Bài giảng môn Tiếng Anh - Lexicology - Trương Văn Ánh

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LEXICOLOGY Mr. Ánh
Blue: Countries where English is an official or de facto official language, or national language, and is spoken fluently by the majority of the population Green: Countries where it is an official but not primary language
The origin of English words:
Lexicology as a part of linguistics • Lexicology is the part of linguistics, dealing with the vocabulary of a language and the properties of words as the main units of language. • Vocabulary means the sum of all the words in the language. • Good knowledge of the description of the vocabulary, rules of word-formation, origin and history of words helps to guess and remember the meaning of new-learned words, to master the standards of their usage, and to prevent mistakes.
Branches of Lexicology • General - the general study of words, irrespective of the specific features of any particular language Special - the description of the vocabulary of a given language • Historical - the study of the evolution of a vocabulary as well as of its elements. This branch discusses the origin of words, their change and development. • Descriptive - deals with the description of the vocabulary of a given language at a given stage of its development.
The History of the English language 1. The Oldest History 2. Roman Britain 3. Old English 4. Middle English 5. Modern English
The Oldest History • The Pre-Celtic civilization (3000 and 2000 BC) The first people who left interesting prehistorical documents (Stonehenge is the best known) were Iberian– people from the Mediterranean countries, they did not influence the further development of language. • The Celtic Civilization (6th – 2nd cts BC) The Gaels and the Britons were the Celtic tribes, coming from North-western Germany, which settled on the British Isles. The main spheres where the traces of their language are left are the place names (Avon, Thames, London, Dover, etc.).
Roman Britain (1 / 5 cts AD) Britain as a Roman colony. Roman occupation made a lasting impression on British society. They built cities (villas), public roads, theatres, public baths, public monuments. We can find a few words in Modern English which have their origin in Latin from the times of the Great Roman Empire (wall – vallum, street – via strata, chester – castra). Britain, as the most remote of the Roman provinces was among the earliest to fall away.
Old English (600 - 1100) • The history of the English language begins after the Germanic tribes – Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded and settled the most part of the Celtic islands of Britain. They spoke Low German dialects. The Old English speech was heterogeneous because of different Germanic tribes. • The first English literary language was based on the regional dialects used in West-Saxon territory in the 10th century. But the Modern English is not derived from that Old English literary language, because the Norman Conquest (1066, The Battle of Hastings) was the reason of the complete disappearance of this first standard English.
Middle English (1100 – 1500) • The Battle of Hastings gave England a new ruling class. The Normans spoke French, while the English speaking population preserved the language and tradition of the country. • Later the Normans in Britain began to speak English mixed with French words. So the vocabulary of English local dialects was in that period enriched by a great number of words of French origin. The period of Middle English may be characterized as a phase without standardization with the strong influence of French. • At the end of this period English was regaining its former role as an official language. Geoffrey Chaucer by his Canterbury Tales established the written London English as the base for a new national literary Standard English. So-called Chaucery English was used as the new official language.
Modern English The Modern English period started with the centralisation of the state under the Tudors, and the strengthening of the political and economic unity of England. The beginning of the Modern English period is the beginning of the English language as is spoken nowadays.
Assignment 1 Fill in the table
The Origin of English Words Over the course of its development the English language has been influenced by the other languages. According to the measure of the influence we distinguish major and minor influences on the development of the English language.
Major Influences • Celtic - the number of celticisms in English is small. • Scandinavian - the years 750 - 1050 are known as The Viking Age of England. Their influence upon the language was strong. • Norman and French - the Norman period lasted nearly 300 years. • Latin and Greek 1) The first period of Latin influence was during the Roman occupation. 2) The second wave of the influence came with the christianization. 3) The third wave dated to the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries - the period of New Learning, when Greek and Latin were established as the main languages of learning, science, and culture.
Minor Influences • Dutch: The contact with the Dutch language was mediated by the political, commercial, and cultural contacts; thus the main spheres were maritime terminology (dock, gin, commodore, etc.), and terminology of drawing and painting (sketch, landscape, etc.). • Italian: Main spheres are business (bank, risk, bankrupt, etc.), music, and architecture. • Others: Spanish, German, Russian, Czech, Indian, Japanese, Red Indian, etc.
Native and Borrowed Words • A native word is a word which belongs to the original English stock, as known from the Old English period. The native words are further subdivided into those of the Indo-European stock and those of Common Germanic origin. • Native words constitute about 80% of the 500 most frequent words in English. They may be characterised by a high lexical and grammatical valency (ability to combine with other words), high frequency and developed polysemy. They are often monosyllabic, have great word building power and enter a number of set expressions.
Borrowed Words • The number of loan words in English is very high. About 70% of the English vocabulary consists of loan words. • Borrowed words = loan words
Degree of Assimilation 1) Completely assimilated words E.g.: wine, window, chair. 2) Partially assimilated words a. Loan words not assimilated semantically E.g.: sari, toreador. b. Loan words not assimilated grammatically E.g.: bacillus, formula, index, phenomenon. c. Loan words not assimilated phonetically or graphically. E.g.: ballet, buffet, corps, tobacco, café. 3) Unassimilated E.g. chauffeur, haute couture. The words from other languages for which there are corresponding English equivalents are so-called barbarisms. E.g.: ciao.
