Chapter I Historical Background of English vocabulary

Linguistic Notions:

1. Cognate
2. Etymology
3. Jargon
4. The core vocabulary
5. The learned vocabulary
6. Dialect
7. Inflection
6.

Linguistic knowledge

3. Language classification
(a) Isolating
Each idea expressed in a separate word or morpheme; words tend to be monosyllabic
e.g, Chinese;
(b) Agglutinative
Words made of multiple syllables; each syllable has meaning e.g., Turkish. For example, ev
(house), evler (houses), evlerde (in the houses), evlerden (from the houses)
(c) Inflective
An alteration in or addition to a form of a word to indicate such things as case, gender, number,
mood, and tense; one fusional affix may mark several grammatical categories at the same time,
e.g., Latin & Old English
(d) Incorporative
Major sentence elements incorporated into single word e.g., Inuktitut (Eskimo):
Qasuiirsarvigssarsingitluinarnarpuq means "Someone did not find a completely suitable resting
place"

4. Language family
In time, with enough migrations, a single language can evolve into an entire family of
languages.
Languages in the same family, share many common grammatical features and many of the
key words
Indo-European language family

5. Language change
Accents
Dialects
Languages

Stories about words:

Expanding vocabulary

The development of English vocabulary

1.applaud / explode
2.gossip, kidnap

1. comprise

2. incomprehensible
3. accelerate
4.

target words

5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

inference
attribute
venerable
vulnerable
illustrative
environment

For English majors, we should have some ideas about the historical development of
the English vocabulary as well as about its rapid growth today.
Period of full inflections
450-1066, Old English
1066-1476, Middle English Period of leveled inflections
1476--1776,Early Modern English Period of lost inflections
The history of the English language begins with the conquest and settlement of

what is now England by the Angles, Saxons and the Jutes from about 450 AD.
The language they spoke was Anglo-Saxon, which replaced the Celtic spoken by
the former inhabitants.
A. Old English or Anglo-Saxon period (449-1066): contains some fifty or sixty
thousand words, which were chiefly Anglo-Saxon with a small mixture of Old
Norse (a general term for the Scandinavian language in its very early stage)words
as a result the Scandinavian or the Danish conquests of England in the ninth
century. But the Old Norse words (such as are, they, their, them, till, call die,
give, take, skin, sky, window, ill , weak, etc.) were so much like the Anglo-Saxon
that it was almost impossible to distinguish one from the other. The English
language borrowed words from Latin during the Old English period, especially
after the introduction of Christianity into Britain in 597. It is natural that most of
the Latin words borrowed at that time were related to religion,
Note: Foreign Influence on the old English (all loan words here are in their
modern form).

The Celtic
Affix inherited: for-, in-, -ful, -dom, -hood, -ship, -ness, -the, -ful, -ish

The Latin
altar, candle, disciple, hymn, martyr, nun, priest, pope, shrine, temple
Suffix inherited from Latin: -able, -ible, -ent, -al, -ous, -ive

The Scandinavian Influence: the invasion of the Vikings in 790 A.D

are, they, their, them, till, call die, give, take, skin, sky, window, ill , weak
Suffix inherited from Scandinavian: -sk

B. Middle English period (1066-1476): which is characterized by the strong

influence of French following the Norman Conquest in 1066. Since the Frenchspeaking Normans were the ruling class, French was used for all state affairs and
for most social and cultural matters; but the masses continued to speak English.
Only towards the end of the fifteenth century did English become once more the
language of the whole country. However, French words are found in every section
of the vocabulary:
Law and governmental administration: judge, jury, justice, government,
parliament, state
Military affairs: conquer, sergeant, victory
Religion: baptism, confess, divine, sermon
Clothing: coat, dress, gown, robe
Art: beauty image design
Literature: chapter, poet, prose, rime
Science: medicine, remedy, surgeon
C. Early Modern English period (1476- 1776 ): the Renaissance brought great

changes to the vocabulary. In this period, the study of classics was stressed and
the result was the wholesale borrowing from Latin. The Latin loan words were
now mostly connected with science and abstract ideas, such as chemist, function,
scientific, vacuum; area, irony, theory, education, adapt, exist, appropriate,
precise, and many of them become part of the everyday speech of the English
people. The renewed study of Greek in the renaissance not only led to the
borrowing of Greek words indirectly through the medium of Latin, but also led to
the introduction of some Greek words directly into the English vocabulary. Greek
borrowings were mostly literary, technical and scientific words: drama, comedy,
tragedy, lexicon, criterion, botany, physics.
D. Modern English (1776--) From the 16th century onward, English borrowed
words form an increasing number of languages, the major ones being the three
Romance languages: French, Spanish and Italian.
French: attach, charge daffaires, caf
Italian: particularly dominant in the fields of music, art and architecture, for
example, concert, duet, piano, soprano, solo, tenor, model, bust, studio, dome
balcony, piazza
Spanish: armada, cargo, vanilla, cocoa, cigar
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as a result exploration, colonization and
trade, many words come in form Non-European languages. As summed up in The
Encyclopedia Americana: The English language has vast debts. In any dictionary
some 80% of the entries are borrowed. So English is supposed to have the most
copious vocabulary of all the languages in the world, estimated at more than a million
words. (1980)
E. The rapid growth of present-day English vocabulary (especially after
World War II) and its causes
After World War II, neologisms (new words or new meanings for established
words) swept in at a rate much faster than that of that of the pre-war period. The
main reasons for neologism are the following:
a. marked progress of science the technology
nuclear bomb: chain reaction, radioactivity, fall-out, clean bomb, overkill,
megadeath, neuron bomb, medium-range ballistic missiles
exploration of space: astronaut and cosmonaut (both are Russian words), blast
off, countdown, capsule, launching pad, space suit, spacemen, space platform,
space shuttle
computer science: software, hardware, input, output, memory, monitor,
process, programming, data base, internet, log on (off), etc.

b. socio-economic, political and cultural changes

credit card, fringe benefit, hire purchase, high-rise, condo (short for
condominium), house sitter (sitting), kitchenette, spin-driers, pressure
cooker, microwave oven, ready-mixed cakes, instant mashed potatoes,
supermarket,
drug subculture: acid head, upper (a stimulant drug), downer (a depressant
drug),
civil rights movements: black studies, black power, Black Panther, Black
muslin, sit-in, swim-in, , Be-in, love-in (from hippie subculture),
homosexual subculture: gay, homophile, camp
womens liberation movements: Ms, chairperson, chair woman,
spokeswoman, male-chauvinism, sexism, feminism,
education: open classroom, Open University, alternative school (nontraditional curriculum)
entertainment: call-in ( of a radio program),discotheque, simulcast,
guerrilla or street theatre, acid rock, hard rock, folk rock,
sports: roller-hockey, surf-riding, skydiving, designated hitter ( from
baseball game)
c. the influence of other cultures and languages
apartheid, was first used in South Africa in 1949 to mean (policy of) racial
segregation)
sputnik, a Russian word, meaning man-made satellite
autostrade (from Italian), mao tai (from Chinese), autopista (from Spanish)

Questions and Exercises:

1. What are the three English periods with a view to its historical development?
2. How did the Norman Conquest and the Renaissance influence the English
vocabulary?
3. What are the characteristics of the English vocabulary as a result of its historical
development?
4. Enumerate the causes for the rapid growth neologism after World War II. Give your
examples for each cause.
Chapter 2. Morphological Structure of English
i.
1.
2.
3.
4.

word
morpheme
phoneme
allomorph

Notions

5. root
6. affix
1. Expanding vocabulary
1. Renaissance
2. the rise of literacy
3. the proficiency of Latin
4. have access to books
5. recyclable units
6. poodle cut
7. bangs
8. bunches
9. ducktail cut
10. dreadlock
2. Stories behind words
1. assassin/ assassination
2. bangs
3. Roots learning

1. acu- (acr-) ----sharp

acute
2. ag- (act-) ---to do, to drive
agent
3. anim----life or mind
animal
4. annu- (ennu-) ---year
annual
5. aud- (audit) --to hear
audience

V. The definition of word

Bloomfield (1933: 177-178): A word is a minimum free form.

Antoine Meillet, a French linguist: A word is defined by the association of a given
sense with a given group of sounds capable of a given grammatical use.
This definition shows a combination of meaning and sound with special emphasis
on grammatical use. It is a useful definition but does not include the concept of word
as the minima free form. However both definitions, taken together, give the main
criteria of a word, that is sound, meaning and syntactic function.
In brief, a word may be defined as a fundamental unit of speech and a minimum
free form; with a unity of sound and meaning (both lexical and grammatical
meaning), capable of performing a given syntactic function.

We have a similar definition for word in Chinese:

1984375

The distinction of several terms : word, lexicon, vocabulary, glossary, lexicology

Vocabulary: all the words in a language together constitute what is known as its
vocabulary.
V. I. The definition of morphemes
The morpheme is the smallest meaningful linguistic unit of language, not divisible or
analyzable into smaller forms. The term morpheme is derived form Greek morphe
(=form)+-eme, which denotes the smallest unit or the minimum distinctive feature of
some class of things. A word, therefore, may be analyzable into one or more
morphemes.
Cf. morpheme and phoneme
A phoneme only conveys sound distinction, but a morpheme has both sound and
meaning.
An allomorph is any of the variant forms of a morpheme as conditioned by position
or adjoining sounds. Briefly speaking, different forms of the same morpheme are
called allomorphs. For example, the allomorphs ion/-tion/-sion/-ation are the
positional variants of the same suffix. They do not differ in meaning or function but
show a slight difference in sound depending on the final phoneme of the preceding
verb. Verbs ending in /t/, take tion; ending in d/-de/or mit/, take sion (as in
decision, omission, expansion); ending in ify /-ize, take ation (as in justification,
modernization); ending with other consonants, take tion (as in description). There
are exceptions, e.g. attend---attention, convert---conversion, etc.
Allomorphs also occur among prefixes. Their forms then depend on the first letter
of the verb to which they will be added. For example, in- had the following
allomorphs: im- (as in imperfect, imbalance, immobile), ir- (as in irresponsible,
irregular), il- (as in illegal, illogical).

