ANT253H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Lexical Semantics, Argot, Cognitive Semantics
Document Summary
The vocabulary, grammar, and sound system of a language. The term vocabulary refers to the actual set of words and phrases in a language. The term lexicon indicates the abstract knowledge of word meanings and what they tell us about things, people and events. In linguistics, the term lexicon refers to the set of lexemes, the root words or phrases that are part of linguistic competence: vocabulary refers to the use of words and phrases for communicative purposes. Core vocabulary is the minimal set of words referring to things and concepts that people across the world have also encoded, because they play a central role in human life. The lexicon encodes not only names for things, but also the social interpretations that they entail. Men"s informal speech tends to contain fewer polite forms in contrast to women"s speech. Argots and cants are examples of how vocabularies can become coded in a way.
