英语词汇学参考学习

I.Polysemy1.

TheDefinitionofPolysemyPolysemyisauniversalfeatureofalllanguages,includingtheEnglishlanguage.第1页/共44页第一页，共45页。Polysemyis“atermusedinsemanticanalysistorefertoalexicalitemwhichhasarangeofdifferentmeanings”.Thatistosay,thesamewordmayhaveasetofdifferentmeanings.Polysemygivesrisetoagreatnumberofpolysemicwords,whichareproductsofsense-shiftinthecourseofthedevelopmentofthevocabulary.

第2页/共44页第二页，共45页。II.ModesofDevelopment

forPolysemyRadiation(放射型)Concatenation(连锁/串连型)Synthesis(综合型)

第3页/共44页第三页，共45页。1.RadiationAprocessofsemanticdevelopmentinwhichtheprimarymeaningstandsatthecenterandallothermeaningsarederivedfromitlikerays.Derivedmeaningsofthewordareindependentofoneanother,butcanallbetracedbacktothecentralmeaning.Take“head”forexample.

(seetextbookp273)第4页/共44页第四页，共45页。Therearealsoinstancesinwhichtheprimarymeaningbecameeitherobsoleteordisappeared,whilethederivedmeaningsbecomeprevalent,suchas“harvest”and“pain”.第5页/共44页第五页，共45页。Theprimarymeaningofthewordharvest

was“autumn”,becauseoftheborrowingword“autumn”fromFrench,peopleonlyuseitsderivedmeaning“reapingorcutting”inlatertime.第6页/共44页第六页，共45页。Theprimarymeaningofpainwas“penaltyorpunishment”,andnowthismeaningispreservedonlyinsuchphraseaspainsandpenalty,thederivedmeanings“suffering”and“greatdiscomfortofbodyormind”havebecomeprevalentandwidelyused.第7页/共44页第七页，共45页。2.ConcatenationConcatenationisalsoaprocessofsemanticdevelopmentinwhichthemeaningofawordmovesgraduallyawayfromitsfirstsensebysuccessiveshifts.Inmanycases,thereisnosignofconnectionbetweenthelatestmeaninganditsfirstsense.第8页/共44页第八页，共45页。Thewordfondfirstmeant“foolish”inOldEnglish.Lateritwasspecializedto“foolishaffection”;nowitmeans“lovinginakind,gentleortenderway”.Evidentlythelatestmeaningistotallydifferentfromtheoriginalone.第9页/共44页第九页，共45页。Thewordboardisanothercaseshowingsense-shiftinmodeofconcatenation.Firstmeaning“along,thin,flatpieceofwood,usedinbuildingwall,floors,boats,ship’sdeck,etc.”(木板)Thelastmeaningis“acommittee,groupofpersonscontrollingabusinessoragovernmentdepartment”.(董事会)第10页/共44页第十页，共45页。Generally,•

inradiationmode,eachofthederivedmeaningisdirectlyconnectedtotheprimary/centralmeaning;•inconcatenation,eachofthelatermeaningisrelatedonlytotheprecedingone.Thoughthelatestsensecanbetracedbacktotheoriginal,thereisnodirectconnectioninbetween.第11页/共44页第十一页，共45页。3.SynthesisItisamulti-modeforsemanticdevelopmentinwhichamono-semicwordgraduallybecomespoly-semic.Thisprocessisalsocalledtheproliferation(繁衍)ofword’smeaning.(Seetheexamplefaceontextbookp275)第12页/共44页第十二页，共45页。IIIThecausesofpolysemy?ShiftofapplicationindifferentfieldsMutualtransformationbetweencommonwordsandspecializedwordsPolysemyresultingfromthefigurativeuseofwordsEllipsisinlanguageuse第13页/共44页第十三页，共45页。Generally,polysemicrelationsofawordcanbecheckedandunderstoodfromfollowingfouraspects.第14页/共44页第十四页，共45页。2.Therelationshipamongthedifferentmeaningsofapolysemicword

1.fromprimarymeaningtoderivedone;2.fromgeneralmeaningtospecificone;3.fromabstractmeaningtoconcreteone;4.fromliteralmeaningtofigurativeone;第15页/共44页第十五页，共45页。

1.PrimaryandDerivedMeaning

Primarymeaningofawordisgenerallyitsfirstmeaning;whileothermeaningsareallderivedones.Primarymeaningofsomewordsoftenbecomeobsoleteandindistinguishablewiththecourseoftimewhereasthederivedmeaningiswidelyusedinstead.(Exampleonnextpage)

第16页/共44页第十六页，共45页。

pen→originallyfrompinna(Latin),meaning“feather”;derivedmeaning“aninstrumentforwriting”第17页/共44页第十七页，共45页。2.GeneralandSpecificMeaning

Becauseoftheextensionandnarrow-downofword’smeaningintheprocessofitsdevelopment,somewordscanbeusedtodenoteeitheracategoryofthingsoroneparticularthinginsuchcategory.第18页/共44页第十八页，共45页。e.g.smoke:“allkindsofsmoke”ingeneral;“cigarettesmoke”inparticular;

gas:“allkindsofgas”ingeneral;“thegas”usedinkitchen;fire:“allkindsoffire”ingeneral;Thefireisoutinthelivingroom.第19页/共44页第十九页，共45页。3.AbstractandConcreteMeaning

Manywordswithabstractmeaningcanbeusedtorefertoaconcreteone.第20页/共44页第二十页，共45页。a.Beautyisbutskindeep.(abstract美貌)b.Sheisarealbeauty.(concrete美人)a.

