This textbook is a readable introduction to lexicology and corpus linguistics. Starting with a survey of lexicology - the study of words - written by eminent linguist M. A. K. Halliday, the book looks at the basic issues in defining and understanding the word as a unit of language. It examines the history of lexicology, the evolution of dictionaries, and recent developments in lexicology. Colin Yallop takes this survey of lexicology further, to examine the relationship between words and meaning, etymology, prescription, language as social phenomenon and translation.
In the second half of the textbook Wolfgang Teubert (one of the biggest names in Corpus Linguistics) and Anna Cermakova take lexicology into the field of corpus linguistics, introducing the key concepts in corpus linguistics and providing a brief history. This section expands the study of language and shows how corpus linguistics can advance our study of words and meaning, the benefits of studying the corpora, and how to meaning can best be conceptualised.
Lexicology and Corpus Linguistics introduces the complicated field of corpus linguistics through lexicology. In so doing it explains the roots of corpus linguistics in easy to understand terms, and shows how lexicology can be advanced into other modes of linguistics. The book contains a glossary and suggestions for further reading, and will be useful to students trying to get a grasp on both subjects.
