english morphology and lexicology

English Morphology and Lexicology

Shao [email protected]

Introduction

0.1 the nature and domain of English lexicology

0.2 its relation to other disciplines 0.3 methods of study

0.1 the nature and domain of English lexicology

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, their semantic structures, relations, historical development, formation and usages.

0.2 its relation to other disciplines

English lexicology embraces other academic disciplines, such as Morphology Semantics Etymology Stylistics Lexicography

Morphology

Morphology is the branch of grammar which studies the structure or forms of words, primarily through the use of morpheme construct.

This is also one of the major concerns of lexicology.

Semantics

Semantics is the study of meanings of different linguistic levels: lexis, syntax, utterance, discourse, etc.

But lexicology will focus on the lexical level.

Etymology Etymology is traditionally used for the study

of the origins and history of the form and meaning of words.

Modern English is derived from the languages of early Germanic tribes with a fairly small vocabulary.

We shall study how this small vocabulary has grown into a huge modern English vocabulary and explain the changes that have taken place in the forms and meanings of words.

Stylistics

Stylistics is the study of style. It is concerned with the user’s choices

of linguistic elements in a particular context for special effects.

But lexicology only concentrates on lexis, exploring the stylistic values of words.

Lexicography

Practical Lexicography is an academic discipline of compiling, writing, or editing dictionaries.

The analysis or description of the vocabulary of a particular language, and the meaning that links certain words to others in a dictionary, is known as Theoretical Lexicography.

0.3 methods of study

Synchronic vs. Diachronic Current meaning: wife=a married

woman, esp. in relation to her husband

Old meaning: housewife; midwife (=woman)

1. Basic concepts of words and vocabulary

1.1 what is a word? 1.2 sound and meaning 1.3 sound and form 1.4 vocabulary 1.5 classification of words

1.1 what is a word? (1) a minimal free form of a language; (2) a sound unity; (3) a unit of meaning; (4) a form that can function alone in a

sentence. A word is a minimal free form of a

language that has a given sound and meaning and syntactic function.

1.1 what is a word?

Words: simple vs. complex vs. compound Simple words consist of a single free morphe

me. man; fine; long; spirit… Complex words contain either two bound for

ms or a bound and a free form. ex-clude; tele-vise; pesti-cide; … tele-phone; manage-ment; mis-fortune...

1.1 what is a word?

Words: simple vs. complex vs. compound Compound words usu. have two or more

free forms as their immediate constituents.

greenhouse, blackmail; outside; … stay-at-home; fly-by-night…

Compound words vs. grammatical structures

Compound words can not be divided by the insertion of intervening material between the two parts; but grammatical structures can be so divided. a. She is a sweetheart. b. She has a sweet heart. She has a sweeter heart than her sister. She has a sweet, kind heart.

Exception

Can you find out that this sentence is ambiguous?

She loves sweet potatoes. Compound word: sweet potatoes= Grammatical structure: sweet potatoes=

She loves sweet, fresh potatoes.

Exception

Can you find out that this sentence is ambiguous?

He is fond of sparkling water. Compound word: sparkling water= =carbonated water Grammatical structure: sparkling water= =ordinary water that sparkles

He is fond of brightly sparkling water.

1.2 sound and meaning A word is symbolic. The relation between sound and

meaning is arbitrary. There is no logical relationship between

the sound and the meaning. This relationship is also

conventional. People of the same speech community

have agreed to refer to some meaning with certain cluster of sounds.

Arbitrariness 1

frau

femme 妇女

여자

woman

Arbitrariness 2

[mi:t]

meat meet mete

[nait]

night knight

1.3 sound and form 1. Be careful not to step on the thistle.

['θ s( )l]ɪ ə Onomatopoeia refers to words that soun

d like their meaning. [, n mæt 'pi ] ɒ ə ə ːə

2. 자동차가 고장 났어요 . 3. 我的车抛锚了。

1.3 sound and form

What can you learn from the following English illustration? a: class; glass; sparkle; park a: bag; fat a: face; date a: water a: refusal; dental a: teacher; reason

1.3 sound and form

What can you learn from the following French illustration? a

rat; gaz; passé; château; tache; vase table; rappeler habite; appâte

1.3 sound and form It is generally agreed that the written

form of a natural language is the written record of the oral form.

Naturally, the written form should agree with the oral form. (like French)

This is fairly true of English in its earliest stage i.e. Old English. The speech of the time was represented more faithfully in writing than it is today.