Assignment 2 • Name the major and minor influences (from 'other minor influences' choose any three). For every influence find one example (other than the examples given in the text!) • How can the English words be divided according to their origin? • How can the native English words be characterised? • What are borrowed words and how do we divide them according to the degree of assimilation? • Explain the three waves of Latin influence.
STYLISTICALLY MARKED & STYLISTICALLY NEUTRAL VOCABULARY The same idea may be differently expressed by different people in different situations. Some words have some stylistic colouring, typical for a particular style of speech or level of formality. These words are stylistically marked, contrasted with words used independently of the sphere of communication – stylistically neutral. • E.g. steed (archaic, poetic) = gee-gee (informal, nursery) – horse (neutral), to converse (formal) = to chat (informal) = to talk, speak (neutral)
FORMAL VOCABULARY Formal vocabulary is the part of English vocabulary used only in official situations, talks, documents, literary works, lectures, scientific works, etc. Formal vocabulary is rather conservative, it also uses words that do not belong to the present-day English vocabulary. • E.g. efficacious = effective, donation = gift, summon = send for, whereby, furthermore
COLLOQUIALISMS Colloquialisms are used in everyday speech and in correspondence to friends. They are emotional, a lot of them jocularly coloured, with figurative meaning. There are sets of colloquialisms specific to particular field of human activity, e.g. in business oral communication. (On the contrary, official correspondence is characterised by highly formal vocabulary.) • E.g. blind alley job = job that has no future, get cracking = work fast, long-winded = using more words than necessary to say something
To use colloquialisms one must have an adequate fluency in English and sufficient familiarity with the language, otherwise one may sound ridiculous, especially if one uses a mixture of British and American colloquialisms, pronounced with a foreign accent.
SLANG Slang is a set of new, very informal words used in private conversation language. Slang is used by a specific social or age group, only later becoming more widely used. These words are expressive, witty, frequently ironical and often impolite, using unpredictable formation. Slang may combine with local colouring. American slang is different form British slang. • E.g. yuppie (Young Upwardly Mobile/ Young Urban Professional) = young successful man with a good job, baby kissers = politicians
Assignment 3 Give neutral equivalents to the formal words.
Assignment 4 Explain or translate English business colloquialisms. 1) to bring home bacon 2) to be sold like hot cakes 3) to be going on a song 4) hammer it out 5) sticky business
STANDARD ENGLISH & LOCAL DIALECTS • Standard English is the official language of Great Britain taught at schools, used by the media, and spoken by educated people. • Local dialects are varieties of the English spoken in some districts and having no normalised literary form. Regional varieties possessing a literary form are called variants. In Great Britain there are two variants, Scottish English and Irish English, and five main groups of dialects: Northern, Midland, Eastern, Western, and Southern.
REGIONAL VARIETIES OF ENGLISH I Cockney, the regional dialect of London. Cockney vocabulary is lively and witty, imaginative and colourful. Its specific feature is the so-called rhyming slang. • E.g. boots are called daisy roots, hat = tit for tat, head = loaf of bread, wife = trouble and strife Scottish English uses a number of special dialect words. • E.g. aye = yes, dram = drink (usually whisky), loch = lake, lassie = girl Black English is the term used to refer to the English which originated in the Caribbean islands and has now spread to many parts of the United Kingdom, Canada and the USA. • E.g. jam = improvise, rap = street talk, beat = exhausted
REGIONAL VARIETIES OF ENGLISH II Indian English – Indglish. Well-educated, middle-aged Indian people speak English which has retained in everyday usage words that may be found in the classics of 19th century. Australian English - highly colloquial words and expressions. Australian colloquialisms often involve shortening a word. • E.g. smoko (from smoking) = tea or coffee break, beaut (from beautiful) = great Canadian English is influenced both by British and American but it also has some specific features. • E.g. shack = a hut, to fathom out = to explain
AMERICAN ENGLISH • The variety of English spoken in the USA has a literary normalised form called Standard American. It is not a separate language, because it does not posses grammar, phonetic system nor vocabulary of its own. Norms of American national standard are just modified norms of those accepted in Great Britain. American English slightly differs from British English in pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling and grammar. • The term Americanism is referred to a word or phrase peculiar to the English language as spoken in the USA.
EXAMPLES OF AMERICANISMS • University degrees: AE BE instructor = assistant lecturer assistant = lecturer associate professor = senior lecturer, reader professor = professor
Assignment 5 Translate into British English. American British 1) One-way or round trip? 2) He left the faucet on. 3) We're leaving in the fall. 4) It's in the closet. 5) We've run out of gas.
Assignment 6 Try to solve these problems. 1) If an American/a British man asks for a bill, is he more likely to be in a bank or a café? 2) If an American/a British man says that he works on the second floor, how many flights of stairs do you need to climb? 3) Which would surprise you more an American or a British man telling you that he wanted to go and change his pants? 4) Would an American/a British child get something hot or something cold if he/she asked for some potato chips? 5) Where would you take an American/a British guest who said they wanted to wash up?
ENGLISH IN NEW SPACE The technology of the Internet supports and encourages the use of English more than other languages, but English itself is changing as a result of its use on the Internet.
