• ~× فضفِـض ×~

Using the example of GIVE, the lexical entry would need to contain information on:
➢word class (GIVE = a verb) to enable the word to be used in generating sentences. ➢the types of syntactic structure that are associated with the word:

This tells us that, once we choose to construct a sentence around the verb GIVE, we commit ourselves to using one of the two sentence patterns shown: give (Mary) (a present) or give (a present) to (Mary).

➢ semantic information about what we could appropriately fit into each of the NP slots. It might tell us that, in the 'NP, NP' pattern, the first NP has to be a recipient (probably animate) while the second NP is a gift (probably inanimate).

• The lemma as containing a range of meanings:
✓One word may have several linked senses. Compare different meanings of TURN in:
I turned the corner. Turn over the page. The room turned cold.

• The issue of word meaning is complicated further by the fact that most words do not refer to single objects in the real world, but represent a whole class of objects or actions:
➢It is not too difficult to explain how meaning can be attached to the expression the moon because what is involved is a one-to-one relationship. The expression refers to a single entity which forms part of our knowledge of our environment.
➢It is much less easy to explain how in everyday speech we manage to use categories such as DOG or JUMP. Where does a DOG end and a WOLF begin? What is the difference between JUMPING and LEAPING?