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Language units.
The main unit of the lexical system of a language resulting from the association of a group of sounds with a meaning is a word. This unit is used in grammatical functions characteristic of it. It is the smallest language unit which can stand alone as a complete utterance.
A word, however, can be divided into smaller sense units - morphemes. The morpheme is the smallest meaningful language unit. The morpheme consists of a class of variants, allomorphs, which are either phonologically or morphologically conditioned, e.g. please, pleasant, pleasure.
Morphemes are divided into two large groups: lexical morphemes and grammatical (functional) morphemes. Both lexical and grammatical morphemes can be free and bound. Free lexical morphemes are roots of words which express the lexical meaning of the word, they coincide with the stem of simple words. Free grammatical morphemes are function words: articles, conjunctions and prepositions ( the, with, and).
Bound lexical morphemes are affixes: prefixes (dis-), suffixes (-ish) and also blocked (unique) root morphemes (e.g. Fri-day, cran-berry). Bound grammatical morphemes are inflexions (endings), e.g. -s for the Plural of nouns, -ed for the Past Indefinite of regular verbs, -ing for the Present Participle, -er for the Comparative degree of adjectives.
In the second half of the twentieth century the English wordbuilding system was enriched by creating so called splinters which scientists include in the affixation stock of the Modern English wordbuilding system. Splinters are the result of clipping the end or the beginning of a word and producing a number of new words on the analogy with the primary word-group. For example, there are many words formed with the help of the splinter mini- (apocopy produced by clipping the word «miniature»), such as «miniplane», «minijet», «minicycle», «minicar», «miniradio» and many others. All of these words denote obects of smaller than normal dimensions.
On the analogy with «mini-» there appeared the splinter «maxi»- (apocopy produced by clipping the word «maximum»), such words as «maxi-series», «maxi-sculpture», «maxi-taxi» and many others appeared in the language.
When European economic community was organized quite a number of neologisms with the splinter Euro- (apocopy produced by clipping the word «European») were coined, such as: «Euratom» «Eurocard», «Euromarket», «Europlug», «Eurotunnel» and many others. These splinters are treated sometimes as prefixes in Modern English.
There are also splinters which are formed by means of apheresis, that is clipping the beginning of a word. The origin of such splinters can be variable, e.g. the splinter «burger» appeared in English as the result of clipping the German borrowing «Hamburger» where the morphological structure was the stem «Hamburg» and the suffix -er. However in English the beginning of the word «Hamburger» was associated with the English word «ham», and the end of the word «burger» got the meaning «a bun cut into two parts». On the analogy with the word «hamburger» quite a number of new words were coined, such as: «baconburger», «beefburger», «cheeseburger», «fishburger» etc.
The splinter «cade» developed by clipping the beginning of the word «cavalcade» which is of Latin origin. In Latin the verb with the meaning «to ride a horse» is «cabalicare» and by means of the inflexion -ata the corresponding Participle is formed. So the element «cade» is a combination of the final letter of the stem and the inflexion. The splinter «cade» serves to form nouns with the meaning «connected with the procession of vehicles denoted by the first component», e.g. «aircade» - «a group of airplanes accompanying the plane of a VIP» , «autocade» - «a group of automobiles escorting the automobile of a VIP», «musicade» - «an orchestra participating in a procession».
In the seventieths of the twentieth century there was a political scandal in the hotel «Watergate» where the Democratic Party of the USA had its pre-election headquarters. Republicans managed to install bugs there and when they were discovered there was a scandal and the ruling American government had to resign. The name «Watergate» acquired the meaning «a political scandal», «corruption». On the analogy with this word quite a number of other words were formed by using the splinter «gate» (apheresis of the word «Watergate»), such as: «Irangate», »Westlandgate», »shuttlegate», »milliongate» etc. The splinter «gate» is added mainly to Proper names: names of people with whom the scandal is connected or a geographical name denoting the place where the scandal occurred.
The splinter «mobile» was formed by clipping the beginning of the word «automobile» and is used to denote special types of automobiles, such as: «artmobile», «bookmobile», «snowmobile», «tourmobile» etc.
