) meaning.


E.g. The tree of life
A family tree

Meaning related to
context
We couldnt see the house because of
the tall trees in front of it.
How tall are the trees?

The meaning of some vocabulary


items is created by:
Prefixes: unsafe
Affixes: nationality
Compound words: Two or more words
together that have meaning as a set.
Closed form: words are melded together.
E.g. firefly, secondhand, childlike, softball
Hyphenated form: daughter-in-law, six-pack,
six-year-old
Open form: post office, real estate, middle
class.

Suffixes vs prefixes
ROOT
WORD =
BASE
WORD

COLLOCATIONS

Two or more words that often go together.


E.g. do the shopping, make a plan
NATURAL ENGLISH UNNATURAL
ENGLISH

The fast train


Fast food
A quick shower
A quick meal

The quick train


Quick food
A fast shower
A fast meal

Types of collocation

Adverb + adjective: fully aware


Adjective + noun: regular exercise
Noun + noun: a round of applause
Noun + verb: the dog barks
Verb + noun: do homework, make the bed
Verb + expression with preposition: filled
with horror, burst into tears.
Verb + adverb: whisper softly

Idioms
A group of words that are used
together in which the meaning of the
whole word group is different from
the meaning of each individual word.
E.g. She felt under the weather.
Its raining dogs and cats.

Phrasal verbs / multi-word verbs


A verb + any part
of speech which is
made up of more
than one word (e.g.
a verb + adverb, a
verb + preposition),
which has a
different meaning
from each individual
word.

CHUNKS
Language that occurs in (semi) fixed units and that we usually learn
as one piece.
E.g. have a good trip
Id like to
How about
My names
Fixed expressions (expressions which cant be changed) are a kind of
chunks.
E.g. to tell you the truth
new born
its up to you

Word relationships
Synonyms: words with the same or different
meanings. (brilliant, clever, intelligent)
Antonyms: words with opposite meanings. (alive,
dead)
Lexical sets / word families: a group of words or
phrases that are about the same content topic or
subject. (weather storm, rain, wind, cloudy)

Word relationships II
False friends: A word in the target language
which looks or sounds as if it has the same
meaning as a similar word in the learners first
language but does not.
E.g. embarrassed, library
Homonym: A word with the same spelling and
pronunciation as another word in the same
language, but which has a different meaning.
E.g. bit (past of bite) and bit (a little)

Word relationships III


Homophone: a word which sounds the same as
another word, but has a different meaning or
spelling.
E.g. knew / new
Varieties of English: different kinds of English
spoken around the world, which sometimes affect
lexis.
E.g. flat / apartment
biscuit / cookie

Register
Variety of a language used for a
particular purpose or in a particular
social setting, formal or informal.
E.g. things - stuff

Lexical features

clear (adjective)

paper (noun)

Denotations

1.

Easy to understand

1.

2.

Not covered or blocked

Material used to write on


or wrape things in

3.

Having no doubt

2.

A newspaper

3.

A document containing
information

Synonyms

Simple (denotation 1)

none

Certain (denotation 3)
Antonyms / opposites

Confusing (denotation 1)

none

Untidy, covered (denotation 2)


Lexical sets

Unsure (denotation 3)
Well-written (denotation 1)

Stone, plastic, cloth, etc.

Word families

Clearly, unclear, clarity

none

Homophones

none

None

Homonyms

none

none

False friends

French clair (light in colour)

Possibly in some languages

Prefixes + base words

Unclear

None

Base word + suffixes

Clearly, a clearing

Paperless

Compounds

Clear-headed

Paper knife, paper shop,


paperback

Collocations

Clear skin, a clear day

Lined paper, white paper

Figurative meanings

A clear head

On paper

Idioms

To clear the decks

To put pen to paper

Implications in the language


teaching classroom
Learners take some time to fully understand and
use a word. At first, theyll probably learn only its
most frequent denotative meaning, spelling and
pronunciation.
Learners need to meet the words again and again
to consolidate their memory of them and get to
know more about the word.
Receptive and productive vocabulary.
Explicit teaching of key words and exposure to
others.

Implications in the language


teaching classroom II
Teaching vocabulary in context.
Use the relationships and the ways words
can be built to help our students.
Point false friends, homonyms and
homophones to avoid misunderstandings.
Teach general words for categories and
then introduce the items of the category
(beginners).

Implications in the language


teaching classroom
Learning chunks helps students to
remember words better and recall
them more quickly.
Learners can keep vocabulary
records.

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