NEW TENDENCIES • Internet supports the tendency to simplify the language. • American English has become the number one language in the world of computers -American English spelling is used even in texts written in British English. E.g. TV programme in BE, but computer program – both BE and AE. • The economy of language is reflected in the use of new Internet acronyms (netcronyms). • The mixture of oral, written and drama genres on Internet results in creation of ‘smileys’ (emoticons).
EMOTICONS : -) Basic smiley : -D User is laughing (at you) : -* User is drunk : -x A kiss 8:-) User is a little girl :-)-8 User is a big girl : -( User is upset or depressed : -{} User wears lipstick : -~) User has a cold
NETCRONYMS F2F = Face to Face (real meeting) FAQ = Frequently Asked Question BTW = BY THE WAY IMHO = In My Humble Opinion ROFL = Rolling On the Floor Laughing RTFM = Read The F Manual SWAK = Sealed With A Kiss
WORD STRUCTURE • A word is an independent unit of a language. • A morpheme is the minimum meaningful language unit. But unlike a word it is not independent. It occurs in speech just as a constituent part of words.
MORPHEME 1. Definition: A morpheme is a short segment of language that meets three criteria: + It is a word or a part of a word that has meaning. + It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts without violation of its meaning or without meaningless remainders. + It recurs in differing verbal environments with a relatively stable meaning. A morpheme is the smallest unit of language which has an independent function. 39
2. Classification: 2.1. Form: Free and Bound morphemes Regarding to forms, morphemes can be classified as free and bound morphemes. + A free morpheme is one that can be uttered alone with meaning. Free morphemes are monomorphemic words and they can operate freely in the language. Ex: honest, possess, study, girl, danger 40
+ A bound morpheme cannot be uttered alone with meaning. It is always annexed to one or more morphemes to form a word. Bound morphemes must combine with other morphemes. Ex: dishonest = dis (BM) + honest (FM) 2.2. Meaning: Roots (bases) and Affixes This classification of morphemes put them into two classes: roots (bases) and affixes. + Roots (bases): A base morpheme is the part of a word that has the principal meaning. Most of bases in English are free morphemes; but some are bound. A word may contain one base and several affixes. 41
Ex: personal teacher re-enter FB FB FB consent sentiment assent BB BB BB + Affixes: An affix is a bound morpheme that occurs before or within or after a base. Affixes differ from roots (bases) in three ways: - They do not form words by themselves – they have to be added to a stem. Ex: er must be attached to a stem “teach” - Their meaning, in many instances, is not as clear and specific as the meaning of roots, and many of them are almost completely meaningless. 42
- Compared with the total number of roots, which is very large, the number of affixes is relatively small. By position, affixes are of five kinds: prefixes, infixes, suffixes, superfixes and circumfixes. - Prefixes are those bound morphemes that occur before a base. (about 75). - Infixes are bound morphemes that occur within a word. Infixes in English are most commonly replacements, not additions. Ex: ee in geese replaces the oo in goose. o in chosen replaces oo in choose. - Suffixes are bound morphemes that occur after a base. Suffixes may pile up to the number of three or four, whereas prefixes are commonly single, except for the negative un- before another prefix. 43
Superfixes are suprasegmental morphemes consisting of stress morphemes. Ex: objéct (verb), óbjèct (noun) Circumfixes are bound morphemes that occur both before and after a base. Ex: In Indonesian: Root prefix – root – suffix patut mem - patut – kan (to correct) Hantu meng – hantu – i (to haunt) 44
By function, affixes are of two kinds: derivational and inflectional. - Derivational affixes are added to stems to form new words. Ex: work (V) + -er → worker (N) - Inflectional affixes are added to stems to form new grammatical forms. Ex: work (V) + -ing → working (present participle) The following figure summarizes all the types of morphemes. 45
Morphemes Roots Affixes Free Bound Derivational Inflectional dollar hemi- prefix suffix -s honor scrib- an ity -ed nose tele- mis less -ing 3. Inflectional and derivational affixes: 3.1. Inflectional affixes: 3.1.1. Inflectional morphemes are bound morphemes which are part of the grammatical system. 46
The inflectional affixes are all suffixes as follows: Stem Inflectional suffix Examples Name Dog, ox 1. {-s pl.} dogs, oxen N plural Boy 2. {-s sg ps.} boy’s N sg ps. Boy, men 3. {-s pl ps.} boys’, men’s N pl ps. Read 4. {-s 3d.} John reads books Prs 3d sg Work 5. {-ing vb} He is working. Prs.P Work, ride 6. {-d pt} He worked, rode Past Work, eat 7. {-d pp} He has worked, eaten PP Bold, soon 8. {er cp} This is bolder Compar Bold, soon 9. {est sp} This is the boldest Superlat 47
3.1.2. Stems are the words to which these affixes are attached. The stems include the base and all the derivational affixes. Ex: playboys workers playboy: stem worker: stem {-s}: inflectional affix {-s}: inflectional affix 3.1.3. Characteristics of inflectional suffixes - They do not change the part of speech. Ex: book (N) books (N) want (V) wants (V) - They come last in a word. Ex: wanted, working, smaller - They go with all stems of a given part of speech. Ex: He eats, drinks, writes. - They do not pile up. Only one ends a word. 48
