1. The word as the basic unit of the language. The size-of-unit and identity-of-unit problems.

Lex studies the word of the vocabulary of the language. The term lex comes from Greek. “lexic” means
“word” and “logos” means the study of. The word studies from different points of view. EG: It was a very
good ball. (the exam. shows that without the context we can give two translations and it touches upon
semantics.) EG: The temp. (-orary)(сокращение) – название фильма “Временная секретарша» (this
example touches upon the problem of word-building. This word is a shortening.) EG: Crackerjack (this
example touches upon of the problem of stylistic classification of the eng. vocabulary. this word are
explained in the dictionary of slang as a person who is remarkable, perfect).
This examples show that the word is a unity of meaning and form.
In speech a word is realized in one of its meanings and in a certain wordform. All the forms of the word
make up its paradigm. EG: to take: takes, took, taken, taking (парадигмы).
there are several problems connected with the word.
The side-of-unit problem (проблема проведения границ между словом и словосочетанием.)
EG: 1.) shipwrecks (кораблекрушение) 2.) the wrecks of the ships (крушение корабля) a) wrecks b) ships
c) wrecks/ships
The size of unit problem makes us investigate the size of the border line between a word and a word
combination in speech N1 is a word, N2 is a word combination. To prove that we have to use the criterion of
single and separate grammatical framing. N1 and N2 are different in the grammatical framing. In N1 it is
single framing. In N2 it is separate framing, it can be formed in 3 times: a, b, c.
Besides that we can insert one or separate word in a word combination. EG: The wreck of a big ship (this is
an additional criterion and it shows the unit of the word, because we can’t insert any element between the
parts of the word.
The identify-of-unit problem (проблема поиска границ между значениями одного и того же слова
и словами совпадающими по значению)
EG: Of all the saws I ever saw saw I never saw a saw saw as that saw saws (сколько я не видел как пилят
пилы, я никогда не видел, чтобы пила пилила так, как пилит эта пила) если у слова формы различны
то и слова разные. The problem is: how many words that sounds alike are there? There are three words in
our exam., there are: saw-пила (it used 3 times) saw-пилить (3 times) saw-видеть(P.Simple.2t). To prove
that there are 3 different words we have to analyze form of word. These form words are different, so the
words are different. 1) saw-пила (noun) has two forms: that is of the sing. and plur. This paradigm is typical
of the English noun.
2) saw-пилить (verb). It has different form: saws (3л., ед.ч.), sawed, sawing 3) saw-видел (verb) It is
already a word form of a different word “to see”
The second part of the problem is semantic, it deals with meaning. We have to find out if we are dealing with
the meaning of one the same word or with different words (homonyms) EG:1.1)It was a very good ball. It
was red. 1.2) It was a very good ball. I danced till 3 in the morning. (<омонимы) 2.1) His hands are large.
2.2) He has season hands on his farm.
The problem is: are the words “ball” and “ball”, “hands” and “hands” one of the same word or the diff. word.
In the first case: “ball” and “ball” are homonyms. There is no semantic link between them. In the second case
“hands” and “hands” are variants one of the same word. There is a semantic link between them (season
workers use hands in their work). Such variants of words are called lexica-semantic variants. (лексико-
семантическое значение слова)
Besides there are phonetic, grammatical and derivational (словообразование) variants of the words. EG:
often, often, historic-historical.
So, the identify of unit problem is the problem of finding the border line between the usages the one and the
same word and diff. words, which are called homonyms.
2. The concept of the morpheme. Lexical and grammatical morphemes. The two aspects of the word
analysis: on the morphemic and derivational levels.
The morpheme is the smallest indivisible meaningful language unit. It’s different from the word as it
can’t function in a sentence alone. It’s always a part of the word, where it combines with other
morphemes.
Let’s compare the examples: 1) heart-heartless (слово) 2) hearty-ier-iest (формы)
In first example a new word is formed. In the second – new forms the word are formed. These
morphemes, which make up new words are called lexical morphemes. In the second example the
morphemes are grammatical. They are not studing in the lexicology. The lexical morphemes may be
roots and affixational (affixes morphemes)
Root morphemes are the semantic centre of the word. As for affixes, they can be prefixes and suffixes.
Prefixes stand in front of the root. Suffixes follow the root.
Morphemes can be free and bound. Root morphemes are free. They coincide with independent words,
and can function in the sentence by themselves. EG: boyish (boy можно употреблять отдельно)
Affixes are bound morphemes. They can’t function in the sentence alone. But: ladd|like, eat|able.(there
are exist semi-sufficsis. –like,–able can be both suffices and independent words.)
The two aspects of the word analysis: on the morphemic and derivational levels.
The morphemic structure of the word may be studied on 2 levels: morphemic and derivational. The main
unit of the morphemic level is morpheme. While analyzing we want to know how many morphemes
there are in the word and what these morphemes are. EG: in the word “eatable” there are two
morphemes: eat is the root, able is a suffix. Root is a free. And “-able”, which is a semi-suffix is semi-
free. The main unit of the derivational level is the stem. It is that part of the word, to which grammatical
flexions are added EG: government – Governments suffix –ment основообразующий.
While analyzing on this level we want to know how the word was built. EG: the word “eatable” is
formed by adding the suffix –able to the root of the word. According to the morphological structure of
the word, all words (stems) may be devited into the following groups.
1.) simple (root) words. a hat, a boy. 2.) derived (производные) words (derivatives). They include root
and affixal morphemes.: ladylike, eatable, sunny. 3.) compound (сложные) words. they have two or
more stems. EG: snow-fall, girlfriend. 4.) Compound derivatives (сложнопроизводные). They have two
or more stems in their structure and derivational affixes. EG: film-goer 5.) Contracted compounds
(сложносокращенные) In such words one of the stems is shortened. EG: TV-set
So, on the derivational level we are interested in word building pattern (словообр. модель)
3. Affixation. Classification of affixes. Productivity of affixes.
1.) Affixation is the formation of words by adding derivational affixes to the root (stem). Prefixes, as a rule,
change only the meaning of the word, the part of speech of a new word remains the same. EG: lucky-unlucky
(оба прил.)
With suffixation a new word belongs to a new part of speech. EG: luck-lucky (сущ.-прил.)
