CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO THE READER

1 A WORD OR TWO ABOUT WORDS

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY `VOCABULARY¿?

THE `ENGLISH¿ IN ENGLISH VOCABULARY

AT LEAST WE KNOW WHAT WORDS ARE ¿ DON¿T WE?

SPACED OUT

EYES AND EARS

IT JUST FEELS RIGHT

I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN

MORPHEMES

TAKING WORDS TO PIECES

GRAMMAR AND LEXIS

WORDS STICK TOGETHER

COMPOUNDS

MULTI-WORD UNITS

IDIOMS

COLLOCATION

RECIPES FOR NEW WORDS

WORDS COME AND GO

NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN

HALF AND HALF

KEEP IT SHORT

LENDING AND BORROWING

CORPORA: LETTING THE DATA SPEAK

USING A CORPUS

CORPUS EXAMPLE (1): HARD-WORKING WORDS

CORPUS EXAMPLE (2): SPEAKING VERSUS WRITING

SUMMING UP

FURTHER READING

2 WHERE DO ENGLISH WORDS COME FROM?

THE DIM AND DISTANT PAST

THE BEGINNING OF ENGLISH

ANGLO-SAXONS

BEGINNING TO LOOK FAMILIAR: CHRONICLES AND MONSTERS

MORE INCOMERS

VIKINGS

A BIG CHANGE: THE NORMANS ARRIVE

PUTTING IT IN BLACK AND WHITE

TELLING TALES

PIERS PLOWMAN

INTO THE MODERN ERA

LANGUAGE ABOUT LANGUAGE

AN EXPANDING VOCABULARY

CIRCLING THE WORLD

A SETTLED LANGUAGE

SPELLING IT OUT

NEW WORLDS, NEW CULTURES

NEW TECHNOLOGIES, NEW ENGLISHES

FURTHER READING

3 WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

FROM FORM TO MEANING

WORDING THE WORLD

MAKING SENSE OF THE LEXICON

SAME OR DIFFERENT?

SYNONYMY

LOOKS THE SAME, SOUNDS THE SAME BUT ¿

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

CLASSIFYING THE WORLD

THE UPSIDE-DOWN TREE

SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING

FUZZY BORDERS AND STEREOTYPES

AN ARM AND A LEG: PARTS AND WHOLES

MAKING SENSE IN THE REAL WORLD

TAKING MEANING TO PIECES

PLUSES AND MINUSES TO EVERYTHING

WORDS, THE MIND AND THE WORLD

PRAGMATICS: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

FURTHER READING

4 BEATING ABOUT THE BUSH: FIGURATIVE MEANING

JUST IMAGINE

ATOMS OR MOLECULES?

BITE-SIZED CHUNKS

ROOM FOR MANOUEVRE

AS CLEAR AS MUD: IDIOMS

DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN?

IN A NUTSHELL

IDIOM-PRONE

LOOK AT IT THIS WAY

METAPHORS

PROVERBS AND METAPHORS

TROPES GALORE

HERE COMES THE ARMY: METONYMY

NO EXAGGERATION: HYPERBOLE

A NOT UNINTERESTING TROPE: UNDERSTATEMENT

EUPHEMISMS

SUMMARY

FURTHER READING

5 BEAR THIS IN MIND: THE MENTAL LEXICON

A REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT

HOW DID IT ALL GET THERE? ACQUIRING VOCABULARY

DESIGNING A HUMAN

ONE WORD AT A TIME

TELEGRAMS FROM A CHILD

MORE THAN ONE WAY OF SAYING THINGS

SPELL IT OUT

WHERE ARE ALL THOSE WORDS?

MIND AND BRAIN: THE MENTAL LEXICON

HOW DOES IT WORK?

FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY JACK ROBINSON

WHAT COMES INTO YOUR HEAD?

JUST A SLIP OF THE TONGUE?

IN TWO MINDS AGAIN

CONCLUSION

FURTHER READING

6 VOCABULARY IN ACTION

WORDS OUT THERE

LANGUAGE SNAPSHOTS

HARD WORDS

NOT IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN

LETTING THE MACHINE DECIDE: CORPORA

QUIZZING THE DATA

EXCHANGING A FEW WORDS

LET¿S NOT GO INTO DETAIL

SO, CONSEQUENTLY ¿

WINDOWS ON CULTURE

WORDS ON THE MOVE

NAUGHTY BUT NICE

A NOTICEABLE UPTICK

SHOWING YOUR AGE

MAPPING ENGLISH VOCABULARY

VARIETIES

DIFFERENT VOICES: DIALECTS AND SOCIOLECTS

SPECIAL VOCABULARIES

WORDS AND THE IMAGINATION

FLOUTING CONVENTIONS

OLD WORDS, NEW MEANINGS

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

HAVING A LAUGH

EDUCATION AND LEARNING

GROWING UP WITH WORDS

SECOND LANGUAGE VOCABULARY

THE END OF THE BEGINNING

FURTHER READING

GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS

REFERENCES

INDEX