Word and their associative fields Sematic field Word families Word classes

1. Approaches of examining the
internal organization of
vocabulary with examples

2. Word and their associative fields
• every word is involved in a network of associations which connect it with
other terms in the language.
The semantic or lexical fields of words
• named area of meaning in which lexemes interrelate and define each
other in a specific way
The word families
• Word families are groups of words that are sufficiently closely related to each
other to form a 'family'.
Word classes
• Closed classes: preposition, pronoun, determiner, conjunction, auxiliary
verbs;
• Open classes: noun, adjectives, verbs, adverbs
• Lesser categories: numeral, interjections
• A small number of words of unique function: the particle not and the
infinitive marker to

3. Word and their associative fields
dancing
Dancer
tutor
performer
(2) etc.
danced
analyser
(3) etc.
gardener
(1) etc.
music
stage
(4) etc.
3

4. The semantic or lexical fields of words
ANIMALS
Female animals
Male animals
Bird
Fish
Dog
Chicken
Tiger
RAINBOW
COLOURS
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
SEMANTIC FIELD
OF STRIKING
KICK
PUNCH
SLAP

5. The word families
Form-based word families
Word
Wordy
Word (verb)
Wording
Word-list
But not: worth, worry
Family
Familiar
Unfamiliar
Familiarity
Familiarize
But not: famine, famous
Receive – reception
Deceive – deception
Conceive – conception
Meaning-based word families
Big
Little
Size
Dog
Puppy
kennel

6. Word classes
• Quirk et al. (1985:67)
– Closed classes: preposition, pronoun, determiner, conjunction, auxiliary verbs;
– Open classes: noun, adjectives, verbs, adverbs
– Lesser categories: numeral, interjections
– A small number of words of unique function: the particle ‘not’ and the
infinitive marker ‘to’
The water evaporated quickly.
The water evaporate (a verb) & ed (past tense ending) quick (adjective) & ly(adverb
ending)

7. THANK YOU