Affixes are more abstract than the root morphemes. EG: to drive-driver. er-suffix shows the agent of the
action, but we do not know, which exactly action is meant.
2.) Derivation affixes are divided according to the following principle: 1.) Etymological 2.) Lexical-
grammatical 3.) Semantically.
According to the first one, affixes are divided into native and borrowed
It a word consist of a native and a borrow morpheme it is called a hybrid. (лексич. гибрид) EG: beauty|ful –
исконная часть (суффикс) заимств. (корень) eat|able – наоборот
According to the second principle, affixes can be noun-forming, verb-forming and so on. EG: sun-sunny.
According the third principal every affix has its own lexical meaning. EG: Everybody took part in the
decoration of the hall. 2) The decoration of the hall was beautiful. the meaning of the first one is process. The
second is result. Productivity of affix.
Word building means do not remain the same in the historical development of the language.
Some of them are productive now and some are not.
Productivity is the ability of the affixes to form new words at a certain period. EG: -er, -tion, -re – productive
affixes. –dom, -hood – non productive
There are dead affixes, which are no longer felt in the word. EG: answer
Productivity should not be missed up with frequency (частность) of usage. EG: soften –en – productive,
now it’s non-productive.
4. Conversion: different points of view. Semantic change accompanying the instances of conversion. The
synchronic and diachronic aspects of conversion.
A.) EG: 1.) hand-handful 1.) hand – (to) hand – конверсия, нулевое словообразование. hands(plur.)-
hands(3лицо), handed (past), handing (причастие) – морфологический подход для различия слов.
In both the examples new words are formed. In the first example-by affixation, in the second-by zero-
derivation or conversion.
Conversion is very productive in English. It’s a specific type of word building, where the word building
means is the paradigm of the word itself. In the words hand(n) – hand(v) the paradigms are different. So we
have a case of verb-formation, typical in the English language N>V
This approach (подход) was worked out by professor Смерницкий. It’s a morphological way of forming
new words. There is another approach worked out by professor Arnold (женщ.). She tracts conversion as a
morphology-syntactical type of word building. EG: If one were lucky, he had a good buy. Смотрим на
синтакс. связь. Есть артикль, прилагательное (опред. сущ-ое) => это сущ. дополнение.
The word “buy” is a noun, formed by conversion, and the prove is found in the syntactic-function and the
syntactic connection of the word. It’s function in the sentence is that of a direct object. Besides it has a
descriptive attribute “good” and the indefinite article “a”. All that is typical of the English noun.
B.) Cases of conversion are accompanied by semantic change.
Let’s analyze the ”N>V” formation, which is typical of English.
EG: nose-to nose, elbow-to elbow, hammer-to hammer. The noun is the name of a tool and the verb is the
name of an action, which is performed by this tool.
EG: dog-to dog (следовать по пятам), monkey-to monkey (передразнивать, словесно), ape-to ape
(передразнивать, кривляться). The noun is the name of an animal and the verb denotes behavior typical of
this animal. (антруш. 91-93)
С.) Синхронический - связанный с одним периодом времени.
Диахронический – идущий вниз к истории
love-to love др.англ. lufu(n)-lufian(v) – окончание стали ослабевать, произошло отпадение окончание,
озвончение звука – совпали формы love-to love – этимологические омонимы
One of the problems connected with conversion is the problem of the original word. It’s not easy to state,
which of the pair is the original word, and which of the pair is the original word, and which was made by
conversion.
If we look at the pair synchronically it does not differ from the example (hand-to hand). That is the noun is
the original word. Diachronically these words are not linked by conversion. The identify of their form is the
result of the historical development.
In old English they had two words: lufu(n)-lufian(v) later due to the dropping of the ending and other
processes we have two homonyms today. They are called historical or etymological homonyms.
So, conversion is very productive in English, because it’s analytical character. Root word, which are typical
of its structure easily enter semantic relations in conversion pairs.
5. Composition. Structural classification.
Composition is the making of a new word by joining two or more stems together.
Structurally these words are classified into the following groups:
1.) простые сложные слова. neutral compounds, where the stems are joined together, without any linking
element. EG: shop-window, badroom.
2.) морфологические слож. слова. morphological compounds, in which the stems are joined by a vowel or
a consonant. EG: Anglo-Saxon, statesman, bridesmaid
3.) Синтаксич. слож. слова или компрессивы или телескопные. Synthetic compounds, in which stems are
joined by a prepositions or by some other form-word. The formal sign is a hyphen. EG: mother-in-law, good-
for-northing.
4.) Сложнопроизводные слова. Derivational compounds, in which the stems have affixes in their stems.
EG: film-goer, blue-eyed.
5.) Сложносокращ. слова. Contracted compounds, in which one of the stems is shortened. EG: TV-set,
sitcom.
6. Semantic aspect of compound words. Unstable compounds.
Semantically compounds are divided into idiomatic and non-idiomatic.
Non-idiomatic compounds are the words in which the meaning of the whole is the sum of the meanings of
components. EG: classroom, writing-table, bedroom.
Idiomatic compounds are those in which the meaning is changes or transferred EG: blackbird-(дрозд),
tallboy-комод
The degree of transparence of meaning may be different. There are idiomatic compounds in which only one
of the components has change its meaning. The meaning of the whole can be guessed. EG: blackbird,
cranberry (we guess it’s a kind of a berry)
Side by side there are idiomatic compounds with a global change of meaning. The meaning of the word can
not be guessed or understood from the meanings of the components. EG: tallboy, a wall flower (n)-девушка
которую не пригласили танцевать.
So the difference between non-idiomatic and idiomatic compounds is based on the degree of the semantic
cohesion of its elements.
In the word “tallboy” this degree of cohesion is the strongest. It doesn’t exist all together in the word like
“bedroom”, “classroom”
“Stone wall” problem
The problem is: “Is the “stone wall” a compound or a word combination. The answer depends on how we
treat the first component. If we understand it as a noun stem then it is a compound. If the first component is
an adjective it’s a word combination. The generally accept point of view is that “stone wall” is a specific
type of compound, so called unstable compound. \
There are several criteria which help us distinguish between a compound and a word combination:
1.) Semantic criterion. A compound denotes one notion a word combination, denotes two or several or more
notions. EG speech sound – it’s a sound of phoneme (1 notion), a difficult sound (2 notion)
2.) Phonetic criterion – in a compound there is one stress, in a word combination there are two stresses.
