Lexicology复习要点

1、Lexicology复习要点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 communicationLanguage: Language is a system of arbitrary vo

2、cal symbols used for human communication. It is a specific social action and a carrier of information.Lexicology: 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 us

3、age.1. Definition of Word: Word: A word is a minimal free form of a language that has given sound and meaning and syntactic function.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 sentence2. Sou

4、nd and meaning:The symbolic connection between sound and meaning is almost always arbitrary.3. Vocabulary:All the words in a language make up its vocabulary.4. Classification of words:Words fall into the basic words and nonbasic vocabulary by use frequency, into content words and functional words by

5、 notion, and into native words and borrowed words by origin.By notion, words can be grouped into content words and functional words. content words denote clear notions and thus are known as notional words. they include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and numerals, which denote objects, phenomena,

6、action, quality, state, degree, quantity, etc.Functional words do not have notions of their own. Therefore, they are also called empty words. as their chief function is to express the relation between notions, the relation between words as well as between sentences, they are known as form words.5. D

7、evelopment of English vocabulary:Old English (450 1150): Celtic - Latin of the Roman Legions - Anglo-Saxon of the Germantic tribes (now people generally refer to Anglo-Saxon as old English) - religious terms brought by the introduction of Christianity (6th century) - Scandinavian words of Norwegian

8、and Danish vikings (the 9th century)Middle English: French of Norman (1066) - English came back (13th century)Modern English: Early Modern English (1500 1700): Latin and Greek were borrowed in the time of RenaissanceLate Modern English (after 1700): absorbing words from all major languages of the wo

9、rld with the growth of colonization. (Mid-seventeenth) - new words created about science and technology (after World War II)6. Characteristics of English:Old English: Old English was a highly inflected language, language of full endings.Middle English: Language of leveled endings.Modern English: Eng

10、lish has envolved from a synthetic language (Old English) to the present analytic language.8. Causes of the development: Generally, there are three main sources of new words: the rapid development of modern science and technology; social, economic and political changes; the influence of other cultur

11、es and languages. 9. Morpheme:The morpheme is “the smallest functioning unit in the composition of words”. Morphemes are the minimal meaningful units.10. Allomorph:Morphemes are abstract units, which are realized in speech by discreet units known as morphs. Most morphemes are realized by single morp

12、hs and they coincide with words as they can stand by themselves and function freely in a sentence. Words of this kind are called monomorphemic words.An allomorph is any of the variant forms of a morpheme as conditioned by position or adjoining sounds.11. Classification of morphemes:Free morpheme: Mo

13、rphemes which are independent of other morphemes are considered to be free. These morphemes have complete meanings in themselves and can be used as free grammatical units in sentences.Free morphemes are free roots.Bound morpheme: Morphemes which cannot occur as separate words bound. They are so name

14、d because they are bound to other morphemes to form words.Bound morphemes are chiefly found in derived words.12. Root and affixRoot: A root is the basic unchangeable part of a word, and it conveys the main lexical meaning of the word.Free root: free roots can stand alone as words and provide the lan

15、guage with a basis for the formation of new words. Bound roots(粘着词根): A bound root is that part of the word that carries the fundamental meaning just like a free root. Unlike a free root, it is a bound form and has to combine with other morphemes to make words. A root is the basic form of a word whi

16、ch cannot be further analyzed without total loss for identity. In terms of derivational and inflectional morphology, a “root is that part of a word form that remains when all inflectional and derivational affixes have been removed.” A stem can be defined as a form to which affixes of any kind can be

17、 added.Affixes(词缀): Affixes are forms that are attached to words or word elements to modify meaning or function. According to the functions of affixes, we can put them into two groups: inflectional and derivational affixes.Inflectional affix (inflectional morpheme): An inflectional affix serves to e

18、xpress such meanings as plurality, tense, and the comparative or superlative degree. It does not form a new word with new lexical meaning when it is added to another word.Derivational affix (derivational morpheme): it is so called because when it is added to another morpheme, it “derivates” a new wo

19、rd. Many derivational affixes have a specific lexical meaning.The most productive word-formations are affixation, compounding and conversion.13. Derivation: Derivation: Derivation or affixation is generally defined as a word-formation process by which new words are created by adding a prefix, or suf

20、fix, or both, to the base.Prefixation: Prefixation is the formation of new words by adding a prefix or combing form to the base. Prefixes modify the lexical meaning of the base.(1) Negative prefixes: a-, dis-, in- (il-, ir-, im-), non-, un-(2) Reversative prefixes: de-, dis-, un-(3) Pejorative prefi

21、xes: mal-, mis-, pseudo-(4) Prefixes of degree or size: arch-, extra-, hyper-, macro-, micro-, mini-, out-, over-, sub-, super, sur-, ultra-, under-(5) Prefixes of orientation and attitude: anti-, contra-, counter-, pro-(6) Locative prefixes: extra-, fore-, inter-, intra-, tele-, trans-(7) Prefixes

