The term ‘word’ is part of everyone’s vocabulary. We all think we
understand what words are. What’s more, we are right to think this, at
some level. In this book I will not suggest that our ordinary notion of the
word needs to be replaced with something radically different. Rather, I
want to show how our ordinary notion can be made more precise. This
will involve teasing apart the bundle of ingredients that go to make up
the notion, showing how these ingredients interact, and introducing
ways of talking about each one separately. After reading this book, you
will still go on using the term ‘word’ in talking about language, both in
everyday conversation and in more formal contexts, such as literary
criticism or English language study; but I hope that, in these more formal
contexts, you will talk about words more confidently, knowing exactly
which ingredients of the notion you have in mind at any one time, and
able where necessary to use appropriate terminology in order to make
your meaning absolutely clear.