3.2. Derivational affixes 3.2.1. Derivational morphemes are either prefixes or suffixes that are not inflectional. They participate in the formation of new words. 3.2.2. Characteristics of derivational suffixes - The words with which derivational suffixes combine is an arbitrary matter. Ex: ment for govern, adorn, develop, etc. - In many cases, but not all, a derivational suffix changes the part of speech of the word to which it is added. Ex: act (N) + -ive → active (Adj) 49
- Derivational suffixes usually do not close off a word; that is, after a derivational suffix one can sometimes add another derivational suffix and can frequently add an inflectional suffix. Ex: person + -al → personal + -ity → personality + -s → personalities 50
4. Suffixal homophones Homophones are words which sound alike, but are written differently and often have different meanings. Some suffixes, both inflectional and derivational, have homophonous forms. 4.1. The inflectional morpheme {-er} comparative of adjective has two homophones: a) -er: derivational suffix can be attached to verbs to form nouns. This suffix conveys the meaning of “that which performs the action of the verb stem”. (Ex: worker, teacher) 51
b) –er: derivational suffix. This conveys the meaning of repetition. Ex: chatter, mutter, glitter 4.2. The verbal inflectional suffix {-ing} (IS, present participle) has three homophones a) The nominal derivational suffix –ing {-ing nm) as in meeting, wedding, reading. b) The adjectival morpheme {-ing aj} as in charming, burning c) The gerund morpheme {-ing gr} as in Swimming is good for health. 4.3 The verbal inflectional {-ed pp} (IS/ past participle) has a homophone: the adjectival 52
derivational {-ed aj} (DS/Adjectival) Ex: She was excited about the film. She was a devoted mother. 4.4. The adverbial derivational suffix {-ly av} (DS/Adverbial) has as a homophone: the adjectival derivational suffix {-ly aj} (DS/ Adjectival) Ex: lovely, friendly, kingly, scholarly deadly, lively, sickly 53
5. Immediate constituents Immediate constituents are any of the two meaningful parts forming a larger meaningful unit. Four sorts of morphemes – bases, prefixes, infixes, and suffixes are put together to build words. When we analyze a word, we usually divide a word into two parts of which it seems to have been composed. Ex: un gentle man ly 54
IC division: + If a word ends in an inflectional suffix, the first cut is between this suffix and the rest of the word. Ex: worker s + One of the IC’s should be, if possible, a free form. A free form is one that can be uttered alone with meaning. Ex: enlarge ment NOT en largement in dependent NOT independ ent 55
+ The meanings of the IC’s should be replaced to the meaning of the word. Ex: teach er NOT tea cher The ultimate constituents are the morphemes of which the word is composed. 6. Allomorphs A morpheme may have more than one phonemic form. Ex: The morpheme {-ed pt.} has three phonemic forms: - After /t/ or /d/ the sound is /id/ - After a voiced consonant other than /d/ it is pronounced as /d/ 56
- After a voiceless consonant other than /t/ it is pronounced like /t/ These three phonemic forms of {-ed pt.} are not interchangeable → They are in complementary distribution, abbreviated CD. 6.1 Definition An allomorph is “any of the different forms of a morpheme.” In other words, allomorphs have different phonemic forms, but they have the same meaning, and are in CD. 6.2. Kinds of allomorphs Allomorphs are of two kinds: phonologically 57
conditioned and morphologically conditioned allomorphs. 6.2.1. Phonologically conditioned allomorphs - When the distribution was determined by the preceding sounds, we say that the selection of allomorphs is phonologically conditioned. - When the related forms of a set, like the three forms of {-ed pt.}, have the same meaning and are in complementary distribution, they are called allomorphs and belong to the same morpheme. So, the morpheme {-ed pt.} has three allomorphs /id/, /t/ and /d/. This can be expressed in the formula: 58
{-d pt.} = /-id/ ~ /-t/ ~ /-d/ Tilde ~ means “in alternation with” {-s pl} = /-iz/ ~ /-z/ ~ /-s/ 6.2.2. Morphologically conditioned allomorphs: - This distribution was determined by the morphological environment. We say that the selection of allomorphs is morphologically conditioned. {-s pl.} has other allomorphs such as /en/ in ox –oxen of /Ø/ (zero) in sheep –sheep. {-s pl.} = /-iz/ ~ /-z/ ~ /-s/ ∞ /-en/ ∞ /Ø/ The symbol is ∞ (the infinity). 59
6.2.3. Classification of morphologically conditioned allomorphs The zero allomorph There is no change in the shape of a word though some difference in meaning is identified. The symbol is {Ø} (NIL) Ex: The allomorph {Ø} of {-s pl.} in sheep – sheep fish – fish The allomorph {Ø} of {-ed pt.} in put – put cut – cut 60
Word formation • Word-formation is a process of creating new words by means of existing elements and according to the patterns and rules of a given language. 1) Derivation 2) Compounding 3) Conversion 4) Quantitative changes
Derivation • Derivation is a kind of word-formation when a new word is formed by adding a derivational morpheme (usually suffix or prefix) to the root. 1) Suffixation is a kind of word-formation when a new word is formed by adding a suffix to the root. 2) Prefixation is a kind of word-formation when a new word is formed by adding a prefix to the root.
