- •Министерство финансов Российской Федерации
- •Всероссийская государственная налоговая академия
- •Лексикология английского языка
- •English lexicology
- •Введение
- •Lecture 1
- •The structure of the word
- •The main problems of lexicology
- •Phraseology
- •Vocabulary as a system
- •Vocabulary
- •Exercise (p. 11, answers)
- •Lecture 2
- •Informal Style
- •Functional style
- •Informal style
- •Colloquial words
- •Dialect words
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 3 Formal Style
- •Learned words
- •Archaic and obsolete words
- •Professional terminology
- •Basic vocabulary
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 4 The Etymology of English Words
- •The earliest group of English borrowings
- •Celtic borrowings. The fifth century a.D.
- •3. The period of Cristianization. The seventh century a.D.
- •5. Norman French borrowings (1066).
- •6. The Renaissance Period.
- •7. The Etymological Structure of English Vocabulary
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 5 The Etymology of English Words
- •1. The historical circumstances which stimulate the borrowing process
- •2. Three stages of assimilation
- •International words
- •Etymological doublets
- •Translation-loans
- •Interrelations between etymological and stylistic characteristics of English words
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 6 Word-Building
- •The main ways of enriching the English vocabulary
- •Affixation (or Derivation)
- •Some frequent native suffixes
- •Some productive affixes
- •Some non-productive affixes
- •Semantics of affixes
- •Conversion
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 7
- •Composition
- •Semi-Affixes
- •Shortening (Contraction)
- •Some of the minor types of modern word-building. Onomatopoeia (Sound-imitation)
- •Reduplication
- •Back-Formation (Reversion)
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 8
- •Thought or Reference
- •3. Polysemy
- •4. Two levels of analysis
- •Types of semantic components
- •Meaning and context
- •Answer these questions.
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 9 Development of New Meanings
- •Causes of development of new meanings
- •The process of development and change of meaning
- •Transference based on resemblance (similarity)
- •Transference based on contiguity
- •Broadening (or Generalization) of meaning. Narrowing (or Specialization) of meaning
- •I. “Degeneration” of meaning.
- •II. “Elevation” of meaning.
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 10 Homonyms: Words of the Same Form
- •4. Sources of homonyms
- •5. Homonymy and polysemy
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 11 Synonyms
- •Which words do we call synonyms?
- •Synonyms are one of the language’s most important expressive means
- •The problem of criteria of synonymy
- •The dominant synonym
- •Classification system for synonyms established by V.V. Vinogradov
- •Classification of synonyms based on difference in connotations
- •Types of connotations
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 12 Euphemisms. Antonyms
- •Euphemisms. Their types and functions
- •Antonyms. Which parts of speech do most antonyms belong to?
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 13 Phraseology
- •Phraseology as an expressive resource of vocabulary
- •Phraseological units and free word-groups. Criteria for distinguishing
- •2) The second type of restriction is the restriction in introducing any additional components into the structure of a phraseological unit.
- •Proverbs
- •The traditional principle for classifying phraseological units
- •The semantic principle of classification for phraseological units
- •The structural principle of classification for phraseological units
- •Classification system offered by Professor a.I. Smirnitsky
- •The classification system of phraseological units suggested by Professor a.V. Koonin
- •Vocabulary
- •Lecture 14 Types of Dictionaries
- •Lexicography and dictionaries
- •Bilingual dictionaries
- •Special bilingual dictionaries
- •Unilingual dictionaries
- •Special unilingual dictionaries
- •Vocabulary
- •Литература
- •Contents
- •Practical Exercises to Lectures in English Lexicology Lecture 2. Informal Style Exercises
- •II. A. Read the following extract.
- •III. Read the following jokes. Write out the informal words and word-groups and say whether they are colloquial, slang or dialect.
- •Lecture 3. Formal Style Exercises
- •Lecture 4. Etymology of English Words (part 1) Exercises
- •I. Subdivide all the following words of native origin into: a) Indo-European, b) Germanic, c) English proper.
- •II. Read the following jokes. Explain the etymology of the italicized words. If necessary consult a dictionary.
- •III.Identify the period of the following Latin borrowings; point out the structural and semantic peculiarities of the words from each period.
- •IV. In the sentences given below find the examples of Scandinavian borrowings. How can the Scandinavian borrowings be identified?
- •V. Read the following jokes and identify the Scandinavian borrowings.
- •VI. Explain the etymology of the following words.
- •VII. Think of 10—15 examples of Russian borrowings in English and English borrowings in Russian.
- •VIII. Read the following text. Identify the etymology of as many words as you can. The Roman Occupation
- •Lecture 5. The Etymology of English Words (part 2)
- •IV. State the origin of the following translation-loans. Give more examples.
