lexicology词汇学名词解释

Chapter 1 Basic Concepts of Words and Vocabulary 1 The definition of a word： A word is a minimal free form of language which has a given sound and meaning and syntactic function. 2 Sound and Meaning There is no logical or intrinsic connection between a sound and what it refers to. The relation between sound and meaning is almost always arbitrary or conventional. The same language can use the same sound to mean different things and the different languages use different sounds to refer to the same thing.3 Sound and Form The written form of English is not an accurate representation of the spoken form. There are different causes of the differences between sounds and forms in the English language.1) The English alphabet was adopted from the Romans, which does not employ the system of one single letter to stand for one sound.2) The early scribes deliberately changed spelling of words to make a line even or for easier recognition.3) Dictionaries help to fix the spelling of words 4) English has borrowed many words from other languages, which may not have been assimilated . 4 VocabularyAll the words in a language are termed as vocabulary. However, vocabulary can also be used to refer to all the words in a book, or in a particular historical period of time, or in a dialect, or in a particular discipline, or even to all the words that a person possesses.5 Classification of Words Words can be classified into the basic word stock and non-basic word stock by use frequency, into content words and functional words by notion and into native words and borrowed words by origin. 1) The Characteristics of the Basic Word Stock (1) All national character (2)stability (3)productivity (4)polysemy (5)collocability2) The Characteristics of borrowed words(1)Denizens: the early borrowed words which have been assimilated and conformed to the English way of pronunciation and spelling.(2)Aliens: the borrowed words which have retained the foreign way of pronunciation or spelling and have not been assimilated into the English language.(3)Translation-loans: the words and expressions which are formed from the existing English materials, but modeled on the patterns of another language.(4)Semantic loans: words which have not been borrowed with reference to the form, but to the meanings.3) Roles Played by the native words. Native words are limited in number, but form the core of the English language. Native words are often neutral in style and frequent in useChapter 3 Word Formation I 1Morphemes Morphemes are the smallest meaningful units of a language.2Allomorphs Some morphemes are realized by more than one morph. Such alternative morphs of a morpheme are called allomorphs.3Types of Morphemes1) Free Morphemes Free morphemes are those which usually have complete meanings in themselves and can be used freely or independently as words. 2) Bound Morphemes Bound morphemes have to be bound with other morphemes to form words and can not be used independently as words.3) Free Roots Free roots are free morphemes. They are identical with root words.4) Bound Roots A bound root, like a free root, is that part of the word that carries the fundamental meaning of a word, but unlike a free root, it is a bound form and has to be bound with other morphemes to form words.5)Affixes Affixes are forms that are attached to stems to modify meaning or function. Almost all the affixes are bound.6)Inflectional Affixes Aninflectional affix is one attached to the end of a word to convey grammatical meaning or grammatical relation, such as tense, case, number, comparative or superlative degree, etc.7) Derivational Affixes A derivational affix is one that is added to the beginning or the end of a word in order to create a new word. Derivational affixes can be divided into prefixes and suffixes.8)Prefixes Prefixes are the morphemes that occur at the beginning of a word. They modify the meaning of a stem, but usually do not change the part of speech of the original word.9)Suffixes Suffixes occur at the end of stems. Though they can modify the meanings of the original words, their chief function is to change the parts of speech of words.4Root and Stem 1) Root A root is the basic form of a word which can not be further analyzed without total loss of identity. It carries the main component of the meaning of a word. It can also be defined as that part of a word which remains after all the inflectional and derivational affixes have been removed.2) Stem A stem can be defined as any form to which an affix can be added.Chapter 4 Word Formation II 1Affixation Affixation is the process of forming words by adding derivational affixes to stems. It is also called derivation. Words formed in this way are derivatives. 1) Prefixation Prefixation is a way of forming new words by adding prefixes to stems. Usually, prefixes do not change the part of speech of a word. Their chief function is to modify its meaning, although there are exceptions. Prefixes can be divided, based on their meanings, into: negative prefixes, reversative prefixes, pejorative prefixes, prefixes of degree or size, locative prefixes, prefixes of time and order, number prefixes and miscelaneous prefixes.2) Suffixation Suffixation is the process of forming new words by adding suffixes to the end of stems. The chief role of a suffix is not to modify the meaning of a stem, rather to change the grammatical function of a stem, though there are a few exceptions. Suffixes can be divided into noun suffixes, adjective suffixes, adverb suffixes and verb suffixes.2Compounding 1) Definition Compounding is a process of word formation by which two or more stems are put together to make one word. The word formed in this way is called a compound 2) Characteristics of compounds(1)Phonetic feature The word stress of a compound usually falls on the first element, while in a free phrase, the second element is usually stressed. If a compound has two stresses, it is the first element that receives the primary stress.