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    Dnschecker

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    This document discusses different types of words and word forms. It defines a word-form as the physical representation of a word in speech or writing. It notes there are 31 word-forms in a short excerpt from a T.S. Eliot poem when counting words separated by spaces. It introduces the term orthographic words to refer to word-forms found in writing. The document also discusses how hyphens are sometimes used to connect parts of compound words, and notes this usage can vary depending on how transparent the compound nature is.

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    Dnschecker

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    Fly Yt
    14 views1 page
    This document discusses different types of words and word forms. It defines a word-form as the physical representation of a word in speech or writing. It notes there are 31 word-forms in a short excerpt from a T.S. Eliot poem when counting words separated by spaces. It introduces the term orthographic words to refer to word-forms found in writing. The document also discusses how hyphens are sometimes used to connect parts of compound words, and notes this usage can vary depending on how transparent the compound nature is.

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    This document discusses different types of words and word forms. It defines a word-form as the physical representation of a word in speech or writing. It notes there are 31 word-forms in a short excerpt from a T.S. Eliot poem when counting words separated by spaces. It introduces the term orthographic words to refer to word-forms found in writing. The document also discusses how hyphens are sometimes used to connect parts of compound words, and notes this usage can vary depending on how transparent the compound nature is.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as txt, pdf, or txt
    14 views1 page

    Dnschecker

    Uploaded by

    Fly Yt
    This document discusses different types of words and word forms. It defines a word-form as the physical representation of a word in speech or writing. It notes there are 31 word-forms in a short excerpt from a T.S. Eliot poem when counting words separated by spaces. It introduces the term orthographic words to refer to word-forms found in writing. The document also discusses how hyphens are sometimes used to connect parts of compound words, and notes this usage can vary depending on how transparent the compound nature is.

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    of 1

    ENGLISH WORDS 7

    own. If some shouted to you in the street, 'Hey, are you -ish?" you might smile
    bemusedly and think to yourself, 'Isn't he weird!' In the next chapter we will take
    up the question of what to do with pieces of words that cannot be used meaningfully
    on their own. But for the moment we will focus exclusively on words.
    2.2
    WORDS ARE LIKE LIQUORICE ALLSORTS
    When we talk of words we do not always mean exactly the same thing. Like liquorice
    allsorts, words come in all sorts of varieties. We will start our discussions by
    distinguishing the different senses in which we use the term 'word'.
    2.2.1 Word-forms
    Let us use the term WORD-FORM to describe the physical form which realises or
    represents a word in speech or writing. Consider the words in the following extract
    from T.S.Eliot's poem:
    [2.1]
    Half-past one,
    The street-lamp sputtered,
    The street-lamp muttered.
    The street-lamp said, 'Regard that woman
    Who hesitates towards you in the light of the door
    Which opens on her like a grin...
    ("Rhapsody on a windy night' in Eliot 1963)
    In written English, words are easy to recognise. They are preceded by a space and
    followed by a space. Using this criterion, we can say that there are thirty-one
    words (i.e. word-forms) in the extract from 'Rhapsody'. We will call word-forms
    like these which we find in writing ORTHOGRAPHIC WORDS. If you look again at the
    extract, you might wonder if some of the hyphenated orthographic words are 'really'
    individual words. Many people would hyphenate half-past as Eliot does but not
    street-lamp. They would write street lamp as two separate words, with a space
    between them. What would you do?
    The use of hyphens to indicate that something is a complex word containing more
    than one word-like unit is variable, largely depending on how transparent the
    compound nature of a word is. Shakespeare wrote today as to-day and tomorrow as to-
    morrow:
    [2.2]
    a.
    To-morrow, Caesar,
    I shall be furnished to inform you rightly... (Antony and Cleopatra, I, iv)

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