1. Noun-forming suffixes -age (passage, marriage, mileage ); -ance/-ence (assistance, predominance, correspondence ); -dom (freedom, kingdom ) -ee (employee, referee ); -eer/er (engineer, profiteer, manager ); -ess (manageress, heiress ) -ist (economist ) -hood (adulthood, singlehood ) -ing (building, meaning ) -ion/-sion/-tion/-ition/-ation (production, conclusion, realisation ) -ism (consumerism, perfectionism ) -ment (agreement, investment ) -ness (effectiveness ) -ship (ownership ) -ty/-ity (productivity, prosperity ) -ure/-ture (procedure, expenditure )
2. Adjective-forming suffixes -able/-ible (manageable, permissible) -al/-tal/-ial/-tial (economical, statistical) -ant/-ent (redundant, dependent) -ary (monetary, inflationary) -ate/-ete (accurate, complete) -ful (dutiful, powerful) -ish (snobbish, reddish) -ive (effective, extensive) -less (effortless, powerless) -like (businesslike, lifelike) -ly (costly, orderly) -ous/-ious (ambiguous, nutritious) -some (troublesome, worrisome) -y (sexy, worthy)
3. Verb-forming suffixes -en (brighten, moisten) -ify/-fy (intensify, qualify) -ize/*-ise (rationalize, advertise, stabilize) ___ *‘ize’ is often used in American English (maximize) as an alternative spelling of ‘ise’ in British English (maximise).
4. Adverb forming suffixes -ly (frequently, perfectly) *-ward/-wards (windward, backward, homewards) -wise (vote-wise, percentage-wise) _ ___ *Words formed with ‘ward’ can usually be used as either adverbs or adjectives words formed with ‘wards’ are mainly used as adverbs (e.g. westward, westwards).
Prefixation Prefixes modify the lexical meaning of the root; therefore the simple word and its prefixed derivative usually belong to the same part of speech. The group of class-changing prefixes is rather small, e.g.: be- (belittle, befriend), de- (defrost, descale).
Negative prefixes Negative prefixes give negative, reverse or opposite meaning a- (apolitical, asexual) de- (destabilise, declassify) dis- (disenfranchise, disinvest) il- (before l: illegal)/ im-(before p,b,m: imperceptible)/ in-(inadequate)/ ir-(before r: irresponsible) non- (non-economic, non-profit) un- (unacceptable, undemocratic)
Non-negative prefixes I 1) a. Degree, measures or size: hyper- (hypercreative, hyperdevoted); over- (overestimate, overcompensate); semi- (semiskilled, semi-annual); super- (super- dominant, supercharged); ultra- (ultra- conservative, ultra-secret) 2) Repetition or possibility: em-(before p,b,m)/en- (embark, enclose) 3) Time, place, order relation: ex- (ex-employer, ex-tenant); inter- (inter-office, inter-government); post- (post-budget, post- election); pre- (pre-delivery, pre-budget)
Non-negative prefixes II 4) Number and numeral relation: bi- (bilateral, bilingual); multi- (multi-dimensional, multi- media); uni- (unilateral, unisex) 5) Attitude, counteraction: anti- (anti-EEC, antiestablishment); auto- (autodial, autonomy); counter- (countercharge, counteroffer); pro- (pro-business, pro-liberal) 6) Pejoration: mis- (miscalculation, mismanage); pseudo- (pseudo-creativity, pseudo-democratic)
Latin prefixes magn- large, big, great mal- bad, badly, wrong; ill; evil; abnormal, defective medi- middle non- nothing, not omni- all, every pro- before; for, in favor of; in front of; in place of re- back, backward, again semi- half, partly, twice sub- under, below ult- beyond, excessive, to an extreme degree uni- one, single ver- true, truth, real, truthfulness via- way, road, path
Assignment 7
Assignment 8
Assignment 9
Compounds • Endocentric compounds – the two constituent elements are clearly the determinant and determinatum (ashtray, mousetrap, stepladder) • Exocentric compounds – the determinatum is not expressed (hangover, killjoy, ladybird, forget-me- not) • Rhyme-motivated (harum-scarum) • Pseudo-compounds (mayday, hamburger) • Semiaffixes (chairman, yes-man, kissproof)
Assignment 10
Conversion - zero derivation • The process of converting words from one part of speech to another without adding any derivative element is called conversion or zero derivation. • "In English every word can be verbed "
Conversion – classification • Verbs (to nurse, to hand, to e-mail, to finger, to hammer, to empty, to up, to blind) • Nouns (a go, a hunt, a lift, a find, pros and cons, whys, ups and downs, a black, breakdown, make-up, comeback, take-off) • Occasional formations (nonce-words) Occasional words are usually emotionally coloured words coined for a unique occasion. E.g. Don’t darling me!, Don’t yes-mum me! • Marginal Cases of Conversion Cases of formations by shift of stress are neither regular, nor productive. E.g. verb > noun (abstract, import, refill, transfer) verb > adjective ( frequent, moderate, perfect)
Assignment 11
Quantitative Changes – Clipping or contraction – Blending or mixture – Graphical Abbreviations or acronymy – Back-formation or reversion – Adoption of brand names as common words – Onomatopoeia or sound imitation or reduplication – Borrowing – Antonomasia or words from names – Isolation on word formation
Clipping (shortening) The shortening of words consists of the reduction of a word to one of its parts, as a result of which the new form is used as an independent lexical unit. This type of word-formation is in English highly productive. a. Final clipping – the beginning of the prototype is retained. E.g. ad, advert < advertisement, memo < memorandum, lab < laboratory, gym < gymnasium, vac < vacuum cleaner. b. Initial clipping – the final part is retained. E.g. chute < parachute, phone < telephone, copter < helicopter, plane < aeroplane. c. The middle is retained. E.g. Liz < Elizabeth , flu < influenza, tec < detective. d. The middle is left. E.g. fancy < fantasy, bionics < binoculars, maths < mathematics, ag’st < against.