Worryandsufferinghaveturnedherhairwhite.(abstract忧虑)b.Whataworrythechildis!(concrete令人心烦的人)第21页/共44页第二十一页，共45页。

Someconcretewordscanalsoderiveabstractmeanings.第22页/共44页第二十二页，共45页。a.performonthestage(concrete舞台)b.Shewentonthestage

attheageofeight.(abstract:舞台生涯)a.Hereyesaresobright.(concrete眼睛)b.Shehasaneyeforthebeauty.(abstract眼光)c.Shehasasharpeye.(abstract洞察力)第23页/共44页第二十三页，共45页。4.LiteralandFigurativeMeaningManyEnglishwordscanbeusedfiguratively.Theymakethelanguagequitevividandimpressive.

flaw:aflawinthechinavase(literal)aflawinone’scharacter(figurative)第24页/共44页第二十四页，共45页。Ablanket;(literal)Toblanketascandal;(figurative)acoolbreeze(literal);acoolreception(figurative);第25页/共44页第二十五页，共45页。Pullthethreadthroughtheneedle(literal);Littledonkeysthreadtheirway(figurative);athunderstorm(literal);astormofapplause(figurative);第26页/共44页第二十六页，共45页。II.Homonymy(同形异义)1.DefinitionofHomonymyHomonymyreferstothephenomenonthatwordshavingdifferentmeaningshappentobeidenticalinsoundandspelling,orinboth.Foxexample:bank:abusinessthatkeepsandlendsmoneyandprovidesotherfinancialservices;landalongthesideofariveroralake.

第27页/共44页第二十七页，共45页。2.TypesofHomonymsBasedonthedegreeofsimilarity,homonymsfallintothreeclasses:perfecthomonyms,homophonesandhomographs.(1)

Perfecthomonymsarewordsidenticalbothinsoundandspelling,butdifferentinmeaning.第28页/共44页第二十八页，共45页。(2)

Homophonesarewordsidenticalonlyinsoundbutdifferentinspellingandmeaning.(3)Homographsarewordsidenticalonlyinspellingbutdifferentinsoundandmeaning.第29页/共44页第二十九页，共45页。II.OriginsofHomonyms

Converginginsoundandspelling:Intheprocessoflanguagedevelopment,somewordsgraduallyconverged(gotclosertoeachother)intheirsoundandspelling.Thushomonymsappeared.

第30页/共44页第三十页，共45页。•meatn.frommete(OE);•meetv.frommetan(OE);longadj.(长)fromlang(OE);longv.(渴望)

fromlangian(OE);第31页/共44页第三十一页，共45页。earn.耳朵

fromeare(OE)earn.穗

fromoer(OE)第32页/共44页第三十二页，共45页。2.DiverginginsenseMeaningsofsomepolysemicwordsmaysplitapartandtheirrelationsbecomeweakerandweaker,someevenlostinthecourseofdevelopment.Hence,homonymsmightappear.Forexample,homonymsflowerandflour.第33页/共44页第三十三页，共45页。InOldEnglishperiod,theprimarymeaningof

flour

meant“thefinestpartofwheat”(谷物的精华),itsderivedmeaningwas“flower”.

Graduallytheybecometwoseparatewordsdifferentinmeaning,onlyidenticalinsound.第34页/共44页第三十四页，共45页。3.BorrowingThefactofborrowingmakesitpossiblefornativewordstocoincidewithborrowingsinsoundand/orspelling.第35页/共44页第三十五页，共45页。fairadj.美丽的

fromfoeger(OE)fairn.市场

fromferia(Latin)balln.球

frombeallu(OE)balln.舞会

fromballer(OldFrench)第36页/共44页第三十六页，共45页。4.ShorteningShorteningmakeswordshappentobeidenticalinspellingorsound,e.g.adn.广告fromadvertisementaddv.添加rockn.摇滚乐fromrock’n’rollrockn.岩石第37页/共44页第三十七页，共45页。III.RhetoricFeaturesofHomonymsAshomonymsareidenticalinsoundorspelling,theyareoftenemployedinliteraryworks,advertisementsandriddlestocreatepunsforthedesiredeffectofhumor,sarcasm(讥讽)orridicule(嘲弄).

第38页/共44页第三十八页，共45页。e.g.thehomonyms

beanandbeen,inthefollowinghumorousdialogue.…“Waiter!”…“Yes,sir.”…“What’sthis?”…“It’sbeansoup,sir.”…“Nomatterwhatit’sbeen.Whatisitnow?”第39页/共44页第三十九页，共45页。Someriddlesarealsomadebyusinghomonyms.“Whyshouldamannevertellhissecretsinthecornfield?”“Becauseithastoomany

ears”.(耳朵;穗)第40页/共44页第四十页，共45页。Howcanwedis