Properties of morphemes

1. Smallest unit associated with a meaning

car, care, carpet, cargo
car, care, carpet, cargo

2. Morphemes are recyclable units

care : careless, careful, uncaring, caregiver
VII. Classification of morphemes

1. Free morphemes and bound morphemes

A free morpheme is one that can exist or be uttered alone with meaning. A free
morpheme is a word in the traditional sense. E.g. man, faith, read, write, etc.
A bound morpheme cannot stand by itself as a complete utterance. A bound
morpheme must appear with at least one other morpheme, free or bound. E.g. un-, -s
(plural form), -ed. Inflectional elements and affixes are bound morphemes.
6. Roots and affixes
A root is the basic unchangeable part of a word, and it conveys the main lexical
meaning of the word. Take for example the following set of semantically related
words: work, workable, worker, worked, working. The root is work, carrying the main
lexical meaning. Historically, the root is the earliest form of a word. Roots are either
free or bound:
Free roots: are free morphemes, just like simple words. They provide the English
language with a basis for the formation of new words.
Bound roots: quite a number of roots derived form foreign sources, especially form
Greek and Latin, belong to the class of bound morphemes, such as tain (Latin tenere
to hold) in contain, detain, retain, and ceive (Latin capere to take) in conceive,
deceive, receive. The common root of the following words is vit (life), viv (to live):
revive vitamin vital vivacious vivid
So a knowledge of roots can help us to analyze and understand many words almost
on sight, although the Latin and Greek roots are usually bound morphemes and cannot
stand alone.
An affix is a collective term of the type of formative that can be used only when
added to another morpheme. They may be divided into inflectional and
derivational types.
Inflectional affixes serve to express such meanings as plurality, tense, and the
comparative or superlative degree. It does not form a new word with new lexical
meaning when it is added to another word. Nor does it change the word-class of
the word to which it is affixed. There are but a few inflectional affixes surviving
in present-day English. They are the plural marker, s, en; the genitive case s; the
verbal ending s for the third person singular present tense; ing for the present
participle; -ed and the various irregular verb forms for the past tense and past
participle; -er and est for the comparative and superlative degree. No new
inflectional affixes have been added since 1500.
Derivational affixes derive a new word when they are added to another
morpheme.

Derivational affixes have not only independent lexical meaning but also affective
meaning.
It is interesting to note that a few dead derivational morphemes are sometimes
revived:
-wise (in terms of, in connection with): weatherwise, moneywise, budgetwise,
etc.
New ones are coined from time to time: When Russian word sputnik came into
English in 1957, the morpheme nik became available to speakers of English: beatnik,
peacenik, computernik.
Derivational morphemes are commonly subdivided into prefixes and suffixes.
Affixes before the word are called prefixes; those after are called suffixes.
Both prefixes and suffixes can be grouped according to:
a. linguistic origin
b. productivity
Questions:
1. Explain the following terms and provide examples:
Morpheme allomorph free morpheme bound morpheme prefix suffix
2. What are the differences between inflectional and derivational affixes?

Chapter 3 Word Formation Processes

ii.

I. Some basic concepts of word-formation

Word-formation rules: the rules of word-formation define the scope and methods
whereby speakers of a language may create new words; any rule of word-formation is
of limited productivity in the sense that not all words which result form the
application of the rule are acceptable; they are freely acceptable only when they have
gained an institutional currency in the language. For example, readable is acceptable,
but writable is not.
Root, stem and base are terms used in linguistics to designate that part of a word that
remains when all affixes have been removed. Modern linguistics, however, have made
some attempts to distinguish between these three terms:
A root is a form which is not further analyzable, either in terms of derivational or
inflectional morphology. It is the basic part always present in a lexeme.
A stem is of concern only when dealing with inflectional morphology.
A base is any form to which affixes of any kind can be added.
The percentage of firmly established new words coined by the above processes, since
World War II is shown in the following table:
The three major processes of word-formation:
Compounding or composition (about 27%)
Derivation or affixation (about 17.5%)
Conversion ( about 10.5)
Note that words formed by these processes account for 55% of the new vocabulary
The eight minor processes of word-formation:

Initialisms and acronyms (about 9%)

Blending (about 6%)
Clipping (about 2%)
Words from proper names (about 2%)
Back formation (about 1%)
Reduplication ( about o.5%)
Neoclassical formations (about 4%)
Others (about 3%) onomatopoeia, etc.
(The whole table is taken freely from G. Leechs handout, 1980, in the university of
Lancaster.)
As a subject of study, word-formation is that branch of lexicology which studies the
patterns on which a language coins new words. Compounding, derivation and
conversation are the three major types of word-formation in contemporary English.
Compounding consists of combining two or more words into one which now
expresses a single idea and functions as a separate lexical unit. Compounds are
classified into noun, adjective and verb compounds. Tow compounds may be similar
in structure, yet the syntactic relations of their elements may be quite different.
The process of derivation or affixation forms new words by the addition of a word
element, such as a prefix, suffix or combining form, to an already existing word.
Prefixation is the addition of a prefix to the base. They modify the meaning of the
base, but they do not generally alter its word-class. Therefore prefixes are classified
according to their meanings. Suffixation refers to the addition of a suffix to the base.
They frequently alter the word-class of the base. Therefore, suffixes are classified
according to the class of word they form into noun-forming suffixes, verb-forming
suffixes, etc.
Conversation means the transfer of a word from one word-class to another. Today the
commonest conversions are from nouns into verbs, and from verbs into nouns. By this
functional shift, the English language is endowed with a fresh vitality, variety, and
power.
II. Compounding/Composition
Compounding or composition is a word-formation process consisting of joining two
or more bases to form a new unit, a compound word. The relative criteria of a
compound word suggested by linguists are as follows:
a. orthographic criterion: solid (e.g. airmail), hyphenated (e.g. air-conditioning) or
open (e.g. air force, air raid). But sometimes the same compound may appear in
three different forms, for example: flowerpot flower- pot flower pot
b. phonological criterion: some linguists regard stress as the best criterion.
Phonologically many compounds have a so-called compound accent, i.e. a single
stress on the first element, or a main stress on the first element and secondary
stress on the second element. Here are some examples to show the difference
between compounds and phrases in stress pattern.
bluebird
blue bird

blackboard
black board
bluefish
blue fish
bluebottle
blue bottle
greenhouse
green house
but accent does not always work so neatly:
backyard grassroots redtape short-sighted shrink-wrap
c. Semantic criteria: some linguists define a compound as a combination forming a
unit expressing a single idea. This is a rather vague criterion. Sometimes the
lexical meanings of the components are the sum meanings of its constituents. For
example: backdoor sunset; sometimes one can not always tell what the compound
means by the words it contains. For example: dog days (the hottest days of the
year-------in July and August), flatfoot (a policeman), blue blood (the quality of
being a nobleman by birth), blue ribbon (an honor given to the winner of the first
prize in a competition.)
Semantically, therefore, compounds can be said to have a meaning which may be
related to but cannot always be inferred from the meaning of its component parts,
and none of the these criteria can be used as the only marker to define a
compound.
Classification of Compounds
1. Noun compounds: S+V/V+S heartbeat headache crybaby
V+O pickpocket birth-control dressmaking housekeeping
S+O/O+S steam boat honey bee gaslight
V+adverbial swimming pool drinking cup typing
paper
S+C/ C+S frogman tearoom girl friend
Exocentric compounds:(Informal in style) birdbrain
blockhead butterfingers egghead fathead loudmouth scarecrow
2. Adjective compounds: V+O breath-taking heartbreaking
V + adverbial oceangoing air-borne town-bred self-styled
Easy-going far-reaching Dry-cleaned class-conscious labor-intensive
No-verb: fireproof tax-free airsick this kind is very productive,
especially with such adjectives: free (from), proof (against), weary (of),
etc.
Grey-green grass-green auditory-visual aural-oral Sino-Italian socioeconomic
Franco-German deaf-mute
Phrasal or sentence formation:
This endless talked-about topic bored me.
My grandfather displayed a never-to-be-too-old-to-learn spirit.
He has been of the look-before-you-leap sort.
It is a completely cards-on-the-table conference.
He told the whole story in a matter-of-fact tone.
the do-what-you-can-and-take-what-you-need policy

once-in-a-life-time trip
a cant-be-put-down book
do-it-yourself repairs
3. Verb compounds:
O+V lip read fire-watch brain-wash
Adverbial +verb bottle-feed daydream sleep-walk window-shop
The most commonly-used formations of reduplicatives are as follows:
Rat-a-tat goody-goody walkie-talkie criss-cross din-din tick-tock ticktack
Ping-pang flip-flop hocus-pocus wish-washy dilly-dally shilly-shally
Teeny-weeny teensy-weensy tip-top
We still have a large number of words which do not fit in anywhere:
has-been: a person or thing that was formerly popular or effective but is no longer
so
also-ran: any loser in a race, competition, election, etc.
Words like dew-bright lemon-fragrant coffee-pot-fresh are often seen in
advertising.
Thank you for your up-to-the-minute information.
The old man would sit for hours, thinking sadly of all the might-have-beens.
1. III. Derivation
Derivation or affixation is generally defined as a word-formation process by
which new words are created by adding a prefix, or suffix, or both , to the base.
To be more exact, derivation may be defined as a process of forming new words by
the addition of a word element, such as a prefix, suffix or combining form, to an
already existing word.
Combining form is a term of questionable value. Standard dictionaries differ in
their label of some of the affixes and combining forms, for instance: micro- macroare labeled combining forms in the OED and COD, but they are marked as prefixes in
LDOCE.
1. Prefixation
Prefixation is the formation of new words by adding prefix or combining form to
the base. Prefixes modify the lexical meaning of the base. They do not generally
alter the word-class of the base. But it has been found that there are quite a number
of prefixes in current English which do convert words to a different word-class in
comparison with their original bases, such as, be- adj.
deenunantiinter-

postpreClassification of prefixes:
In Grammar of contemporary English (by Quirk et al. 1972) the major living
prefixes are classified into the following 8 categories by their meaning:
a. negative prefixes: un-, non-, in-, dis-, a-,
b. reversative prefixes: un-, de-, disc. pejorative prefixes: mis- , mal-, pseudo-,
d. prefixes of degree or size: arch-, super-, out-, sub--, over-, under-, hyper-,
ultra-, mini-,
e. prefixes of attitude: co-, counter-, pro-, anti-,
f. locative prefixes: super-, sub-, inter-, transg. prefixes of time and order: fore-, pre-, post-, ex-, re-,
h. number prefixes: uni-, mono-, bi-, di-, tri-, multi-, poly-,
2. Suffixation
Suffixation is the formation of a new word by adding a suffix or a combining
form to the base, and usually changing the word-class of the base.
Classification of suffixes:
a. noun-forming suffixes:
b. adjective-forming suffixes:
c. verb-forming suffixes:
d. adverb-forming suffixes:
3. Brief description of some productive suffixes in current English
-able, -er, -in, -ish, -ize, -y, -ese,
4. Differentiating suffixes:
English has many pairs of adjectives ending in ic and ical, which bear a
difference in meaning.
historic: notable or memorable in history, as in a historic speech
historical: pertaining to history, as in a historical novel
economic: of economics, connected with commerce and industry, as in national
economic policy
economical: not wasteful; careful in the spending of money, time, etc. and in the
use of goods, as in the car is economical to run.
comic: of comedy; causing people to laugh, as in a comic opera
comical: slightly derogatory. and infml. amusing in an odd way, as in a comical
old hat
politic: (of person) acting or judging wisely, prudent; (of actions), tactful, as in
his politic behavior
political: concerned with politics, as in for political reasons
other pairs of words with different meanings brought about by different
suffixes: e.g
womanly: having or showing the qualities suitable to a woman.