EG: ,black’board, ‘blackboard.
3.) Morphological criterion – a compound has single grammatical framig a word combination doesn’t have
such a quality. EG: a spring day-spring days.
4.) Syntactical criterion. We can always enlarge a word combination by inserting a word. EG: a tall boy- a
tall handsome boy, stone and concrete wall.
7. Shortening and minor types of modem English word-building.
Shortening is a process of the substituting a part for a whole. There are different types of shortened words. In
clippings one of the parts of the word is cut off EG: phone (from telephone)-the begging of the word is
shortened. Food Mart (from Market)-the middle of the word is shortened. Ed(itor)-редактор – the end of
word is shortened.
There are abbreviations which consists of the initial letters of words. EG: NATO, MP-member of parliament.
Some time abbreviation are read as words. NATO, VIP.
Shortened words of different kinds are often met in newspaper styles.
1.) продуктивное словообразование
2.) непродуктивное словообразование
1.) Blanding (стяжение) – the process of making words from parts (not morphemes) of other words. EG:
brunch (breakfast+lunch) at 12, smog (smoke+fog)
2.) Stress and sond interchange – it is a way of making words by changing the phonetic shape of the root. It
was produced in old English and now it is not produced at all. EG (n)full-fill(v), (n)blood-bleed(v), to speak-
speech, to pre’sent-‘present, ‘condact-to con’duct.
8. The etymological structure of the English vocabulary: its mixed character.
The term “etymology” comes from Greek and it means the study of the earlist forms of the word. Now
etymology studies both: the form and the meaning of borrowed and native words. In every modern language
there are native and borrowed words. It is quite natural and logical because contacts between people, and
peoples are lead to the process of borrowing. As for English language many scientist consider the foreign
influence to be the most important factor in the development of the Eng. language. There are more borrowed
words in English than in any other European language. So we speak of the mixed character of the English
vocabulary. It contains the native element and the borrowed elements. The native element includes Indo-
European, Germanic element and English proper element. boy, girl, lord, lady – proper English word.
9. Words of native origin and the role they play in the English vocabulary.
By the native element we mean words which were not borrowed from other languages. The number of native
words is rather small, about 25%-30%. About 70% of words are borrowed. This fact gave ground to the
assumption that English is not a Germanic language, but a Romenic-Germanic language.
Today the accepted point of view is that Eng. is a Germanic language and the mixed character of its
vocabulary is one of its main features. It can be proved by the fact that in speech the correlation between
native and borrow words is different. It was found out that in the works of English classics about 80% of
words are native. (prepositions, modal and auxiliary verbs, a great many irregular verbs, some nouns and
adjectives denoting everyday notions). The native element include Indo-European, Germanic and English
proper words. Indo-European words have cognates in other I-E languages. EG: English words of this group
denote elementary concepts without which no human communication would be possible. day, night, mother,
father, son, daughter.
Germanic words have cognates in modern Germanic languages. EG: They denote parts of human body:
hand, head, arm, bone. Animals: fox, bear.
English proper words don’t have any cognates in other languages: lord, lady, boy, girl.
10. The concepts of "borrowing", "source of borrowing", "origin of borrowing". Special types of borrowings:
translation-loans, doublets, international words.
The term “borrowing” may mean the process of borrowing and the result of the process-the word itself. The
term source of borrowing means the language which from the word was taking into English. EG: delicious
was taken from French so, French is the source of borrowing.
The term origin of borrowing denotes the language to ehich the word may be traced. EG: the word “school is
a Latin borrowing. (It comes from Latin) of greek origin. It means that to Latin (it) came from Greek. “to
adore” came from French. There are different reasons for borrowing words, linguistic and extro-lingustic
(historic) reason. Historic reasons include wars and conquest and peaceful contacts as well. The main
linguistic reason are the following: 1.) a gap in vocabulary. EG: potato, tomato were borrowed from Spanish,
when these vegetables were brought to the British island. So, the word were borrowed together with notions
which they denoted. 2.) To present the same notion in a new aspect, from a different point of view. EG: The
French word “to adore” was added to native words “to like” and “to love”, to denote the strongest degree of
the process.
This type of borrowing enlarge groups of synonyms. Заимствование: а) время б) историч. справка в)
классиф.
The classification of English borrowings includes more than ten groups. The main groups of borrowing are:
- the three layers of dating borrowing
- borrowings from French
- borrowing from Scandinavian (антруш стр. 44-49)
Translation-loan(s) (калька) – are borrowings which are made up by means of literally translating words
and word combinations. EG: from the Russian language: пятилетка – five-year plan. from German:
Wunderkind – wonder child. from Italian: prima ballerina – first dancer.
Doublets are words which have the same origin but they are different in phonetic shape and in meaning.
Doublets appeared in English in different ways.
1.) One of the pair may be a native word and the other a borrowed one. EG: the word “shirt” is a native one.
“skirt” was borrowed from Scandinavian. (одежда)
2.) Both the words are borrowed, but from different languages. EG: senior (from Latin) sir (from French)
3.) Both the words are borrowed from one of the same language, but at different period of time. EG: cavalry
(Normandy French) – кавалерия. Chivalry (Parisian Language) – рыцарство (ch-показывает о более
позднем происхождение)
4.) Shortening may bring to life etymological doublets. EG: history and story, defense and fance.
International words are the words, which borrowed by several language, among international words are
names of sciences (phonetic, physics, political terms, sports, name of fruits, foods)
11. The three layers of Latin borrowings and their characteristic features.
12. Words of French origin in the English vocabulary and their characteristic features.
With the famous Battle of Hastings, when the English were defeated by the Normans under William the
Conqueror, we come to the eventful epoch of the Norman Conquest. The epoch can well be called eventful
not only in national, social, political and human terms, but also in linguistic terms. England became a bi-
lingual country, and the impact on the English vocabulary made over this two-hundred-years period is
immense: French words from the Norman dialect penetrated every aspect of social life. Here is a very brief
list of examples of Norman French borrowings.
