ABSTRACT
There can be many different approaches to the study of the lexicon. It would seem to me, however, that ultimately the value of these approaches must be demonstrated not in abstract discussions but in empirical investigations. It is true, of course, that large-scale empirical investigations cannot be undertaken without some initial methodological assumptions. But the value of such assumptions must prove itself in the fruit they bear in the actual description of linguistic facts. There would seem to be little point in debating, decade after decade, the perennial question of which approaches to lexical analysis are the most “promising.” To my mind, at some point we have to simply look at the results.
