英语词汇学参考资料（上）

 Chapter One: Introduction ​ Lexicology defined Lexicology is a branch of linguistics, inquiring into the origins and meanings of words. English lexicology aims at investigating and studying the morphological structures of English words and word equivalents, their semantic structures, relations, historical development, formation and usages. ​ Practical significance for the learner deice (amorphous) “de-” combines with nouns to form verbs which indicate that the thing referred to by the noun is removed. More examples: defrost; de-inking; de-feather; deforest; debug; de-color; de-fat; ​ prefix re-: re-cover, recover; re-collect, recollect; re-count, recount; re-sound, resound; etc. •​ The bell re-sounded. •​ The hall resounded with applause. Other examples: recede; reject; rebound; reflect; ​ suffix ​  -ful ​  A basket / basketful of apples Nouns formed this way refers to the quantity or amount of something that a container mentioned can hold. ​ A “spoonful” is the amount of powder or liquid that a spoon will hold ​ An “armful” of something is the quantity of it you can carry in one or both of your arms. ​  Root Free and bound root: eatable; edible ​ -pos-: preposition; deposit; propose; compose; oppose; dispose; expose; interpose; transpose; superimpose ​ -tract- attract; extract; retract; distract; protract; contract; subtract; detract; tractor ​ -scrib- describe; inscribe; prescribe; subscribe; transcribe; circumscribe; （circumlocution circumlunar circumnavigate circumspect）；manuscript; postscript; scribble ​ -ject- reject; project; object; subject; inject; deject ​  -pel- compel; impel; propel; repel; expel; dispel ​ Related disciplines ​ General Linguistics ​  Morphology----a branch of linguistics investigating word structure and word formation through the use of morphemes. ​ Semantics ----the study of meaning in language. Though it deals with meaning in general, it is often confined to those aspects which are relatively stable and context-free. It also gives much emphasis to the study of the relationships of meaning between linguistics forms; for example, synonyms, antonyms, and hyponyms. ​ Stylistics It is concerned with the language user’s choice of proper linguistic forms in a particular context for special effects. horse; steed (literary); courser, charger, palfrey (poetic); plug (slang); nag (colloquial); gee (child English) commence----begin, start woo, court (outdated, old fashioned, archaic) ​  Colloquial and slang words ​  taboo words ​  obscene words ​ Etymology the study of the origin and history of the meaning and form of words. sheep----mutton; pig, swine----pork; ox----beef; calf----veal; chicken----poultry get; obtain; procure ​ Phonetics ​  Lexicography----theory and practice of compiling dictionaries. Lexicography provides the principles necessary for documenting the vocabulary of a language very often by drawing on the discoveries of lexicologists. •​  Christian name (given name, first name, forename) •​  Eskimo---Inuit; •​  negro (colored)---black; •​  Oriental---Asian; •​ Crippled---disabled (differently-abled, physically challenged) •​  Reptiles were here long before man appeared on the earth. man---human being; mankind---humankind; •​  history cf. herstory (but ‘man-made, manpower, etc.’?) ​ native •​  a native of Boston •​  This dance is a favorite with the natives. •​  New York in the summer was too hot even for the natives. (referring to the local inhabitants of a particular place) In some other contexts, it has an old-fashioned feel and, because of being closely associated with a colonial European outlook on non-white peoples living in remote places, it may cause offence. ​ Some basic ideas concerning vocabulary (p. 4) ----The vocabulary of any language never remains stable, but is constantly changing, growing, and decaying, together with the development of human society. ​  Everyone has their own ideas about it. ​  Has everybody eaten as much as they want? ​ Modifier of absolute words (such as basic, unique, complete(ly), perfect, full(y), essential, excellent, thoroughly, etc.) ​  Her most essential quality is kindness. (DCE 1978) ​  …creating a more perfect union. (American Constitution) ​  I have never seen a more complete investigation. (Quirk, 1973) ​  His views on the subject are more extreme than mine. (ibid) ----The word is the principal and basic unit of the language words vs lexemes (lexical units) 1. The term word is used in ways that obscure the study of meaning. For example: walk, walks, walked, and walking. Question 1: Are they different words? Or the variants of the same underlying unit, ‘walk’? Question 2: Can we say that “these four words are different forms of the same word”? 