EnglishLexicology.ppt

“without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”,english lexicology,english lexicology(i),2,course description,this course is intended to help the students to have access to english word-formation, the general rules in the development and change of words, so as to reinforce the students current command of vocabulary and further expand their vocabulary. the instructions will cover the general knowledge of words, the kinship of english words, the forming and development of english words, the form and structure of words, the semantic and pragmatic relations between words, the change of word meaning, english idioms, english dictionaries and etc. in addition, the research methods and development trend of lexicology are introduced with illustrations.,english lexicology(i),3,about this course,textbook: english lexicology: a course book,english lexicology(i),4,references,英语词汇学实用教程陈新仁， 2009，苏州大学出版社 认知语言学入门,english lexicology(i),5,aims of teaching:,to make a general study of the english vocabulary probe into some characteristics to learn to analyze and study some linguistic phenomena to help students enlarge english vocabulary for tem band 4-8,english lexicology(i),6,requirements,attendance study attitude assignments tests final examination,hand in exercises answer questions 20p,10p,1.preview before class 2.active participation 10p 3.review after class,60p,english lexicology(i),7,examination forms:,1) multiple choices: basic concepts, theory of lexicology, synonyms, antonyms, sense relations, figures of speech, word-formation, etc. 2) defining the terms; 3) matching exercises 4) indicating the t/f statements 5) discussing some questions.,english lexicology(i),8,contents,1. introduction 2. basic concepts of words and vocabulary 3. the development of the english vocabulary 4. morphological structure,to be continued,chapter 1 introduction,1.1 linguistics and lexicology 1.2 aims and significance of the course,10,1.1 linguistics and lexicology,what is linguistics? generally speaking, linguistics can be defined as the scientific study of language. to be more exact, linguistics studies the general principles upon which languages are constructed and operate as systems of human communication observing & questioning formulating hypotheses verifying the hypotheses proposing a theory,english lexicology(i),11,branches of linguistics internal branches: intra-disciplinary divisions phonetics phonology morphology syntax semantics pragmatics,english lexicology(i),12,external branches: inter-disciplinary divisions psycholinguistics sociolinguistics applied linguistics computational linguistics,english lexicology(i),13,1.1 language, linguistics and lexicology,what is lexicology? greek morphemes: lexikon and logie the former means “word”, the latter means “learning” or “ the study of”. lexicology is a branch of linguistics concerned with the study of the vocabulary of a given language. it deals with words, their origin, development, structure, formation, meaning and usage.,english lexicology(i),14,1.2 aims and significance of the course,what is lexicology? english lexicology is a theoretically-oriented course. a practical course we shall inevitably deal with copious stocks of words and idioms, and study many usage examples. naturally, there will be a large quantity of practice involved.,english lexicology(i),15,its relation to other disciplines,english lexicology is a subbranch of linguistics. but it embraces other academic disciplines, such as morphology, semantics, etymology, stylistics, lexicography.,english lexicology(i),16,its relation to other disciplines,morphology the structure or forms of words, primarily through the use of morpheme construct. it is traditionally used for the study of the origins and history of the form and meaning of words. modern english is derived from the languages of early germanic tribes with a fairly small vocabulary. we shall study how this small vocabulary has grown into a huge modern english vocabulary and explain the changes that have taken place in the forms and meanings of words.,english lexicology(i),17,semantics is the study of meaning in language. meaning has been studied for thousands of years by philosophers, logicians and linguists. e.g. plato & aristotle.,english lexicology(i),18,logicians and philosophers have tended to concentrate on a restricted range of sentences (typically, statements, or propositions) within a single language. the linguistic approach aims to study the properties of meaning in a systematic and objective way, with reference to as wide a range of utterances and languages as possible.,english lexicology(i),19,its relation to other disciplines,etymology 词源学 the study of origin and historical development of a linguistic form as shown by determining its basic elements, earliest known use, and changes in form and meaning, tracing its transmission from one language to another, identifying its cognates in other languages, and reconstructing its ancestral form where possible. stylistics is the study of style. it is concerned with the users choices of linguistic elements in a particular context for special effects. among the areas of study: lexis , phonology , syntax, graphology , we shall concentrate on lexis , exploring the stylistic values of words.,english lexicology(i),20,lexicography shares with lexicology the same problems: the form, meaning, origins and usages of words, but they have a pragmatic difference. a lexicographers task is to record the language as it is used so as to present the genuine picture of words to the reader, providing authoritative reference, whereas the student of lexicology is to acquire the knowledge and information of lexis so as to increase their lexical awareness and capacity of language use. though english lexicology has a wide coverage of academic areas, our task is definite and consistent. that is to study english words in different aspects and from