Blending Blending is a word-formation process of forming a new lexeme from parts of two or more other words. E.g. smog < smoke + fog, brunch < breakfast + lunch, tranceiver < transmitter + receiver, bit < binary digit, chunnel < channel + tunnel
Graphical abbreviations • New lexical units formed from the initial letters of the words and pronounced as one word – acronyms. E.g. UNESCO, AIDS, NATO, laser, radar. • New lexical units formed from the initial letters of the words with alphabetic reading. E.g. BC, SOS, TV, VIP, VAT. • Initial abbreviation in which the first element is a letter and the second a complete word. E.g. A-bomb, E-mail, U-pronunciation (U < upper class). • Latin abbreviations. E.g. AD, BC, i.e., e.g., pa. • Shortenings formed by a part of a word and the remaining part expressed by a capital letter or a figure. E.g. 2-nite, 4 you, par-T.
Assignment 12
Back-formation or reversion Back formation is the forming of new words from the one that looks like its derivative. Ex: beggar → to beg editor → to edit resurrection → to resurrect enthusiasm → to enthuse burglar → to burgle hamburger → burger
Adoption of brand names as common words (coinage/invention/neologism) A proper name becomes the name for the item or process associated with the name. The word ceases to be capitalized and acts as a normal verb/noun (i.e. takes inflections such as plural or past tense). The companies using the names usually have copyrighted them and object to their use in public documents, so they should be avoided in formal writing (or a lawsuit could follow!) Examples: xerox, kleenex, Cola, 7 up.
Onomatopoeia or sound imitation or reduplication Words are invented which (to native speakers at least) sound like the sound they name or the entity which produces the sound. Ex: hiss, sizzle, cuckoo, cock-a-doodle-doo, buzz, beep, ding-dong. Borrowing A word is taken from another language. It may be adapted to the borrowing language's phonological system to varying degrees.
Ex: tomato (from indigenous languages of the Americas), sushi, taboo (from Pacific Rim languages), macho, spaghetti, psychology, telephone, physician, education (from European languages), yam, banana (from African languages). Antonomasia or words from names The formation of a common word from the name of a person or place. Ex: sandwich, champagne
Isolation on word formation A new word is obtained by isolating the plural form which is then with its own particular meaning. Ex: colours (flags), glasses (spectacles) Conclusion: English speakers coin new words every day. We can find them in newspapers, magazines or daily speech, but to use them, we should be more careful because not all these are accepted in standard English.
SEMANTICS Semantics is a subfield of linguistics that is traditionally defined as the study of meaning of (parts of) words, phrases, sentences, and texts. Semantic features are “the smallest units of meaning in a word. Ex: Father may have the following semantic features: [+human], [+male], [+mature], [+parental], - [-female], [ +intellectual]
Denotation and connotation The denotation of a word is the core, central or referential meaning of the word found in a dictionary. The connotation of a word is the additional meaning that the word has beyond its denotative meaning. Ex: woman: [+human], [+female] (denotation) [+devoted], [+patient] (connotation) [+talkative], [+jealous]
Semantic change • One and the same word may have several meanings. A word that has more than one meaning is called polysemantic. The total number of meanings for the first thousand of the most frequent English words is almost 25,000; i.e. the average number of meanings for each of these words is 25. E.g. to run = to go by moving the legs quickly (I began to run.). Other meanings: 1) The bus runs between A. and B. 2) This shop is run by the co-op. 3) The car runs on petrol. 4) The bank of the river runs up steeply.
Specialisation of the meaning • Specialisation of the meaning case = circumstances in which a person or a thing is (general meaning) Specialised meanings: case in law terminology = question decided in a court case in medicine = a patient, an illness case in grammar (There are six cases in the Slovak and Russian languages.)
Generalisation of the meaning • Generalisation of the meaning ready = prepared mentally or physically for some experience or action (The original meaning was ‘to be prepared for a ride’.) fly = to move in or through the air or space; to move, pass or act swiftly (The original meaning was just ‘to move in or through the air by means of wings’.)
Metaphor • Metaphor - transfer of the name of one object to another (and different one) based on association of similarity. 1) Similarity of behaviour: a fox (= a cunning person), a Don Juan. 2) Similarity of shape: a head of a cabbage. 3) Similarity of function: the key to the mystery. 4) Similarity of position: foot of a mountain. 5) Transfer from the concrete to abstract: to catch an idea.
Simile Simile is the use of comparison of one thing with another. Ex: as brave as a lion. A simile is an explicit or direct comparison. Ex: Her hands are as cold as ice. A metaphor is an implicit or indirect comparison. Ex: He was a lion in the fight.
Personification Personification is a special kind of metaphor in which some human characteristics is attributed to an inanimate object or abstract notion. Ex: cruel heat, a treacherous calm, pitiless cold, a sullen sky.