Administrative words: state, government, parliament, council, power.
Legal terms: court, judge, justice, crime, prison.
Military terms: army, war, soldier, officer, battle, enemy.
Educational terms: pupil, lesson, library, science, pen, pencil.
Everyday life was not unaffected by the powerful influence of French words. Numerous terms of everyday
life were also borrowed from French in this period: e. g. table, plate, saucer, dinner, supper, river, autumn,
uncle, etc.
13. Assimilation of borrowed words.
1.) dinner, cup (1 в. до н.э.)
2.) government, distance (12-13 в.)
These two groups of words are borrowed words. The first group have undergone the process of assimilation.
Borrowed words don’t remain the same in the language. They get assimilated in the language. The degree of
assimilation depends on the time of borrowing. The words of the first group are Latin borrowings of the first
century. They are completely assimilated in the language. They are the borrowings of the earlier period. The
word of the second group are partially assimilated in the language. They are the borrowings of the later
period.
Borrowed words get assimilated in 3 main fields: phonetic, grammatic and semantic. The degree of phonetic
assimilation is best shown by comparing Norman French and Parisian French borrowings. N.F. words don’t
look as French as a rule, they are often completely assimilated. As for P.F. borrowings they are partially
assimilated. EG: ballet
Grammatic assimilation consists in a complete change of the paradigm of the borrowed word. EG: delicious
– more delicious – the most delicious (образ. степ. сравн. как в англ. языке => слово ассимилируется).
cup-cups. Some of the borrowed words are still in the process of grammatical assimilation. EG: formula (-as
– разговор.),(-ae – научн.) plural
By semantic assimilation we understand the adjustment of the word to the system of meanings of the Eng.
vocabulary.
EG: the word “large” was borrowed from French in the meaning “широкий”. But in the Eng. vocabulary
there already was an adjective with the same meaning (“wide”). The word “large” entered in a group of
words meaning “big” in size. At first the word “large” was used when speaking about objects which were
horizontally “large”.
But then it changed its meaning and now it can be used when speaking about any object and it is close in
meaning to the adjective “big”.
14. The concept of linguistic meaning. Lexical meaning and its aspects.
Referent – референт (объект действительности, на который направлено влияние)
связь между формой и
concept (notion)
объектом
опосредована.
Значение слова-это
отражеие в мозгу
человека объекта
когда устанавливается
linguistic связь между
referent лингвистической
Form. формой и
man содержанием. Word
meaning is studied by a
special branch of
lexicology called
“semantics”. The
definition of “word
meaning” can be given
on the basis of the so-
called referential
approach to the
meaning. Word meaning
may be represented as a model. The three components of the model are: referent, concept and linguistic
form. The linguistic form is connected with the concept. Through this concept with an object of reality which
is the referent. That means there is no direct connection between the ling. form and referent.
So, word meaning is the reverberation in the human mind object of reality which becomes a fact of language
when a constant connection is established between this revebration and a certain ling. form. It is a specific
form of revebration, the one which is connected with linguistic expression (man). If we take this component
away then we’ll be speaking in terms of any science, but not linguistic.
How to define lexical meaning?
EG: 1.) He goes, sleeps, cries. 2.) go, goes, went, going…
In the first example grammatical meaning is the same. In the second example lexical meaning the same, that
is the meaning which we find in all the forms of the word (the meaning of motion).
Lexical meaning and its aspects. There are three aspects of lexical meaning: 1.) denotational 2.)
connotational 3.) pragmatic. The first one is the most important, it refers to the notional basis of the
information. This info is conveyed from the speaker to the listener. EG: 1.) I’ll bring the book, don’t worry.
2.) I’ll bring the revolver, don’t worry. In this sentences the subject matter of communication is different.
This aspect of meaning helps to realize the nominal function of the language. The connotational aspect
present the attitude of the speaker to what he is speaking about. It’s additional information. EG: 1.) Jack
assured us that the play was interesting. 2.) Jack said that for him the play was interesting. In N1 we are
absolutely sure that the play is interesting. In N2 our attitude is different: the play is interesting for him, as
for the rest we are not sure of that. The connotational aspect includes emotive charge, evaluation,
expressiveness and imagery. Emotive charge may be shown by the words notorious. EG: 1.) He is famous
for his books! 2.) He is notorious for his goings-on. In the second sentence by using the word “notorious” we
disapprove of this person of his behavior.
Evaluation may be positive and negative. EG: aunty (тетушка) dog of a person (плохое поведение)
Expressiveness makes the effect produced on the listener stronger. EG: I saw a large snake. I saw a huge
snake (“huge” denote very large. The effect is stranger)
Imagery is connected with our figurative understanding of the situation. EG: the prime-minister of the two
countries tried to bridge the gap of misunderstanding, between the two countries.
In most cases all this elements of connotation are linked together, EG: (low col. – снижение разг. речи) You
are an ass, Jack (ну и задница ты Джек)
The pragmatic aspect of lexical meaning gives about the situation of communication and about its
participants. EG: we can learn about time and space relationships.
The core of this information is given by grammar tenses, but some information can be given by the semantics
of the word. The pronoun “this” in the combination “this country” indicates the country speaker is at the
moment. EG: (In this country English is learnt everywhere) !!! So, all these aspects are realized in our
speech.
15. The concept of polysemy. Academician V.V.Vinogradov's theory of the types of lexical meaning.
Polysemy means that a word has two or more meaning. If it has only one meaning it’s called mono-semantic.
Polisementic words are greater in number. Polysemy is explained by the following: the word names an object
of reality according to some of its quality or characteristic of its object.
Very often the quality of one object are identical with a quality of another object, because of this one the
same word is used to denote this object. EG: The word “glass” has the meanings “стакан, зеркало”, they are
interconnected because both the object are made of the same material.
This very idea may be expressed differently: The world around us is varied and its objects are many.
The means of the language on the other hand are limited, so one word denotes several objects. All the
meanings of the word taken together make up its symantic structure. As a rule context shows us which of the
meanings of the word is used. EG: blind… 1.) handwriting – неразборчивый почерк 2.) man – слепой
человек
It’s necessary to emphasize, that all the meanings of the polisemantic word are connected by a common
component, if this component is lost we do not have a polisementic word any more, we have two homonyms.
