Table Of ContentVocabulary
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