- •Lecture 6. Word-Building Exercises
- •I. The italicized words in the following jokes and extracts are formed by derivation. Write them out in two columns:
- •II. Explain the etymology and productivity of the affixes given below. Say what parts of speech can be formed with their help.
- •III.Deduce the meanings of the following derivatives from the meanings of their constituents. Explain your deduction. What are the meanings of the affixes in the words under examination?
- •IV. In the following examples the italicized words are formed from the same root by means of different affixes. Translate these derivatives into Russian and explain the difference in meaning.
- •V. Explain the difference between the meanings of the following words produced from the same root by means of different affixes. Translate the words into Russian.
- •VI. One of the italicized words in the following examples was made from the other by conversion. What semantic correlations exist between them?
- •VII. Explain the semantic correlations within the following pairs of words.
- •VIII. Which of the two words in the following pairs is made by conversion? Deduce the meanings and use them in constructing sentences of your own.
- •IX. Read the following joke, explain the type of word-building in the italicized words and say everything you can about the way they were made.
- •Lecture 7. Word-Building (continued) Exercises
- •I. Find compounds in the following jokes and extracts and write them out in three columns: a. Neutral compounds. B. Morphological compounds. C. Syntactic compounds.
- •II. Identify the neutral compounds in the word combinations given below and write them out in 3 columns: a. Simple neutral compounds. B. Neutral derived compounds. C. Neutral contracted compounds.
- •IV. Say whether the following lexical units are word-groups or compounds. Apply the criteria outlined in the foregoing text to motivate your answer.
- •V. Find shortenings in the jokes and extracts given below and specify the method of their formation.
- •Lecture 8. What is “Meaning”? Exercises
- •I. Define the meanings of the words in the following sentences. Say how the meanings of the same word are associated one with another.
- •III. The verb "to take" is highly polysemantic in Modern English. On which meanings of the verb are the following jokes based? Give your own examples to illustrate the other meanings of the word.
- •IV. Explain the basis for the following jokes. Use the dictionary when in doubt.
- •V. Read the following jokes. Analyse the collocability of the italicized words and state its relationship with the meaning.
- •I.Explain the logical associations in the following groups of meaning for the same words. Define the type of transference which has taken place.
- •II.Analyse the process of development of new meanings in the italicized words in the examples given below.
- •III. Explain the basis for the following jokes. Trace the logical associations between the different meanings of the same word.
- •IV. Have the italicized words evaluative connotations in their meanings? Motivate your answer and comment on the history of the words.
- •Lecture 10. Homonyms: Words of the Same Form Exercises
- •I. Find the homonyms in the following extracts. Classify them into homonyms proper, homographs and homophones.
- •II. On what linguistic phenomenon is the joke in the following extracts based? What causes the misunderstanding?
- •III. A. Find the homonyms proper for the following words; give their Russian equivalents.
- •IV. A. Classify the following italicized homonyms. Use Professor a. I. Smirnitsky's classification system.
- •Lecture 11. Synonyms Exercises
- •I. Give as many synonyms for the italicized words in the following jokes as you can. If you do not know any of them consult the dictionaries.1
- •II. Carry out definitional and transformational analysis on the italicized synonyms using the explanations of meanings given below. Define the types of connotations found in them.
- •III. Say why the italicized synonyms in the examples given below are not interchangeable.
- •IV. Within the following synonymic groups single out words with emotive connotations.
- •V. Identify the stylistic connotations for the following italicized words in the jokes given below and write their synonyms with other stylistic connotations.
- •Lecture 12. Euphemisms. Antonyms Exercises
- •I. Find the dominant synonym in the following groups of synonyms. Explain your choice.
- •II. Find the dominant synonyms for the following italicized words and prove that they can be used as substitutes. Are they interchangeable? What is lost if we make the substitution?
- •III.Find the euphemisms in the following sentences and jokes. Name the words for which they serve as euphemistic substitutes.
- •IV. Find antonyms for the words given below.
- •V. Find antonyms in the following jokes and extracts and describe the resultant stylistic effect.
- •Lecture 13. Phraseology
- •VI. Read the following proverbs. Give their Russian equivalents or explain their meanings.
- •VII. Give the English equivalents for the following Russian proverbs.
- •VIII. Give the proverbs from which the following phraseological units have developed.
- •IX. A. Read the following text. Compile a list of the phraseological units used in it.1Classify them according to Academician Vinogradov's classification system for phraseological units.
- •X.Complete the following sentences, using the phraseological units given in the list below. Translate them into Russian.
- •XI. Complete the following similes. Translate the phraseological units into Russian. If necessary, use your dictionary.
