100 Lexical Words Examples In Linguistics

Learn about lexical words examples in linguistics.Lexical Words allows us to understand individual words and their inherent meanings, while grammatical meaning enables us to construct well-formed sentences. The term ‘lexeme’ was proposed by Lyons, to avoid complexities associated with the vague word ‘word.’ Consider these forms:

go, going, went, gone
put up with, kick the bucket, dog in the manger

How many words are there in group (a)? Four or one? There are four forms and the forms have four different meanings, but they have a shared meaning, which is lexical, and other meanings of a grammatical nature added to the lexical meaning. We say that these four forms constitute one lexeme—which, for convenience we designate as go

Group (b) presents a different sort of problem. The expression put up with combines the forms of put and up and with, but its meaning is not the combination of their separate meanings. Therefore put up with, in the sense of ‘endure,’ ‘tolerate,’ is a single lexeme. The same must be true of kick the bucket meaning ‘die’ and dog in the manger when it refers to a person who will not let others share what he has, even though he does not use it himself.

Lexical Words Examples In Linguistics.

Lexical words (also called content words) are the words that carry the main meaning or “content” of a sentence. They belong to open classes—meaning new words are constantly added to them (like selfie, googled, emoji).

In linguistics, lexical words fall into four main categories:

1. Nouns (people, places, things, ideas)

2. Verbs (actions, states of being)

3. Adjectives (descriptors)

4. Adverbs (modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs)

NOUNS (People, Places, Things, Ideas) – 40 Examples

Concrete Nouns (Physical):

1. Dog

2. Tree

3. House

4. Ocean

5. Car

6. Book

7. Chair

8. Phone

9. Coffee

10. Fire

11. Mountain

12. River

13. Window

14. Bread

15. Diamond

16. Robot

17. Virus (biological)

18. Rocket

19. Mirror

20. Flower

Abstract Nouns (Ideas/Concepts):

21. Freedom

22. Love

23. Justice

24. Happiness

25. Time

26. Culture

27. Knowledge

28. Power

29. Courage

30. Democracy

31. Intelligence

32. Chaos

33. Peace

34. Memory

35. Identity

36. Energy

37. Success

38. Failure

39. Imagination

40. Truth

VERBS (Actions & States) – 30 Examples

Action Verbs (Physical):

41. Run

42. Eat

43. Sleep

44. Write

45. Build

46. Break

47. Fly

48. Swim

49. Jump

50. Sing

51. Paint

52. Cook

53. Drive

54. Climb

55. Dig

56. Throw

57. Catch

58. Push

59. Pull

60. Kick

Abstract / Mental / State Verbs:

61. Think

62. Believe

63. Know

64. Understand

65. Love

66. Hate

67. Want

68. Need

69. Remember

70. Imagine

71. Decide

72. Prefer

73. Doubt

74. Realize

75. Consider

ADJECTIVES (Descriptors) – 20 Examples

Physical Qualities:

76. Big

77. Small

78. Hot

79. Cold

80. Bright

81. Dark

82. Heavy

83. Light (weight)

84. Fast

85. Slow

86. Smooth

87. Rough

88. Sharp

89. Dull

90. Loud

91. Quiet

Abstract / Emotional / Evaluative:

92. Happy

93. Sad

94. Angry

95. Brave

96. Clever

97. Kind

98. Cruel

99. Beautiful

100. Ugly

ADVERBS (Modify Verbs/Adjectives) – Bonus Examples to Reach 100+

Since I gave you exactly 100 above, here are 10 extra adverbs (which are also lexical words) to show their inclusion:

101. Quickly

102. Slowly

103. Loudly

104. Quietly

105. Beautifully

106. Carefully

107. Badly

108. Well

109. Very (modifies adjectives: very big)

110. Quite (modifies adjectives: quite hot)

111. They are “open class”: You can easily invent a new noun (a “floop”), verb (to “meme”), or adjective (“goopy”), and English speakers will understand it. You cannot invent a new function word (try inventing a new article like “tho”—it won’t work).

112. They carry primary stress: In spoken English, lexical words are stressed (pronounced louder/longer), while function words are reduced. Say “The DOG CHASED the BALL”—the bolded words are your lexical words.

113. They can be polysemous! Notice how many of these 100 words are also perfect examples of polysemy from your previous question:

     • Run (#41) = to jog / to manage / to flow.

     • Bright (#80) = full of light / intelligent / vivid color.

     • Head (not on this list, but a noun) = body part / leader / top.

     • Paper (not listed) = material / essay / newspaper.

114. They form the core of sentences: If you removed every lexical word from a sentence, you’d have gibberish. Example: “The ______ _____ed the _____” (function words only). But if you remove function words, you can still understand: “Dog chased cat” (all lexical words).