Words--meaning-and-vocabulary1

Words,meaningandvocabulary:AnintroductiontomodernEnglishlexicology1IntroductionWhattocover?????…MaincontentsWhatislexicology?WheredoEnglishwordscomefrom?ThewordWordformationMeaningrelationsWordsinuseInvestigatingvocabularyWordsindictionaries1.Whatislexicology?Thischaptercovers:definitionoftheterm‘lexicology’lexicologyasaleveloflanguageanalysisthestructureofEnglishvocabulary1.1LexicologydefinedLexicology:thestudyoflexis,understoodasthestockofwordsinagivenlanguage,i.e.itsvocabularyorlexicon(fromGreeklexis,‘word’)Vocabulary,lexis,lexicon:synonymousthefirstmorecolloquial,thethirdmorelearnedandtechnicalLexicologydealsnotonlywithsimplewordsinalltheiraspects,butalsowithcomplexandcompoundwords,themeaningunitsoflanguage.Relatedfields:Morphology:theformofwordsSemantics:themeaningofwordsEtymology:theoriginofwordsExercise1/1Examinethefollowingdefinitionsof“lexicology”.Whatdotheyagreeonasthescopeoflexicology?Andwheredotheydisagree?1.Anareaoflanguagestudyconcernedwiththenature,meaning,historyanduseofwordsandwordelementsandoftenalsowiththecriticaldescriptionoflexicography.(McArthur(ed.)1992)2.Thestudyoftheoverallstructureandhistoryofthevocabularyofalanguage.(CollinsEnglishDictionary1998)3.Abranchoflinguisticsconcernedwiththemeaninganduseofwords.(LongmanDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage1991)4.Thestudyoftheform,meaning,andbehaviourofwords.(NewOxfordDictionaryofEnglish2998)1.1.1MorphologyMorphology:thestudyofmorphemesandtheirarrangementsinformingwords.Morpheme:thesmallestmeaningfulunitswhichmaybewordsorpartsofwordse.g.cat,child,withcat+s,sleep+ing,arm+chair+sfreemorpheme:thosethatcanoccuraloneasindividualwords(e.g.cat)boundmorpheme:thosethatoccuronlywithanothermorpheme(e.g.-ing)morphs:concreterealizationofamorphemeinagivenutterance(e.g.-s,-er)1.1.2SemanticsSemantics:thestudyofmeaning.Itsaimistoexplainanddescribemeaninginnaturallanguage.Philosophicalsemantics:isconcernedwiththelogicalpropertiesoflanguage,thenatureofformaltheories,andthelanguageoflogic.Linguisticsemantics:involvesallaspectsofmeaninginnaturallanguage,fromthemeaningofcomplexutterancesinspecificcontextstothatofindividualsoundsinsyllables.Semanticscoversallaspectsofhumanlanguage,soitisconsiderednotonlyasadivisionoflexicology,butalsoaspartofphonology,syntax,discourseanalysis,textulinguistics,andpragmatics.1.1.3EtymologyEtymology:thestudyofthewholehistoryofwords,notjustoftheirorigin.etyma:roots1.1.4LexicographyLexicography:asaspecialtechnique,thewritingandcompilationofdictionariesas‘appliedlexicology’1.2LexicologyasaleveloflanguageanalysisLexicologyandphonologyLexicologyandsyntax1.2.1LexicologyandphonologySegmental:e.g.pillandbill,sheepandshipsuprasegmental(suchasstress):e.g.CompoundNounPhrase`blackboardblack`board`blackbirdblack`bird`greyhound(灰狗，跑得很快)grey`hound`WhiteHousewhite`house1.2.2LexicologyandsyntaxSyntax:concernedwiththerelationshipbetweenwordsinconstructionsandthewaythesewordsareputtogethertoformsentences.Theessentialdifference----syntaxdealswiththegeneralfactsoflanguageandlexicologywithspecialaspects.Syntaxisgeneralbecauseitdealswithrulesandregularitiesthatapplytoclassesofwordsasawhole;----lexicologyisparticularbecauseitisconcernedwiththewayindividualwordsoperateandaffectotherwordsinthesamecontext.Necessarytobekeptasdistinctlevels:Agivensentencemaybesyntacticbutunacceptablefromthelexicalpointofview.e.g.Cololessgreenideassleepfuriously.Theproblemofthedistinctionbetweenlexicologyandsyntaxmaybereducedtothedistinctionbetweensentencesthatareunacceptableonsyntacticgroundsandthosethataredeviantfromthelexicalpointofview.Insyntaxaswellasinlexicology,therearecasesofdeviationwhichmaybeansweredby‘yes/no’,andothersthatcanbeansweredonlyby‘more/less’,thougha‘yes/no’answerismorelikelyinsyntaxthaninlexicology.e.g.a.DiditheandI.vs.HeandIdiditb.Giveittowhomeverwantsit.vs.Giveittowhoeverwantsit.1.3ThestructureofEnglishvocabularyThewordanditsassociativefieldLexicalfieldsWordfamiliesWordclasses1.3.1ThewordanditsassociativefieldAccordingtothisapproach,everywordisinvolvedinanetworkofassociativeassociationswhichconnectitwithothertermsinthelanguage.Someoftheseassociationsarebasedonsimilarityofmeaning,otherarepurelyformal(i.e.basedonforms),whileothersinvolvedbothformandmeaning.etc.etclecturingtutorlecturedteacherLECTURERgardenercleverlabourerquickeretc.etc.Paradigmatic&syntagmaticrelationsSyntagmatic(sequence)ThefirstquestionwasdifficultParadigmatic(substitution)secondwordeasythirdproblemfunnylastexaminationsillyfinalpaperloaded1.3.2LexicalfieldsOrigin:in1920sand1930sLyons(1977:250):tracedbackatleasttothemiddleofthenineteencenturyandmoregenerallytotheideasofHumboldtandHerder.Semanticfield/semanticdomain/lexicalfield/lexicalset,lexicalfieldtheoryCrystal(1995:157):asemanticorlexicalfieldasa‘namedareaofmeaninginwhichlexemesinterrelateanddefineeachotherinspecificways’e.g.kinshipterms:father,mother,son,daughter,cousin,nephew,uncle,aunt,grandmother,etc.Accordingtolexicalfieldtheory,thevocabularyofalanguageisessentiallyadynamicandwell-integrate