The splinter «napper» was formed by clipping the beginning of the word «kidnapper» and is used to denote different types of crimesters, such as : «busnapper», «babynapper», «dognapper» etc. From such nouns the corresponding verbs are formed by means of backformation, e.g. «to busnap», «to babynap», «to dognap».
The splinter «omat» was formed by clipping the beginning of the word «automat» (a cafe in which meals are provided in slot-machines). The meaning «self-service» is used in such words as «laundromat», «cashomat» etc.
Another splinter «eteria» with the meaning «self-service» was formed by clipping the beginning of the word «cafeteria». By means of the splinter «eteria» the following words were formed: «groceteria», «booketeria», «booteteria» and many others.
The splinter «quake» is used to form new words with the meaning of «shaking», «agitation». This splinter was formed by clipping the beginning of the word «earthquake». Ther following words were formed with the help of this splinter: «Marsquake», «Moonquake», «youthquake» etc.
The splinter «rama(ama)» is a clipping of the word «panorama» of Greek origin where «pan» means «all» and «horama» means «view». In Modern English the meaning «view» was lost and the splinter «rama» is used in advertisements to denote objects of supreme quality, e.g. «autorama» means «exhibition-sale of expensive cars», «trouserama» means «sale of trousers of supreme quality» etc.
The splinter «scape» is a clipping of the word «landscape» and it is used to form words denoting different types of landscapes, such as: «moonscape», «streetscape», «townscape», «seascape» etc.
Another case of splinters is «tel» which is the result of clipping the beginning of the word «hotel». It serves to form words denoting different types of hotels, such as: «motel» (motor-car hotel), «boatel» (boat hotel), «floatel» (a hotel on water, floating), «airtel» (airport hotel) etc.
The splinter «theque» is the result of clipping the beginning of the word «apotheque» of Greek origin which means in Greek «a store house». In Russian words: «библиотека», «картотека», «фильмотека» the element «тека» corresponding to the English «theque» preserves the meaning of storing something which is expressed by the first component of the word. In English the splinter «theque» is used to denote a place for dancing, such as: «discotheque», «jazzotheque».
The splinter «thon» is the result of clipping the beginning of the word «marathon». «Marathon» primarily was the name of a battle-field in Greece, forty miles from Athens, where there was a battle between the Greek and the Persian. When the Greek won a victory a Greek runner was sent to Athens to tell people about the victory. Later on the word «Marathon» was used to denote long-distance competitions in running. The splinter «thon(athon)» denotes «something continuing for a long time», «competition in endurance» e.g. «dancathon», «telethon», «speakathon», «readathon», «walkathon», «moviethon», «swimathon», «talkathon», «swearthon» etc.
Splinters can be the result of clipping adjectives or substantivized adjectives. The splinter «aholic» (holic) was formed by clipping the beginning of the word «alcoholic» of Arabian origin where «al» denoted «the», «koh’l» - «powder for staining lids». The splinter «(a)holic» means «infatuated by the object expressed by the stem of the word» , e.g. «bookaholic», «computerholic», «coffeeholic», «cheesaholic», «workaholic» and many others.
The splinter «genic» formed by clipping the beginning of the word «photogenic» denotes the notion «suitable for something denoted by the stem», e.g. «allergenic», «cardiogenic», «mediagenic», «telegenic» etc.
As far as verbs are concerned it is not typical of them to be clipped that is why there is only one splinter to be used for forming new verbs in this way. It is the splinter «cast» formed by clipping the beginning of the verb «broadcast». This splinter was used to form the verbs «telecast» and «abroadcast».
Splinters can be called pseudomorphemes because they are neither roots nor affixes, they are more or less artificial. In English there are words which consist of two splinters, e.g. «telethon», therefore it is more logical to call words with splinters in their structure «compound-shortened words consisting of two clippings of words».
Splinters have only one function in English: they serve to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech, whereas prefixes and suffixes can also change the part-of-speech meaning , e.g. the prefix «en-» and its allomorph «em» can form verbs from noun and adjective stems («embody», «enable», «endanger»), «be-» can form verbs from noun and adjective stems («becloud», «benumb»), «post-» and «pre-» can form adjectives from noun stems («pre-election campaign», «post-war events»). The main function of suffixes is to form one part of speech from another part of speech, e.g. «-er», «-ing», «-ment» form nouns from verbal stems («teacher», «dancing», «movement»), «-ness», «-ity» are used to form nouns from adjective stems («clannishnes», «marginality»).