2. The term word is useless for the study of idioms, which are also units of meaning; e.g. put forward; kick the bucket 3. The term word has in any case been appropriate for use in elsewhere in linguistic study----in the field of grammar, where it does sterling service at the junction between syntax and morphology. ----The word is a two-facet unit possessing both form and content ----Beside its lexical meaning, the word also has its grammatical meaning ----English words can be approached both diachronically and synchronically ​ Size of the English vocabulary (p. 6) a) Dr. Samuel Johnson’s dictionary (1755) contained 50,000 words. b) Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1983) contains 559,000 words. c) The Oxford English Dictionary (the second edition 1989 ) contains 616,500 words. d) Collins Cobuild English Dictionary (1987) has a coverage of 70,000 references. e) The New Oxford Dictionary of English (2001) contains 350,000 words. (the biggest single-volume dictionary) ♣​ Some interesting figures •​  Shakespeare made use of 15,000 words; •​  Milton used 8,000; •​  A Princeton University student (upper-classman) had an average vocabulary of 16,500 words (in 1916); •​  A similar test ten years later showed that the same class of students had a vocabulary of 17,500; •​  An English major is required to have 12,000 words at graduation; •​  Palmer offers a list of 3,000 word-units, which would cover 95% of any text written in everyday English. •​  Divisions in the history of English 1. The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period----roughly 450 to 1150 Characteristics: a. pronunciation: differing somewhat from that of their modern equivalents; b. vocabulary: almost purely Teutonic; c. full inflections. 2. The Middle English Period----1150 to 1500 Characteristics: a. resembling Modern English more than Old English; b. With a vast number of borrowed words; c. Gradual disappearance of inflections. 3. The modern English period----1500 to the present a) The Early Modern English (1500 to 1700) b) The Late Modern English (1700 to the present) c) Contemporary English Features of Contemporary English: •​  a trend of simplicity in structures; •​  faster growth and change of vocabulary; •​  wide use of colloquial, slang, and vogue words. Review Questions: 1. What is lexicology? 2. What will be covered in the study of English lexicology? 3. What subjects is English lexicology correlated with? 4. Why should the students of English study English lexicology? And how could they benefit from it? 5. Give a brief account of the divisions in the history of English. Chapter Two: Sources of the English Vocabulary ​  Indo-European Family (cf. Sino-Tibetan Family) The family of languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia as far as northern India. ​  Similarity in vocabulary Sanskrit Greek Latin Italian French German English mata meter mater madre měre mutter mother ​ Germanic (sub-family) 1) East Germanic (Group) ---- Gothic 2) North Germanic Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian 3) West Germanic English, High (Low) German, Frisian, Flemish ​  Celtic Irish, Gaelic, Welsh ​ Latin Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian ​  Slavic Russian, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Czech, Polish, Serbian ​  Baltic --- Latvian, Lithuanian ​  Indic --- Hindi, Pali, Sanskrit ​  Iranian ---Persian, Alfgan ​  Greek, Albanian, Armenian, Tocharian, Hittite ​ History of the People (p. 3) •​  Iberians (3,000-2,000 B.C.) •​  Celts (the 7th century B.C.) •​  Roman conquerors (55-54 B.C. by Julius Caesar; 43 B.C. by Claudius) •​  Angles, Saxons, Jutes (the 5th century A.D.) •​  Scandinavians (the 8-9th century) •​  Normans (the 11th century) Renaissance Elizabeth I The Tudor Monarchy Queen Victoria ​ Elizabeth II List of Royal Houses of Britain ​  House of Normandy (1066-1154) William I (the Conqueror); Henry I, etc. ​  House of Plantagenet (1154-1399) Henry II-III; Richard I-II; Edward I-III, etc. ​  House of Lancaster (1399-1485) Henry IV-VI ​  House of Tudor (1485-1603) Henry VII-VIII; Edward VI; Mary I; Elizabeth I ​ House of Stuart (1603-1649) James I; Charles I ​  The Commonwealth (1649-1660) Oliver Cromwell (Lord Protector); Richard Cromwell ​  House of Stuart (1660-1714) Charles II; James II; William III and Mary II; Anne ​  House of Hanover (1714-1910) George I-IV; William IV; Victoria; Edward VII ​  House of Widsor George V; Edward VIII; George VI; Elizabeth II (1952- ) ​ The Native Element in Modern English (p. 9) •​  Before about 450 A.D., there was no English language in Britain. •​  Words of native origin consist for the most part of very ancient elements---Indo-European, Germanic and West Germanic cognates. •​  Besides, a number of Scandinavian, Latin and French elements have become part of the English basic stock of words. •​  The native stock of words is estimated to make 25-30% of the English vocabulary. ​ Semantic features of words of Anglo-Saxon origin a.​ the numerals up to a thousand; b.