Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
Sumy State University
G.V.Chulanova
Lexicology in theory,
practice and tests
Study guide
Recommended by the Academic Council of Sumy State University
Sumy
Sumy State University
2015
УДК 811.111’373(076)
ББК 81.432.1-3
C-559
Reviewers:
Yu.Zatznyu – Doctor of Philology, Professor, Head of Department of Theory and Practice of Translation in Zaporizhzhya National University;
S.Baranova – Associate Professor of Department of Theory and Practice of Translation, Ph. D. in Philological Sciences of Sumy State University;
N.Ishchenko – Doctor of Philology, Professor, Head of Department of Theory, Practice and Translation of English in National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute"
Recommended for publication by the Academic Council of Sumy State University as a study guide
(the Minutes №8 of 19.02.2015)
C-559 / Chulanova G.V.Lexicology in theory, practice and tests : study guide / G.V.Chulanova. – Sumy: Sumy State University, 2015. – 241 p.
ISBN 978-966-657-550-3
The study guide is focused on developing skills of analyzing of specific language material and adequate interpretation of linguistic facts and phenomena. Its goal is to help students learn the basics of English lexicology, make them acquaint with the most important features of structural and semantic construction of English. The given exercises and tests are intended to enrich the active vocabulary of students, to deepen understanding of linguistic phenomena, to encourage their individual study.
The material will be of use for the second-year students with a specialization in "Translation" and to all readers who would like to get some information about the vocabulary of the modern English language, the changes that took place in English lexicology during the period of its historical development.
Навчальний посібник орієнтований на розвиток навичок аналізу конкретного мовного матеріалу та адекватної інтерпретації мовних фактів і явищ. Його мета – допомогти студентам оволодіти основами англійської лексикології, ознайомити їх із найважливішими особливостями структурно-семантичної побудови англійської мови. Запропоновані завдання, вправи та тести спрямовані на те, щоб збільшити активний вокабуляр студентів, поглибити розуміння мовних явищ, заохотити їх до самостійного вивчення.
Посібник буде корисний студентам другого курсу спеціальності «Переклад» і читачам, які цікавляться словниковим ресурсом сучасної англійської мови та змінами, що відбулися в англійській лексикології за період історичного розвитку. Матеріал викладено англійською мовою.
УДК 811.111’373(076)
ББК 81.432.1-3
ISBN 978-966-657-550-3 / © Chulanova G.V., 2015© Sumy State University, 2015
CONTENTS
Р.
INTRODUCTION …………………………………….. / 5PART 1. THE OBJECT OF LEXICOLOGY……….. / 6
The Connection of Lexicology with other Branches of Linguistics……………………………………………….. / 7
PART 2. THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD…….. / 10
Morphological Structure of English Words ……………. / 12
Main Structural Types of Words ……………………….. / 21
PART 3. WORD-FORMATION……………………… / 28
Affixation………………………………………………… / 30
Conversion……………………………………………… / 36
Compounding (Composition)……………………………. / 43
Shortenings………………………………………………. / 53
Reduplication……………………………………………. / 63
Sound and Stress Interchange…………………………… / 65
Sound Imitation (Onomatopoeia)………………………... / 67
Blending……………………………………..…………… / 73
Back-Formation………………………………………….. / 73
Phrasal Verbs…………………………………………….. / 77
PART 4. ETYMOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF MODERN ENGLISH VOCABULARY………………. / 79
Borrowings…………………………………………………. / 79
Classification of Borrowings…………………………….. / 84
International Words……………………………………… / 93
Pseudo-International Words……………………………... / 97
Etymological Doublets…………………………………... / 97
Translation-Loans………………………………………... / 101
PART 5. SEMASIOLOGY…………………………….. / 103
Change of Meaning……………………………………… / 110
Linguistic Metaphor …………………………………….. / 111
Linguistic Metonymy …………………………………… / 112
Broadening and Narrowing of Meaning………………… / 119
Elevation and Degradation………………………………. / 122
Hyperbole and Litote…………………………………….. / 122
Semantic Groups of Words………………………………. / 122
Synonyms………………………………………………… / 122
Types of Semantic Components…………………………. / 124
Types of Connotations…………………………………… / 125
The Dominant Synonym…………………………………. / 126
Types of Synonyms……………………………………… / 126
Sources of Synonymy …………………………………… / 127
Euphemisms ……………………………………………... / 131
Homonyms ………………………………………………. / 134
Sources of Homonyms…………………………………… / 138
Paronyms ………………………………………………... / 148
Antonyms ……………………………………………….. / 151
Functional Semantic Classes ……………………………. / 156
Qualifiers (Degree Modifiers)…………………………… / 157
Responsives (interjections)………………………………. / 161
PART 6. ENGLISH PHRASEOLOGY……………….. / 164
Ways of Forming Phraseological Units………………….. / 166
Semantic Classification of Phraseological Units………... / 167
