1、1Outline of English LexicologyContents1. Introduction2. Basic Concepts of Words and Vocabulary3. Morphological Structure 4. The Development of the English Vocabulary5 Borrowing as a Source of English Word-Stock 6. Word-Formation I: the Major Processes7. Word-Formation II: the Minor Processes8. Motiv
2、ation 9. Word Meaning10. Sense Relations 11. Changes in Meaning12. American English Books to Read1. 英语词汇学教程，汪榕培、卢晓娟编著，上海外语教育出版社，1999。 2. 现代英语词汇学，陆国强著，上海外语教育出版社，1997。 3. 简明英语词汇学，曹务堂著，山东教育出版社。 4. 英语词汇学引论，林承章编著，武汉大学出版社，1997。5. 英语词汇学教程，张维友编著，华中师范大学出版社， 20046. An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology
3、, by Zhang Yun-fei, Beijing Normal University Press, 1988 Chapter 1 Introduction1.1 Language, Linguistics and LexicologyWhat is language?Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. It is a specific social action and a carrier of information.What is linguistics?Gener
4、ally 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 communicationWhat is lexicology?Lexicology is a branch of linguistics concerned with the st
5、udy of the vocabulary of a given language. It deals with words, their origin, development, structure, formation, meaning and usage.1.2 Aims and Significance of the CourseWhat is lexicology?2English lexicology is a theoretically-oriented course. It is chiefly concerned with the basic theories of word
6、s 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.The role of vocabulary in
7、 the language system(1) Vocabulary is the building material of the language system. It is one of the essential elements of language: speech sounds, grammar and vocabulary.(2) “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”(3) “there is a sense in which lear
8、ning 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.”Aims of the course(1) Give a systematic description of the English vocabulary.(2) Offer an
9、insight into the origin and development of the English vocabulary.(3) Discuss the problems of word-structure and word-formation(4) Study the use of English words, their meanings and changes in meaning, their sense relations.The significance of the course(1) Develop your personal vocabulary and consc
10、iously increase your word power (active vocabulary).(2) Understand word-meaning and organize, classify and store words more effectively.(3) Raise your awareness of meaning and usages, use words more accurately and appropriately.(4) Develop your skills and habits of analyzing and generalizing linguis
11、tic phenomena in your learning experiences.(5) Ultimately improve your receptive and productive skills in language processing as well as language production.Chapter 2 Basic Concepts of Words and VocabularyContent2.1. What Is a Word?2.2 Word, lexical Item, Vocabulary2.3 Sound and Meaning2.4 Meaning a
12、nd Concept2.5 Classification of Words2.1.1 Some basic concepts(1) Morpheme(a) A morphemea minimal meaningful unit: (e.g.: un-happy, tow morphemes)3语素是最小的有意义的单位。它是语言中最小的构词单位A free morphemeone that can occur alone in speech ( a root)自由语素是能独立运用的语素，它有完整的意义，在句中充当一个自由的语法单位。e.g., man, wind, open, tour.(b)
13、A bound morphemeone that cannot occur alone in speech bound roots or affixes(derivational: prefixes and suffixes, inflectional affixes)粘着语素不能独立成词，只能依附于其他语素上以构成词或担当一定的语法功能。粘着语素包括词根（粘着词根）和词缀, e.g.: ante-ced-ent 先辈-ced- 是词根， 接近，ante- 是前缀， 在前，-ent 是后缀， 人，物，(c) Derivational morphemes are used to derive n
14、ew words when they are added to another morpheme. In English derivatives and compounds are all formed by such morphemes.派生语素附着于其它语素可派生出新词。英语中派生词和合成词都是由这样的语素构成的。(d) Inflectional morphemes indicate the syntactic relationships between words and function as grammatical markers. Inflectional morphemes ar
15、e confined to suffixes.屈折语素作为语法标记表示词的语法意义，屈折语素只限于词缀。Task 1: Whats the difference between them?Inflectional(a) Doesnt change meaning or part of speech of the stem. (workworks)(b) Indicates syntactic relations between different words in a sentence. ( grammatical meaning)(c) Occurs with all members of
16、some large class of morphemes.(d) Occurs at margins of words. (radioradios)Derivational(1) Changes meaning or part of speech of the stem.( like-dislike, sleepasleep)(2) Indicates semantic relations within the word.(specific lexical meaning， e.g., un-)(3) Occurs with only some members of a class of m
17、orphemes(4) Occurs before any inflectional suffixes added. (e) Content / lexical vs. grammatical morphemes Lexical 词汇 / content 实义 morphemes are morphemes used for the construction of new words as in compound words (blackbird is coined on the basis of 2 lexical morphemes: black and bird.), and deriv