womanish: usually derogatory ( of a man) like a woman in character, behavior,

appearance, etc.
Look at the following examples:
The country has witnessed a continuance of prosperity in the past five years.
(enduring intransitively)
Continuation of study after the holiday was difficult at first. (implies
resumption in a transitive sense)
There is no continuity between the two parts of his book..(describes the state or
quality of being continuous)
IV. Conversion
Conversion is a word-formation process whereby a word of a certain word-class is
shifted into a word of another word-class without the addition of an affix. Other terms
for conversion are functional shift and derivation by zero suffix.
Tow kinds of conversion: full conversion and partial conversion. Partial conversion
is conversion where a word of one word class appears in a function which is
characteristic of another word class in such structures as the wealthy, the ignorant, the
kind, the wicked, etc.
The types of conversion contain three major word classes: nouns, verbs, and
adjectives.
i.
conversion to noun
a. de-verbal nouns:
desire, dismay, doubt, love, smell, taste, want (state of mind or sensation)
attempt, fall, hit, laugh, release, search, swim (an event or activity)
answer, bet, catch, find (as object of the given verb)
bore, cheat, coach (subject of the given verb)
cover, wrap, wrench (instrument of the given verb)
walk, throw, lie. (manner of the given verb)
divide, rise, turn
b. de-adjectival nouns:
This conversion can be explained in terms of a fixed adjective plus noun
phrase from which the noun has been omitted.
Examples: Id like two pints of bitter, please. (type of beer)
They are running in the final. (final race)
As a footballer, he is a natural. (naturally skilled player)
Other examples: daily, comic, regular, roast, young marrieds, annual,
bimonthly, biweekly, weekly, monthly, perennial
c. conversion from closed-system words to nouns
Examples: His speech contains too many ifs and buts.
The book is a must for students of science.
It tells you about the how and the why of flight.
This is the age of isms.

Please list your pros and cons.

Whenever I gamble, my horse is one of the also-rans. (not among the
winners)

B. Conversion to Verb:
b. de-nominal
bottle, corner, position, floor (to put in N)
coat, commission, mask, plaster (to provide with N)
core, skin, peel, gut (to deprive that of N)
knife, brake, finger (to do with N)
father, nurse, pilot, (to be or act as N )
cash, group ( to make or change.into N)
mail, telegraph, bicycle, boat, motor, canoe (to go or travel by N)
c. de-adjectival
calm, dirty, soundproof, lower, better ( to make adj. or to make more
adj.)
dry, empty, narrow, yellow, gray, blue, (to become adj.)
d. conversion from closed-class words and non-lexical items to
verbs:
They downed tools in protest.
She will off and do her own thing.
i.

conversion to adjective

a. de-nominal
A brick garage--------The garage is brick.
Worcester porcelain---------This porcelain is Worcester.
A very Oxbridge accent--------His accent is Oxbridge.
The noun form occurs in predicative as well as attributive positions. It is
worth noting that a noun often functions as a pre-modifier in cases where
there is no adjective to perform that function in the English language.
c. conversion from phrases to adj.
An up-in-the-air feeling-------------I feel up in the air.
An upper-class manner---------------His manner is very upper-class.
He will be given a face-to-face interview
It is all to nothing that they will succeed.

Conversion may be reclassified into another three types:

A. the change of secondary word class-nouns:
a. non-countable nouns--------countable nouns:
example:
The waiter has served thirty teas, twenty coffees from 4 oclock.(a
unit of N)
This is a better bread than the one I bought yesterday. (a kind of N)
The difficulties of English grammar, small kindnesses, a great
injustice, a miserable failure, a home truth ( an instance of N)
b. count nouns -------un-count nouns:
room, floor, cigarette,
c. proper nouns--------common nouns:
examples: There are two Zhangmings in our college.
ten players (cigarettes made by Players), a Rolls Royce
B. the change of secondary word class---verbs;
a. intransitive verbs---------transitive verbs
b. transitive verbs---------intransitive verbs
This poem reads well.
The table polishes up badly.
This clock winds up at the back.
All things invariably divide into two.
Other examples: drive, sail, sell, steer, undo, unlock, dry, harden, etc.
Have you washed yet? Im dressing. He is bathing.
c. mono-transitive verbs--------complex transitive verbs:
e.g. I prefer tea green.
The ship was locked fast in ice.
C. The change of secondary word class------adjectives:
a. non-gradable adjectives-------gradable adjectives
He is more English than the English.
b. stative adjectives------dynamic adjectives
John is being friendly. (brave, careful, clever, faithful, good, helpful,
etc.)
In some cases, certain changes of pronunciation, spelling or stress will occur in the
process of conversion. see handouts

Chapter IV. Minor Processes of Word-Formation

Apart from the three major types of word-formation ----compounding, derivation and
conversion, there are also minor types of word-formation, such as acronyms, clipping,
blending, back-formation, forming new words by analogy, onomatopoeia,
reduplication, neoclassical formation, etc.
I.

Acronyms and initialisms

Initialism is a type of shortening, using the first letters of words to form a proper
name, a technical term, or a phrase; an initialism is pronounced letter by letter.
Three types of initialisms:
a. the letters represent full words: IOC, ISBN, ROM, CIA, EPA, CIA
b. the letters represent elements in a compound or just part of a word: ID,
SST(=supersonic
transport),
ETV
(=educational
television),
TB( =tuberculosis)
c. a letter represents the complete form of the first (or the first two) word, while
the second word (or the third word) is in full form: e.g. H-bomb (hydrogen
bomb), D-notice (official request to news-editors not to publish items on
specified subjects for reasons of security), G-man (an agent of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation), V-J Day (the day on which the fighting with Japan
officially ended in World War II, Aug.15, 1945) or the day the surrender was
formerly sighed, Sept.2,1945)
Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of the name of an
organization or a scientific term, etc. They differ from initialisms in that they are
pronounced as words ratherthan as sequences of letters, such as:
NATO, BASIC, OPEC, SALT, SAM, TEFL, UNESCO, Laser, radar
II.

Clipping or Shortening

The process of clipping involves the deletion of one or more syllables from a word
(usually a noun), which is also available in its full form. Clippings may be divided
into four types :
a. Back clippings: ad (=advertisement), amp (=ampere, amplifier), auto
(=automobile), champ (=champion), gym(=gymnastics),homo(=homosexual),
b. Front clippings: bus (=omnibus),chute (=parachute), plane (=airplane),
copter (=helicopter), quake (=earthquake), phone(=telephone), scope
(=telescope, microscope, radarscope, etc.)
c. Front and Back clippings: flu (=influenza), fridge (=refrigerator),
tec( sl.=detective novel)
d. Phrase clippings: nark (narcotics agent, one as a government agent who
investigates narcotics violations), non-com(non-commissioned officer), perm
(permanent wave) pop (=popular music, concert, or record)
Clipping often alters spelling; for example, business---biz, bicycle----bike,
sergeant----sarge, comfortable-----comfy, handkerchief----hanky, teenager----

teeny, television-----telly, veggies----vegetables, ammo-----ammunition

Shortening shows a typical characteristic of the vocabulary of contemporary
English: the tendency to shorten the English words, reflecting the tense, fastpaced and competitive modern life.
III.

Blending

Blending is a process of word-formation in which a new word is formed by

combining the meanings and sounds of two words, one of which is not in its full form
or both of which are not in their full forms. This process involves both compounding
and abbreviation.
a. the front part of the first word + the back part of the second word:
brunch, Oxbridge, heliport, telecast, newscast, lubritection (lubricant protection),
spork (spoon +fork), positron (positive electron),electrocution (electronic
execution), transceiver (transmitter receiver) advertics (advertising statistics),
autocide (automobile suicide), lunik (lunar sputnik), botel, motel, airtel, smog,
Spanglish, Japlish, Amerind
b. the first part of the first word + the first part of the second word:
comsat (communication+ satellite)
FORTRAN (formula + translation): an algebraic and logical language for
programming a computer
moped (motor + pedal) a lightweight low-powered motorbike that can be
pedaled.
sitcom (situation + comedy) a radio or television comedy series that involves a
continuing cast of characters in a succession of unconnected episodes.
sci-fi (science fiction)
c. Whole form of the first word + lost part of the second word:
faction ( fact + fiction) a book based on facts but written in a form of novel
lunarnaut (lunar + astronaut )
slimnastics (slim + gymnastics)
talkathon (talk + marathon )
d. first part of the first word + whole form of the second word:
docudrama (documentary + drama)
medicare (medical care )
motown ( motor town ) (Nick name for Detroit, Mich. where it originated )
designating or of a type of rhythm and blues characterized by a strong, even beat.
The frequent use of blends by newspapers and magazines, the coinage of blends
for the names of new inventions, and the close relationship of some blends to
daily life have contributed to the popularization of this type of word-formation,
but only a few have established themselves in the language. Most are short-lived