22、of time and order: ex-, fore-, post-, pre-, re-(8) Number prefixes: bi-, multi- (poly-), semi- (hemi-), tri-, uni- (mono-)(9) Miscellaneous prefixes: auto-, neo-, pan-, vice-Suffixation: Suffixation is the formation of a new word by adding a suffix or a combing form to the base, and usually changing

23、 the word-class of the base.Suffixes have only a small semantic role, their primary function being to change the grammatical function of stems. In other words, they mainly change the word class.(1) Noun suffixes:A. Denominal nouns:Concrete: The suffixes of this group are added to noun bases to produ

24、ce concrete nouns: -eer, -er, -ette, -let, e.g. profiteer (person who makes unfairly large profits).Abstract: The following suffixes come at them end of noun stems to form abstract nouns: -age, -dom, -ery, -hood, -ing, -ism, -ship, e.g. wastage, mileage, officialdom (officials as a group)B. Deverbal

25、 nouns:The following suffixes combine with verb stems to create largely nouns denoting people: -ant, -ee, -ent, -er (-or), e.g. assistant, informant (one who gives information to police, etc.)Suffixes of this group added to verb stems to produce largely abstract nouns, denoting action, result, proce

26、ss, state, etc.: -age, -al, -ance, -ation (-ition, -tion, -sion, -ion), ence, -ing, -ment, e.g. linkage, carriage.C. De-adjective nouns: -ity, -ness, e.g. popularity, productivity, happiness, largenessD. Noun and adjective suffixes: A small number of suffixes, when added to stems related to human be

27、ings or nationality names, form words that can be both as nouns and adjectives: -ese, -an, - ist, e.g. Lebanese, Chinese(2) Adjective suffixes:A. Denominal suffixes: -ed, -ful, -ish, -less, -like, -ly, -y, e.g. wooded, simple-minded.B. Deverbal suffixes: -able (-ible), -ive (-ative, -sive), e.g. was

28、hable, arguable, permissible, active, decisive, productive.(3) Adverb suffixes: -ly, -ward(s), -wise, e.g. calmly, naturally, publicly, homewards, downward, onward, clockwise (in the direction in which the hands of the clock move), education-wise (so far as education is concerned).(4) Verb suffixes:

29、 -ate, -en, -(i)fy, -ize (-ise), e.g. originate (haveas origin); darken, heighten, strengthen, solidify (makesolid), beautify (make more beautiful); modernize, symbolize.14. Compounding:(1) Compounding: Compounding or composition is a word-formation process consisting of joining two or more bases to

30、 form a new unit, a compound word. Compound is a “lexical unit consisting of more than one stem and functioning both grammatically and semantically as a single word.”(2) Compounds differ from free phrases in the following three aspects:Phonetic features: In compounds the word stress usually occurs o

31、n the first element whereas in noun phrases the second element is generally stressed.Semantic features: Compounds are different from free phrases in semantic unity. Every compound should express a single idea just as one word.Grammatical features: A compound tends to play a single grammatical role i

32、n sentence.(3) Classification of compounds:Noun compoundsAdjective compoundsVerb compounds15. ConversionConversion: Conversion is the formation of new words by converting words of one class to another class. Conversion is also known as functional shift; Conversion is also named zero-derivation for n

33、ot adding an affix; The use of the verb converted is both economical and vivid.16. Abbreviation or shortening:Abbreviation: Abbreviation refers to word formation through clipping, initialisms and acronyms. These short forms are quicker and more convenient in use and for this reason they are becoming

34、 more and more popular especially in web English.(1) Clipping: A. Clipping: Clipping denotes the deletion of one or more syllables from a word. Words created by clipping are called clipped words.B. Type of clippingTypesExamplesFront clipping(aphaeresis)earthquake, parachute, helicopter, telephone, o

35、mnibus, bulldozerBack clipping(apocope)stereophonic, gentleman, fanatic, advertisement, dormitory, examination, championFront & back clippinginfluenza, refrigeratorMiddle clipping(syncope)Ltd (limited), yr (year/your)Phrase clippingZoo = zoological garden(2) Initialism: Initialism: Initialisms are w

36、ords formed from the initial letters of words, and pronounced as a sequence of letters.(3) AcronymsAcronyms: Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of words and pronounced as single words.(4) BlendingBlending: Blending is a process of word-formation by combining parts of two words or a w

37、ord plus a part of another word. The result of such a process is called a blend, which combines the sounds_ and meanings of two others. 17. Back-formation:Back-formation: Back-formation is a term used to refer to a type of word-formation by which a shorter word is coined by the deletion of a suppose

38、d affix from a longer form already present in the language.18. OnomatopoeiaMost English words are conventional, arbitrary symbols; consequently there is no intrinsic relation between the sound-symbol and its sense.19. Reference: Reference: Reference is the relationship between language and the world

39、. In other words only when a connection has been established between the linguistic sign and a referent does the sign become meaningful.Concept: which is beyond language, is the result of human cognition, reflecting the objective world in the human mind.The meaning of “meaning” is perhaps what is te

