Professional Documents
Culture Documents
- phonology
3 main branches - grammar
- lexis (vocabulary)
Lexicology
(Greek: = lexis (meaning) + logos (science, learning)
= science/study of the word)
A. TASK:
Study & systematic description of vocabulary of a given
language
B. SUBJECT MATTER:
The word, its structure, meaning & history
C. SUBJECT MATTER:
The word, its structure, meaning & history
5 branches of lexicology:
1. word structure & formation:
structure of the word & the way it is formed
2. semasiology/semantics:
(lexical) meaning of word: types, change &
development
3. phraseology:
set/fixed expression (idioms, proverbs)
4. etymology:
history, origin of words
(whether words are native or borrowed)
5. lexicography:
dictionary compiling (types of dictionary, selection &
arrangement of words)
D. Approaches of lexicology
General lexicology:
treat vocabulary in general
Special lexicology:
treat the vocabulary of a given
language
Historical lexicology:
discusses the vocabulary in diachronic aspect
Descriptive lexicology:
studies the vocabulary in synchronic aspect
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II. SIGNIFICANCE OF LEXICOLOGY
In foreign language teaching
build up student's vocabulary (select, group,
analyze new words)
distinguish between different styles of speech
express more ideas within a limited vocabulary
develop skills of using types of dictionaries
test student's knowledge of vocabulary
provide a better insight into various cultural
aspects of target language
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III. LEXICOLOGY IN ITS RELATION TO
PHONOLOGY, GRAMMAR & STYLISTICS
Contribution to lexicology from:
Phonology:
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b. The derivational morpheme (lexico-grammatical morpheme)
carrying both lexical and grammatical meaning.
used to create new words
studied in lexicology
E.g. pre in prewar ; re in rearrange ; ness in happiness ;
ly in fatherly
Derivational paradigm :
the system of derivational forms characteristic of a word
E.g. fatherless, fatherhood, fatherly
care, careful, careless, carefully
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THE DIVISION OF ENGLISH MORPHEMES
MORPHEME
ROOT AFFIXATIONAL
Free bound
inflectional derivational
prefix suffix
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2. The word
2.1. Definition:
a dialectical unity of form and content,
itself
2.2.The types of the words:
a. Simple word : only consists of a root morpheme
E.g. man, land, small, table, etc.
b. Derived word: consists of a root with one or more
derivational morphemes: nationalize
E.g. hope+ful+ly read+able
R+de.Af+de.Af R+de.Af
c. Compound word: R+R (+ n de.Af)
has at least two roots, with or without derivational
morphemes.
E.g. noticeboard, lady killer, walkman, notebook 11
Division of English words
WORD
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B. WORD FORMATION
I. Definition:
process of building new words from the already existing word
according to a certain structural and semantic patterns and
formulas
II. Affixation:
formation of new words with the help of affixes (prefix/suffix)
II.1. Prefixation
1. Characteristic features
prefixes rarely form new parts of speech
wastepaper basket
determinant (dependent) determinatum (head)
, statesman, honeymoon
2.Criteria of compound words :
2.1. Phonological criterion :
- a heavy stress on the first element, especially most of
compound nouns.
E.g. 'PICKpocket, 'BLACKboard, 'FILMstar
- compound words which have double stress
E.g. 'good 'egg, 'happy - go - 'lucky
2.2. Inseparability criterion
- insertion of a word is impossible
E.g. homemade, honeymoon, house keeper
- sometimes, elements of a compound are separated in
some cases
E.g. Both cigar and cigarette smokers have to spend a
lot
2.3. Semantic criterion
- single idea : A + B = S
E.g. make - up, brother - in - law, up - to - date
- The meaning of the whole compound word is not the
sum of the meanings of its components
E.g. green -grocer (a person selling vegetables),
honeymoon (vacation after wedding ceremony) , breakdown (a
stoppage through accident)
2.4. Graphic/ spelling criterion
if X: spelt with a hyphen or with no separation
then X: a compound.
E.g. notebook , fountainpen, take - in , teach - in
old age (not compound) old - age pensioner
(compound
3. Semi - affixes
- have generalized lexical meaning and great ability to
be combined with a great number of roots.