novelties.
IV.
Back-formation
Back-formation refers to a type of word-formation by which a shorter word is formed
by deleting a supposed affix from a longer form already present in the language.
Many back-formation are created by analogy:
Loaf
loafer gangle
gangling donate
donation edit
editor bulldoze
bulldozer escalator r escalator vacuum-clean vacuum-cleaner
cross multiply cross multiplication calligraph calligraphy ept inept
flappable
unflappable gloom gloomy greed
greedy
Science and technology often have an apparent need for verbs changed from nouns
by the process of back-formation. It will continue to make needed and substantial
contributions to English vocabulary.
V.
Words from Proper Names
These kinds of new words come from all sources, from names of scientists, politicians
and statesmen to trademarks and place name. Some have originated from characters in
literature, IV films and movies, but some also come from book titles.
a. words from the names of scientists:
watt ( James Watt, an Englishman), volt ( Alessandro Volta, an Italian ), ohm
(Georg Ohm, a German), ampere ( Andre Ampere, a Frenchman), hertz ( H.R.
Hertz, German), pasteurize ( Louis Pasteur, French chemist, the father of modern
bacteriology), Curie (the unit of radioactivity, adopted in honor of Madam Curie )
b. words from the names of politicians and statesmen:
Nicotine: a poisonous alkaloid found in tobacco leaves, named after Jean Nicot, a
French diplomat who introduced tobacco into France in the 16th century.
John Hancock: meaning ones signature, comes from John Hancock, one of the
American revolutionary leaders, who was the first to sigh his mane on the
Declaration of Independence, and who did so in bold and legible letters.
Quisling: comes from the name of a Norwegian army officer V.A.I. Quisling
(1887-1945), who helped the Germans invade his own country, and became the
head of a puppet state from 1940-1945. He was executed for treason in 1945.
McCarthyism: derived from the name of a U.S. Senator J. R. McCarthy (19091957), means policy of hunting out (suspected) Communists and removing them
esp. from Government departments. (COD)
c. Words from the names of places:
china, japan, champagne, a-go-go (a night club for dancing to live or recorded
pop music, from Whisky a Gogo caf and discotheque in Paris)
Berlin Wall (a barrier preventing communication, especially the free flow of
information) (SBDONE)

Watergate, originally the name of a building complex in Washington, D.C.. The

word was first associated with the scandal following the break-in at the
Democratic National Committee headquarters there in 1972, now means a
scandal usu. involving abuses of office, skullduggery, and a cover-up (9000
Words) It has produced various derivatives like Watergater, Watergatish,
Watergatism.]
d. words from trademarks:
Although trademarks is owned by a particular company and used for specific
class of products, some trademarks become so familiar that they are used for
similar products. Examples: Kodak, Xerox (xeroxer, exroxable), Kleenex,
Vaseline, etc.
Mr. Clean: a person of impeccable morals or reputation, especially a politician or
other public figure regarded as incorruptible (SBDONE) (from the trademark of a
liquid cleaner, 1971)
d. words from literature
Judas, Solomon, Shylock, lilliputian (very small, from Gullivers Travels),
scrooge ( a miser, from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, 1843)
Uncle Tom: a Negro whose behavior toward whites is regarded as fawning or
servile (from Uncle Toms Cabin by H.B. Stowe, 1852)
Catch-22: the title of a novel by Joseph Heller (1961), refers to a paradoxical
Air Force rule by which a pilot is considered insane if he keeps flying combat
missions without formally asking to be relieved; if, however, he does put in such
a formal request, he is adjudicated sane and may not be relieved (SBDONE) As
a common noun, catch-22 means a problematic situation for which the only
solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule.
Example: No work unless you have an agent; no agent unless youve worked.
Godfather: the head of a Mafia family or other group involved in organized
crime, from the book title Godfather by Mario Puzo, 1969.
Archie Bunker: a type of working-class man who often reacts to social pressures
in a bigoted and self-righteous manner, from the name of a television character in
the comedy series All in the Family, 1972.
Strangelove: a militarist who plans or urges large-scale nuclear warfare and
destruction, from the motion picture Dr. Strangelove (1964) about a mad military
nuclear-war strategist.
VI.
Reduplication
Reduplication is a minor type of word-formation by which a compound word is
created by the repetition of one word such as go-go, dum-dum (stupid person), no-no
(something that is unacceptable or forbidden), yo-yo (a stupid or foolish person)or of
two almost identical words with a change in the vowels such as ping pong, or of two
almost identical words with a change in the initial consonants, as in teeny-weeny.
Reduplicatives are characterized by being rhymed or alliterated, such as willy-nilly

(willingly or unwillingly), wishy-washy (sloppy, feeble), dilly-dally (dawdle), shillyshally (hesitate).

The common uses of reduplicatives are:
a. to imitate sounds: tick-tick (of a watch), quack-quack (of ducks)
b. to suggest alternating movements: seasaw, zigzag
c. to express ones contempt of the character, appearance and behavior of a person:
clever-clever (ostentatiously clever), hocus-pocus ( play tricks)
d. to disparage by suggesting that something is in disorder, or of small value, or of
inferior quality: fiddle-faddle (trifling matters), hurry-skurry (proceed in
disorderly haste), topsy-turvy (upside down)
e. to show ones approval: super-duper (extremely great, impressive), tip-top (best)
Example: Our time is running out and we must hurry-skurry with this fiddle-faddle,
because willy-nilly this feature must end even if it is topsy-turvy.
VII.

Neoclassical Formation

The majority of neoclassical formations are scientific and technical. Examples are:
aeroacostics: the study of sound propagation in the air and its effect on the
environment.
astrochemistry: the study of the chemical composition of heanvenly bodies and the
regions of outer space.
bacteriocin: an antibacterial agent produced by bacteria
centisecond: one hundredth of a second
densometer: an instrument of measuring the porosity of paper by forcing air through it
psychedelic: causing an exposure of normally repressed psychic elements
With the advance of science and technology, more and more new names will be
created along classical lines. Some of them are labeled ISV (International Scientific
Vocabulary)
VIII. Miscellaneous
Genuine coinage is rare. Some of few examples are as follows:
quack: coined by an American physicist Muray Gell-Mann to name an imaginary
particle bearing a charge of electricity.
pizzazz (pizzazz): to describe a person with exciting attractiveness or a thing showing
spirit and vitality.
muckraker: coined by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 to indicate a group of journalists
who were conducting investigations of corruption in business and politics.
vroom: any of the sounds made by a motor vehicle in accelerating or as an
intransitive verb, meaning to make or move off with, such sounds.
Other onomatopoeic words:
chugalug: the sound of a person swallowing a liquid

bleep: a short high-pitched sound, as from electronic equipment

zap: expressing the sound made by or as if by a gun
Some new words are coined by analogy:
earthquake-------youthquake
handbag--------airbag
sunrise-----------earthrise
overpopulation----------underpopulation
nightmare---------daymare
simpleton----------singleton
future shock-------culture shock
Conclusion:
Side by side with the proliferation of polysyllabic compounds and derivatives, there
is the opposite tendency to use monosyllabic words. These two contrary trends
operate simultaneously in word-formation in the English language.
A knowledge of word-formation is, therefore, one of the most effective aids to the
expanding of ones vocabulary and is of great value in inferring word-meaning.

Questions and Exercises:

1. Explain the following terms and provide examples:
blending, clipping, back-formation, initialism and acronym
2. Tell meaning of the following initialisms and acronyms:
ID, VIP, SALT, TEFL, NASA, TOFEL OPEC, GEM, SLAM, ELSS, NSC,
ERDA, FAO, IMF, GATT, CIS, ISBN, GMT, cf. e.g. et al. etc. ibid.
3. Give clippings for the following:
bicycle, sergeant, gymnasium, dormitory, handkerchief, gasoline, kilogram,
influenza, business, comfortable, parachute, refrigerator, memorandum,
microfiche, helicopter, influenza, detective, facsimile, exposition, pornography
4. Explain the formation and the meaning of the following blends:
sci-fi, smog, workaholic, docudrama, slimnastics, stagflation, chunnel, daymare,
fantabulous, autome, psywar, hawk, hi-fi
5. Fill in the blanks with words that have been blended.
Example: travelog: a diary or log about ones travel or trip
(1) brunch: a meal which serves as both ________and _________.
(2) lunarnaut: an ________ who explores the ________.
(3) beautility: the combined qualities of ________ and________.
(4) comsat: a ________ service involving artificial ________.

Chapter V Word Meaning and Semantic Relations

I.

What is meaning?

In his book Semantics John Lyons gives us ten sentences to discuss what meaning is:
a. What is the meaning of sesquitedalian ? (signify)
b. I did not mean to hurt you. (intend)
c. He never says what he means.
d. She rarely means what she says.
e. Life without faith has no meaning. (significance/ value)
f. What do you mean by the word concept (intend to say)
g. He means well but hes rather clumsy.
h. Fame and richness mean nothing to the true scholar.
i. Dark clouds mean rain. ( a sign of )
j. It was John I meant not Harry.(speak of/ have in mind)
From the examples given above it is evident that this sense of meaning cannot be
explained or understood except in relation to the notions of intension, on the one
hand, and significance (or value), on the other hand, which are relevant to the
interpretation of at least some of the other senses of meaning and to mean. (John
Lyons: Semantics Vol. 1, p3)
II.

