Lexicon En Grammatica

The distinction between lexicon and grammar has long been seen as one between loose elements and rules, between building blocks and building principles. For that reason the lexicon was considered as scientifically less interesting. In the last few years however, the idea has grown that the lexicon has to be assigned a more central role in language study and that both aspects of language are more closely related than has often been thought. Syntacticians discover that much of what has been presented as "rule" gets stuck in numerous lexical particularities. Lexicographers spend much energy in explicit descriptions of the grammatical possibilities and impossibilities of every single lexical unit (word, word meaning, idiom etc.) In the field of Applied Linguistics, whether it concerns itself with SL/FL acquisition or with SL/FL processing the lexicon is playing a role of increasing importance. This paper discusses some questions concerning the relationship between lexicon and grammar seen from these perspectives.