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A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.
Emily Dickinson, A Word
LEXICON is a puzzling term and the beginner may find it hard to approach. What is lexicon? If we use the more familiar term "vocabulary" to replace it, the puzzlement will disappear. In this sense, lexicon is the collection of all the words of a language. This is the most general meaning of the term "lexicon". Lexicon can also be understood as the analysis and creation of words. This is the technical meaning of lexicon. This chapter deals with lexicon in its second meaning. Words are the focus of the study of lexicon, so the emphasis of this chapter naturally falls upon words, i. e., the analysis and creation of words.
Words have a fascinating power. People can hardly express anything without grammar and can express nothing at all without words. This importance of words has multilevels. In the first place, words are the basic building components of language. To any language learner, words are the most accessible part of language. In the second place, the number of words of a language is relatively unlimited. They are always under constant change, experiencing the process of creation and extinction. In this sense, words best reflect the dynamic nature of language. In the third place, word is a combination of sound, meaning and grammar. It not only shows the arbitrary nature of language since the combination of the sound and meaning is not based on any motivation, but also properly represents the duality nature of language since word is the point of intersection where the level of sound ends and the level of meaning begins. It is the starting point of language creativity. So it is of vital importance for the beginner in linguistics to have a preliminary understanding of the nature of word and of the creation of word which this chapter intends to give.