1.3 sound and form

However, with the development of the language, more and more differences occur between sound and form.

Reasons for “Sound≠Form” 1. The internal reason is that the

English alphabet was adopted from the Romans, which does not have a separate letter to represent each sound in the language so that some letters must do double duty or work together in combination.

Reasons for “Sound≠Form” 2. Another reason is that the

pronunciation has changed more rapidly than spelling over the years, and in some cases the two have drawn far apart.

Reasons for “Sound≠Form” 3. A third reason is that some of the

differences were created by the early scribes. Before printing was brought to England,

everything was written by hand. One problem was that letters such as i,

u, v, m, w, and n looked all alike. To solve this problem, they changed the

letter u to o when it came before m, n, or v.

sum →some cum →come wuman →woman wunder →wonder munk →monk

liv →live hav →have du →due tru →true No English word is

ended by v or u.In the late 1500, printing helped freeze the spelling of words. Dictionaries did their share in stopping spelling changes. Sounds continued to change as usual, thus bringing more differences.

Reasons for “Sound≠Form” 4. Finally comes the borrowing, which is

an important channel of enriching the English vocabulary. stimulus (L); dénouement (F); fiesta (Sp); eur

eka (Gr); kimono (Jap) hymn | hymnal condemn | condemnation bomb | bombard

1.4 vocabulary The word “vocabulary” is used in different

senses: The total number of words in a language All the words used in a particular historical

period All the words of a given dialect, a given

book, or a given discipline All the words possessed by an individual

person Present-day English vocabulary: over

1,000,000

1.5 classification of words

1.5.1 basic word stock vs. nonbasic vocabulary

1.5.2 content words vs. functional words 1.5.3 native words vs. borrowed words

1.5.1 basic word stock vs. nonbasic vocabulary basic word stock

1. all national character 2. (relative) stability 3. productivity 4. polysemy 5. collocability

1.5.1 basic word stock vs. nonbasic vocabulary nonbasic vocabulary

1. terminology 2. jargon 3. slang 4. argot 5. dialectal words 6. archaisms 7. neologisms

1.5.2 content words and functional words

Content (notional) words Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,

numerals Numerous; the number is ever growing

Functional (empty/form) words Prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliaries,

articles Limited; the number remain stable

1.5.2 content words and functional words

However, functional words do far more work of expression in English on average than content words. [1] It is fun to play with children. [2] It is certain that they have forgotten

the address. [3] The more I see the film, the more I

like it.

1.5.3 native words and borrowed words

Native words (Anglo-Saxon words) 1. neutral in style

begin (E) ----commence (F) brotherly (E) ----fraternal (F) kingly (E) ----royal (F) ----regal (L) rise (E)----mount (F) ----ascend (L)


Native words (Anglo-Saxon words) 2. frequent in use

The percentage of native words in use runs usually as high as 70 to 90 percent.


borrowed words (loan words) 80%; cosmopolitan vocabulary

1. denizens Words borrowed early in the past, and no

w are well assimilated into the English language.

port ← portus (L); cup ← cuppa (L) shift ← skipta (ON); shirt ← skyrta (ON) change ← changier (F); pork ←porc (F)


borrowed words (loan words) 2. Aliens

Borrowed words which have retained their original pronunciation and spelling.

décor (F); blitzkrieg (G); kowtow (CH) bazaar (Persian); emir (Arab) rajar (Hindi); status quo (L) intermezzo (IT)


borrowed words (loan words) 3. translation-loans

Words translated according to the meaning

Words translated according to the sound



Words translated according to the meaning

mother tongue ←lingua materna (L) long time no see ←haojiumeijian (CH) Surplus value ←Mehrwert (G) masterpiece ←Meisterstuck (G) Black humour ←humour noir (F)



Words translated according to the sound kulak ←kyrak (Russ) =rich peasants ketchup ←ke-tsiap (CH dialect) lama ←lama (Tibetan) =Tibetan monk tea ←t’e (CH dialect)


borrowed words (loan words) 4. semantic-loans Words borrowed with reference to the meani

ng. dream –modern meaning from the Norse pioneer –”a member of the Young Pionee

r” from Russan dumb –”stupid” from German (dumm) fresh –”impertinent, sassy, cheeky” from G

erman (frech)

Homework

Exercises on page 20-22

english morphology and lexicology

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