词汇学考试题及答案.doc

1.give the definition of the lexicology.2. give the definition of the word3. what are the main three types of word formation and the main features of the three types?4. what are they characteristics of the English idioms?5. what do you think of the course: English lexicology.第一题Lexicology is a branch of linguistics inquiring into the origins and meanings of words. (WNWD)English lexicology is a subbranch of linguistics. But it embraces other academic disciplines, such as morphology, semantics, etymology, stylistics, lexicography.Morphology: the branch of grammar, studies the structure or form of words, primarily through the use of morpheme construct.Etymology: traditionally used for the study of the origins and history of the form and meaning of words.Semantics: the study of meanings of different linguistics levels: lexis, syntax, utterance, discourse, etc.Stylistics: the study of style, concerned with the users choices of linguistic elements in a particular context for special effects.Lexicography: record the language as it is used so as to present the genuine picture of words to the reader, providing authoritative reference. (Edit a dictionary).第二题The definition of a word comprises the following points:(1) a minimal free form of a language;(2) a sound unity;(3) a unit of meaning;(4) a form that can function alone in a sentence. A word is a minimal free form of a language that has a given sound and meaning and syntactic function. 第三题The most productive word formations are affixations, compounding and conversion. The rest of new words come from shortening including clipping and acronymy, together with words born out of blending and other means. While applying the rules, we should remember that there are always exceptions.1. AffixationAffixation is generally defined as the formation of words by adding word-forming or derivational affixes to stems. This process is also known as derivation, the words formed in this way are called derivations.1.1 Prefixation. It is the formation of new words by adding prefixes to stems. The majority of prefixes are characterized by their non-class-changing nature.Negative prefixes: a-, dis-, in- (il-, ir-, im-), non-, un-.Reversative prefixes: de-, dis-, un-.Pejorative prefixes: mal-, mis-, pseudo-.Prefixes of degree or size: arch-, extra-, hyper-, macro-, micro-,mini-, out-, over-, sub-, super-, sur-, ultra-, under-.Prefixes of orientation and attitude: anti-, contra-, counter-, pro-.Locative prefixes: extra-, fore-, inter-, intra-, tele-, trans-.Prefixes of time and order: ex-, fore-, post-, pre-, re-.Number prefixes: bi-, multi- (poly-), semi- (hemi-), tri-, uni- (mono-).Miscellaneous prefixes: auto-, neo-, pan-, vice-.1.2 SuffixationIt is the formation of new words by adding suffixes to stems. They mainly change the word class.Noun suffixes:a. Denominal nouns: Concrete: -eer, -er, -ess, -ette, - let; Abstract: -age, -dom, -ery, -ery (-ry), -hood, -ing, -sim, -ship.b. Deverbal nouns:To create nouns denoting people: -ant, -ee, -ent, -er (-or).To produce abstract nouns, denoting action, result, process, state, etc.: -age, -al, -ance, -ation (-ition, -tion, -sion, -ion), -ence, -ing, -ment.c. De-adjective nouns: -ity, -ness.d. Noun and adjective suffixes: can be used both as nouns and adjectives: -ese, -an, -ist.Adjective suffixes:a. Denominal suffixes: -ed, -ful, -ish, -less, -like, -ly, -y; -al (-ial, -ical), -esque, -ic, -ous (-eous, -ious).(Both ic and ical can be affixed to the same stem in some cases, but differ in meaning.)b. Deverbal suffixes: able (-ible), -ive (-ative, -sive).Adverb suffixes: -ly, -ward(s), -wise.Verb suffixes: -ate, -en, - (i)fy, -ize (-ise).Some seemingly productive vogue affixes like nik are still considered slang.2. CompoundingIt is the formation of new words by joining two or more stems, also called composition. Words formed in this way are called compounds.A compound is a lexicology unit consisting of more than one stem and functioning both grammatically and semantically as a single word. They can be written solid, hyphenated and open.2.1 Characteristics of CompoundsOpen compounds are the same in form as free phrases. The difference:Phonetic features: In compounds the word stress usually occurs on the first element.Semantic features: Every compound should express a single idea just as one word.Grammatical features: A compound tends to play a single grammatical role in a sentence.2.2 Formation of CompoundsThe three major classes of compounds:Noun compounds: n+n; n+v; v+n; a+n; n+v-ing; v-ing+n; n+v-er; adv+v; v+adv; v-ing+adv; adv+v-ing.All of these patterns are more or less productive except the last two.Adjective compounds: n+v-ing; a+v-ing; n+a; a+a; n+v-ed; a (adv) +v-ed; n (a) +n-ed; num+n; num+n-ed; adv+v-ing; v-ed+adv.Very productive: n+v-ing, n+a, n+v-ed.Verb compounds.The limited number of verbs are created either through conversion or backformation.3. ConversionIt is the formation of new words by converting words of one class to another class. This process is also known as functional shift.Conversion to NounVerb to noun: Almost all monomorphemic verbs can be used as nouns, which are semantically related to the original verbs in various ways according to Quirk et al: State (of mind or sensation); Event or activity; Result of the action; Doer of the action; Tool or instrument to do the action with; Place of action.Many simple nouns converted from verbs can be used with have, take, make, give etc. to form phrases to replace the verb or denote a brief action.Adjective to noun: Not all adjectives which are converted can achieve a full noun status. Words fully converted: They can be: common adjectives, participles and others. Words partially converted: This class generally refer to a group of the kind.Miscellaneous conversion: This covers nouns converted from conjunctions, models, finite verbs, prepositions, etc.Conversion to verbsA noun can be converted to a verb without any change. This is both economical and vivid.Noun to verb: ways: to put in or on N; to give N r to provide with N; to remove N from; to do with N; to be or act as N; to make or change into N; to send or go by N.Verbs of this type are all transitive except the last one.Adjective to verb: This is not as productive as that of nouns. They can be used either transitively to mean to makeadjective or intransitively to become adjective.Verbs restricted to transitive use are still, forward, free, bare, blind and so on.Miscellaneous conversionIn some cases, conversion is accompanied by certain change: which affect pronunciation or spelling or stress distribution. The most common changes are: Voiceless to voiced consonant; Initial to end stress.第四题Idioms are expressions that are not readily understandable from their literal meaning of individual elements. In a broad sense, idiom may include colloquialisms（俗语）, Catchphrases（标语）,slang expressions （俚语）,proverbs（谚语）,etc. They form an important part of the English vocabulary.Characteristics of Idioms: Semantic Unity and Structured StabilitySemantic Unity: Being phrases or sentences, Idioms each consist of more than one word, but each is a semantic unity, e.g. keep in mind, take off. The semantic unity of idioms is also reflected in the illogical relationship between the literal meaning and the meaning of the idiom. For example, How do you do does not mean In what way do you do things.Structural Stability: The structure of an idiom is to a large extent unchangeable: the constituents of idioms cannot be replaced; the word order cannot be inverted or changed; the constituents of an idiom cannot be deleted or added to; many idioms are grammatically unanalysable.第五题English lexicology is a theoretically-oriented course. It is chiefly concerned with the basic theories of words in general and of English words in particular. However, it is a practical course as well, for in the discussion, 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.Lexicology embraces other academic disciplines, such as morphology(形态学), seman