This book aims to arouse curiosity about English words and about the nature of language in general, especially among introductory students who do not intend to specialize in linguistics. It examines words from various backgrounds - including poetry, journalism, advertising. No previous knowledge of linguistics is assumed. The approach to the study of words is descriptive rather than theoretical. It looks at the structure of words, their meaning, spelling and pronunciation, how new words are manufactured or imported, and how the meaning of words change with time. Katamba also investigates how the mind deals with the amazing intellectual feat of retrieving the right word from its mental dictionary during conversation.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Maße
Höhe: 203 mm
Breite: 138 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-415-10468-5 (9780415104685)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Autor*in
University of Lancaster, UK
Introduction - why study words?; what is a word?; close encounters of a morphemic kind; building words; masquerading allomorphs; a lexicon with layers; should English be spelt as she is spoke; word manufacture; words galore; a lexical mosaic - sources of English vocabulary; the mental lexicon.