Lexis

Written Lexis

words or phrases that are nearly always used in written language as opposed to spoken.

For example, 'yours sincerely'.

Trademark

Taboo Lexis

Words that are official names of particular products.

Write down as many words for 'drunk' as you can.

The term taboo language refers to words and phrases that are generally considered inappropriate in certain contexts.

Edmund Leach identified three major categories of taboo words and phrases in English:

1. "Dirty" words that are concerned with sex and excretion, such as "bugger," "shit."

2. Words that have to do with the Christian religion, such as "Christ" and "Jesus."

3. Words which are used in "animal abuse" (calling a person by the name of an animal), such as "bitch," "cow."

e.g. Google

Legal Lexis

Words used with a technical meaning

used by lawyers, in legal documents etc.

Dialect/Regional Lexis

• Try to cover as many different registers or levels of language as you can.

• Think about what your grandparents might say formally and informally.

• Also think about different contexts e.g. what would you say to a police officer and what would you say to your mates

Medical Lexis

Words that originate from a particular form of language which is spoken in specific region or by a social group

e.g.

: bonny (‘pretty’)

lassie ('girl')

Words that are more commonly used by doctors, more so than in every day language. Often have a more common equivalent

Jargon

specific words or expressions used

by a profession or group that are

difficult for others to understand.

Lexis

Look at the word clouds taken from extracts from different books.

• Can you identify which novels they are from simply by using the lexis? Look for clues to help you... such as examples of informal, archaic and jargon lexis.

• What kind of words feature most frequently?

• How many different semantic fields can you identify? Make a list of each text with a semantic field that links them.

• How do the lexical choices and semantic fields compare in each text?

• What conclusions can you draw about the writers lexical choices?

Formal Lexis

e.g. 'automobile' is more formal than 'car'

Write down 5 examples of formal words and their informal alternatives

Biblical Lexis

Lexical choices and Semantic Fields

Words that are not necessarily used in everyday conversation.

Formal lexis is serious and impersonal, and is generally more likely to be written and not spoken.

Formal words are often complex and polysyllabic

words used in the language of the Bible, links to Archaic as words are often out of use and would sound old fashioned to a modern speaker.

the vocabulary of a language,

as distinct from its grammar; the

total stock of words and idiomatic combinations of them in a

language.

Behemoth - a huge animal;

anything extremely large

Job 40: 15-24

Semantic field:

a lexical set of semantically related

items. Words in a semantic field are

not necessarily synonymous, but are

all used to talk about the same general phenomenon

Everyday Lexis

Archaic Lexis

Words that are the most frequently used words in everyday speech and writing

e.g.

Hello

The

characteristic of an earlier period of a language and not in ordinary use

Informal Lexis

Words and phrases used in normal conversation but may not be suitable in more formal contexts such as essays or business letters

e.g. gadzooks - an expression

of surprise or annoyance

Spoken Lexis

Colloquial lexis and fillers such as 'like' and 'uhhh'

not used in written language.

(we will go on to this in far more detail!)