Metonymy • Metonymy - the association of contiguity. 1) Symbol for thing symbolised: the crown (monarchy) 2) Material for article: glass, iron, copper 3) A part for the whole : I want to have a word with you. 4) The whole for the part : Slovakia won the match. 5) Common names from proper names: volt, wellingtons 6) The place of establishment for its policy: the Kremlin 7) Goods from the geographical names: bikini, tweed
Synecdoche Synecdoche is a special kind of metonymy in which “a part or aspect of a person, object, etc. is meant to refer to the whole person, object, etc.” Ex: He is a man of seventy winters. He managed to earn his bread. Onomatopoeia It is the imitation of natural sounds by means of words or groups of words. Ex: Hiss, moo, baa, etc.
Irony Irony is the “expression of one’s meaning by saying the direct opposite of one’s thoughts in order to be emphatic, amusing, sarcastic, etc.” Ex: What a lovely day it was! Everything I had went wrong. He is so intelligent that no examiner has agreed to pass him so far.
Other types of semantic change 1) Hyperbole - an exaggerated expression: A thousand thanks! 2) Litotes - expressing the affirmative by the negation of its contrary: not very clever (= stupid) 3) Euphemism - the substitution of words of mild or vague meaning for expressions rough, unpleasant or for some other reasons unmentionable: pass away (= die), queer (= mad) Euphemism is a base for PC (politically correct) English
Hyponymy Hyponymy is a relation in which the referent of a word is totally included in the referent of another word. Hyponymy is the relationship between each of the hyponyms (the lower word) and its superordinate (the higher word). Plant Tree bush (shrub) flowering plant moss flower Rose daisy tulip lily orchid
Assignment 13
Synonymy • The common definition of synonyms as words of the same language having the same meaning is very simple, but unfortunately misleading. Words of the same meaning are useless for communication. Occasionally they can be found in special terminology, e.g. noun = substantive. These are called total synonyms. • Every word has its own history, motivation and context, thus we can define synonyms as words not absolutely identical but just similar in meaning, belonging to the same part of speech and interchangeable in some context.
Hope – expectation – anticipation. • E.g. The word hope is in this group the synonymic dominant. It is the most general, native and neutral word. Expectation and anticipation are (as the words of Romance origin usually are) formal and literary. The difference is not just in the level of stylistics. • Although all three of them mean “having something in mind which is likely to happen”, they differ in collocation. Hope can be used in idiomatic expressions (to lose hope, not: to lose expectation or to lose anticipation!), means belief and desire. Expectation is collocated with both – good, and evil; anticipation - something good, pleasurable.
Synonyms 2 • Synonyms may differ: 1) in emotional colouring: alone – lonely (sad, longing for company) 2) in valency: win (a victory, a war) – gain (a victory, not a war!) 3) in style: begin (neutral) – commence (literary) • There are words that are similar in meaning only under some specific conditions – contextual synonyms. E.g. buy and get in a sentence: “I’ll go to the shop and get/buy some bread.”
Distinction between synonyms • The distinctions between words similar in meaning are often very fine, even for a native speaker. Sometimes to show the difference it is good to point out antonyms: high – low; tall – short. • English is quite rich in synonyms. Words of native origin are usually simple and less formal than their synonyms borrowed from other languages. • Other sources of synonymy are local dialects, regional varieties of English (American, Scottish, etc.), formation of new words, semantic change. Rich sources of synonymy are phrasal verbs.
Kinds of synonyms True synonymy: There are few true synonyms in the lexicon of a language. Ex: movie, film and motion picture Fast, quick and rapid (not true synonyms) Partial synonymy: partial synonymy is a relation in which a polysemous word shares one of its meanings with another word. Ex: deep and profound
Antonyms • Antonyms are two (rarely more) words of the same language belonging to the same part of speech with contradictory meaning (alive – dead, love –hate, useful - useless). • Unlike synonyms, antonyms do not differ in style, emotional, colouring or distribution. • The same word may have different antonyms when used with different words: single ticket – return ticket, she is single – she is married.
Binary antonymy: They are two extremes and cannot be used in a comparative or superlative sense and cannot be used in questions with how to ask about degrees. Ex: single / married; alive / dead Gradable antonymy: There are less or more senses between two synonyms. Ex: cold / hot;
Relational antonymy Two members of a pair of relational antonyms display symmetry in their meaning. The “if , then ” formula can be used to test and identify relational antonyms: If Mr. Brown is Jack’s employer, then Jack is Mr. Brown’s employee. If Jenny is thinner than Mary, then Mary is fatter than Jenny; If John bought a car from Fred, then Fred sold a car to John.
ROOT ANTONYMS 1. Root (absolute) antonyms. a. Antonyms proper. Proper (absolute) antonyms may be characterised as contrary. They are polar members of a gradual opposition which may have intermediary elements. E.g. beautiful – pretty – good-looking – plain – ugly. b. Complementary antonyms. Complementarity is a binary opposition; it may have only two members. The denial of one member means the assertion of the other. E.g. not male means female, not true means false. c. Relational antonyms (converses). Converses denote one and the same subject as viewed from different points of view (e.g. subject and object, family and social relations, space and time relations, etc.). E.g. borrow – lend, husband – wife, before – after.