18、ational morphemes such as ship, -ize. Grammatical morphemes function primarily as grammatical markers. They encompass both inflectional affixes(-books) and free morphemes ( in, and, do, have, theyfunctional words)4(2) A stemthe word to which inflectional affixes are added and may consist of one or m
19、ore morphemes/ A stem is that part of the word-form which remains when all inflectional affixes have been removed.词干是所有屈折词缀被去掉后所剩余的那部分。(3) A roota form consists of a single morpheme. A root is that part of a word form that remains when all inflectional and derivational affixes have been removed.词根是所
20、有屈折词缀和派生词缀被去掉后所剩余的那部分。(4) A base refers to a form to which affixes of any kind (both derivational and inflectional) can be added. It can be a root or a stem.词基是任何一种词缀都可加在上面的形式。(See Chapter 3, 6 and 7.)Task 2: Analyze the words in terms of root, stem and basee.g., (root/base) (derivational suffix)des
21、ire able(derivational prefix) ( base)un desirable (a.)(stem/base) (inflectional suffix) undesirable (n.) s (root/stem/base) (inflectional suffix) desire (v.) dAnswers1. desire (v.): 是词根（不可再分解） ，是词干（可以加屈折词缀，如过去时态 -ed） ，是词基。2. desirable (adj.): 不是词根（可再分解） ；不是词干（不可以加屈折词缀） ，是词基（既可以加词缀，又能再分解下去） 。3. undes
22、irable (n.): 不是词根（可再分解） ；是词干（可以加屈折词缀，如名词复数 -s） ，也是词基。Task 3: comparingBook books bookish bookcaseTolerate tolerance tolerant toleration tolerable intolerable Telephone telegram telescope telecommunicationAnalysis:book+s book+ish book+casetoler+ate toler+ance toler+ant toler+ation toler+able in+toler
23、+ableBound Morpheme-ate tele-5-phonetoler-2.1.2 The Features of English words(1) For speakers of English: Listed in dictionaries Separated in writing by spaces Separated in speech by pausesplease name some of the features of English words, and what about Chinese words?(2) For a linguist: Generally l
24、arger than a sound segment, consisting of one or more morphemes Typically occurs in the structure of phrases. Be of no further analysis into meaningful and free parts, such as boy and boyish, like and dislike Belongs to a specific word class or part of speech2.1.3 What Is a Word?The definition of a
25、wordIt is quite difficult to state the criteria by which a word can be defined; so far no completely satisfactory definition has been given. In brief, a word may be defined as a fundamental unit of speech and a minimum free form (morpheme/minimal meaningful unit; with a unity of sound and meaning (b
26、oth lexical and grammatical meaning), capable of performing a given syntactic function. Therefore, 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.To sum up, the de
27、finition of a word comprises the following points A minimal free form (morpheme) of a language A sound unity A unit of lexical or grammatical meaning A form that can function alone in a sentence, but cannot be analyzed into elements which can all occur alone and also have meaning2.2 Word, Lexical It
28、em, Vocabulary(1) Lexical itemA unit of vocabulary is generally referred to as a lexical item. A complete inventory of the lexical items of a language constitutes that languages dictionary. A lexical item is also a word. (2) VocabularyBroadly speaking, all the words in a language together constitute
29、 what is known as 6vocabulary. The term vocabulary usually refers to 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 mil
30、lion.(3) Relation between the three concepts, a lexical item, also a word: nation words and word equivalents: national, nationalize, nationalism, the Chinese nation, the United Nations All the words and word equivalents constitute the vocabulary of a language.2.3 Sound and MeaningThere is a debate o
31、ver the connection between sound and meaning. Mainly there are two positions. (1) 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
32、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.(2) The naturalists maintain there is a natural connection between sound and meaning. onomatopoe
33、ia: The formation or use of words such as buzz or murmur , bark, bomb etc. that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.2.4 Meaning and Concept(1) What is “word meaning”?Word meaning can be defined as a reciprocal relation(互指关系) between name and meaning. 意义是名称与意思的联系。
34、Meaning is what the form stands for. e.g.: desk: something you sit at and you do your work(2) What is concept?It is the general idea or meaning which is associate with a word or symbol in a persons mind. 指词或符号在人脑中的大致印象或意义。(3) Relation between meaning and conceptMeaning is closely related to a concep