Main Types of Word Meaning

a. grammatical meaning
Grammatical meaning is the component of meaning identical in individual forms
of different forms of different words, for example, the tense meaning, the case
meaning and the plurality meaning. (asked, went, did; children, geese, boxes,
ants;)
b. lexical meaning
Lexical meaning is the meaning of an isolated word in a dictionary. This
component of meaning is identical in all the forms of the word. (go, goes, went,
gone, going )
c. contextual meaning
The context meaning determines which meaning out of all the possible meanings
is to be attached to the word. Examples:
(1) Some of this country are much warmer than others.
(2) After many years abroad he wanted to return to his country.
(3) The country is opposed to war.
(4) What does a farming country mean ? (land with a special nature)
(5) Were hoping to go for a day in the country if the weathers fine
tomorrow.
(6) This is unknown country (a branch of learning) to me.
d. denotative meaning

Denotative meaning of a word is its definition given in a dictionary, which is the

same meaning for conceptual meaning. It involves the relationship between a
linguistic unit and the non-linguistic entities to which it refers.
e. connotative meaning
Connotative meaning refers to the emotional association which a word suggests
in ones mind; it is the supplementary value which is added to the purely
denotative meaning of a word. The same word may not have the same
connotation to the people of different countries. Take the words communist,
capitalist, landlord, socialism for example, they are the terms of abuse in some
countries but praises or neutral terms in others.
f. stylistic meaning
Language must be adjusted to fit different contexts or situations where it is used
for a specific purpose. Considering the social relationship between the speakers,
the occasion, the subject matter and the mode of discourse, we use a scale of
speech styles the make it appropriate. Martin Joos (1967) provided one of the
most common classifications of speech styles using the criterion of formality:
(1) oratorical or frozen style for written report or in dignified public speech
prepared beforehand on a solemn occasion.
(2) formal style
(3) consultative style for polite and fairly neutral way of communication
(4) casual style for conversation among friends or in personal letters when
the language is informal, familiar, relaxed, warm and friendly.
(5) intimate style
There are three main features of style-----province, status and modality. Province is
concerned with occupation and professional activity; status deals with social relations,
but especially in terms of the formality of language and the use of polite or colloquial
language or of slang; modality is intended to relate to the choice between poetry and
prose, essay and short stories, the language of memoranda, telegrams, jokes, etc.
None of these styles is better than any other one, appropriateness is the key to the
good use of the various styles.
III.
Polysemy
Polysemy is a term use in semantic analysis to refer to a lexical item which has a
range of different meanings. They are the products of sense-shift in the course of the
development of the vocabulary.
1. Two processes leading to polysemy: radiation and concatenation.
A. radiation: the process in which the primary or central meaning
stands at the center while secondary meanings radiate from it in
every direction like rays. Take hand for example:
a. part of the human body beyond the wrist
b. keeping, possession
The property is no longer in my hands.
c. influence or agency

The hand of our opponent has been at work here.

d. person or source from which something comes
I got the news at first hand.
e. Skill
She has a light hand at pastry.
f. person who does
He is a new hand.
g. Employee
The factory has taken on 200 extra hands.
h. turn, share in an activity
Let me have a hand now.
i. a thing like a hand
The hour hand of the clock is broken.
j. side or direction
This is an disadvantage on every hand/ on all hands.
k. Handwriting
He writes a good hand.
l. Signature
He set his hand to a document.
m. cards dealt to a player
You have a good hand.
n. member of a group of card-players
We have only three players, and we need a fourth hand.
o. one game in a rubber at cards
Shall we play one more hand?
p. Applause
He is a wonderful performer. Lets give him a big hand.
B. concatenation: (linking together) is a semantic process in
which the meaning of a word moves gradually away from its
first sense by successive shifts, like the links of a chain, until
there is no connection between the sense that is finally
developed and the primary meaning. For example, candidate
comes from Latin word candidates, meaning white-robed, for
the Romans wore white robes when standing for office; now it is
used to mean an applicant for office; or a person taking an
examination. Another example is board:
a piece of timber------table-----dining table-------food served at table
at a lodging house-----board (and lodging)
a piece of timber---table-------council table----councilors, committee,
director of a company
Here is an extract from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, with a pun on the words
board and table:

 Oliver had not been within the walls of the workhouse a quarter of an hour, when Mr. Bumble,
.returned; and telling him it was a board night, informed him that the board had said he was to
appear before it forthwith. Not having a very clearly defined notion of what a live board was,
Oliver was rather astonished by this intelligence, Bow to the board said Bumble. Oliver
brushed away two or three tears that were lingering in his eyes, and seeing no board but the table,
fortunately bowed to that.

Another example is the word fond, which once meant foolish in old English. Then it
was specialized to foolish or doting affection, but now it means loving in a kind,
gentle, or tender way. It is interesting to note that other meanings of the word fond
involve the value of foolish n Modern English. Look at the following examples:
(1) A fond mother may spoil her child. (foolishly loving)
(2) In spite of his bad results in the examination, he has a fond belief in his own
cleverness. (foolishly trusting or hopeful)
(3) You are too fond of leaving the door open when you go out. (having the
bad/foolish habit of)
IV.

Homonymy

Homonymy is a term used to refer to two or more words, which have the same form,
but differ in meaning. They are pronounced alike, or spelled alike, or both. Modern
English is exceptionally rich in homonymous words. The abundance of homonyms in
Modern English may be due to the monosyllabic structure of many common English
words, because monosyllabic words stand a far better chance of being homonyms
than others.
1. Types of homonyms
A. Perfect homonyms: words are identical both in sound and in spelling but
different in meaning, such lie, page, base, meet.
B. Homophones: words are identical in sound but different in spelling and
meaning, such as air/heir, deer/dear, compliment/complement, pair/pear,
son/sun, bear/bare, principal/principle, stationary/stationery.
C. Homographs: words identical in spelling but different in sound and
meaning, such as lead/lead, sow/sow, tear/tear, prayer/prayer,
sewer/sewer
2. Sources of homonyms
A. phonetic convergence
Old Norse ras
/reis/
French race
ea /e:/ (in Shakespeares time)-------/i:/ (in present-day English)
bean/been, beat/beet, flea/flee, heal/heel, read/reed, sea/see, seam/seem,
steal/steel

B. semantic divergence
Homonymy can also be brought about through diverging sense development. When
two or more meanings of the same word drift apart to such an extent that there will be
no obvious connection between them, polysemy will give place to homonymy
(Ullmann 1977:177) It is quite difficult to say where polysemy ends and homonymy
begins.
flour/flower, metal/mettle, mantle/mantel, gate/gait, sole/sole, to long/long
C. Foreign influence
fair: attractive, beautiful, lovely (OE)
fair: a gathering of people held at regular intervals for barter and sale of goods (L,
holiday)
sound: healthy, not diseased or injured or rotten (OE)
sound: sensation caused in ear by vibration of surrounding air (OF, L)
sound: test depth or quality of bottom of (sea, channel, pond, etc.) (ME, OF)
sound: arm of sea; narrow passage of water connecting two seas or sea with lake, etc.
(OE sund, ON sund swimming strait)
D. shortening
Homomyms may also be created by the word-formation process of clipping.
pop (popular)/pop (to thrust, to push)
rock( rocknroll)/rock (stone forming part of the earths surface)
hood (hoodlum)/hood (a covering for the whole of the head and neck)
Polysemy and homonymy may bring confusion to the language and cause ambiguity,
but the punster often makes use of this ambiguity to play on words and achieve
humor. There are ample illustrations of punning and word play in literature. For
example:
----I do look nice in the picture, dont I ?
---Well, mam, the answer lies in the negative.
---- How is bread made?
----You take some flour
----Where do you pick the flower? In a garden or in the hedges?
-----Well, it isnt picked at all, its ground..
-----How many acres of ground?
_____(from Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland)
------Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, Thou makest thy knife keen.
_____from The Merchant of Venice (Act IV, Scene 1)
-----On Sunday they pray for you and on Monday they prey on you. (
)

V.
Synonymy
1. What are synonyms?
The word synonym is derived from Greek synomymon, of like meaning or like
name. Synonyms are traditionally defined as words differing in sound form but
identical or similar in meaning. The Third Webster defines it as a word having
the same meaning as another word: as one of two or more words of the same
language and grammatical category having the same essential or generic meaning
and differing only in connotation, application, or idiomatic use: one of two or
more words having essentially identical definitions..
2. Two Kinds of Synonyms
a. complete synonyms: two words are totally synonymous only if they are fully
identical in meaning and interchangeable in any context without the slightest
alteration in connotative, affective and stylistic meanings. Absolute synonyms are
rather rare in language, but it would be wrong to believe that complete synonyms
do not exist. They may be found in scientific terms which are precisely delimited
and neutral in affective meaning and stylistic meaning.
scarlet fever-----------scarlatina caetitis-------typhlitis
word formation---------word building motherland--------fatherland
mother tongue-----------native language
b. relative synonyms: quasi-synonymous words, differing from complete synonyms
in the following respects:
(1) in shade of meaning
cf. finish, complete, close, conclude, end, terminate, finalize
anger, rage, fury, indignation, wrath
(2) in stylistic meaning
cf. to die, to pass away, to kick the bucket
to chide, to berate, to scold, to blame, to carpet, to tell off, to bawl out
(3) in emotive meaning
Negro, nigger, black; thrifty, miserly, niggardly, frugal; bravery, foolhardiness;
firm, pigheaded;
(4) in range of use: about and on
(5) in collocation
pretty (girl, child, flower, garden, color, village, cottage)
handsome (boy, man , car, table, overcoat, airliner, house)
a flock of sheep, a herd of elephants, a shoal of fish, a swarm of bees
to sail a small boat, to navigate a liner; rancid butter (bacon), addled eggs (brains)
(6) in British and American usage
sick and ill, sidewalk and pavement, gas and petrol, movie and film, elevator and
lift, can and tin, mail and post, railroad and railway, call box and telephone booth,
taxi stand and cab rank, muffler and silencer, sedan and saloon, ranger and
commando, etc.
Language is like dress. We vary our dress to suit the occasion. We do not appear

at a friends silver wedding anniversary in gardening clothes nor do we go

punting on the river in a diner jacket. ( Our Language by Simeon Potter, p.130)
VI.
Antonymy
Antonyms are traditionally described as words opposite in meaning.
1. Types of antonyms
A. Morphological classification: root antonyms and derivative antonyms
Root antonyms: big-small, up-down, clear-vague
Derivative antonyms: polite-impolite, pleasant-unpleasant, legitimateillegitimate, honest-dishonest, useful-useless, prewar-postwar
B. Semantic classification:
(1) Contraries: gradual antonyms. That is to say, we can put words in
different degrees between contraries. For example,
beautiful-ugly (beautiful-pretty-good-looking-plain-ugly);
love-hate (love-attachment-liking-indifference-antipathy-hate)
(2) Complementaries: absolute antonyms, denoting that the denial of one of
the items and the assertion of the other or vice versa. Example:
single-married, male- female, dead-alive, etc.
(3) Conversives: relative antonyms denoting an interdependence of meaning.
This kind of antonyms is always found in words concerning social and
spatial relationships, such as lend-borrow, rent-let, give-receive, ownbelong to, husband-wife, teacher-student, fianc-fiancee, above-below, in
front of- behind
Some words have different collocations, so they have different antonyms. We
have fresh bread, air, newspaper, flower, meat, water, color, hand, but stale
bread, foul air, stale newspaper, faded flower, frozen meat, salt water, faded
color, old hand.
There are many pairs of antonyms in English proverbs and idioms. A few
examples are given as follows:
More haste, less speed.
Every tide has its ebb.
Adversity leads to prosperity.
The world is a ladder for some to go up and for other to go down.
Art is long, life is short.
Joy and sorrow are next-door neighbors.
Excellent examples of antonyms for stylistic purposes are from A Tale of Two
Cities by Charles Dickens:
It was the best times, it was the worst times; it was the age of wisdom, it
was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness; it was
the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us,
we hand nothing before us.
VII.