EG: in the word “glass” the linking element is made of glass.
Academician V.V.Vinogradov's theory of the types of lexical meaning.
There are several classifications of types of lexical meaning. Academician Vinogradov’s classification
includes the following types:
1.) direct (nominative) meaning. It names an object without the help of the context EG 1) sweet (sugar,
honey, cake)
2.) nominative-derivetive (переносное) meaning EG: sweet (face, voice)
3.) linguistically bound (линг. обусловл.) meaning.
a) grammatically bound meaning. That means that the meaning of the word depends on the sintectical
construction in which it is used. EG: 1) He is ill. 2) He has ill manners.
When a predicative “ill” has the meaning “больной, нездоровый”. When an attribute it has the meaning of
“плохой” that is “bad”.
4.) Lexically bound meaning. The meaning of the word depends on its combinability. EG: “heavy” has
different meanings in the following combinations: heavy bag, heavy rain, heavy crops, heavy guns.
5.) Phraseologically bound meanings. These are lexically or grammatically bound meaning, which are used
in a limited field. EG: -Would you like a drink? – I’d love to. “love” means “Yes!”
16. Types of semantic changes: metaphor, metonymy, widening and narrowing of meaning.
There are several types of change of meaning: 1) metaphor 2) metonymy 3) widening of meaning 4)
narrowing of meaning (сужение) 5) elevation (улучшение) 6) degeneration
1) metaphor is a change of meaning based on the semilarety. Very often this similarity implies outward
likeness EG: the neck of a bottle. the tongues of the fire.
The name of the color may be formed metaphorically from the name of the object it is typical of EG: the
color “orange” from “orange” (апелсин), hazel-орешек, карий
2) metonymy is a change of meaning based on contiguity (близость). The assotiations between objects are
different. EG: The name of the place may be used as the name of the people in it (ассоциация по
пространству) The house were against it. (члены палаты были против)
3) Widening of meaning is a kind of semantic change which makes the word denote a wider variety of
objects. EG: “pipe” used to denote “муз. инструмент” now “трубка”. “to arrive” used to be “высадиться”
now “прибывать”
4) Narrowing of meaning is a kind of semantic change which makes the word denote a narrower variety of
objects: EG “meat” used to be “еда” now “мясо”. deer – олень, раньше любой зверь.
5/6) The terms “elevation” and degeneration” meaning are not quite good. Lexical meaning cannot become
better or worse. These change of meaning reflex the changes that take place in our life.
The “degeneration” of meaning is a kind of semantic change which makes the meaning developed in
negative connotation which was absent in the original meaning. EG: knave – now it is a bad word means
“негодяй” раньше –мальчик
The “elevation” of meaning is a kind of semantic change which makes the meaning developed in positive
connotation which was absent in the first meaning. EG: “knight” был «молодой воин» теперь «рыцарь».
17. Paradigmatic connections of words. Synonymy- Types of synonyms and their origin.
Lexical meaning is studied on two levels: paradigmatic and sintagmatic.
On the first one, the connection of the word with other words in the system of the language are studied.
Paradigmatic connection include: synonymy, antonymy and hyponymy (the meaning of the word which is
general includes the meanings of a group of other words; EG: furniture (a table, a chair…)
On Syntagmatic level the linear connections of words in speech are studied. (in the sentence, in the text). On
this level we study combinability of words. EG: John (he, young man) came in (comes)
There are no words in the lang., which are completely identical. So, we can not speak about complete
meaning equivalents. We speak about partial meaning equivalents. This type of equivalents expressed by
words is called synonymy. Synonymy enrich the lang. because they let the speaker express different shades
of meaning.
EG: to like-to love-to adore
Synonyms are words which belong to the same part of speech and the same thematic group, and are so close
semantically that to use the correct in speech we must know their shade of meaning and stylistic connotation.
What is thematic group?
It is a group of word which closed in meaning and cover a certain “piece” of extra linguistic reality. EG:
храбрый, смелый, отважный; brave, courageous, heroic (одна тематическая группа)
Not all the words which belong to the same thematic group will be synonyms. those, which belong to the
same part of speech may be synonyms.
After that we have to use the so-called semantic criterion. That means we have to study the words in the
dictionary, if they have a common semantic component in their definition, they are really synonyms. EG: to
tremble, to shiver, to shudder (дрожать)
“to shiver”, “to shudder” are explained through the verb “to tremble”. “to shiver” means “to tremble” with
cold. “to shudder” means “to tremble” with fear or disgust.
So, these words “to shiver”, ”to shudder…” are synonyms, because they have a common semantic
components. The word “to tremble” is the most general word. It’s called a dominant synonyms.
Ideographic synonyms. Synonyms which differ in shades of denotation meaning are called ideographic
(смысловые синонимы)
EG: to look, to seem, to appear. in the meaning «выглядеть» have a common denotation component to be in
one’s view or judgment; But these words are also different “to look” implies that our opinion is based on
visual impression. EG: The city looks beautiful in spring. “to seem” implies that our opinion is based on
evidence. EG: After I have talked to her she seems clever. “to appear” implies a distorted impression. EG: In
the moon light houses appeared big and mysterious.
Stylistic synonyms are synonyms which differ in their stylistic connotation. They belong to different spheres
of communication. EG: kid-child-infant (kid-colloquial, child-neutral, infant-bookish.
Their origin 1) Borrowings give a lot of synonyms EG: to ask (native) – to question (French) – to
interrogate (Latin) 2) Affixation: EG: changeable-changeful 3) conversion: EG: laughter-to laugh 4)
Shortening: EG: laboratory-lab
18. Syntagmatic connections of words. "Valency" and combinability. Lexical and syntactical combinability.
The laws of combinability are studied by syntagmatics on the other hand, in the system of the lang. every
word has certain characteristic which predetermine its combinability with other words.
The aptness of the word to appear in various combination of word is called “valency”
EG: a verb can combine with a noun.
EG: it can have a direct-object (to buy a book)
But, not every verb can combine with every noun. EG: In Russian we have the same verb: поднять
вопрос/сумку In Eng. we have: to rise a proble; to lift a bag.