According to the nature and the number of morphemes constituting a word there are different structural types of words in English: simple, derived, compound, compound-derived.
Simple words consist of one root morpheme and an inflexion (in many cases the inflexion is zero), e.g. «seldom», «chairs», «longer», «asked».
Derived words consist of one root morpheme, one or several affixes and an inlexion, e.g. «deristricted», «unemployed».
Compound words consist of two or more root morphemes and an inflexion, e.g. «baby-moons», «wait-and-see (policy)».
Compound-derived words consist of two or more root morphemes, one or more affixes and an inflexion, e.g. «middle-of-the-roaders», «job-hopper».
When speaking about the structure of words stems also should be mentioned. The stem is the part of the word which remains unchanged throughout the paradigm of the word, e.g. the stem «hop» can be found in the words: «hop», «hops», «hopped», «hopping». The stem «hippie» can be found in the words: «hippie», «hippies», «hippie’s», «hippies’». The stem «job-hop» can be found in the words : «job-hop», «job-hops», «job-hopped», «job-hopping».
So stems, the same as words, can be simple, derived, compound and compound-derived. Stems have not only the lexical meaning but also grammatical (part-of-speech) meaning, they can be noun stems («girl» in the adjective «girlish»), adjective stems («girlish» in the noun «girlishness»), verb stems («expell» in the noun «expellee») etc. They differ from words by the absence of inflexions in their structure, they can be used only in the structure of words.
Sometimes it is rather difficult to distinguish between simple and derived words, especially in the cases of phonetic borrowings from other languages and of native words with blocked (unique) root morphemes, e.g. «perestroika», «cranberry», «absence» etc.
As far as words with splinters are concerned it is difficult to distinguish between derived words and compound-shortened words. If a splinter is treated as an affix (or a semi-affix) the word can be called derived , e.g.-, «telescreen», «maxi-taxi» , «shuttlegate», «cheeseburger». But if the splinter is treated as a lexical shortening of one of the stems , the word can be called compound-shortened word formed from a word combination where one of the components was shortened, e.g. «busnapper» was formed from « bus kidnapper», «minijet» from «miniature jet».
In the English language of the second half of the twentieth century there developed so called block compounds, that is compound words which have a uniting stress but a split spelling, such as «chat show», «pinguin suit» etc. Such compound words can be easily mixed up with word-groups of the type «stone wall», so called nominative binomials. Such linguistic units serve to denote a notion which is more specific than the notion expressed by the second component and consists of two nouns, the first of which is an attribute to the second one. If we compare a nominative binomial with a compound noun with the structure N+N we shall see that a nominative binomial has no unity of stress. The change of the order of its components will change its lexical meaning, e.g. «vid kid» is «a kid who is a video fan» while «kid vid» means «a video-film for kids» or else «lamp oil» means «oil for lamps» and «oil lamp» means «a lamp which uses oil for burning».
Among language units we can also point out word combinations of different structural types of idiomatic and non-idiomatic character, such as «the first fiddle», «old salt» and «round table», «high road». There are also sentences which are studied by grammarians.
Thus, we can draw the conclusion that in Modern English the following language units can be mentioned: morphemes, splinters, words, nominative binomials, non-idiomatic and idiomatic word-combinations, sentences.
Local Dialects
There are five main groups of local dialects in Great Britain: Northern, Midland, Eastern, Western and Southern. The close links existing between some of the dialects make it possible to unite them into two major groups: 1) Southern dialects and 2) Northern and Midlands dialects.
One of the best known Southern dialects is Cockney, the regional dialect of London. This dialect exists on two levels. As spoken by the educated lower middle classes it is a regional dialect marked by some deviations in pronunciation but few in vocabulary and syntax. As spoken by the uneducated, Cockney differs from Standard English not only in pronunciation but also in vocabulary, morphology and syntax.
Cockney is lively and witty and its vocabulary is imaginative and colourful. Its specific feature is the so-called rhyming slang, in which some words are substituted by other words rhyming with them. Boots, for instance, are called daisy roots, hat is tit for tat and wife – trouble and strife.