Hyponymy

Hyponymy is the relationship which obtains between specific and general lexical
items. For example, a cat is a hyponym of animal, chair of furniture, and so on.
Food
Meat

Vegetable

fruit

beef pork mutton celery spinach cabbage apple orange peach

The words of the language are arranged in a hierarchical system of superordinates and
subordinates. Take the verb go for example: go is superordinate to ride, run, walk,
fly ,sail; walk is superordiante to trudge, saunter, totter, stride, stroll hobble, limp,
tiptoe, waddle, pussy-foot, stagger, hop, amble.
In describing the quick motion of the carriage, Dickens employed the following
words:
With a wild rattle and clatter, and an inhuman abandonment of consideration not easily
understood in these days, the carriage dashed through streets and swept round corners, with
women screaming before it , and men clutching each other and clutching children out of its way.
At last, swooping at a street corner by a fountain.. ( A Tale of Two Cities )

Questions and Exercises

1. Comment on the definition of synonyms.
2. In what respects do synonymous words differ?
3. What is meant by contraries, complementaries and conversives?
4. Pick out the contrasting words that form antithesis:
Youth is full of pleasure, Age is full of care;
Youth like summer brave, Age like winter bare;
Youth is full of sport, Ages breath is short;
Youth is nimble, Age is lame;
Youth is not and bold, Age is weak and cold;
Youth is wild, and Age is tame;
Age, I do abhor thee; Youth, I do adore thee.
5. What is meant by hyponymy?
6. What is meant by polysemy?
7. Use examples to show the process of radiation and concatenation.
8. What are the types of homonyms? What are the differences among them?
9. Explain and comment on the following two sentences:
a. He made a little bow---a short sharp thing--- to the lady.
b. He made a little bow---a short sharp thing---for his boat.

Chapter VI The Changing English Vocabulary

All living languages are constantly changing and English is no exception. From the
linguistic point of view, changes in pronunciation and grammar are much slower than
changes in vocabulary.
I.

What are neologisms and archaisms?

Neologisms are newly coined words or words that are given new meaning to suit new
situation because of social, economic, political, cultural, scientific and technical
changes in human society.
Archaisms are also called obsolete words, which are not used now except for special
purposes.
The reasons for the disappearance of words could be:
a. the thing that the word denotes has disappeared
b. the existence of synonyms
c. the collision of two homonyms
But some obsolete words may be still used at the present time:
a. obsolete words survived in some fixed phrases or idioms: such as, Many a little
makes a michle (large amount)
b. some obsolete words survive but different from it original meaning, such as,
trident, armour, albeit (all be it, though).
c. Some obsolete words remain in Modern English as purely historical terms, or in
poetry and fiction, for example:
1. The boy is fair, of female favour ( looks, countenance,from Shakespeare: As
You Like It)
2. I saw the potamus take wing
Ascending from the damp savannas,
And quiring angels round him sing
The praise of God, in loud hosannas.
(quire: choir, T.S. Eliot: The Hippopotamus)

The sources of new words

A. The rapid development of modern science and technology

B. Political, economic and social changes
The formation of neologisms

C. By word-formation
D. By adding new meanings to existing words, such dove and hawk
E. By borrowing words from other languages

F. By analogy in which a word derives from the form of another existing word,
such as apolune and perilune coming from the words aphelion and perihelion
(see p110)
II.

Four Tendencies in Semantic Changes

Changes in the denotative component of the lexical meaning may result in the
extension or the narrowing of the meaning; changes in the connotative component
may bring about the elevation of meaning and the degradation of meaning.
A. Extension of meaning (Generalization)
a. from specific to general: picture
b. from proper nouns to common nouns: champagne
c. from concrete to abstract: matter, thing
d. from technical terms to general words: catalyst
B. Narrowing of meaning(Specification)
a. from general to specific: meat, wife, starve
b. from abstract to concrete: gear( habit, manners)
c. from common nouns to proper nouns: the Mediterranean
C. Elevation of meaning (Amelioration)
That is the acquisition by a word of good implication: success, minister, marshal,
politician
D. Degradation of meaning (Deterioration)
Words with a commendatory meaning may become ones with a derogatory sense.
a. A word falls into disrepute because of social prejudice against certain
classes and occupations
b. A word becomes less respectable because of euphemism: undertaker:
from an influential person in the 17th century England who undertook to
procure particular legislation, especially to obtain supplies from House of
Commons if the king would grant some concession to one whose
business is to carry out arrangements for funerals
III.

Semantic Changes from the Literal Use of Words to Their Figurative Use:

We have discussed four tendencies in semantic change: generalization and

specialization of denotative meaning, elevation and degeneration of connotative
meaning. Another semantic change is changes from literal meaning to figurative
sense. That is to say, people always use figures of speech to express this kind of
semantic changes.
A. Metaphor
There are three major groups of metaphors according to function and character.
a. anthropomorphic metaphors:

Many inanimate objects are compared to the parts of the human body, for example,
eye
the eye of a needle, the eye of a potato, the eye of an axe, the eye of a flower, the eye
of a peacocks tail, the eye of a dome, the eye of the hurricane, the eye of the
revolution, the eye of the law, in ones minds eye
other parts of the body, such as tooth, mouth, lip, tongue, nose, head, leg, foot, brow,
elbow, arm, heart, lung, hand, rib, sinew, may also be used in a figurative way:
the teeth of a comb, the mouth of a river, the lip of a cup, the tongue of a shoe, the
nose of a car (or gun), the head of a hammer, the leg of a table, the foot of the wall,
the brow of a hill, the elbow of a pipe, the arm of the sea, the heart of darkness, the
lungs of London, the hand of a clock, the ribs of a boat, the sinews of war
b. animal metaphors:
an ass: a stupid foolish person
a pig: a dirty, greedy person
a mouse: especially a woman, who is quiet and easily afraid
a goose: a silly person, especially female
a cat: a nasty person
a rat: a low worthless disloyal man
a lion: a famous and important person
a fox: a person who deceives others by means of clever tricks
a tiger: a person like such an animal in fierceness, courage, etc.
a donkey: a foolish slow-thinking person or one who refuses to do as he is told
a owl: a solemn person, wise-looking dullard
a mule: a stupid or obstinate person
an ape: a person who copies the behavior of others
a monkey: a child who is full of annoying playfulness and tricks
a parrot: a person who repeats, often without understanding, the words or action of
another
a jackal: a person who does preparatory drudgery , etc. or who assists anothers
immoral behavior
a black sheep: a person regarded with disfavor or shame compared to others in a
group
a dark horse: a person whose abilities are hidden or unknown
c. synesthetic metaphors:
Synesthetic metaphors are metaphors used to refer to a direct association
between the form and the meaning of language.
warm or cold voice loud colors sweet sound or music piercing (acute)
sound grave news stormy quarrel golden opportunity stony heart dirty
night

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be

chewed and digested.

B. Metonymy
Metonymy is another important factor in the shift of meaning that involves
substitution of the name of one thing for that of another closely associated with it.
According to the different associations between names and senses metonymy can be
classified as follows:
a. names of persons and animals:
Uncle Sam Uncle Tom John Bull John Doe the British Lion the Bear ( the
Soviet Union)
I like reading Lu Xun and Shakespeare
b. parts of the body :
foot :infantry (horse, foot and artillery)
heart: feelings, e.g. Her heart rules her head.
head: mind, brain e.g. It never entered his head to help me.
brain: mind, intelligence: e.g. He doesnt got much brain.
Phrases and idioms: to see eye to eye with
to pay through the nose for
to play by ear
to lay a finger on
head and shoulders above
with open arms
head over heels
under sbs thumb
d. locations or businesses:
White House Whitehall Downing Street Kremlin Hollywood Wall Street
Pentagon Beijing Bolin press bench

the

e. containers or materials
e.g. The kettle is boiling.
He drank a cup.
His favorite dish is fried steak.
He had only a few coppers in his pocket.
He has 20 in notes and 5 in silver.
Brevity is the chief virtue of metonymy. It is one of the most widely used method to
augment the meaning of a word.
C. Synecdoche

Synecdoche is a figure of speech that involves the substitution of the part for the
whole or the whole for the part. For example:
There are five sails in the harbor.
We are short of hands.
Two pencils are given per head.
He manages to earn his bread.
D. Euphemism
Euphemism is the substitution of a word of more pleasant connotation for one of
unpleasant connotation. For example, death is one of these things and the English
is full of expressions like: to decease
to join the (great) majority
to pass away
to breathe ones last
to go west
to go to heaven
to be in heaven
to yield up the ghost
to go to ones last reckoning
to go the way of all the earth
to go the way of all flesh
to go the way of nature
to go hence
to go out of this world
to go to a better world
to go to the better
to expire
to depart from life
to be taken or called
to be gone
to succumb to
to kick the bucket
to come to an untimely end
to come to a sticky end
to cross the bar ( or Bar)
to lose (somebody)
to be food for worms
to be food for fishes
to feed the fishes
to be no more
to be close at hand
to make ones exit

Sometimes learned or scientific terms are used as euphemisms, such as:

effluvium for stench
perspiration for sweat
intestines for innards
indigestion for surfeit
intoxication for drunkenness
insane for mad
E. Analogy
the Black Panther the Gray Panther the Green Panther white-collar bluecollar gray-collar
over-kill under-kill over-produce under-produce
high-rise low-rise sunrise/ earthrise
alcoholic workaholics crediholics
the three Ps ( peace, petroleum, Palestine)
the three Rs (reading, writing, arithmetic)
the three Is (inflation, interest rate, impeachment)
Chapter VII English Idioms
I.