different angles.,english lexicology(i),21,methods of the study,a. synchronic (共时)approach is an approach to the study of a language at one point of time, disregarding whatever changes might be taking place. b. diachronic (历时)approach is an approach to the study of the change in language that took place over a period of time.,english lexicology(i),22,two approaches to the study of english lexicology,from a synchronic point of view, words can be studied at a point in time, disregarding whatever changes might be taking place. for example, the word wife now means a married woman, esp. in relation to her husband. this is the current meaning. it has an obsolete meaning (woman), which is only preserved in midwife, housewife, etc. however, if we take a diachronic perspective, we will consider the word historically, looking into its origin and changes in form and meaning. in this light, the word wife evolved from the old english form wif, meaning woman, but later it became specialized in the course of development to the modern meaning a married woman.,english lexicology(i),23,in our linguistic inquiry into the english vocabulary, though our focus is on the synchronic description of words, we need the diachronic approach as a supplement, for a knowledge of historical development of the vocabulary will definitely be of great help to us in our language study.,english lexicology(i),24,1.2 aims and significance of the course,the role of vocabulary in the language system vocabulary is the building material of the language system. speech sounds, grammar and vocabulary. “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” “there is a sense in which learning a foreign language is basically a matter of learning the vocabulary of that language. not being able to find the words to express yourself is the most frustrating experience in speaking another language.”,english lexicology(i),25,1.2 aims and significance of the course,aims of the course give a systematic description of the english vocabulary. offer an insight into the origin and development of the english vocabulary. (etymology) discuss the problems of word-structure and word-formation study the use of english words , their meanings and changes in meaning, their sense relations.,english lexicology(i),26,1.2 aims and significance of the course,the significance of the course develop your personal vocabulary and consciously increase your word power (active vocabulary). understand word-meaning and organize, classify and store words more effectively. raise your awareness of meaning and usages, use words more accurately and appropriately. develop your skills and habits of analyzing and generalizing linguistic phenomena in your learning experiences. ultimately improve your receptive and productive skills in language processing as well as language production.,english lexicology(i),27,four levels of word power speaking vocabulary (active vocabulary) writing vocabulary(active vocabulary) reading vocabulary(passive vocabulary) guess vocabulary(passive vocabulary),chapter 2 basic concepts of words and vocabulary,2.1 what is a word? 2.2 word, lexical item, vocabulary 2.3 sound and meaning 2.4 meaning and concept 2.5 classification of words,english lexicology(i),29,the structure of english words,entry 词条 lexeme 词汇,语汇单位 word form lexical unit语汇单位 词是能独立运用的、最小的、有语义的语言单位。 function word and content word i (pron.我） pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (n.肺尘病）,english lexicology(i),30,what is a word?,smallest free-standing forms that represent meaning. 词，今指语言组织中的基础单位， 能独立运用，具有声音、意义和语法功能。” -辞海1984，375页，上海辞书出版社,english lexicology(i),31,2.1 what is a word?,the definition of a word a fundamental unit of speech and minimum free form; with a unity of sound and meaning (both lexical and grammatical meaning), capable of performing a given syntactic function. from the lexicological point of view, a word is a combination of form (phonological) and meaning (lexical and grammatical). in addition, a word acts as a structural unit of a sentence.,english lexicology(i),32,2.1 what is a word?,1. a word is a free form which does not consist entirely of (two or more) lesser free form; a word is a minimum free form （最小自由形式）.(bloomfield 1933: 177-178) bound forms and free forms:,english lexicology(i),33,2.1 what is a word?,bound forms（黏附形式）-genuine linguistic forms which convey a meaning, occur only in construction, as part of a larger form and are never used as sentences in construction, as part of a larger form and are never used as sentences e.g. ish s,english lexicology(i),34,2.1 what is a word?,free forms-linguistic forms which consist entirely of two or more lesser free forms and occur as sentences. e.g. poor john or john ran away or yes, sir, is a phrase. a free form which is not a phrase, is a word. bloomfields definition emphasizes syntax (句法）and does not touch upon meaning, which is a crucial aspect of any “word”.,english lexicology(i),35,2. a word is defined by the association of a given sense with a given group of sounds capable of a given grammatical use. (antoine meillet) e.g. loudly: /laudli/, “strongly audible noise”, an adverb used as adverbial. problem: we cannot differentiate a word from a phrase. a word should be a minimum unit. this definition shows a combination of meaning and sound with special emphasis on grammatical use. it is a useful definition but does not include the concept of word as the minimal free form.,english lexicology(i),36,2.1 what is a word?,the definition of a word to sum up, the definition of a word comprises the following points a minimal free form of a language a sound unity a unit of meaning a form that can function alone in a sentence,english lexicology(i),37,compare:,book books bookish bookcase tolerate tolerance tolerant toleration tolerable intolerable telephone telegram telescope telecommunication,english lexicology(i),38,book+s book+ish book+case toler+ate toler+ance toler+ant