The realization of the aptness of the word to appear in various combinations is called combinability. In other
words it’s the actual ability of word to combine in speech.
Lexical and syntactical combinability. We speak of syntactical and lexical combinability of words. Sintactical
combinability is the ability of words to appear in certain grammatical structure. EG: an adjective performs
the function of an attribute when it combines with the noun. a good student.
In a word combination ther is always the head-word (or key-word) which makes it possible to classify the
word-groups. EG: a brave-man (adj.+ N.) to pay money (V+N) to depend on smb. (V+Preposition+Pronoun)
Lexical combinability is the ability of words to combine in speech according to lexical meaning. The lows of
lexical combinability are often explained by the complex character of the lexical semantic system of the
language. EG: In Russian we can say: -Потуши свет/мясо. In eng. – to switch off; - to stew meat
The knowledge of combinability is of great theoretical and practical value.
EG: It helps to find out which of the meanings of polisemantic word is used.
EG: a photo frame; a spring frame
19. Types of word-groups. Characteristic features of free word-groups.
A word-combination (word-group) is a combination of two or more words organize according to the
norms of the language. There are three types of word-groups: 1) free 2) semi-free (устойчивые) 3)
phraseological units
They are diff. structurally and semantically. Free word combinations are structurally and semantically
unstable. EG: a good man; a good and reliable man; a better man
Fixed combinations of words are structurally and semantic stable and the meaning is understood from
the meanings of the components. That means there is no transference of meaning of this combinations.
EG: a man of business; a man of letters (писатель)
Phrasiological units are structurally and semantically stable and they have transferred meaning. EG: a
man of the wheel (руководитель)
Free word combinations may be describe from the following points of view:
1) In terms of conceptual combinability word groups are extra-linguistically determing. If objects are
related the words denoting these things are also connective. We can say: tasty dish, tasty cake, but we
can’t say tasty lexicology.
2) In terms of social-linguistic combinability, word groups are determing by customs and traditional way
of life and other cultural factors of the language community.
EG: “white” in our country, it is a color, which has a festive meaning – bride’s dress in India it’s a color
of mourning
3) In terms of inner linguistic combinability, this group can be deviated and non-deviated EG: red flower
– красный цветок, red tape – волокита
the first is not-deviated, the meaning is clear from the meaning of compounds. The second is non-
deviated
20. Phraseological units: definition and characteristic features.
To carry corals to Newcastle.
In order to define a phraseologic unit we have to use the criteria of structural and semantic stability.
We shall analyze two context with the word combination “to carry corals to Newcastle”
EG: 1) Why are you taking this book with you?
I have it at home. It is carrying corals to Newcastle.
2) The ship is carrying corals to Newcastle
In the second context “to carry…” is a free word combination. Each of the words is used in direct
meaning.
The first example is more difficult, because the meaning of the “coils” is new: to take smth to a place,
where it is not needing. In other words, the meanings of the components is changed.
We have used the semantic criteria. In phrasiological units, words loose their semantic independents and
phraseological units are not created in speech. They exist in the system of the lang., they are ready to be
used in speech.
In this sense of semantic cohesion, phraseological units are very much words. EG: И оглянуться не
успеешь = скоро; to cut smb dead = to ignore smb.
In free word combinations don’t loose the semantic independence and free word combinations are
created in speech.
According to the second criterion the structural one, words can’t be replaced or changed in a
phraseological unit according to our wish, EG: if we say “to carry corles to London” it won’t a
phraseological unit.
So, a phraseological unit may be defined as a stable word combination with a completely ar partially
transferred meaning.
21. Principles of classification of phraseological units and their origin.
There are several classification of phraseological units. One of them was worked out by acad.
Vinogradov. This classification is based on the semantic principle, that is on the degree of the semantic
cohesion of the elements.
There are three groups in his classification:
1) Phraseological combination (сочетания) They are very close to free word combinations as they have
one of the words used in its direct meaning. EG: to break a promise – нарушить обещание “to break” is
used in transferred meaning, “promise” is used in direct meaning.
This word combination are motivated, there combinability is limited.
EG: we can say in English: to set smb free – освободить кого-либо
but we can’t say: to set smb. at freedom – выпустить на свободу.
2) Phraseological Unities EG: to skate of thin ice – рисковать; to sit on the fence – выжидать; a big bug
– важная шишка.
In such phrasiological unitie the meaning of the whole is not the sum of the direct manings of the
components, but it is the meaning, that understood from the transformed (change) meaning of the
compounents. The metaphors is clear.
3) Fusions (сращения) EG: to be at sixes and sevens – быть в беспорядке, в разбросе; a fish story –
выдумка.
Such phraseological units have completely transferd meaning. They are not motivated and the metaphor
on which the changed of meaning is waste is not clear. EG: there was a time when sum of the fusion
were motivated; to cut off with a shilling – лишить наследства.
Prof. Smirnickiy offered another classification system. In it he tried to combine the structural and the
semantic principles. Phraseological units are grouped according to their semantics.
There are two groups in this classification:
1.) one-summit (одновершинные) phras. units, which have one meaningful element. EG to give up –
отказаться; to make out – разобрать; to pull out – вытаскивать.
Nowdays, Russian linguist don’t refer such word combination to phraseological units. They are called
set-phrases
2.) two-summit and multi-summit, which have 2 or more meaningfull elements. EG: first night –
премьера;
In this classification its interesting to see the correlation of the syntetic and semantic center of the
combination.
EG: to give (syntactic center) up (semantic center)
their origin.
There are several sources of phraseological units. One of them is the development of cultural and
economical spheres of life.
Phraseological units may come from the following spheares:
1. From engeniring and technology.
EG: to let off steam – дать волю чувствам
2. From agro-cultural:
EG to put the plough before the oxen – начать не с того конца.
3. from sea-travelling business:
EG: to be in low waters – быть на мели
4. from trade and commerce:
EG: into bargain – в придачу.
National customs and traditions, also give rise to phraseological units:
EG: by hook or by crook – любыми средствами.
A great many phras. units come from the words of Greek and Latin classics from the Bible and from
myths and legends. EG: the apple of discord – яблоко раздора.
the common figure of such phrasiological units is that they can be easily translated from one language to
another. EG: a wolf in sheep closing - волк в овечьей шкуре.