(2)Semantic feature The meaning of a compound is a semantic unity, which,usually, is not the total sum of all the meanings of the constituent words in a compound. (3) Grammatical feature A compound usually plays a single grammatical role in a sentence. 3Conversion 1) Definition Conversion is the formation of new words by converting words of one part of speech to the words of another part of speech, without changes in morphological structures. Words created are new only in a grammatical sense.2)Types of conversion(1)Conversion to Nouns a.verb to noun b.adjective to noun c. miscellaneous conversion (2)Conversion to Verbs a. noun to verb b. adjective to verb c. miscellaneous conversion3)Semantic features of conversion1)Verb to noun The new words obtained through conversion are usually related to the original words in the following ways:(1)state of mind or sensation(2)event or activity(3)result of the action(4)doer of the action(5)tool or instrument to do the action with(6)place of the action 2)Noun to verb (1)to put in or on N (2)to give N or to provide with N (3)to remove N from (4)to do with N (5)to be or act as n (6)to make or change into N (7)to send or go by N4Blending1) Definition Blending is the formation of new words by combining parts of two words or a word plus a part of another word2)Categories of Blending(1)the first part of the first word + the last part of the second word: botel: boat + hotel 汽艇游客旅馆(2) the whole part of the first word + last part of the second word: lunarnaut: lunar + astronaut 登月宇航员(3)the whole form of the second word + the first part of the first word: Eurasian: Europe + Asian 欧亚混血儿(4)the first part of the first word + the first part of the second word: sitcom: situation + comedy 情景喜剧5Clipping1) Definition Clipping is to shorten a long word by cutting a part off the original and use what has remained as a word.2) Types of Clipping(1)Front clipping: phone from telephone(2)Back clipping: ad from advertisement(3)Front and back clipping: flu from influenza (4)Phrase clipping: pub from public house 6Acronymy1) Definition Acronymy is the process of forming new words by joining the initial letters of phrases.2)Types of Acronymy(1)Initialisms Initialisms are words pronounced letter by letter: VOA from Voice of America(2)AcronymsAcronyms are words formed from initial letters but pronounced as a normal word. 7Backformation Back-formation is the opposite process of suffixation. It is the process of making a new word by dropping the supposed suffix: e.g. burgle from burglar.8 New Words from Proper Names1) Names of people2)Names of places 3)Names of books 4)Tradenames When proper nouns are commonized, many of them have lost their original identity;the initial letter many not be capitalized. They can be combined with other morphemes to form words of other word classes. The commonized proper nouns are rich in cultural associations. They are stylistically vivid, expressive and thought-provoking.Chapter 5 Word Meaning 1The meaning of meaning1.1 Reference Reference is the conventional or arbitrary relationship between language and the world. Part of the word meaning is the reference.1.2 ConceptThough meaning and concept are closely related, they belong to different categories: Concept is the result of human cognition while meaning is the result of language use.1.3 SenseSense denotes the intrinsic semantic relationship inside the language. it is not concerned with the connection between words and what these words indicate in the word. The sense of an expression is its place in a system of semantic relationships with other expressions in the language. 2Motivation Motivation refers to the connection between the linguistic symbol and its meaning. Most words are non-motivated.2.1 Onomatopoeic motivation The sounds of some words suggest their meanings, because they are created by imitating the natural sounds. But these onomatopoeic words are also largely conventional, because different languages may use different forms to indicate these sounds.2.2 Semantic motivation Semantic motivation explains the relationships between the literal sense and the figurative sense through associations. 2.3 Etymological motivation Etymological motivation means that the meanings of words can be explained with reference to etymological information. Very often, the history of the word can explain why a form has acquired a particular meaning.2.4 Morphological motivation Morphological motivation tries to establish the connection of meaning of the word to its form from morphological point of view. Sometimes, we can work out the meaning of a word if we know the meaning of the morphemes that constitute that word. 3Types of meaningChapter 6 Sense Relations and Semantic Field1Polysemy Polysemy refers to the phenomenon in which one and the same word has more than one meaning.1.1 Two approaches to polysemy1) Diachronic approach: Polysemy is described as the result of the historical development of the semantic features of one and the same word. 2) Synchronic approach: Polysemy is viewed as the co-existence of various meanings of the same word at a particular point in time.1.2 Two processes of development1) Radiation：It is the semantic process in which the primary meaning