Some specifically Cockney words and phrases are: balmy, barmy, noun or adjective meaning 'mentally unbalanced', toff 'a person of the upper class', up the pole 'drunk'.
In recent decades a new dialect called Estuary English has been gaining prominence. Estuary English is the variety of the English language common in the South-East of England, especially along the river Thames and its estuary. It is a hybrid of Received Pronunciation (RP) and a number of South-Eastern dialects, particularly from the London and Essex areas. Among the most notable lexical features of the Estuary English dialect is the use of Cockney words and phrases as well as words from American and Australian English.
Estuary English is very popular among the young probably because it is said to obscure social origins – very often it is adopted as a neutral dialect. It increases "street cred" among the young from an RP background and young people with local dialects and accents adopt it because it sounds more "sophisticated". Estuary English speakers are to be found "grouped in the middle ground", but it can be heard in the House of Commons as well as being used by some of the members of the Lords. It can be heard on the BBC and it is well established among the businessmen in the City.
One of the representatives of the group of Northern and Midlands dialects is the Yorkshire dialect. As Yorkshire is on the linguistic border of Northern and North-Midland varieties of English, it shares some of their characteristics.
Yorkshire is the dialect spoken by the majority of people in the English county of York. As there is much variation within the dialect it is usually discussed in terms of the three Ridings that correspond to the historical administration areas of North, East and South Yorkshire. The prodigious variation in vocabulary arises from both the historical settlement patterns of the various European invaders and the later linguistic changes following the settlement, cf.: armpit (Standard English) – oxter (North Riding) – armpit (East Riding) – armhole (West Riding).
It was in Yorkshire that Anglo-Saxon speakers mixed with Scandinavian settlers in the market places, etc., during the period from the 8th to the 11th centuries, and engaged in a simplified speech to make themselves understood to each other, dropping gender, word endings, complex conjugations, etc. The result was the birth of a simplified Middle English that spread throughout England; a revolution speeded up after the Norman Conquest. These facts explain the remarkable resemblance that some Yorkshire words have in relation to their Scandinavian counterparts, a testimony to their historical origins, cf: child (Standard English) – bairn (Yorshire dialect) – barn (Modern Norwegian).
Some words in Yorkshire dialect at first sight seem to be Standard English but they have different meanings. For example, the word real is used in the Yorkshire dialect to describe something good or outstanding, it has nothing to do with genuineness as compared with the meaning of this word in Standard English. It is, however, not only purely words which contribute to the distinctiveness of the Yorkshire dialect but also the variety of idiomatic expressions, e.g. allus at t’ last push up – 'always at the last moment'; nobbut a mention – 'just a small amount'.
Dialects are now chiefly preserved in rural communities, in the speech of elderly people. They are said to undergo rapid changes under the pressure of Standard English taught at schools and the speech habits cultivated by radio,
television and other means of the mass media.
Aspects of lexical meaning.
In the general framework of lexical meaning several aspects can be singled out.
They are:
a) the denotational aspect;
b) the connotational aspect;
c) the pragmatic aspect.
The denotational aspect of lexical meaning is the part of lexical meaning which
establishes correlation between the name and the object, phenomenon, process or characteristic feature of concrete reality (or thought as such), which is denoted by the given word. The term “denotational” is derived from the English word to denote which means “be a sign of, indicate, stand as a name or symbol for”. For example, the denotational meaning of booklet is “a small thin book that gives information about something”. It is through the denotational aspect of meaning that bulk of information is conveyed in the process of communication. The denotational aspect of lexical meaning expresses the notional content of a word.
The connotational aspect of lexical meaning is the part of meaning which reflects the attitude of the speaker towards what he speaks about. Connotation conveys additional information in the process of communication. Connotation includes:
1) the emotive charge, e.g. daddy as compared to father,
2) evaluation, which may be positive or negative, e.g. clique (a small group of people who seem unfriendly to other people) as compared to group (a set of people);
3) intensity (or expressiveness) e.g. adoreas compared to love;
4) imagery, e.g. to wade – to walk with an effort (through mud, water or anything that makes progress difficult). The figurative use of the word gives rise to another meaning which is based on the same image as the first – to wade through a book.