E.g. half in half - done, half - broken, half - eaten
well in well - fed, well - done, well - prepared
man in postman, chairman, cabman
- lose their grammatical independence, even their
meaning
- often used in combinations.
4. Classification of compound words :
4.1.Classification according to meaning:
+ Non - idiomatic compounds (Motivated): meanings
easily deduced from the meaning of the components
E.g. bookshelf, salesgirl, handshake, table - cloth
+ Idiomatic compounds (Non-motivated): no relationship
between the meanings of the component;
meanings cannot be deduced
E.g. eye -wash (something said or done to deceive a
person)
fiddlesticks (nonsense, rubbish)
4.2. Classification according to componental relationships
+ Coordinate compounds :
components: both structurally and semantically independent
E.g. girl friend, Anglo - Saxon, oak - tree
+ Subordinate compounds :
domination of one component (structural center) over the other
(dependent).
E.g. book keeper, baby sitter, wrist - watch, road building
4.3. Classification according to the part of speech :
+ Compound nouns : sitting room, blackboard
+ Compound adjectives: hot tempered, age - long
+ Compound verbs : to handwash, to baby-sit
+ Compound adverbs: whole heatedly, self -confidently
+ Compound prepositions : into, onto, inside
4.4. Classification according to compositional types :
+ Compounds formed by juxtaposition (i.e. without
connecting elements)
E.g. queen-bee, heart-broken, daytime
+ Compounds formed by morphological means (i.e. with vowel
or consonant as a linking element)
E.g. speedometer, statesman, bridesmaid
+ Compounds formed by syntactical means (i.e. group
of words condensed into one word)
E.g. merry - go - round, up - to - date
+ Compounds formed by both by morphological and
syntactical means (i.e. phrases turned into compounds by
means of suffixes and hyphen) :
E.g. bottle -opener, heart - shaped, long - legged
5. Miscellanea of compounds :
+ Derivational compounds
structural integrity is ensured by a suffix
E.g. two - sided, broad - mended, honeymooner, pen -
holder
+ Reduplicative compounds :
imitating sounds or repeating one of their components
E.g. goody - goody , fifty - fifty, hush - hush, zig - zag ,
chit - chat
+ Faded compounds :
compositional characteristic: "faded" & hardly
recognizable .
E.g. breakfast, cupboard, highway, Sunday, boatswain
+ Dead compounds :
compositional characteristics: etymologically analysed &
discovered
E.g. husband , kidnap
SHORTENING
1. Characteristic features
- highly productive, specifically in colloquial speech and
advertisement
- a good way of creating roots : can take endings.
E.g. examination exam, laboratory lab,
television TV, refrigerator fridge
2. Types of shortening :
2.1 Acronyms : built from the initial letters of several
words
E.g. S.O.S : Save Our Souls
BBC : British Broadcasting Corporation
UNO : United Nations Organizations
MP : Member of Parliament
Two special cases of acronyms :
+ Monograms :
- two or more letters combined in one design
- used in handkerchief, note - paper or in wedding invitation
cards
N
+ Homonymy :
based on the use of identical sounds of words letters
E.g. U2 = ?, mobi 4Y = ?
I. O .U = ?
2.2. Clipping :
- shortening a word of two or more syllables (usually N and A)
+ Initial clipping : the first part of a word is clipped :
E.g. telephone phone, helicopter copter
+ Final clipping : the last part of a word is clipped :
E.g. Advertisement ad , microphone mike
+ Initio - final clipping : the first and the last part are clipped
E.g. influenza flu , detective tec
+ Elliptico - conversional clipping (phrasal clipping) : E.g.
music
ular
popA
popN
perm (from permanent ware), taxicab (from taxi meter - cab)
3. Blending :
parts of words merge into one new word.
E.g. breakfast and lunch
br + unch
sm + og
trans + istor
CONVERSION ZERO DERIVATION
XA + XB (A & B: different parts of speech)
1. Definition
new word formed in a different part of speech without adding
any element.