40、rmed “sense”.20. Motivation:Onomatopoeic / Phonetic motivation: In modern English one may find some words whose sounds suggest their meanings, for these words were created by imitating the natural sounds or noises. For example, bow-wow, bang, cuckoo, tick-tckMorphological motivation: Compounds and d

41、erived words are multi-morphemic words and the meanings of many are the sum total of the morphemes combined. For instance, airmail means to “mail by air”, reading-lamp is the “lamp for reading”, miniskirt is a “small skirt” and hopeless means “without hope”.Semantic motivation: Semantic motivation r

42、efers to the mental associations suggested by the conceptual meaning of a word. It explains the connection between the literal sense and figurative sense of the word. e.g. pen and sword in “The pen is mightier than the sword” suggest “writing” and “war” respectively.Etymological motivation: The mean

43、ings of many words often relate directly to their origins. The word laconic meaning “brief” or “short” is derived from Lacons, a tribe of people who were known for their “brevity of speech” and for their habit of never using more words than necessary. Hence a laconic answer is a “short answer”.21. S

44、emantic features:Semantic features: The analysis of word meaning is often seen as a process of breaking down the sense of a word into its minimal components, which are known as semantic features or sense components.22. Semantic field: Semantic field: Semantic field refers to a set of words (or lexem

45、es) related in meaning. Semantic field takes the view that the vocabulary of a given language is not simply a listing of independent items (as the headwords in dictionary would suggest), but is organized into areas or fields, within which words interrelate and define each other in various ways.23. G

46、rammatical meaning(语法意义):Grammatical meaning(语法意义) refers to that part of meaning of the word which indicates grammatical concept or relationships such as the word class, singular and plural forms of nouns, tense meaning of verbs and their inflectional forms (forget, forgets, forgot, forgotten, forg

47、etting).24. Lexical meaning(词汇意义):Lexical meaning(词汇意义) is the meaning of an isolated word in a dictionary. This component of meaning is identical in all the forms of the word.Lexical meaning itself has two components: conceptual meaning and associative meaning.25. Conceptual meaning(概念意义):Conceptua

48、l meaning(概念意义) (also known as denotative meaning) is the meaning given in the dictionary and forms the core of word meaning. Conceptual meaning forms the basis for communication as the same word has the same conceptual meaning to all the speakers of the same language. 26. Associate meaning(关联意义):As

49、sociate meaning(关联意义) is the secondary meaning supplemented to the conceptual meaning. It differs from the conceptual meaning in that it is liable to the influence of such factors as culture, experience, religion, geographical region, class background, education, etc. Associative meaning comprises f

50、our types: connotative meaning, stylistic meaning, affective meaning, and collocative meaning.27. Connotative meaning (内涵意义):Connotative meaning : In contrast to denotative meaning, connotative meaning refers to the overtones or associations which a word suggests or implies.28. Stylistic meaning(文体意

51、义):Stylistic meaning: Words may have stylistic features, which make them appropriate for different contexts.This stylistic difference is especially true of synonyms. It is observed that there are few words which have both the same conceptual meaning and stylistic meaning.Degrees of formalityFormalNe

52、utral/CommonInformal/ Colloquial29. Affective meaning(情感意义):Affective meaning: Affective meaning indicates the speakers attitude towards the person or thing in conversation.Words that have emotive values may fall into two categories:Appreciative or commendatory(褒义): words of positive overtones used

53、to show appreciation or approval.Pejorative or derogatory(贬义): words of negative connotations imply disapproval, contempt or criticism.30. Collocative meaning(搭配意义):Collocative meaning: Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires in its collocation. In other words, it is that pa

54、rt of the word meaning suggested by the words before or after the word in discussion.31. Polysemy:Polysemy: Polysemy means that one single word has two or more senses at the same time. The bulk of English words are polysemantic, such as albatross; one-meaning words are rare and are mainly scientific

55、 terms, such as hydrogen.32. HomonymyHomonym: Homonyms are words which have the same phonological or spelling form but differ in meaning. Such a linguistic phenomenon, i.e. identity of form and diversity of meaning is referred to as homonymy. Homographs （同形异义词）: Homographs are words identical in spe

56、lling, but different in sound and meaning.Homophones （同音异义词）: Homophones are words identical in sound but different in spelling and meaning.perfect homonyms（完全同音同形异义词）: Perfect homonyms are words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning.The fundamental difference between homonyms and

57、 polysemants lies in the fact that the former refers to different words which happen to share the same form and the latter is the one and same word which has several distinguishable meaning. one important criterion is to see their etymology, i.e. homonyms are from different sources whereas a polysem

58、ant is from the same source which has acquired different meanings in the course of development. The second principal consideration is semantic relatedness. The various meanings of a polysemant are correlated and connected to one central meaning to a greater or lesser degree. On the other hand, meanings of different homonyms have nothing to do with one another. In dictionaries, a polysemant has its meanings all listed under one headword whereas homonyms are listed as separate entries.33. Context: Context includes Lingu