- •L.M. Takumbetоvа english lexicology preface
- •1. Morphological and Derivational Structure of Words.........................................57
- •Abbreviations and symbols
- •Introduction lexicology as a branch of linguistics.
- •Its subject matter and objectives
- •1. The Subject Matter of Lexicology.
- •2. The Theoretical and Practical Value of Lexicology
- •Questions and Tasks
- •2. The Problem of Word Definition
- •3. Types of Nomination and Motivation of Lexical Units
- •4. The Notion of Lexeme. Variants of Words
- •Questions and Tasks
- •Chapter 2 semasiology. The problem of meaning
- •1. Referential and Functional Approaches to Meaning
- •2. Types of Meaning
- •3. The Semantic Structure of Words. Polysemy
- •4. Сauses, Types and Results of Semantic Change
- •Questions and Tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. Which of the following words are monosemantic (use a dictionary)?
- •II. Group together the following pairs of words according to the lsVs they represent. Use dictionaries if necessary.
- •III. Define the meanings of the italicized words in the following sentences. Say how meanings of the same word are associated one with another.
- •IV. Explain the logical associations in the meanings of the same words in the following word combinations. Define the type of transference which has taken place.
- •V. Comment on the change of meanings in the italicized words.
- •Chapter 3 english vocabulary as a system
- •1. Semantic Classes of Lexemes in the Lexico-semantic
- •System of the English Language
- •2. Synonymy
- •3. Antonymy
- •4. Homonymy
- •The Origin of Homonyms in the English Language
- •Questions and Tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. Classify the following words into logical groups on the principle of hyponymy.
- •II. Arrange the following lexemes into three lexico-semantic groups - feelings, parts of the body, education.
- •III. Prove that the following sets of words are synonyms (use dictionaries).
- •IV. Find the dominant synonym in the following synonymic sets. Explain your choice.
- •V. Find antonyms for the words given below.
- •VI. A) Find the homonyms proper for the following words; give their Russian equivalents.
- •VI. Match the italicized words with the phonetics.
- •Chapter 4 morphological structure of english words and word formation
- •1. Morphological and Derivational Structure of Words
- •2. Аffixation
- •Clаssification of Prefixes
- •Classification of Suffixes
- •3. Conversion
- •Patterns of Semantic Relations by Conversion
- •Basic Criteria of Sеmantic Derivation within Conversion Pairs
- •4. Word-Composition (Compounding)
- •Classifications of Compound Words
- •Meaning and Motivation in Compound Words
- •Historical Changes of Compounds
- •5. Minor Types of Word-Formation
- •Questions and tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. A) Give examples of nouns with the following suffixes; state which of the suffixes are productive.
- •II. Explain the etymology and productivity of the affixes given below. Say what parts of speech they form.
- •III. 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.
- •IV. Find cases of conversion in the following sentences.
- •V. Explain the semantic correlations within the following pair of words.
- •VI. Identify the compounds in the word-groups below. Say as much as you can about their structure and semantics.
- •VII. Match the following onomatopoeic words with the names of referents producing the sounds they denote in brackets.
- •VIII. Define the particular type of world-building process by which the following words were formed and say as much as you can about them.
- •Chapter 5 word-groups and phraseological units
- •1. Lexical Valency and Collocability
- •2. Criteria of phraseological units
- •3. Classifications of phraseological units
- •4. Origin of phraseological units
- •Questions and tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. What is the source and meaning of the following idioms?
- •II. Explain whether the semantic changes in the following units are complete or partial.
- •III. Give Russian equivalents of the following phraseological units from the list below.
- •IV. Give the proverbs from which the following phraseological units have developed.
- •V. Match the beginning of the proverb in the left-hand corner with its ending in the right-hand corner.
- •Chapter 6 etymological background of the english vocabulary
- •1. What Is Etymology?
- •2. Native English Vocabulary
- •3. Loan Words and Their Role in the Formation of the English Vocabulary
- •4. Assimilation of Borrowings
- •5. Degree of Assimilation and Factors Determining It
- •5. Impact of Borrowings on the English Language System
- •Quesions and Tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. Subdivide the following words of native origin into a) Indo-European, b) Germanic, c) English proper.
- •II. Distribute the following Latin borrowings into three groups according to the time of borrowing.
- •III. Find the examples of Scandinavian borrowings in the sentences given below. How can they be identified?
- •IV. Point out whether the italicized words in the sentences given below are Norman or Parisian French borrowings. How can they be identified?
- •V. Explain the etymology of the italicized words (native English and borrowings). Use etymological dictionaries if necessary.
- •VIII. Think of 10-15 examples of Russian borrowings in English and English borrowings in Russian. Literary sources
- •II. Optional
- •Dictionaries
- •Internet sources
Clаssification of Prefixes
Prefixation is the formation of words with the help of prefixes, i.e. by adding a derivational prefix to a derivational base.
Prefixes and suffixes as any other types of word formation can be classified according to various approaches and criteria. Diachronically prefixes are subdivided into native and borrowed ones. The native English prefixes as well as native English words belong to the ancient Anglo-Saxon element of the language. They are fewer in number than the borrowed ones (mostly from Latin, French and Greek). To native English prefixes refer: a-1 (in native English words like alive), after-, be-, for(e)-, mis-, off-, out-, over, un-, over-, un-, under-. To borrowed prefixes belong: а-2 (in borrowed words like amoral), ab-, ad-, anti-, arch-, bi-, bis-, cis-, co-, con-, contra-, counter-, de-, demi-, dis-, en-, ex-, extra-, hyper-, hypo-, in- (variants il-, im, ir-), inter-, intro-, non-, para-, post-, pre-, pro-, re-, sub-, super-, sur-, syn-, trans-, ultra-, uni-, vice- and some others. Despite the fact that native English prefixes are fewer in number, they play an important part in English prefixation. They are of high frequency of occurrence, productive and are used in all the styles and registers while the borrowed ones are for the most part appear in formal discourse and scientific style.