The pragmatic aspect of lexical meaning is the part of meaning that conveys
information on the situation of communication. Like the connotational aspect, the pragmatic aspect falls into four closely linked together subsections:
1) information on the “time and space” relationship of the participants;
2) information on the participants and the given language community;
3) information on the tenor of discourse. The tenors of discourse reflect how the addresser (the speaker or the writer) interacts with the addressee (the listener or the reader);
4) information on the register of communication. Three main types of the situations of communication are usually singled out: formal, neutral and informal. Practically every word in the language is register-oriented. Thus, the pragmatic aspect of meaning refers words like cordial, anticipate, aid, celestial to the formal register while units like cut it out, to be kidding, hi, stuff are to be used in the informal register.
Compounding.
Compounding (composition) combining two or more stems in order to form a new word, e.g. motorway. The structural unity of a compound word depends on: the unity of stress; solid or hyphonated spelling; semantic unity; unity of morphological and syntactical functioning.
Ways of forming compound words:
1) reduplication (e.g. too-too, fifty-fifty);
2) reduplication + sound interchange (e.g. tip-top, walkie-talkie);
3) partial conversion from word-groups (e.g. can-do, make-up);
4) back formation from compound nouns or word-groups (e.g. to fingerprint, to baby-sit);
5) analogy (e.g. lie-in, brawn-drain).
Part-of-speech classification of compounds:
1) compound nouns (sunbeam, maid-servant);
2) compound adjectives (free-for-all);
3) compound verbs (baby-sit, mass-produce);
4) compound adverbs (nowhere, headfirst);
5) compound pronouns (somebody, nothing);
6) compound prepositions (into, within);
7) compound numerals (fifty-five).
Classification of compounds according to the way components are joined:
1) a neutral compound is a compound formed by joining together without a linking element (ball-point, to windowshop);
2) a morphological compound is a compound word whose components are joined by means of linking elements (astrospace, handicraft, sportsman);
3) a syntactical compound is a compound whose components are joined by means of form-word stems (here-and-now, do-or-die).
Structural classification of compounds:
1) compound words proper which are formed by joining together two s tems with or without a linking element (to job-hunt, door-step, street-fight);
2) derivational compounds which are formed by joining affixes to the stems (ear-minded, good-looking);
3) compound words of three or more stems (cornflower-blue, singer-songwriter);
4) compound-shortened which are formed by means of joining two stems one or both of which are shortened (boatel, Oxbridge).
Classification of compounds according to the relations between the components:
1) coordinative compounds with semantically equal components:
* reduplicative compounds made up by the repetition of the same stem (fifty-fifty, no-no);
* reduplicative compounds with sound interchange (chit-chat, clap-trap);
* additive compounds which are built on stems of the independently functioning words of the same parts of speech (singer-songwriter);
2) subordinative compounds whose components are neither structurally nor semantically equal, the second component dominating the first:
* comparative (e.g. honey-sweet, eggshell-thin);
* limiting (e.g. knee-deep, breast-high);
* emphatic (e.g. dog-cheap, dead-easy);
* objective (e.g. roleplay);
* subjective (e.g. foot-sore);
* cause (e.g. homesick);
* space (e.g. top-heavy);
* time (e.g. spring-fresh).
Classification of compounds according to the order of components:
1) a syntactic compound is a compound consisting of or noting morphemes that are combined in the same order as they would be if they were separate words in a corresponding construction, e.g. the word blackberry, which consists of an adjective followed by a noun, is a syntactic compound;
2) an asyntactic compound is a compound consisting of morphemes that are combined differently from their mode of combination as separate words in a phrase, as bookstore, which is an asyntactic compound, while the same elements are combined syntactically in store for books.
Classification of compounds according to the degree of idiomacy:
1) idiomatic compounds are those ones whose meaning cannot be described as a mere sum of its components:: a blackboard, to ghostwrite;
2) non-idiomatic compounds are those ones whose meanings can be described as the sum of the meanings of their components:: a sportsman, a swimming-pool, airmail.
Conversion.