Such units are call international phrasiological units. As for national ones they are not easely translated
into another language. They are translated as a rule by a free word combination.
EG: RUS>ENG: филькина грамота – a useless sheet of paper; глухая тетеря – a deaf person
ENG>RUS: rank and file – рядовой человек; in a trice – очень быстро
22. Homonymy as the limit of polysemy. Classification of homonyms.
Very often homonyms appear as a result of split polysemy. That means that the semantic connection
between the meaning of the word is lost and some of the meanings become independent words,
homonyms.
Homonyms are words, which are identical in sound and in spelling or at least in one of this aspects, but
different in meaning. EG: 1.1) bank, where you keep money. 1.2) The bank of the river 2.1) flower 2.2)
flour. 3.1) bow-кланяться 3.2) bow-лук
1) these are homonyms proper, they identical both in sound and in spelling, but different meaning.
(homonyms)
2.) These are word identical in sound, but different in spelling and meaning (homophones)
3.)Identical in spelling, but different in sound and in meaning. (homographs)
23. The concept of "functional style". The main stylistic layers of the English vocabulary. Basic
vocabulary.
We speak differently in diff. situations. The way we speak and the choice of words depend on the
situation in which the processes of communication is realized. There are diff. situations, EG: teacher-
student, manager-boss.
As we are speaking about the functions of all this words in diff. situations we have to define “functional
style”
Under a “function style” we under stand language means peculiar to a specific sphear of communication.
The basic vocabulary is the central group of the vocabulary, its historical foundation and living core. That is
why words of this stratum show a considerably greater stability in comparison with words of the other strata,
especially informal.
Basic vocabulary words can be recognised not only by their stylistic neutrality but, also, by entire lack of
other connotations (i. e. attendant meanings). Their meanings are broad, general and directly convey the
concept, without supplying any additional information.
The table gives some examples of such synonyms belonging to different stylistic strata.
Basic Informal Formal
vocabulary
begin start, get started commence

continue go on, get on proceed

end finish, be through, terminate

be over

child, baby kid, brat, beam (dial.) infant, babe (poet.)

24. Neutral words and stylistically marked words: Formal vocabulary.
EG: begin-start-commence; child-kid-infant
The words begin and child are neutral and the rests are stylistically marked their usage is restructed to some
specific communicative situations.
Neutral words are very important in the lang. They form the so-called basic vocab. They can be used every
day, every where and by everybody, both in oral and written speech. These words make the processes of
communication possible.
Formal vocabulary. Formal words are used in the so-called formal situations: giving a lecture, writing a
business letter.
a)bookish or learned words.
These words are used in written speech, in the books, that we read.
They may be met in the authors narrations, descriptions.
Learned word are used in oral speech as well, mostly in the speech of well educated people.
We must remember that the overuse of bookish words makes our speech absurd, rediculars and just funny.
b) scientific-prose words.
These words are used to express scientific concepts and ideas. There are many terms and set phrases among
them.
c) Archaic words.
Archaisms are words or word combinations which are partly or completely out of use today.
EG: the word nay=no; eve=evening; morn=morning
Archaisms are different from historisms. The later are words denoting objects and phenomena that have
come out of use. EG: hansom – вид экипажа у которого кучер сидит сзади на высоте.
25. Neutral words and stylistically marked words: Informal vocabulary.
Начало в 24 вопросе
Informal vocabulary is used when speaking with friends, relatives, acquaintance.
There are several sub-groups in this group:
1) Colloquial words. They in their turn are divided into literary-colloquial, familiar-colloquial, and low-
colloquial.
Literary-colloquial words do not break the norms of the language. We use these words in our everyday
speech. EG: He has caught a cold.
Many of the clichés belong to this group: EG: Благодарю Вас! Thank you! Thanks.
These word are also use in fiction. They are used in the speech of the characters and in modern books,
literature, in the author’s narration.
familiar-colloquial words sound rude. They are colorful and expressive. They’re used by the young people,
who want to be grown up and want to be independent and by those people whose cultural and educational
background is poor.
EG: I’m fed up with it – я сыт по горло.
low-colloquial words are met in the speech of the illiterate people
EG: by the characters of “Pygmalion”
It should be noted that there is no strict boarder line between literary and familiar col., and fam. and low
colloquial.
EG: familiar combinations: “awfully nice”, “not so bed”
Slang
Slangizms are a very interesting groups of words. One of the characteristics of slangizm is that they are not
included into Standard English
EG: mug = face; trap = mouth
Such words are based on metaphor, they make speech unexpected, vivid and sometimes difficult to
understand.
Slang appears as a language of a subgroup in a language community. We can speak of black-americans’
slang, teenagers’ slang, navy and army slang.
26. Terminology. Problems associated with the concept of the "term".
A term is a word or a word combination used in a particular branch of science, technology, trade of the arts
to convey a notion peculiar to this or that activity.
The system of terms is used in some branch of human activity is called terminology.
There are several problems connected with terminology.
1) Is there a difference between a term and a word of the general language?
EG: the word “frame” may be a term (PC) and the same time a word of general language.
There is a criterion which helps to distinguished between a term and a word the general language. It is
definability.
That means that a term has a clear explanation.
There is another problem: must a word be polisementic or monosemantic?
It must be monosemantic , but in fact it is polisemantic.
EG: the word “semantic” first meaning: all the meanings of the word; second: a branch of lexicology.
Finally: must a term have synonyms? It should not. But in fact, in real life, it does have synonyms.
EG: a phraseological unit, an idiom, a set-phrase…
Among these synonyms there is a dominant term, which is called “descriptor”
It has the following characteristics:
1. It’s the easiest to define
2. descriptor has a clear semantic structure. It’s not based on metaphor or metonomy. The nomination is
direct.
EG: a fricative sound (нет переносного значения)
3. A descriptor has derivatives
4. a descriptor is the most frequent word.
27. Neologisms. Types of new words and productive patterns of their building.
Neologisms are new words or word combinations which are created to name new objects or express new
concepts. A new word is created in speech, by a group of people or by one person only. If it doesn’t break
the norms of the language it may be come a unit of the general language and then it is registered in
dictionaries. EG: the word “nylon” is a new word of the 50th. It is a name of the synthetic material, when this
material was produced there was a compition for the best name for it. And the word “nylon” one the
competition. This word is an absolute neologism, because it is not motivated.