stands at the centre and the secondary meaning radiates out of it. Though the secondary meanings are independent of one another, they can all be traced back to the primary meaning.2) Concatenation: It is the semantic process in which the meaning of a word moves gradually away from its primary meaning in succession so that the present meaning seems to have no connection to the primary meaning.2. Homonymy There are many pairs or groups of words, which, though different in meaning, are pronounced alike or spelled alike, or both. Such words are called homonyms.2.1 Types of homonyms1)Perfect homonyms: They are different words identical both in sound and spelling, though different in meaning.2)Homographs: Homographs are different words identical in spelling, but different in sound and meaning.3 )Homophones: They are different words identical in sound but differentinspelling and meaning2.2 origins of homonyms Origins of homonyms are change in sound and spelling, borrowing and shortening.3Synonymy Synonymy refers to the relationship of similarity or identity in meaning. Synonyms are the words which have the same or very nearly the same essential meaning.3.1 Sources of synonyms1) borrowing2)dialects and regional English3) figurative and euphemistic use of words3.2 Discrimination of synonyms 1) Difference in denotation2) Difference in the degree of a given quality3) Differences in associative meanings4) Differences in use 4 Antonymy Antonymy is used for oppositeness of meaning; words that are opposite are antonyms.4.1 Types of antonyms 1) Contraries: Contraries display a type of semantic contrast, illustrated by such pairs as rich and poor. Contraries are gradable, and the semantic contrast in a contrary pair is relative; i.e. there are often intermediate terms between the two opposites. So the negation of one does not necessarily mean the assertion of the other.2) Contradictory terms Contradictory terms are also called complementarities. The meanings of these terms are mutually exclusive and no possibilities are allowed between them. The assertion of one is the negation of the other.3) Relative terms They show a reciprocal social relationship and a contrast of direction. One of the two presupposes the other of the two.4.2 Some characteristics of antonyms1) Antonyms are classified on the basis of meaning2) A polysemic word may have more than one antonym.3) Antonyms can be analysed in terms of markedness. The meaning of one of the pair may be more general and more semantically inclusive than the meaning of the other of the two.4.3 The use of antonyms1) Antonyms can be used to define meanings of words.2) Antonyms can be used for efficient expression of an opposite idea, etc.3) Antonyms can be used for emphatic effect.5Hyponymy Hyponymy refers to the relationship of semantic inclusion. Words with more specific meaning or narrower meaning are hyponyms, while words with more inclusive or general meanings are superordinate terms. The status either as superordinate or subordinate is only relative.6Semantic field Semantic field is a term to refer to the phenomenon that vocabulary is an integrated system interrelated in sense and can be divided into semantically related sets or fields. Words in each semantic field defines one another.Chapter 7 Changes in Word Meaning 1Types of changes1)Extension The extension of meaning, the opposite of restriction, means the widening of a words sense until it covers much more than what it originally conveyed.2)Narrowing Narrowing of meaning, also called restriction of meaning, means that a word of wide meaning acquires a narrower, specialised sense which is applicable to only one of the objects it previously denoted.3)Elevation When the meaning of a word narrows toward a more favourable meaning it is called elevation4)Degradation Degradation means the falling of word meaning into disrepute, for one reason or another. Words once respectable or neutral may shift to a less respectable, or even derogatory meaning.2. Causes of changes 1)Extra-linguistic factors (1)historical reason (2)class reason (3)psychological reason 2)Linguistic factors (1)shortening (2)borrowing (3)analogy Chapter 8 Meaning and Context 1 Types of context1) Extra-linguistic context It is also called non-linguistic context, which includes people, place, time, relevant objects, background knowledge etc.2)Linguistic context It refers to all the words that go before or come after the word in question. 2 Roles of context1)Elimination of ambiguity2)Indication of referents3)Providing clues for inferring meanings such as: (1)Definition (2)Explanation (3)Examples (4)Synonymy (5)Antonymy (6)Hyponymy (7)Relevant details (8)Word structure1. Characteristics of idioms1) Semantic unity Each idiom is a semantic unity. The semantic unity can be reflected by the fact that the meaning of an idiom is very often not the total sum of the meanings of the constituent words. The semantic unity can also be shown in the illogical relations between the literal meanings of the constituent words and the meaning of the idiom.2) Structural stability Structural stability means that the structure of an idiom usually remains unchangeable. In other words, the constituent components of an idiom can not, generally speaking, be replaced.2. Classification of idioms1) Idioms nominal in nature: They function as nouns in a sentence.2) Idioms adjectival in nature They function as adjectives in a sentence.3)Idioms verbal in nature They function as verbs in a sentence.4)Idioms adverbial in nature They function as adverbials in a sentence.5)Sentence idioms Such idioms are usually in c