Classification of Phraseological Units Based on the Structural Principle………………………………………. / 173
Syntactical Classification of Phraseological Units………. / 174
Proverbs………………………………………………… / 181
Grammatical Structure of Proverbs……………………… / 183
PART 7. STYLISTIC DIFFERENTIATION OF ENGLISH WORDS…………………………………….. / 184
Literary-Bookish Words…………………………………. / 184
Colloquial Words………………………………………… / 192
PART 8. SOME BASIC PROBLEMS OF DICTIONARY COMPILING…………………………. / 197
TESTS…………………………………………………… / 208
BASIC LITERATURE…………………………………. / 231
SUPPLEMENTARY LITERATURE…………………. / 238
INTRODUCTION
“Lexicology in theory, practice and tests” is an attempt to supply students with a theoretical and practical appendix to the lecture and seminar course of lexicology studies. The purpose of this book is to aid the teaching process by which a student becomes aware of English Lexicology. The book is intended to acquaint students with the main topics treated and analyzed at seminars in Modern Lexicology (etymology, neology, borrowings, word-formation, semasiology, semantic changes, phraseology, etc.) and meets the requirements of the programme in this subject. The aim of the course is to teach students to be word-conscious, to be able to guess the meaning of words they come across from the meanings of morphemes, to be able to recognise the origin of this or that lexical unit.
The book is in 8 parts. It includes 8 theoretical chapters, practical assignments for seminars and independent work and twelve tests. There is also a brief list of recommended literature.
The practical assignments are preceded by theoretical notes which contain working definitions of principal concepts. The authors lay stress on the practical aspect of lexicology studies. In most cases, the practical assignments present English words in natural contexts of British and American literature of the 20th - 21st centuries. The material of the book may also be used in teaching a course of the Theory and Practice of Translation.
This book does not try to cover everything. The author will be much obliged for any criticism.
PART 1. THE OBJECT OF LEXICOLOGY
Lexicology is the branch of linguistics, it is the study of words. The term lexicology is composed of two Greek morphemes: lexis meaning “word, phrase” and logos which denotes “learning, a department of knowledge”. Thus, the literal meaning of the term lexicology is “the science of the word”. Lexicology, its basic task being a study and systematic description of vocabulary in reference to its origin, development and current use, has its own aims and methods of scientific research. It deals with words, morphemes which make up words, variable word-groups and phraseological units. The term vocabulary is used to denote the system of words and word-groups that the language possesses.
The term word denotes the basic unit of a certain language resulting from the association of a particular meaning with a particular group of sounds capable of a particular grammatical employment. Consequently a word is a semantic, grammatical and phonological unit at the same time. It is the smallest unit of a language which can stand alone as a complete utterance. The term word-group denotes a group of words which exists in the language as a ready-made unit, has the unity of meaning and of syntactical function, e.g. the word-group as loose as a goose means “clumsy” and is used in a sentence: He is as loose as a goose - as a predicative.
The general study of words and vocabulary, without taking into account the specific features of any particular language, is known as general lexicology. Special lexicology is the lexicology of a particular language (e.g. English, German, Ukrainian, etc.), i.e. the study and description of its vocabulary and vocabulary units. Every special lexicology is based on the principles of general lexicology.
There are two principal approaches in linguistic science to the study of language material, namely the synchronic (Gr. Syn – “together, with” and chronos – “time”) and the diachronic (Gr. dia – “through”) approach. The synchronic approach is concerned with the vocabulary of a language as it exists at a given time, for example, at the present time. It is special desсriptive lexicology that deals with the vocabulary and vocabulary units of a particular language at a certain time. It studies the functions of words and their specific structure as a characteristic inherent in the system.
The diachronic approach in terms of special lexicology deals with the changes and the development of vocabulary as the time goes by. It is special historical lexicology or etymology that deals with the evolution of the vocabulary units of a language in the course of time. This branch of linguistics discusses the origin of various words, their change and development.
Lexicology also studies all kinds of semantic groups and semantic relations: synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, semantic fields, etc.