Introductory Remarks

An idiom is an element of a language that possesses a unique way of expression

based on its time-honored use. In other words, an idiom is a fixed group of words or a
single word, or even a sentence, with special meaning that cannot be guessed from its
constituents. That is to say the meaning of it must be learnt as a whole. J. Seidle et al.
point out that idioms are not a separate part of the language which one can choose
either to use or omit, but they form an essential part of the general vocabulary of the
language.(English Idioms and How to Use Them )
a) The Significance of Studying English Idioms
Many English idioms have existed for many centuries and are still in use today,
and new idiomatic expressions, or idioms constantly appear in English. There are
many different sources of idioms. A large number of idiomatic expressions were
created by people of various occupations and activities. The Bible and the works
of great writers form the rich literary source of English idioms. They can appear
both in a colloquial style and in a formal style. In A Book of English Idioms V. H.
Collins states: In standard spoken and written English today idiom is an
established, universal and essential element that, used with care, ornaments and
enriches the language. The knowledge and the correct use of idioms to some
extent is one way to distinguish a native speaker from non-native speakers.
Native speakers can use idioms naturally and unconsciously. So my advice for

learning English idioms is trying to understand its correct meaning but use them
with great caution.
b) The Features of English Idioms
Generally speaking, English idioms are usually made of commonly used words.
They are brief and terse in wording, fixed and sometimes irregular in structure,
metaphorical and vivid in meaning. The following are some of their features:
i.

English idioms can be very short or rather long in structure

Some English idioms consist of just two words, such as Indian summer, forty
winks, some are much longer consisting of entire sentence: to cut ones coat
according to ones cloth, to be like a bear with a sore head.
ii.
English idioms can be irregular and illogical in structure
E.g.(1) I am good friends with him.
(2) Diamond cut diamond.
(3) The devil takes the hindmost
(4) through thick and thin
(5) ins and outs
(6) at sixes and sevens
(7) Money makes the mare to go.
iii.
Most English idioms are fixed in structure
1. A stitch in times saves nine.
2. To come to a bad end. (bad can be replaced by nasty, sticky,
untimely, no good, etc.)
3. To take (have, or enjoy) forty winks.
4. To have a bee in ones bonnet.
5. To kick the bucket ( but not pail)
iv.
English Idioms are usually opaque in meaning, metaphorical rather than
literal.
1. To rain cats and dogs
2. Once in a blue moon
3. Best is cheapest.
4. To blow hot and cold
5. Have an axe to grind
6. To claim ones pound of flesh
7. A Procrustean bed ( Procrustes was a legendary robber of ancient
Greece who forced his victims to fit the bed be offered them by
stretching their limbs if too short, or shortening them if too long.)
8. To wear ones heart in ones sleeve
9. To leave no stones unturned
10. Cry over the spilled milk.
11. The salt of the earth
12. The last straw

13. A bed of roses (or nails )

14. The sword of Democles
15. Achilles heel
v.

vi.

vii.

Most English Idioms are colloquial expressions in nature, but some of

them can also be used on formal occasions
1. to give (or lend ) countenance to sb. (to the plan): to support
2. Let pass over his rude remarks in silence.
3. I got enough supplies laid up for the vacation.
4. He made short work of cleaning the room.( to finish quickly and
easily)
5. He is possessed of a large fortune.
6. There are three points I will address myself to in this chapter.
7. His action bears eloquent witness to his kindness.
Some English idioms consist of obsolete words
1. kith and kin
2. to and fro
3. (raise) a hue and cry (against)
4. learn by rote
5. hither and thither (here and there)
English idioms are often created on the basis of alliteration, rhyme,
euphony and repetition
1. first and foremost
2. with might and main (with all the force )
3. black and blue
4. part and parcel (a most important part that cannot be separated from
the whole of it )
5. time and tide wait for no man
6. wear and tear
7. dine and wine
8. rough and tough
9. by and by
10. again and again
11. through and through:
She was hurt ( or drenched) through and through.
12. out and out: They are traitors out and out.
13. First come, first served.
14. Easy (light) come, easy (light) go.
15. No pains, no gains.
16. Better late than never.
17. The more haste, the less speed.
18. Once bitten, twice shy.
19. No cross, no crown.
20. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

c) Classification of English Idioms

Of various aspects of English idioms we have different criteria to classify. They
may be classified by semantic criterion, by their sources, or by their syntactic
functions, such as idioms verbal in nature, nominal in nature, adjective in nature.
In our class we will classified them into three categories: phrase idioms, clause
idioms and sentence idioms according to their structures.
i.

ii.
iii.

Phrase Idioms
1. Verb phrase idioms: combinations of a verb and an adverb or a
preposition or both
Verb phrase idioms are the most important and common type of English
idioms. Most of them are made up of one-syllable words, and are of
native Anglo-Saxon origin. The most common ones are: break, blow,
bring, call, catch, come, do, fall, get, give, go, hold, keep, day, look,
make, put, run, set, stand, take, turn, work, etc.
Adverbs and prepositions that can go with those words are: about,
across, at, away, back, by, down, for, in, into, off, on, out, over, around,
through, to, up, with, etc.
In contemporary English, however, verb phrase idioms are decidedly
preferred to corresponding single verbs of Romantic origin in casual or
informal contexts. Such as: turn down (reject), do away with (abolish),
step up (increase), lay on (provide), take up (continue).
2. Noun phrase idioms
3. Adjective phrase idioms
4. Prepositional phrase idioms
5. Adverbial phrase idioms
Clause Idioms ( subject-less clause patterns)
Sentence Idioms (proverbs and habitual conversations)
1. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
2. One swallow does not make a summer.
3. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
4. Where there is a will, there is a way.
5. All that glitters is not gold.
6. You may lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.
7. You scratch my back and Ill scratch yours.
8. Make hay while the sun shines.
9. Strike, while the iron is hot.
10. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
11. You can say that again.
12. Lets call it a day.
13. You are telling me.

14. Friday week ( Friday a week after next Friday)

15. Many happy returns of day.
16. Never you mind
17. Never tell me.( an expression of warning)
18. Dont tell me.( an expression of incredulity)
19. Good for you ( an expression of praise)
20. The devil take it!
d) Differences Between Idiomatic and Free Phrases
Free phrases are ones in which the meaning can be guessed from their
components while idiomatic phrases are those with a special meaning that cannot
be guessed from the combination of actual words used. For example, blue book
( an official report printed by the British government) is an idiom, but blue sky is
a free phrase. Of course, sometimes the same phrasal verbs can be used as free
phrases as well as idioms. For instance:
1. We get up early everyday.
2. We will get up an English evening next month. ( to arrange or
perform)

Questions and Exercises

1What are the characteristics of English idioms?
2Put the following into Chinese or English
1. to burn ones boat
2. to add fuel to the flames
3. to go through fire and water
4. castle in the air
5. cannot see the wood for the trees
6. a thorn in sbs flesh
7. There is no smoke without fire.
8. Misfortune never comes alone.
9. Wall have ears.
10. A honey tongue, a heart of gall.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
3. Explain the italicized expressions.
1. That man has been stealing, fighting and selling drugs; but give the devil
his duewhen he saw the little boy fall into the river, he risked his life
to save him.

2. The lawyer on the other side has an ace up his sleeve and has bribed a
witness to give false testimony.
3. Dont be worried about your job; Im sure your rich uncle will pull the
strings.
4. When Jennifer went in for the job interview at the law firm, she had
plenty of butterflies in her stomach.
5. Many people say Professor Blank doesnt have both oars in the water, but
if you listen to his lecture you will know why he is called genius by his
students.
6. I heard through the grapevine that Mark and Julie just broke up.
7. Nobody knows the ropes about the auto industry better than Mr. Black.
8. The townspeople fought tooth and nail against the governments plan to
build a nuclear station.
9. Sally is out of town for a few days and I am at loose ends until she gets
back on Monday.
10. When you told me to give up this hopeless plan you hit the nail in the
head. Thank you for your warning.

1.

Chapter VIII British and American English

Introductory Remarks
An estimate by J. D. Bowen suggests that 300million people speak English as their
native language in the United States, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand,
Canada, the West Indies and South Africa; another 300 million people use English
regularly as a second language in those countries where English has an important
position as an official language, or as the medium of instruction in schools and
universities. This second language function is more noteworthy in countries where
only a small proportion of the people have English as their native language, such as
India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, and many others. In India, for instance, with its three
hundred and fifty million people and its two hundred and twenty-five different
languages, English is still a second language among educated speakers from different
parts of the country.
Modern English has a history of about 600 years. Since the time of American
colonization in the 17th century, English has been the language of the United States.
Then why does American English differ from British English?
Firstly, British English itself changed in the course of time; secondly, American
English has acquired a character of its own. It reflects the growth, development and
history of American society. For example, moose ( a type of a large deer in the
northern part of America), tomahawk ( a light axe used by North American Indians in
war and hunting), hickory ( a kind of tree of North America), wigwam ( a kind of tent
used by American Indians).
Differences between British and American English

A. Differences in phonetics (see handouts )

B. Differences in spelling (see handouts )
C. Differences in grammar
On the whole American and British English use the same grammar system.
Differences are few in number and trifling in nature. The following are some main
divergences:
the use of subjunctive:
e.g. I suggest that the meeting should be postponed. (BE)
I suggest that the meeting be postponed. (AE)
the treatment of a repeated subject after the indefinite pronoun
e.g. One cannot succeed unless one tries hard. (BE)
One cannot succeed unless he tries hard.
past participle forms for get: American English has two forms got and
gotten whereas BE has only got
the use of prepositions
(AE) Mary aim to become a writer. (BE)Mary aims at becoming a writer.
(AE) Lets check that out. (BE) Lets check up on that.
(AE) Please fill out this form. (BE: fill in)
(AE)My plan is different than yours. (Br. different to, but both of them use
different from )
(AE) He starts his vacation Friday. (BE. on Friday)
(AE) The conference begins March first.( BE on March the first)
(AE) The swimming pool is open days from June through September. (BE
from . to)
(AE)Is George home? (BE at home)
(AE) I live on Lawton street. (BE in the street)
(AE)Would you arrange for a personal interview? (BE without for)
(AE) I havent written her lately. (BE write to)
(AE) Were planning our future.(BE plan for)
(AE) In college I was on the swimming team. (BE at college, in the
swimming team)
(AE) On weekends I like to get my mind off my work by reading detective
stories. (BE at weekends)
(AE) Id like to talk with Mr. Jones. (BE talk to)
(AE) I want to send the letter airmail. (BE by airmail)
(AE) I enclosed some photographs in my letter. (BE enclosewith)
(AE) He was always late to work.(BE late for)
(AE) Im looking for the key to the door. (BE key of the door)
(AE) Its a few minutes after six. (Be past six)
the use of articles
(AE) I had the flu last week. (BE without definite article)
(AE) The house is in bad condition.(BE in a bad condition)
(AE)The patient is in the hospital.(BE without the definite article)

(AE) He has gone to the school. (BE without the definite article)
D. Differences in vocabulary
The differences in American and British vocabulary can be grouped into three
categories:
a. words without counterparts
b. same words with different meanings
word
bill
Billion
guy
pressman
Public school
veteran
table

American English
Bank note
A thousand million
Fellow, any person
Operator of a printing office
A municipally-run school
An ex-service man of any age
Set aside a motion

British English
Demand for payment of a debt
A million million
A ridiculous figure
A newspaper man
A private school
An old soldier of long service
Put down for discussion

c. same idea with different words see handouts

Conclusion:
Although these two varieties differ in certain details, they contain very many
similarities. American and British English should be regarded as two different forms
of one language, not as two different languages. Moreover, it is not proper to say
which is better, or which is superior. Any judgment that British English is superior to
American one is a prejudice against the description of language.
American English shows two striking characteristics: creativeness in enriching
the language versus conservativeness in preserving a number of archaic features of
old English. The future tendency of these two varieties is that some divergences will
still exist; but due to the constant exchanges between the two nations in every field
some differences will probably disappear.

b. Chapter IX English Dictionaries and How

to Use Them
i.

