lexis
A language's words
Lexis is the vocabulary of a language, a field, or a person—all the words and phrases available for use.
Linguists distinguish lexis from grammar: grammar provides structure, lexis provides content.
The term appears mainly in academic writing about language: The lexis of legal English differs markedly from everyday speech.
A person's lexis is their working vocabulary.
One's word collection
- dictionChoice of words
- terminologySubject-specific vocabulary
- phraseologyManner of verbal expression
- word choiceSelection of vocabulary
morphology · semantics · syntax · language · utterance · expression · locution · verbiage
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- phonemeMinimal distinctive sound unit
- linguistic analysisStudy of language structure
- discourseFormal communication on subjects
semiotics · structuralism · psycholinguistics · language acquisition · etymology · philology · prescriptivism
Distinctive way of expression
- voiceSound from throat
- proseUnversified language
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- figurative languageNon-literal modes of expression
imagery · connotation · denotation · tone · register · word painting · eloquence · stylistics
vocabulary
One's word collection
- dictionChoice of words
- terminologySubject-specific vocabulary
- phraseologyManner of verbal expression
word choice · morphology · semantics · syntax · language · utterance · expression · locution · verbiage · wording
Chomsky
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- phonemeMinimal distinctive sound unit
- linguistic analysisStudy of language structure
discourse · semiotics · structuralism · psycholinguistics · language acquisition · etymology · philology · prescriptivism
style
Distinctive way of expression
figurative language · imagery · connotation · denotation · tone · register · word painting · eloquence · stylistics · colloquialism
- Greek tragedytragedy, Greek tragedy, Greek tragedies, Sophocles, Aeschylus
- rhetoricrhetoric, persuasion, oratory, argumentation, debate
- manuscriptscodex, codices, folio, folios, papyri
lexisgrammar
Language's structural rules
syntax · morphology · sentence structure · grammatical rules · word order
lexisphonology
Science of language sounds
phonetics · sound system · prosody · intonation · pronunciation
- historical lexiconDictionary of past terminology
- lexical semanticsStudy of word meaning
- lexical analysisCharacter-to-token conversion process