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In linguistics, the lexis of a language is the entire store of its lexical items. Some examples of lexical items from the English lexis are "cat", "traffic light", "take care of", "by the way" and "don't count your chickens before they hatch". The presence of multi-word lexical items in the lexis is what differentiates it from vocabulary - the collection of only single words.

Contents 1 Types of lexical items 1.1 Words 1.2 Collocations 1.3 Fixed expressions 1.4 Semi-fixed expressions 2 See also

[edit] Types of lexical items

Michael Lewis divides lexis into four types of lexical items:

1. Words
2. Collocations
3. Fixed expressions
4. Semi-fixed expressions

[edit] Words

A sound or a combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or of a combination of morphemes.

[edit] Collocations

An arrangement or juxtaposition of words or other elements, especially those that commonly co-occur, such as "rancid butter", "bosom buddy", or "dead serious".

[edit] Fixed expressions

[edit] Semi-fixed expressions

magnanimous

[edit] See also

• Lexical similarity