- •XII. Complete the following sentences, using the words from the list below. Translate the phraseological units into Russian.
- •XIII. In the examples given below identify the phraseological units and classify them on the semantic principle.
- •XIV. Read the following jokes. Classify the italicized word-groups, using Professor Smirnitsky's classification system for phraseological units. Out of the Fire Into the Frying Pan
- •More Precise
- •XV. Group the following italicized phraseological units, using Professor Koonin's classification system. Translate them into Russian.
- •Вишнякова Светлана Марковна,
- •Публикуется в авторской редакции
Conversion
Conversion consists in making a new word from some existing word by changing the category of a part of speech: the morphemic shape of the original word remains unchanged. The new word has a meaning which differs from that of the original one though it can more or less be easily associated with it. It has also a new paradigm peculiar to its new category as a part of speech.
nurse, n |
> |
|
to nurse, v |
|
|
|
|
|
-s, pl. |
|
-s, 3rd p. sg. |
Substantive paradigm |
-`s, possesive, sg. -s`, possesive, pl. |
Verbal paradigm |
-ed, past s., past participle -ing, pres. part, gerund |
Conversion is accepted as one of the major ways of enriching English vocabulary with new words. One of the major arguments for this approach to conversion is thesemantic changethat regularly accompanies each instance of conversion. Normally, a word changes its syntactic function without any shift in lexical meaning. E.g. both inyellow leaves and in The leaves were turning yellow the adjective denotes colour. Yet, inThe leaves yellowed the converted unit no longer denotes colour, but the process of changing colour, so that there is an essential change in meaning.
The change of meaning is even more obvious in such pairs as hand > to hand, face > to face, to go > a go, etc.
The other argument is the regularity and completeness with which converted units develop a paradigm of their new category of part of speech. As soon as it has crossed the category borderline, the new word automatically acquires all the properties of the new category, so that if it has entered the verb category, it is now regularly used in all the forms of tense and it also develops the forms of the participle and the gerund.
Conversion is not only a highly productive but also a particularly English way of word-building. Its immense productivity is considerably encouraged by certain features of the English language in its modern stage of development. The analytical structure of Modern Englishgreatly facilitates processes of making words of one category of parts of speech from words of another. So doesthe simplicity of paradigms of English parts of speech. A great number ofone-syllable words is another factor in favour of conversion.
One should guard against thinking that every case of noun and verb (verb and adjective, adjective and noun, etc.) with the same morphemic shape results from conversion. There are numerous pairs of words (e.g. love n – to love v, work n – to work v, etc.) which did not occur due to conversion but coincided as a result of certain historical processes (dropping of endings, simplification of stems) when before they had different forms.
The two categories of parts of speech aspecially affected by conversion are nouns and verbs. Verbs made from nouns are the most numerous amongst the words produced by conversion: e.g. to hand, to back, to face, to screen, to blackmail, and very many others.
Nouns are frequently made from verbs: do, make, walk, etc.
Verbs can also be made from adjectives: to pale, to cool, to yellow, etc.
Other parts of speech are not entirely unsusceptible to conversion: to down, to out.
* * *
It was mentioned that a word made by conversion has a different meaning from that of the word from which it was made though the two meanings can be associated. For instance, in the group of verbs made from nouns some of the regular semantic associations are as indicated in the following list:
The noun is the name of a tool, the verb denotes an action performed by the tool: to hammer, to nail, to comb, to brush.
The noun is the name of an animal, the verb denotes an action or aspect of behaviour considered typical of this animal: to dog (преследовать), to wolf (пожирать), to monkey (дразнить), to rat (предать).
The name of a part of the human body – an action performed by it: to hand, to eye (разглядывать), to elbow (толкать локтем), to nose (нюхать).
The name of a profession or occupation – an activity typical of it: to nurse, to cook.
The name of a place – the process of occupying the place or of putting smth./smb. in it: to room (занимать комнату), to place, to table (класть на стол).
The name of a container – the act of putting smth. within the container (to can, to bottle (разливать по бутылкам)).
The name of a meal – the process of taking it (to lunch, to supper).
The suggested groups do not include all the great variety of verbs made from nouns by conversion. They just represent the most obvious cases and illustrate the great variety of semantic interrelations within so-called converted pairs.
Answer these questions.
What are the main ways of enriching the English vocabulary?
What are the principal productive ways of word-building in English?
What do we mean by derivation?
What is the difference between frequency and productivity of affixes? Give examples.
Give examples of your own to show that affixes have meanings.
Prove that the words a finger and to finger (“to touch or handle with the fingers”) are two words and not one word finger used either as a noun or as a verb.
What features of Modern English have produced the high productivity of conversion?
Which categories of parts of speech are especially affected by conversion?