DERIVATIONAL ANTONYMS 2. Derivational antonyms. E.g. happy – unhappy, known – unknown. • The affixes in derivational antonyms deny the quality stated in the stem. There are typical affixes that form these derivational antonyms (see above Derivation). The regular type of derivational antonyms contains negative prefixes: dis-, il- /im-/in-/ir and un. Derivational antonyms may be characterised as contradictory. A pair of derivational antonyms forms a binary opposition (see above complementary root antonyms). E.g. logical – illogical, appear – disappear.
CONTRONYMS Contronyms are the words which are their own antonyms. E.g.: dust - to remove fine articles (dust the cabinets) or to add fine articles (dust the bread with flour); fast - rapid or unmoving (fast asleep, fast stuck); handicap - advantage (in golf) - disadvantage.
HOMONYMNY • Two or more words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning, distribution and origin are called homonyms. • It is necessary to differentiate between polysemy (e.g. head of a cabbage, head of department) and homonymy (e.g. liver = 1 living person, 2 the organ that produces bile)
CLASSIFICATION OF HOMONYMS 1) Homonyms proper are identical in pronunciation and spelling. E. g. ball = 1 a round body or mass, 2 a large formal gathering for social dancing seal = 1 a marine flesh-eating mammal, 2 an emblem or word impressed or stamped on a document as a mark of authenticity 2) Homophones are identical in pronunciation but different in spelling. E.g. buy – bye, rain – reign, steel – steal. 3) Homographs are identical in spelling but different in pronunciation. E.g. bow [bau] (bending of the head, body or knee) – bow [bou] (a tool used to shoot an arrow) lead [li:d] (to direct or guide) – lead [led] (a heavy soft metallic element)
Assignment 14 Decide whether the following pairs of words are synonyms.
Assignment 15 Chose the word which is closest in meaning.
Assignment 16 Chose the word expressing most closely the most opposite meaning.
Assignment 17
SET EXPRESSIONS (fixed expressions, idioms) The word-groups consisting of two or more words, combination of which is integrated as one unit with specialised non-literal meaning of the whole. • E.g. to sleep like a log, Can a leopard change its spots?, to be busy as a bee.
CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO THE FUNCTION 1) Set expressions functioning like nouns E.g. white elephant, a skeleton in the cupboard, brains trust, dog days 2) Set expressions functioning like verbs Special group – phrasal verbs E.g. the cap fits , to bark up the wrong tree, to keep up with the Jonses; to give up, to make (sth) up, to put (sb) up
3) Set expressions functioning like adjectives. A lot of them are similes - expressions of comparison. E.g. like a bull in a china shop, as old as the hills, as mad as a hatter 4) Set expressions functioning like adverbs E.g. once in a blue moon, time and again, to drink like a fish 5) Set expressions functioning like interjections E.g. Bless (one’s) soul!, God bless me!, Hang it (all)!
• Set phrases E.g. Tell it to the horse marines. His bark is worse than his bite. • Proverbs – wise sayings, often warnings, which have been passed from generation to generation. Their advice will never be out of date (adages). E.g. It’s no use crying over spilt milk. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. • Familiar quotations E.g. Shakespeare: “Frailty, thy name is woman.” Caesar: “The die is cast.”
Assignment 18 Give Vietnamese translation or explanation.
Assignment 19 Fill in the table with similes with “as as”.
Assignment 20 Fill in the table with similes with “like”.
COLLOCATIONS • Words can usually be combined (collocated) only with certain words. • If we want to master a language properly we should know what words of the language are most likely to occur together – what are the typical collocations. E. g. the noun rain may be collocated with adjectives: driving, heavy, pouring, soaking, torrential, freezing, intermittent, light, steady.
CLASSIFICATION OF COLLOCATIONS • A verb + a noun/pronoun. E.g. reach a verdict, fly a kite, execute a will, reverse a decision, revoke a licence These collocations are highly important for polysemantic nouns. E.g. perform an operation (in a hospital), carry out (conduct) an operation (on the battlefield). • An adjective + a noun. E.g. warm, warmest (not “hot”), kind, kindest, best (not “good”) regards; a rough estimate; a formidable challenge
• A noun + a verb. E.g. alarms go off (ring, sound), blizzards rage • An adverb + an adjective E.g. strictly accurate, sound asleep, keenly (very much) aware • A verb + an adverb. E.g. amuse thoroughly, argue heatedly, appreciate sincerely • A unit associated with a noun. E.g. a pack of dogs, a pride of lions, a school of whales, a lump of sugar, a drop of oil
Assignment 21 Fill in the chart.
Assignment 22 Fill in the chart.
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH NEWSPAPER ENGLISH The vocabulary of newspapers is very special and it requires a high level of language command. There are several principles that make newspaper English so typical. • They all follow the main idea: economical, condensed and attractive language.
NEWSPAPER HEADLINES Using as few words as possible. Grammar words often left out. • E.g. Turkish Minister Quits in Car Crash Scandal A simple form of the verb is used. • E.g. Pepsi To Test New Colours, Cities Seek Restitution The infinitive is used - something is going to happen. • E.g. USD 20 Million to Be Invested in Office Centre Words are usually shorter and sound more dramatic than ordinary English words (abbreviations).