E.g. workN to workV , loveN to loveV , waterN to waterV
2. Characteristic features :
- The difference between words in each pair is :
+ Morphological : new paradigm
E.g. work - worked - working
+ Syntactic : new function
E.g. He worked very hard
+ Semantic : completely new meaning
E.g. act : a scene in a play
to act : to do something
- the most productive way of creating new words
3. Forms of conversion :
a. Traditional conversion :
commonly and traditionally used by the public, recorded
in dictionaries
b. Occasional conversion :
- individual use of conversion in special situation, occasions,
- to express one's idea vividly, humorously.
E.g. package - to package, wireless - to wireless,
holiday - to holiday
c. Partial conversion: verb + noun
in verbal phrases like : "have, take, make + N"
E.g. dance to have a dance,
progress to make progress
d. Substantiation : Adjective + Noun
E.g. deaf the deaf ; rich the rich
poor the poor ; old the old
Back derivation/back formation : XA - Af X'B
1. Definition :
subtracting a real or supposed affix from existing words.
E.g. baby - sitter - er (Af) to baby sit
beggar - gar (Af) to beg
2. Characteristic features
- an opposite process to affixation :
- fairly productive in building compound verbs from
compound nouns
E.g. to tape record (from tape recorder), to air condition (from
air - conditioner)
SOUND IMITATION (ONNOMATOPOEIA)
1 Definition : (phonetical motivation)
imitating sounds produced by actions, things and so on.
2 Classification :
Word showing showing showing showing showing showing
used animals actions actions noise of forceful move
for themsel made by by man metallic motion ment of
ves animals things water
E.g. the crow to moo, babble clink, clash, flush,
(from to mew, chatter tinkle crash, splash,
crow), to purr, giggle, whack, babble
the to roar, grunt, whip,
cuckoo to howl, grumble whisk.
(from to neigh murmur
cuckoo)
ABLAUT & STRESS SHIFT- SOUND AND
STRESS INTERCHANGE
1. Sound interchange go – went suppletion
changing the root vowel or consonant form the old word.
E.g. song to sing
/ s ŋ / /s I ŋ /
breath breathe
/ bre / / bri: /
2. Stress interchange
building the place of the stress on the old one.
E.g. present to present
/’preznt/ / pri’zent ,
accent to accent
/ ‘ksent/ / ‘sent /
SEMASIOLOGY /SEMANTICS
1. Types of meaning:
1.1. Lexical meaning :
- usually associated with real-world referents (e.g. entities,
situations)
1.2. Grammatical meaning :
- unites words with different lexical meanings into groups with
their own grammatical features (with the presence of
categorical markers).
E.g. book, chair, boy, house : nouns
red, good-looking, tired, talkative : adjectives
1.3. Notional Words & Function words:
- notional words (whose lexical meaning is clear) name objects,
actions, qualities, etc.
- functional words (whose prevailing meaning is grammatical),
e.g. particles, articles, prepositions, etc.
2. The components of lexical meaning :
2.1. The denotational meaning (denotation)
- indicates or points out things, concepts, etc which is called
referent & sense.
E.g. wind - a phenomenon of nature
a child - a young person from birth to the age full physical
development, a table - an object
significative denotation (sense): concept,
abstract idea, e.g. love, happiness
Denotation
demonstrative denotation (referent):
individual object, e.g. a table, that cat
2.2) The connotational meaning (connotation)
- shows us how things, concepts, etc are indicated. It conveys
the speaker's attitude, emotions and so on.