​ the most intimate family relations (such as father, mother, son, daughter, wife, etc.) c. most natural phenomena and planets (day, night, fire, water, snow, rain, wind, frost, sun, moon, star, spring, summer, winter, etc.) d. common animals (hare, deer, horse, cow, sheep, cat, fox, wolf, etc.) e. qualities and properties (old, young, good, evil, kind, wise, free, cold, hot, heavy, light, dark, white, long, etc.) f. common actions (do, make, go, come, hear, ear, etc.) g. most auxiliary and modal verbs (shall, will, should, would, must, can, may, etc.) h. pronouns (I, you, he, my, your, his, who, whose, etc.) i. prepositions (in, out, on, under, etc.) j. conjunctions (and, but, till, as, etc.) k. parts of the body (head, hand, arm, back, foot, etc.) l. names of most trees (birch, fir, elm, willow, etc.) m. the staple food (bread, oats, barley, wheat, etc.) n. objects seen on a country walk (house, road, ditch, barn, hedge, hill, woods, lane, path, etc.) ​ Characteristics of the native element a. all-national character b. great stability c. mostly monosyllabic d. great word-building power water, fire, dog, hand, head, etc. fire (70); flame (5); conflagration (0) e.​ wide collocability to give one’s heart to; to go to sb.’s heart, to have the heart to do sth,; to lose heart; to learn by heart; with one’s heart and soul; etc. •​ Water (48); turn (51); hand (111) plurality of meanings tell----narrate, express, explain, utter, order, distinguish, count (tell over one’s money), reveal (The blood-stained gloves told of the murderer’s crime.), disclose (tell on sb.; I promise not to tell.), etc. board---a piece of sawn timber; such a piece used for special purpose (diving ~, bulletin ~); table made in board; its function (the board and lodging, a boarding school); persons having meetings, a council or authoritative body (a board of directors); other meanings associated with board (on board, on the boards), etc. confidence 1) a feeling of certainty, firm trust and belief 2) a secret of special information you tell sb. •​ exchange confidence •​ I’m telling you this in the strict confidence. 3) Confidence man / trick (game) novel / novelty Apprehension a) ability to understand (an ~ of reality); b) arrest (try to co-operate in the ~ of the murderer); c) fear, worry g. high frequency value h. stylistically neutral 2.1.2 Foreign Elements in Modern English (p.11) ​ Classification of the foreign borrowings a. Aliens Words borrowed from a foreign language without any change of the foreign sound and spelling. e.g. coupe d’état, résumé, régime, etc. b. Denizens Foreign words which have been conformed to native English in accent, form (spelling) and even in adoption of an English affix: uncertain: (un-, OE. + certain, Fr.) Many Scandinavian borrowings, call, die, husband, fellow, low, are denizens. c. Translation-Loans (p. 13) Words and expressions formed from the material already existing in the English but according to patterns taken from another language by way of literal morpheme-for-morpheme translation d. Semantic Loans An English word develops a new meaning due to the influence of a related word in another language. dream pioneer ​ Latin Element ​  Greek Element Fields of science and learning where Greek elements appear: a. Literary terminology: drama, comedy, tragedy, etc. b. Philosophy and mathematics: basis, pentagon, theory, etc. c. Botany and physics: cactus, organism, dynamo, pneumatic, thermometer, etc. d. Medicine: diagnosis, rheumatism, etc. e. Modern inventions: bicycle, photograph, telephone, etc. ​ Special Formal Features of Greek Element: Greek words are generally distinguishable by : ▪​  certain peculiar clusters such as ch, ph, pn, rh, etc., as in chasm (crack), phone, pneumatic, rhetoric, etc.; ▪​  certain Greek suffixes such as -id, -isk, -ism, -ist, -ize, -oid, -osis, as in pyramid, asterisk, organism, socialist, philosophize, asteroid, neurosis, etc. ▪​ French Element The French influence came in two waves: a. Norman French Element The conquest of Britain by Norman in 1066 intruded into Britain a variety of the French language: b. Central French (or Parisian French) element Parisian French began to enter England towards the end of 13th century. The most extensive borrowings have come from French during the Middle English period, the Renaissance (14th, 15th and 16th centuries). ​ Features in pronunciation of these later borrowings ▪​  Keeping the accent on the last syllable; ▪​  ch pronounced as /ʃ/ (machine, chauffeur, champagne); ▪​  g before e and I pronounced as /ʒ/ (beige, bourgeois, prestige, regime); ▪​  ou pronounced as /u:/ (coup, rouge, gourmet); ▪​  final consonant not pronounced (corps, debris, ballet) ▪​ A Summary of the Three Foreign Elements (1) The early borrowing of Latin was entirely through the channels in ecclesiastical thought and literature with exception of few words in commerce; the Latin that was borrowed during the English Renaissance was of more worldly cultural sort; the Latin gained in recent centuries has been more and more narrowly scientific. (2) The Greek element was also first ecclesiastical, then cultural in a more worldly way, and latterly strongly technical and scientific. (3) The French element consists of more than a fourth of all the words comprising the vocabulary of the English vocabulary of the English language. The simplicity of the earlier Norman French terms is in marked contrast with the more learned and sophisticated character of the later French borrowings. ​ Chinese Element in the English Vocabulary Chinese borrowings fall under two periods: a.