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Lexicalization

Lexicalization, a term specific to the language and especially to the etymology , the lexicology and comparative linguistics , is that a new term or phrase achieves the status of lemma in a given language, that is ie its speakers recognize it as a single term, differentiated and autonomous, with a meaning and belonging to the lexicon of their language. Further terms of isolated, phrases or paraphrases can be lexicalized. In this case, this phrase should not be a single lemma.

Summary

1 Scope
2 Criteria for testing
- 2.1 For the isolated terms
- 2.2 To compound words and phrases
3 Related articles

Scope

For there lexicalization of a term, it is necessary that initially this term may not have been considered a single term or as belonging to the language of law, so the words of a language historically inherited Mother can not lexicalised instead of phrases formed from such words. Several processes can lead to lexicalization, such as lexical borrowing a foreign word, the neologism , the univerbation or the catachresis ( Metaphor frozen, par excellence - a proper name becomes a common name - etc. ..).

Test Criteria

For isolated words

It is difficult to provide objective criteria for knowing when a word or phrase is lexicalized: indeed, it does not mean that they enter "the" dictionary because the dictionary simply makes no sense. There is, for a given language at a given state in synchrony , several dictionaries, none having any real supreme authority (not even that of the French Academy in France , which only punish some use). Each team of lexicographers follows a different editorial line, such as agreeing to identify a term that another exclude the pretext that it is too recent and can not comment on its durability.

In this way, it seems that the real test is the use, specialization and grammaticalization: when a new term is used by quite a large percentage of the population, it is obvious he has been lexicalized. Better still, if it follows the rules of grammar usual, this confirms its entry in the lexicon. For example, when the word Taliban began to be heard, it was mainly used by journalists covering the war in Afghanistan in 2001 , which, in contact with local, using the rules of pluralization unique to Persian, namely a Taleb / Taliban. Later, when the word was used by a larger number of speakers, this pluralization has been normalized in the usual: a Taliban / Taliban (it is noteworthy that the term is, in the press, the more frequently used in the plural is the plural which has provided singulative and not vice versa). There was the grammaticalization of a loan , the first evidence of lexicalization. On the other hand, the Arabic word does not mean, as in French , "Islamic fundamentalist" but "student". The specialization of the term in the borrowing language is further evidence of lexicalization. Taliban is also identified in the electronic edition of the Petit Robert 2001.

To compound words and phrases

We can apply this test phrases: potato, for example, is lexicalized because its meaning is specialized. It does not mean an apple growing in the soil but a specific vegetable. Lexicalization of the phrase led to the creation of a compound word , lemma unique. Lexicalization phrases in French can also be found by using the hyphen (which uses however are not consistent): Lemma wide-angle stands and the phrase wide angle (an angle which is great " ). The fact that we can not insert words between the constituents of a compound word or update a single member confirms his status as a single lemma: apple of the earth no longer has the same direction and in rail resistant, shall be only on the whole and not solely on the constituent iron.

Process prosodic can confirm lexicalization former phrases, such as univerbation. For example, the toponym Greek Peloponnesos ( Peloponnese ) comes from an old phrase Plopos nesos, that is to say, "Island of Pelops "(with Plopos, genitive of Pelops). However, no Greek lemma can be at least taken in isolation, more emphasis is the fact that (with assimilation full / s / before / n /) becomes by univerbation (in the transcript Latin represents / e / and not a long / e / pronounced) also proves the lexicalization of the term, and the application of limitation laws that prevent the accent go back further than the second The univerbation is common in modern French: long long time yet written in Louise Labe and today is really from the expression on the day today (where "Today", from Latin hodie means today).

Expressions more complex than the noun phrase can be lexicalized. The fact that they acquire a class is only there as a test statistic: for example, the verb phrase I do not know what has become a noun can also be written I-don't-know-what. An I-don't- know-how is now a real lemma meaning "a quality difficult to define, which can be used even when the speaker is not the first person of singular : "He thought that this young man had a je ne sais why charming "is perfectly correct. The Latin , however, uses nescio quid in the same way with the same meaning. A phrase as I do not see what, who does not have a single class, is not lexicalized, as evidenced by an incorrect statement as she had a * I do not see anything suspicious. It is a phrase to obey the usual rules of use.