E.g. - die, pass away, go to the west
- child, kid
- father, dad, daddy
Connotation ingredients
Semantic emotive evaluation intensity stylistic
shades charge colouring
E.g. slang :
like, love, magnificent governor
magic,
worship, gorgeous, (father) ;
witchcraft,
large, big, splendid, bookish :
sorcery
tremendous superb anticipate
(to expect)
3. The types of lexical meaning
denotes indirectly
directly
something
Mophologic
Phonetic motivation Semantic motivation
motivation
STANDARD NON-STANDARD
General Special
4. ClichÐs:
quotation or saying so frequently used to become hackened
and stale, e.g.
stand shoulder to shoulder with...,
pave the way to a bright new world
IV. Set expressions vs compound words
Criteria to distinguish set expressions from compound
words:
- The divisibility of a set expression into separately structural
elements
- The structural integrity of a compound
- Derivational ability
- The spelling of some compounds: solid and hyphenated
ETYMOLOGY
I. Basic assumptions on English vocabulary:
- Mixed character
- 2 main layers of English vocabulary:
1. Native words: Anglo-Saxon origin: 30%
2. Borrowed words: completely or partially assimilated: 70%
- sound-form borrowings
- semantic borrowings (English origin - foreign related
meaning),
e.g. red (revolutionary due to influence of French word
rouge)
- translation loans (material available in English -
patterns of other languages),
e.g. wall newspaper: a literal translation loan from Russian
- source vs origin: paper (borrowed from French but
originated: Greek)
II. Assimilation of borrowings:
The confirmation to the phonetical, graphical, grammatical
and lexical rules of the receiving language
According to degree of motivation: 2 groups
1. Completely assimilated words:
- old borrowings, frequent and stylistically neutral
E.g. cheese, wine, street (Latin)
husband, fellow, happy (Scandinavian)
table, face, finish (French)
2. Partially assimilated words:
2.1. Semantically non-assimilated words:
-denote objects, notions peculiar to the original country,
e.g. kimono, sheik
2.2. Grammatically non-assimilated words:
- keep their original plural forms, e.g. crisis --- crises,
index --- indices
2.3. Phonetically partially assimilated words:
- stress on the final syllable, e.g. police, cartoon,
machine, prestige
- alien sounds, e.g. bourgeois, regime, memoir
- whole different pattern, e.g. potato, opera, tomato,
confetti
2.4. Graphically partially assimilated words
E.g. cafÐ, clichÐ, fiancÐ, corps, ballet
III. Barbarisms (unassimilated borrowings)
completely non-assimilated borrowed words in both oral and
written forms
E.g. coup d' Ðtat
IV. Etymological doublets
Two or more words of the same language derived by different
routes from the same basic word, e.g. canal --- channel;
hospital --- hotel (Latin - French doublets)
V. International words:
- have identity or similar sound forms and meaning
- used in many languages
- the majority in scientific terms, e.g. atomic, antibiotic,
phenomenon...
VI. Causes in borrowings
1. Non-linguistic cause:
contact between Britain and other countries through
business, invasions, conquests...
2. Linguistic causes:
The necessity to name new things, ideas, notions...
-to replace group of words by a single word, e.g. campus
- to enrich the expressive means of English
LEXICOGRAPHY
I. Types of English dictionaries
1. General dictionaries:
+ Explanatory/ uni-lingual dic.
focus on form, usage and meaning of words
- treating words synchronically,
e.g. Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English
- treating words diachronically,
e.g. Webster New International Dictionary
+ Bilingual / Translation dic.
contain vocabulary items in one language and their
equivalents in another language
+ Learner's dictionary
e.g. Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English
by A.S. Hornby (etal)
2. Specialized dictionaries:
aim at covering a certain specific part of the vocabulary
(synonyms, antonyms, terms, phraseology, pronunciation,
etymology...)
Dictionary of Scientific
- Technical & Technical Terms NXB KH & KT
dictionary
NTC’s -English Idioms Dictionary
Phraseological dictionaryRichard A. Spears NTC
English- Pronouncing Dictionary
dictionary Daniel Jones CUP
- Etymological
Electronic dictionary
Dictionary Online Yahoo.com
- Usage
Language dictionary
Activator Longman
- Dictionary of word frequency
- Dictionary of collocations
Webster’s NewWorld
- Dictionary Thesaurus Charlton Laird Prentice Hall Press
of synonyms
The Oxford Dictionary
- Dictionary of Abbreviations Oxford
of Abbreviations
Dictionary of Proverbs
- Dictionary Rosalind Fergusson The Penguin
of Proverbs
Dictionary of American
- Dictionary Slang Robert L. Chapman Perennial Lib.
of Slang