toler+ation toler+able in+toler+able -ate tele- -phone morpheme,english lexicology(i),39,2.2 word, lexical item, vocabulary,lexical item 词项 a unit of vocabulary is generally referred to as a lexical item. a complete inventory录入 of the lexical items of a language constitutes that languages dictionary.,english lexicology(i),40,2.2 word, lexical item, vocabulary,vocabulary a complete inventory of the words in a language. but it may also refer to the words and phrases used in the variants of a language, such as dialect, register, terminology, etc. there is a total english vocabulary of more than 1 million.,english lexicology(i),41,new words are being invented or introduced at a rate of 850 words every year. vocabulary of an individual: active vocabulary ( speaking vocabulary and writing vocabulary) passive vocabulary (reading vocabulary and guessing vocabulary),english lexicology(i),42,2.2 word, lexical item, vocabulary,relation nationa lexical item, also a word national, nationalize, nationalism, the chinese nation, the united nationswords and word equivalents all the words and word equivalents constitute the vocabulary of a language.,english lexicology(i),43,2.3 sound and meaning,there is a debate over the connection between sound and meaning. mainly there are two positions. the naturalists maintain there is a natural connection between sound and meaning. the conventionalists, on the other hand, hold that the relations between sound and meaning are conventional and arbitrary. the meaning of a word is a kind of linguistic social contract. facts have proved this argument to be valid. words that convey the same meaning have different phonological forms in different languages. alternatively, the same phonological forms may convey different meanings; e.g.: sight, site, cite.,english lexicology(i),44,2.4 meaning and concept,meaning is closely related to a concept. a concept is the base of the meaning of a word. a word is used to label a concept. the concept is abstracted from the person, thing, relationship, idea, event, and so on, that we are thinking about. we call this the referent. the word refers to the referent through a concept. this approach to meaning can be diagrammed as followings: wordconceptreferent.,english lexicology(i),45,2.4 meaning and concept,but meaning is different from concept: a concept is an abstraction from things of the same kind. a concept refers to something in general, but not in particular, while meaning can refers to both something in general and in particular. for example: some have begun to realize that the automobile is a mixed blessing. the automobile was stalled in a snowstorm.,english lexicology(i),46,2.4 meaning and concept,but meaning is different from concept: meaning in the language context may have emotional and stylistic colors, express ones emotion, attitude and position. therefore, meaning adds supplementary value to the concept the word expresses. for example, dog might include the connotations of friend, helper, loyalty, etc.,english lexicology(i),47,sound and form,in the earliest stage of english, i.e., old english, the speech of the time was represented very much more faithfully in writing than it is today. with the development of the language, more and more differences occur between the two. the internal reason for this is that the english alphabet was adopted from the romans, which does not have a separate letter to represent each sound in the language so that some letters must do double duty or work together in combination. mate/mast/mat/swan,english lexicology(i),48,another reason is that the pronunciation has changed more rapidly than spelling over the years, and in some cases the two have drawn far apart. during the last five hundred years, though the sounds of speech have changed considerably, there have been no corresponding changes of spelling.,english lexicology(i),49,a third reason is that some of the differences were created by the early scribes. in the early days the spelling differences did not matter very much as people were not so used to seeing words in print, and the spelling was not fixed as it is today. as a result, no one was quite sure how some english words should be spelled. sometimes, people deliberately changed spelling of words either to make a line even or for easier recognition.,english lexicology(i),50,before the printing press was brought to england, everything was written by hand. those scribes, who made a living by writing for other people，often worked in haste to meet the needs of the king, church, and merchants. one problem was that several letters written with short vertical strokes笔画 i, u, v, m, w and n looked all alike. consequently their handwriting caused misunderstanding. to solve the problem in part, they changed the letter u to o when it came before m, n. or v. this is how sum, cum, wuman, wunder, munk came to be written as some, come, woman, wonder, monk. at some point, too, the scribes seem to have decided that no english word should end in n or v. thus, in time, an e was added to such words as live, have, due, and true but not pronounced.,english lexicology(i),51,in the late 1500, printing helped freeze固定 the spelling of words, but sounds continue to change as usual, finally comes the borrowing, which is an important channel of enriching the english vocabulary. when english borrowed words from other languages, it borrowed spelling as well. the early borrowings were assimilated and the later ones, however, do not conform to the rules of english pronunciation and spelling, e.g. stimulus (l), denouement (f), fiesta (sp), eureka (gr), and kimono (jap). amateur amater kimono kimonow low/know/snow,english lexicology(i),52,the written form of english is, therefore, an imperfect representation of the spoken form. in spite of the differences, at least eighty percent of the english words fit consistent spelling patterns合乎一致的拼写模式. and even those spellings that appear to be ir