​ The early Chinese borrowings: Confucianism, sampan, chow-mein, chop suey, mah-jong, yamen, chopsticks, coolie, kowtow, kowloon, etc. b. Chinese Borrowing since Liberation yang-ko: fan-sheng; san-fan; mao tai; wushu; ping-pang. qi-gong; xiang-sheng, kuai ban; hua dan (young female character), Lao-sheng (leading character with beard), Xiao-sheng (youthful civilian); land reform; waist-drum corps; people’s commune; national bourgeoisie; national People’s Congress; the United Front; Four Modernizations; etc. ​ Doublets, Hybrids, International Words 1. Doublets (同源对似词） Doublets are pairs of words (or group of three) which have arisen from the same original form but have in the course of linguistic development acquired different forms and meanings (1) from different languages: coffee-café, eatable-edible (2) from different periods of the same language saloon --- salon suit- suite hostel-hotel (3) doublets in modern English: evil --- ill (4) through shortening: doctor --- doc 2. Hybrids (混成词） The word is made of two parts, each from a different language. a. foreign roots with native prefixes and suffixes troublesome: French root trouble +native suffix: some b. foreign roots and other foreign affixes pacifist: Latin root, pacifi- + -ist Greek suffix c. Hybridized compound words: cablegram: Latin+Greek, speedometer: English+Latin 3. International Words (国际通用词) Essential features of International Words: 1) comprising scientific, technical, social and political terminology: democracy, philosophy, electron, telephone, drama, communism, republic, socialism, etc.; 2) Latin or Greek by origin; 3) used in most languages of Indo-European family; 4) having the same meaning in European languages; 5) having nearly the same form in different languages, but keeping the characteristics of each language in phonetics, morphology, and syntax; ​ synonymic groups of words in English Three levels of synonyms in English: the bookish Latin, the formal French, and the neutral and informal English. English (popular) French (literary) Latin (learned) time age epoch shut close conclude guess suppose conjecture far distant remote start commence initiate end finish terminate ask inquire interrogate Key to some of the exercises 12. Classify the following words: a) according to their origin: from Old English: ox, cow, calf, sheep, pig, deer, hunt, begin, baker, weaver, shoemaker, fishermen, shepherd, lord, lady. from French: beef, veal, mutton, bacon, venison, chase, commence, tailor, butcher, painter, mason, baron, count b) according to their meaning: animals: ox, cow, calf, sheep, pig, deer; flesh: beef, veal, mutton, bacon, venison; action: chase, hunt, begin, commence; persons: baker, tailor, weaver, butcher, shoemaker, painter, fishermen, mason, shepherd, lord, baron, lady, count 14. To each adjective give a corresponding adjective of Latin origin blood----bloody----sanguinary / sanguine brother----brotherly----fraternal father----fatherly----paternal mother----motherly---- maternal ​ fraternity, maternal grandfather, matriarch, matron, paternalism, patron, matrimony, patrimony, patricide ​ matricide, fratricide, parricide, infanticide, homicide, genocide, regicide (regent, regime) ​ herbicide, germicide, insecticide, raticide friend----friendly----amicable heaven----heavenly----celestial home---- homely----domestic milk----milky----lactic night----nightly----nocturnal (noctambulation) water----watery---- aquatic / aqueous / aquiculture / aquarium woman----womanly ---- feminine / female man----manly----masculine / male truth----truthful---- veracious / veracity, verify, verity) time----timely----temporal / contemporary, day----daily----diurnal night----nightly---- nocturnal / noctambulation / noctivagant body----bodily----corporal / corpse cloud----cloudy---- nebulas hand----handy----manual life----lively----vital / vivid revive / survive / vivacious / vitamin room----roomy----spacious war----warlike----bellicose 15. Give adjectives of Latin to the following nouns: 1) mouth----oral / orator / oratory / oratorical eye----ocular / oculist tongue----lingual kidney----renal tooth----dental head----capital / capitate / capitation grant ear----auricular 2) horse----equine / equestrian, ox, cow----bovine sheep----ovine dog----canine / canine tooth 3) house----domestic town----urban suburban / urbanize / urbanology urbanite / urbanity sight----visible mind----mental egg----oval sea----marine / mariner / maritime island----insular / peninsular spring----vernal / vernal breeze tree----arboreal Chapter Three Word Building 3.1 The structure of a word 3.2 Affixation 3.3 Conversion 3.4 Compounding 3.5 Back-