• ~× فضفِـض ×~

• In English, function words usually carry weak stress, which gives the listener some help in distinguishing them auditorily from content words:
the BUNCH of FLOWERS that he BOUGHT for JANE.

Evidence from brain imaging suggests that function words may be stored and processed separately from lexical ones.

Compare the different processes that a listener goes through:
➢On encountering a function word, a listener only needs to match the word to a phonological sequence which is stored in the mind.
➢On encountering a content word, a listener not only has to find a match in the phonological store but also has to access the meaning of the word.

• What information do we need in order to be able to recognize and understand an item of vocabulary when we encounter it in speech or writing?

✓a lexical entry for a content word must provide information of two different types - it must tell us about form (phonological/orthographic information and morphological information) and about meaning (syntax and range of senses).