Structurally two types of prefixes are distinguished:
1) those not correlated with any independent word either notional or functional: un-, dis-, re-, pre-, etc.
2) those correlated with functional words (prepositions or adverbs): out-, over-, off-, under-, up-.
Synchronically prefixes may be classified from the point of view of their valency, i.e. their potential ability to collocate with other lexical units. Some prefixes may collocate with the derivational bases of only one part of speech, others with the bases of two and more parts of speech. For example, the prefix arch- collocates only with nouns (archbishop, archenemy), and the prefix dis- collocates only with verbs (disagree, discover, displease) and nouns (disadvantage, discomfort).
Further on prefixes are classified according to the type of lexico-grammatical character of the base they are added to, or in other words, according to the base of what particular part of speech they are added to, into:
– deverbal prefixes (added to verbal bases, they may be represented by the formula pf + v, where pf is a prefix and v is a derivational verbal base): rewrite, outstay, overdo, underestimate, etc.;
– denominal prefixes (added to nominal bases: pf + n): unbutton, ex-president, coexistence, etc.;
– deadjectival prefixes (added to adjectival bases: pf + a): uneasy, bilingual, incorrect, etc.
Prefixes are differentiated according to the parts of speech they preferably form. Thus, according to V. Piottukh [Пиоттух 1971:42] out of 42 derivational prefixes only five (be-, de-, en-, out-, un-1) are verb-forming; five (be-, de-, en-, out-, un-1) are noun-forming; one (a-1) is adverb-forming, fourteen prefixes (a-2, anti-, demi-, epi-, hemi-, hypo-, hyper-, im-/in-, non-, pro-, pan-, subter-, supra-, un-2) form nouns and adjectives; three (for-, sur-, re-) form verbs and nouns; twelve (co-, contra-, counter-, dis-, intra-, mis-, post-, pre-, sub-, trans-, over-, under-) form verbs, nouns and adjectives.
The semantic classification of prefixes makes it possible to distinguish first of all monosemantic and polysemantic prefixes. The majority of prefixes are monosemantic. To polysemantic prefixes refer:
The prefix а-:
a-1(1– abed, afield, ashore – expresses the locative meaning; 2 – alive, asleep, ablaze expresses the meaning of state; 3 – obs. a-running, a-singing – the meaning of process);
а-2 (amoral, aseptic, atheist – the meaning of negation, absence of quality or property indicated by the derivational base) is homonymous to the prefix а-1: their meanings have no common components and they are also etymologically different.
The prefix dis-:
dis-1 (disagreeable , disadvantage) has a negative meaning;
dis-2 (1 – disjoin, disconnect, disorganize) – the reversative meaning, the meaning of the action contrary to the one expressed by the derivational base; 2 – disable, discourage – the meaning of deprivation of a certain quality, property, etc.).
The prefix un-:
un-1 (uneasy, unacceptable, undemocratic) – negative meaning;
un-2 (unbind, uncoil, unarm) – reversative meaning (the meaning reverse to the one expressed in the derivational base).
As it was pointed above, affixal morphemes have generalized lexical meaning which may possess denotational and connotational components. According to their generalized lexical meaning prefixes are subdivided into various groups. Below are the basic lexico-semantic groups of prefixes:
а) negative prefixes: un-1, non-, in-/il-,im-, ir-, dis-1, a- : unreal, non-politician, non-stop, incorrect, disadvantage, disloyal, amoral, asymmetry. The prefix in- has several allomorphs, which depend on the initial phoneme of the base the prefix is affixed to: il- goes before [l] (illegal), im- is added to a base beginning with [p,m] (improper, immortal), ir- before [r] (irrelevant); in- in all other cases;
b) reversative prefixes : un-2, de-, dis-2: untie, decentralize, disconnect;
c) prefixes of time and order: pre-, fore-, post-, ex-: prepay, foretell, post-war, ex-president;
d) locative prefixes: up-, under-, super-, sub-, inter-, trans-: upstairs, underwear, superscription, subway, international, transatlantic;
e) the prefix of repetition: re- : rewrite, rebuild;
The above-mentioned prefixes are subdivided into groups according to their generalized denotational meaning. But there is a group of prefixes characterizes by negative connotations (pejorative prefixes): mis-, mal-, pseudo- : misunderstand, maltreat, malpractice, pseudo-scientific.
Prefixes are also classified according to their stylistic reference into stylistically neutral as un-, out-, re-, under-, etc. and stylistically marked, formal, literary-bookish, belonging to the style of scientific prose: hyper-, hypo-, supra-, ultra-, uni-, bi-, pseudo-, in the words, e.g. hypersensitive, hypodermic, suprasegmental, ultraviolet, unilateral, bilingual; publicistic, newspaper styles: anti-, counter-, ex-, pre-, pro-, vice- in the words, e.g. anti-tactics, counter-terrorism, ex-president, pre-election, vice-president, etc.