PARTS OF SPEECH
The structures realizing sentence elements are composed of units which can
be referred to as parts of speech. They include:
CLOSED-SYSTEM ITEMS
These items are closed in the sense
that they cannot normally be
extended by the creation of
additional members.
Article: the, a, an
Demonstrative: this, that
Pronoun: he, she, one, anybody,
which
Preposition: of, at, in, without, off
Conjunction: that, and, when,
although
Interjection: oh, ah, ugh, phew
OPEN-CLASS ITEMS
This class of items is open in the
sense that it is indefinitely
extendable. New items can be
created at any time.
Noun: Denise, answer, chair, box
Adjective: happy, steady, round
Adverb: steadily, really, very
Verb: search, grow, chat, play
RANGE OF POSSIBILITIES FOR CLOSED-SYSTEM AND
OPEN-CLASS ITEMS:
John
George
Henry
Dennis
Fabiola
Vickie
Oscar
Viridiana
Daniel
…
may
can
will
must
should
…
…
____
sit
jump
eat
run
hurry
…
…
…
by
at
from
on
along
…
…
___
this
that
___
fountain
tree
window
blckboard
girl
path
door
…
…
Function & Content Words
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Function words (or grammatical words) are words that have little lexical
meaning or have ambiguous meaning, but instead serve to express
grammatical relationships with other words within a sentence, or specify
the attitude or mood of the speaker. Words which are not function words
are called content words (or lexical words): these include nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and most adverbs, though some adverbs are function words (e.g.
then, why). Dictionaries define the specific meanings of content words, but
can only describe the general usages of function words. By contrast,
grammars describe the use of function words in detail, but have little
interest in lexical words.
In English, only function words begin with voiced th- [ð] (see
Pronunciation of English th).
Lexical Density
This is a measure of how much information there is in a particular piece of writing.
Lexical words are perhaps more commonly known as content words or information
words. They are the words that carry information. Consider the sentences below.:(The
lexical words are in bold type) This is a measure of how much information there is in a
particular piece of writing. Lexical words are perhaps more commonly known as
content words or information words. They are the words that carry information.
Consider the sentences below.:(The lexical words are in bold type)
Halliday defines lexical density as '...a measure of the density of information in any
passage of text, according to how tightly the lexical items (content words) have been
packed into the grammatical structure. It can be measured, in English, as the number of
lexical words per clause.'
item
viddy
Part of speech
verb
Type
Open-class