What is a dictionary?

Websters New Collegiate Dictionary states that a dictionary is a reference

book containing words usually alphabetically arranged along with
information about their forms, pronunciations, functions, etymologies,
meanings, and syntactical and idiomatic uses. Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English defines dictionary as a book that gives a list of
words in alphabetical order, with their pronunciations and meanings.
ii.
Characteristics of Dictionaries
There are four fundamental features of dictionaries:
First of all, dictionaries are reference books, not textbooks. Secondly, dictionaries are
compiled according to the nature of the vocabulary. They tell learners how to use
words and phrases correctly. Thirdly, the chief units of compiling dictionaries are
entries, that is, words, including morphemes (affixes, and combining forms. Fourthly,
word-entries in any dictionary are arranged in alphabetical order.
iii.
Types of Dictionaries
According to different demands there are many types of dictionaries. There are:
monolingual, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries
general and special dictionaries
pocket, medium-sized and unabridged dictionaries
synchronic and diachronic dictionaries
encyclopedias and encyclopedic dictionaries
iv.

Five Periods in the history of English dictionaries

The history of English dictionaries can be divided into five periods:

1. the first period: from the Middle Ages to the end of the16th century
This is a period of glossary-looking. We had Latin-English glossaries in the Middle
English period, such as Thomas Coopers Thesaurus Linguae Romanae of
Britannicae (1565)
2. the second period: the beginning of the 17th century
This is a period of the glossary dealing with hard words, such as Robert Cawdreys A
Tale of Alphabetical English Words (1604).
3. the third period: the middle of the 17th century to the end of the century
This is a period when etymology of words is added to the meaning. Stephen Skinners
Etymological Linguae Anglicanae (1667) is a representative work of this period.
4. the fourth period: the whole 18th century
In this period, dictionaries had established the standards of spelling, meaning and
usage of English words. Henry Cockerams English Dictionary (The English

Dictionary, or An Interpreter of Hard English Words, 1623) first used the word
dictionary in the sense in which we now understand it. An excellent example of this
period is Samule Johnsons A Dictionary of the English Language of 1755.
5. the fifth period: the 19th century to the 20th century
This is a period when English dictionaries saw much improvement and reached
maturity. The representative works of this period are:
Charles Richardsons A New Dictionary of the English Language (1836)
The Oxford English Dictionary (1928)
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary (1911)
Noah Websters The American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
Websters Third New International Dictionary of the English Language (1961)
v.

How to use English dictionaries

Before consulting a dictionary the learner should read carefully the preface and
introduction published at the front of a dictionary. In the preface and introduction the
importance and purposes of compiling such a dictionary are indicated and the
intended users of this dictionary is also addressed. For example, Longman Dictionary
of Contemporary English(1978) is primarily intended for foreign students, and to
some extent for any person--- whether teacher, student, linguist or writer---who
requires as much information about the central core of the language as can be
conveniently presented n an alphabetic list. Some features of a dictionary can be
found in the introduction, telling the learner how to use a dictionary efficiently. There
are sixteen features of Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English
(1978):
a vocabulary of general contemporary English with other words
likely to be met in literature;
a wide range of specialist English terms;
a detailed record of idiomatic expressions and collocations;
practical definitions in simple English;
numerous example phrases and sentences to illustrate sentence
patterns and contexts;
over 100 000 items in a phonetic transcription, using International
Phonetic Association Symbols specially designed for the foreign
learners;
American English spellings, meanings and pronunciation plus
American vocabulary
Detailed and consistent guidance on stylistic values;
Over fifty labeled specialist English registers;
Unrivalled detail in the articles on structural vocabulary
A modern system of Verb Patterns with numerical references from
the verb entries to explanatory tables in the Introduction;
Irregular conjugations, plural, comparative, etc. with pronunciations;
Labeling of countable and uncountable nouns;

Indications of where to make sensible breaks in words;

The liberal use of drawings and photographs, many grouped under
topics;
Ten appendices of particular value to those using English as a
foreign language. Phonetic information is included, and
American metric equivalents are given throughout.
The guide describes how the information about English words is presented. Generally
speaking, the contents of the guide include the following respects:
(1) the headword the first word of an entry
(2) the entry
including definitions, derivations, pronunciations,
examples of usage, etc.
(3) spelling encyclopedia also encyclopaedia American spelling follow
the British forms in parentheses
(4) pronunciation: In dictionaries published in Britain, in some cases, the
pronunciation of British English is given first, in full form, the
American form is placed behind, in full form or in shortened form.
(5) Capitalization: some entries begin with an uppercase letter, that
indicates the word is usually capitalized.
(6) Etymology: the etyma are printed in italics, for example, school [ME
scole, fr. OE scol, fr. L scola]
(7) Grammar: including inflections, parts of speech, affixes, combining
forms, verb patterns ( verb patterns supply information on syntax)
(8) Stylistic values: there are 28 stylistic values in OALDCE, such as,
archaic, colloquial (colloq.), dated, derogatory (derog.), dialect (dial),
emotive (emot.), emphatic(emph.) euphemistic (euphem.), facetious
(facet.), figurative (fig.), formal, historical (hist.), humorous (hum.),
ironical (ironic), jocular (joc.) laudatory (laud.), literary (liter.),
literally (lit.) modern use ( mod use) old use, pejorative (pej.) poetic
(poet), proverb (prov.), rare, rhetorical (rhet.), slang (sl.), taboo,
vulgar (vulg.)
(9) Meaning and usage
(10)Abbreviations and symbols
To sum up, English dictionaries are important reference books for learning and using
the English language. Through everyday practice, on the basis of his knowledge and
judgment, one may find the right meaning of a word in a dictionary and then apply it
to the context which he requires to express.
Questions:
1. What are the features of the dictionary you are using now.
2. What problems have you come across in using English dictionaries?
3. Why is it necessary for English majors to use monolingual dictionaries along with
bilingual dictionaries?

Reviewing Notes
Chapter 1
A. Notions:
Cognate
Etymology
Jargon
Language family
Dialect
Inflection
B. Questions:
1. What are the three English periods with a view to its historical development?
2. How did the Norman Conquest and the Renaissance influence the English vocabulary?
C. Practice:
1. Revise the following groups of words into correct English sentences by using function words:
a. you start cook supper ten minutes
b. train leaves station two hours
2. Underline the inflections of the following sentences:
a. I have worked for two hours.
b. He is one of my best friends.
3. Which type of language does the following sentence belong to?
a. ev (house), evler (houses), evlerde (in the houses), evlerden (from the houses)
b. wo xihuan pingguo. (I love apples.)
c.

Qasuiirsarvigssarsingitluinarnarpuq ( "Someone did not find a completely suitable resting

place" )
d. muri (of the wall), genitive
muro (to the wall), dative
Chapter 2.
A. Notions:

7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

word
morpheme
phoneme
allomorph
root
affix

B. Questions:
What are the differences between inflectional and derivational affixes?
C. Practice:
1. How many morphemes does each of the following words contain? And what are they? Are
they free morphemes or bound morphemes?

unfaithful takeoff books

2. Find allomorphs from the following words:

boys goes, impolite, irresponsible, buses

Chapter 3.
A. Notions:
Compounding or composition
Derivation or affixation
Conversion
Initialisms and acronyms
Blending
Clipping
Words from proper names
Back formation
Reduplication
Neoclassical formations
B. Practice:

6. Tell meaning of the following initialisms and acronyms:

ID, VIP, SALT, TEFL, NASA

7.

Give clippings for the following:

bicycle, sergeant, gymnasium, dormitory, gasoline, kilogram

8. Explain the formation and the meaning of the following blends:

sci-fi, smog, workaholic
9.

Fill in the blanks with words that have been blended.

Example: travelog: a diary or log about ones travel or trip

(1) brunch: a meal which serves as both ________and _________.
(2) lunarnaut: an ________ who explores the ________.

Chapter 4.
i.

Notions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

semantic features
polysemy
homonymy
synonymy
antonymy
hyponymy
semantic field

B. Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What are the five types of word meaning?

What are the sources of homonymy?
What are the semantic classification of antonymy?
What are the four tendencies in semantic change?
What are the main causes for the semantic change?

C. Practice:
1. Point out the sense relations between the words:
a. flower, lily
b. long, short

c.

anger, rage

2. Analyze the semantic features of the following words:

chicken, table

Chapter 5
A. Questions:
1. What are the main features of English idioms?
2. What is the classification of English idioms?
B. Practice:

1. Translation
16. to burn ones boat
17. to add fuel to the flames
18. castle in the air
19. a thorn in sbs flesh
20. There is no smoke without fire.
21. Misfortune never comes alone.
22. Wall have ears.
10. A honey tongue, a heart of gall.
11. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
12. One swallow does not make a summer.
13. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
14. Where there is a will, there is a way.
15.All that glitters is not gold.
23.
16
17.
18.
19.
20.
Chapter 6. English Dictionary
A. Questions:
4. What are the features of the dictionary you are using now.
5. What problems have you come across in using English dictionaries?
6. Why is it necessary for English majors to use monolingual dictionaries along with bilingual
dictionaries?

B. Practice:
1. Fill in blanks:
a. Henry Cockerams _________________________(1623) first used the word dictionary in the
sense in which we now understand it.
b. ____________ published A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755.

2. See the sample page from an English dictionary and indicate the functions of the
following indices:
(1) , (2), (3).