The theoretical value of lexicology becomes apparent if we take into account that it forms the study of one of the three main aspects of language, i.e. its vocabulary (the other two being its grammar and sound system).
Lexicology came into being to meet the demands of many different branches of applied linguistics, namely of lexicography, information retrieval, standardisation of terminology, literary criticism and especially of foreign language teaching. It helps to stimulate a systematic approach to the facts of vocabulary and an organised comparison of the native and foreign languages.
The Connection of Lexicology with Other Branches of Linguistics
The treatment of words in lexicology cannot be separated from the study of all the other elements in the language system to which words belong. The word is studied in several branches of linguistics and not in lexicology only, and the latter is closely connected with general linguistics, the history of the language, phonetics, stylistics, grammar and such new branches of our science as sociolinguistics, paralinguistics (the study of non-verbal means of communication (gestures, facial expressions, eye-contact, etc.), pragmalinguistics (the branch of linguistics concerned with the relation of speech and its users and the influence of speech upon listeners) and some others.
The importance of the connection between lexicology and phonetics can be explained if we take into account that a word is an association of a given group of sounds with a given meaning, so that top is one word, and tip is another. Word-unity is conditioned by a number of phonological features. Phonemes follow each other in a fixed sequence so that pit is different from tip.
There is also a close relationship between lexicology and stylistics or, more specifically, linguo-stylistics.Linguo-stylistics deals with the study of the nature, functions and structure of stylistic devices, on the one hand, and with the investigation of each style of language, on the other.
A close connection between lexicology and grammar is conditioned by the manifold ties between the objects of their study. Grammar is the study of the grammatical structure of language. It deals with the various means of expressing grammatical relations between words and with the patterns after which words are combined into word-groups and sentences. Even isolated words as presented in a dictionary bear a definite relation to the grammatical system of the language because they belong to some part of speech and conform to some lexico-grammatical characteristics of the word class to which they belong. Words seldom occur in isolation. They are arranged in certain patterns conveying the relations between the things they denote, consequently in addition to their lexical meaning they also possess some grammatical meaning.
The two kinds of meaning are often interrelated. That is to say, certain grammatical functions and meanings are possible only for the words whose lexical meaning makes them fit for these functions, and, on the other hand, some lexical meanings in some words occur only in definite grammatical functions and forms and in definite grammatical patterns.
The ties between lexicology and grammar are particularly strong in the sphere of word-formation which before lexicology became a separate branch of linguistics had even been considered as a part of grammar. The characteristic features of English word-building, the morphological structure of the English word are dependent upon the peculiarity of the English grammatical system. The analytical character of the language is largely responsible for the wide spread of conversion and for the remarkable flexibility of the vocabulary manifest in the ease with which many nonce-words are formed on the spur of the moment.
Language is the reality of thought, and thought develops together with the development of society, therefore language and its vocabulary must be studied in the light of social history. A word, through its meaning rendering some notion, is a generalised reflection of reality. The branch of linguistics, dealing with causal relations between the way the language works and develops, on the one hand, and the facts of social life, on the other, is termed sociolinguistics.
PART 2. THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD
Lexicology deals with various lexical units: morphemes, words, variable word-groups and phraseological units. We proceed from the assumption that the word is the basic unit of language system, the largest on the morphologic and the smallest on the syntactic level of linguistic analysis. The word is a structural and semantic entity within the language system.
The modern approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between the external and the internal structures of the word. By external structure of the word we mean its morphological structure (the following morphemes can be distinguished: the prefixes, the root, the suffixes). The internal structure of the word, or its meaning, is referred to as the word’s semantic structure. It is the main aspect of a word.
The definition of every basic notion is a very hard task: the definition of a word is one of the most difficult in linguistics because the simplest word has many different aspects. It has a sound form because it is a certain arrangement of phonemes; it has its morphological structure, being also a certain arrangement of morphemes; when used in actual speech, it may occur in different word forms, different syntactic functions and signal various meanings.
A few examples will suffice to show that any definition is conditioned by the aims and interests of its author. Thomas Hobbes, one of the great English philosophers, revealed a materialistic approach to the problem of nomination. He wrote that words are not mere sounds but names of matter. The great Russian physiologist I.P.Pavlov analyzed the word in connection with his studies of the second signal system, and defined it as a universal signal that can substitute any other signal from the environment in evoking a response in a human organism. One of the latest developments of science and engineering is machine translation. It also deals with words and requires a rigorous definition for them. It runs as follows: a word is a sequence of graphemes which can occur between spaces, or the representation of such a sequence on morphemic level.