An other absolute neologism was introduced by Y.Swift “Lilliput”. It entered the English vocabulary and
then it was borrowed into other languages and became an international word.
There are also new words used by the speaker or the writer just once in some particular context.
EG: a we-are-for-peace-and-friendship-meeting.
New words are created according to productive pattons of word-building. EG:
by affixation: a non-teacher (персонал школы, но не преподы)
by shortening: see-lab
by blanding
28. The concept of the "variety of the language". American English: grammatical and lexical peculiarities.
The Eng. language. exists in the form of its varieties. It is the national language of England proper, the USA,
Australia, New Zealand and some part of Canada.
Within these countries the Eng. languge also has some peculiar features. EG: in Walles, in Scotland and so
on. We distinguish regional varieties of the language and local dialects.
Original variety is the language spoken in some definite place, it has a literary form of its own. We speak
about AE, BE,… A local dialect is that variety of the language which is used as a means of oral
communication mostly and it doesn’t have a litteraly norm of its own. We treat AE as original variety of
English. It’s not a separate language because it shares similar features with BE in the fields of phonetics,
grammar and vocabulary. AE has a literary norm of its own which differs it from BE so, it can not be a
dialect of BE either.
American English: grammatical and lexical peculiarities.
Phonetic. the differences in the field of phonetics are confined to the characteristics of some phonemes and
to the differences in the rhythm and intonation. EG: the sound [эe] is used for [a:] in a great many words
class, desk, dance. The sound [r] became vocalized. It’s pronounced with the sound [э:] in the words “bird”,
“world”, speaking about the rhythm we can say that there is a shift of stress in the words like necessary,
dictionary.
In the field of intonation low head is peculiar to AE which is often follow by a low raising tone.
Grammatical peculiar features are not numerous; some of them stop being peculiar erities they are also met
in BE. 1) the use of the verb “will” for “shell” in the 1 st person sing in future simple. 2) the substitution of the
past simple for present perfect. I saw this movie. (AE) I have seen this movie (BE) 3) different of the past
participle are used in BE and AE. EG I have got (BE) I have gotten (AE) 4) the use of the auxiliary verb
“do” with the verb to have in all its meanings EGL: do you have a sister (AE) Have you a sister? (BE)
Vocabulary (lexic) – most striking peculiarities can be found in its vocabulary system. In it there are words
and word combinations peculiar to AE only. They are called American business.
Ther are 1) historical Americanisms which were brought to the American continent by the British migrants
in the 17th century.
In AE these words still have their own meanings while in BE these meanings have changed. EG: fall (AE) –
autumn (BE); guess (AE) – think (BE)
20 Americanisms proper are words which appeared later, either when the B. settlers had to give new names
to the things they met there (plants, animals, so on) or even later in the 19th-20th centuries EG: egg plant –
баклажан. backwoods – лесная чаща.
3) The majority of words are same in BE and AE very often the word is an Americanism only in one of its
meanings. EG: the word faculty – факультет (BE) препод (AE)

AE BE

This variety of the semantic of the word was explain by a Russian linguist prof. Shveicer. he worked out the
concept of the “common core”. According to this concept BE and AE have both identical and different
features. They identical features belong to the common core. They pesulair features are often refer to as
Americanisms and Briticisms.
Here are some examples of Americanisms: the mall – торговый центр shop center (BE)
a field trip – экскурсия
Different words may be used in BE and AE to express the same things, they are called lexical analogues EG:
lift (BE) – elevator (AE) tin – can; Luggage – baggage; sweets – candy; railway – railroad.
There are words which are called divergent: the same word denotes different objects. EG: dresser – кух.
шкафчик (BE) тумбочка (AE)
World-building in AE comprises the most productive word building patens. (shortening and blending) EG:
laundry + automatic = laundromat
29. Lexicography. Types of English dictionaries. The main problems of dictionary compiling.
Lexicography is the science and practice of compiling dictionaries and describing them.
All dictionaries are traditionally divided into encyclopedic and linguistic dictionaries.
Encyclopedic dictionaries are thing book, the deal eith concept reflecting different objects and phenomena,
their relationships and so on.
Linguistic dictionaries are word-books. they list word of the language and give other linguistic facts. Besides
these two types now there exists the so-called cultural dictionaries. They combine their information of two
types both encyclopedic and linguistic dictionaries.
Linguistic dictionaries can be uni-lingual or explanatory and by-lingual or translation.
In the first one explanations are given in one language and the second one in a different/other language.
Dictionaries are also divided diachronic and synchronic.
The diachronic shows the history of the word and reflects its development up to the present moment.
One of the most famous dictionaries is the OED 13 volumes.
Synchronic dictionaries are disrupted dictionary. They show either the present day meaning and usage of
words or those meaning which the words had at a certain historical period.
There are general and special dictionaries. General represent the vocabulary as a whole. Special dictionaries
cover a specific part of the vocabulary; There are synonyms and antonyms, dictionaries of neologism and
slang, pronouncing and so on.
There are glossaries and concordances. Glossaries explain term or difficult words, may be archaism, different
branches of knowledge.
Concordances record the complete vocabulary of some author. EG: there are concordances to the works of
W. Shakespeare.
And finally there are ideographic dictionaries and thesaurus. These dictionary group words according to the
concepts expressed. They supply a word or words by which a given idea may be expressed.
The main problems of dictionary compiling It divided into two problem: that of the number of the words, and
that of the list of words to be included in a dictionary. As for the number of words there exist dictionaries of
different volumes, EG: there are pocket dictionaries with 25 or less thousand words. Among the largest
dictionaries there is Webster’s dictionary, it include about 600000 words.
The volume of the dictionary and the list of the words depend on the type of dictionary and its aim.
Hornsby’s dictionary student includes about 100000 words, among which there are no words used by
Shakespeare.
On the contrary the OED does include such words, used by W. Shak. for specialist. The problem of the
choice of words is connected with the problem of the norm of the language it may be included into a
dictionary.
30. Different types of grouping words in the English language. (= 19 вопрос)