35、t. 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（所指） . The word refers to the referent through a concept. This approach t
36、o meaning can be diagrammed as followings: wordconceptreferent. But meaning is different from concept:(a) 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
37、. For example: some have begun to realize that the automobile is a mixed blessing. The automobile was stalled in a snowstorm.7(b) Meaning in the language contexts may have emotional and stylistic colors, expressing ones emotion, attitude and position. Therefore, meaning adds supplementary value to t
38、he concept the word expresses. For example, dog might include the connotations(内涵) of friend, helper, loyalty, etc. Other examples are: motherland, home, candle, pig, panda, etc.(See Chapter 9)2.5 Classification of WordsThe English vocabulary consists of different kinds of words, which may be classi
39、fied by different criteria. In this section we will discuss three main criteria: By origin By level of usage By notion2.5.1 By originNative words(1) What are native words?(2) The features of native words?Loan words(1) What are loan words?(2) The forces of borrowing words(3) Sources of loan words and
40、 the characteristics respectively2.5.1 By originNative words(1)What are native words?Words of Anglo-Saxon origin are native words. They form the great majority of the basic word stock (基本词汇) of the English language. The basic word stock is the foundation of the vocabulary accumulated over a number o
41、f epochs. Most native words in modern English are monosyllabic. Though small in number, these words are the ones used most frequently in everyday speech and writing; they play no small part in linguistic performance and communication.Examples of native wordsIn the native stock we find the most frequ
42、ently used words denoting the commonest things necessary for life, such as names of natural phenomena (sun, moon, rain, frost, snow), names of animals and plants (horse, dog, tree, flower) names of parts of body (head, hand, foot), adjectives denoting size and color (big, small, red, white), verbs e
43、xpressing concrete actions (live, eat, work, go, come) auxiliary and modal verbs, pronouns, most numerals, prepositions and conjunctions. (2)The fundamental features of the basic word stock National character (全民性): Words of the basic word stock denote the most common things and phenomena of the wor
44、ld. These words cannot be avoided by any 8speaker of a given community, irrespective of class origin, education, profession, geographical regions, culture, etc. Stability(稳定性): as words in the basic word stock denote the commonest things necessary to life, they are likely to remain unchanged. Produc
45、tivity (能产性): Words of the basic word stock are mostly root words or monosyllabic words. They are very active in forming new words. For example, the word hand forms such derivatives and compounds as: handful, handy, handily, handbag, handball, handwriting, etc. Collocability (搭配能力强): Basic words com
46、bine readily with other words to form habitual expressions and phrases. The word hand again can be found in phrases like at first hand, hand in hand, to show ones hand, a factory hand, hand in glove, and so on.2.5.1 By originLoan words(1) What are loan words?The English vocabulary has replenished it
47、self by continually taking over words from other languages over the centuries. Those words borrowed from other languages are loan words or borrowed words. The historical development of the English language shows that English is a heavy borrower; it has adopted words from almost every known language,
48、 especially from Latin, French, and Greek. After World War II the English vocabulary expanded at a rate much faster than ever before.(2) The forces of borrowing words Invasion and Conquest Cultural interchange Social forces- psychological motivation(3) Sources of loan words: Latin borrowing Scandina
49、vian influences French loan words Greek adoptions Other minor sources of borrowing(See Chapter 5)2.5.2. By level of usage(1) Common words(2) Literary words(3) Colloquial words(4) Slang words(5) Technical words (1) Common wordsCommon words are connected with the ordinary things or activities necessary to everyday life. The core of the common words is the basic word stock. They are stylistically neutral, hence they are appropriate in bot