Conversion is a characteristic feature of the English word-building system. It is also called affixless derivation or zero-suffixation. The term «conversion» first appeared in the book by Henry Sweet «New English Grammar» in 1891. Conversion is treated differently by different scientists, e.g. prof. A.I. Smirntitsky treats conversion as a morphological way of forming words when one part of speech is formed from another part of speech by changing its paradigm, e.g. to form the verb «to dial» from the noun «dial» we change the paradigm of the noun (a dial,dials) for the paradigm of a regular verb (I dial, he dials, dialed, dialing). A. Marchand in his book «The Categories and Types of Present-day English» treats conversion as a morphological-syntactical word-building because we have not only the change of the paradigm, but also the change of the syntactic function, e.g. I need some good paper for my room. (The noun «paper» is an object in the sentence). I paper my room every year. (The verb «paper» is the predicate in the sentence).
Conversion is the main way of forming verbs in Modern English. Verbs can be formed from nouns of different semantic groups and have different meanings because of that, e.g.
a) verbs have instrumental meaning if they are formed from nouns denoting parts of a human body e.g. to eye, to finger, to elbow, to shoulder etc. They have instrumental meaning if they are formed from nouns denoting tools, machines, instruments, weapons, e.g. to hammer, to machine-gun, to rifle, to nail,
b) verbs can denote an action characteristic of the living being denoted by the noun from which they have been converted, e.g. to crowd, to wolf, to ape,
c) verbs can denote acquisition, addition or deprivation if they are formed from nouns denoting an object, e.g. to fish, to dust, to peel, to paper,
d) verbs can denote an action performed at the place denoted by the noun from which they have been converted, e.g. to park, to garage, to bottle, to corner, to pocket,
e) verbs can denote an action performed at the time denoted by the noun from which they have been converted e.g. to winter, to week-end .
Verbs can be also converted from adjectives, in such cases they denote the change of the state, e.g. to tame (to become or make tame) , to clean, to slim etc.
Nouns can also be formed by means of conversion from verbs. Converted nouns can denote:
a) instant of an action e.g. a jump, a move,
b) process or state e.g. sleep, walk,
c) agent of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted, e.g. a help, a flirt, a scold ,
d) object or result of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted, e.g. a burn, a find, a purchase,
e) place of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted, e.g. a drive, a stop, a walk.
Many nouns converted from verbs can be used only in the Singular form and denote momentaneous actions. In such cases we have partial conversion. Such deverbal nouns are often used with such verbs as : to have, to get, to take etc., e.g. to have a try, to give a push, to take a swim .
Affixation.
Affixation is one of the most productive ways of word-building throughout the history of English. It consists in adding an affix to the stem of a definite part of speech. Affixation is divided into suffixation and prefixation.
Suffixation.
The main function of suffixes in Modern English is to form one part of speech from another, the secondary function is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech. ( e.g. «educate» is a verb, «educatee» is a noun, and « music» is a noun, «musicdom» is also a noun) .
There are different classifications of suffixes :
1. Part-of-speech classification. Suffixes which can form different parts of speech are given here :
a) noun-forming suffixes, such as : -er (criticizer), -dom (officialdom), -ism (ageism),
b) adjective-forming suffixes, such as : -able (breathable), less (symptomless), -ous (prestigious),
c) verb-forming suffixes, such as -ize (computerize) , -ify (micrify),
d) adverb-forming suffixes , such as : -ly (singly), -ward (tableward),
e) numeral-forming suffixes, such as -teen (sixteen), -ty (seventy).
2. Semantic classification . Suffixes changing the lexical meaning of the stem can be subdivided into groups, e.g. noun-forming suffixes can denote:
a) the agent of the action, e.g. -er (experimenter), -ist (taxist), -ent (student),
b) nationality, e.g. -ian (Russian), -ese (Japanese), -ish (English),
c) collectivity, e.g. -dom (moviedom), -ry (peasantry, -ship (readership), -ati ( literati),
d) diminutiveness, e.g. -ie (horsie), -let (booklet), -ling (gooseling), -ette (kitchenette),
e) quality, e.g. -ness (copelessness), -ity (answerability).
3. Lexico-grammatical character of the stem. Suffixes which can be added to certain groups of stems are subdivided into:
a) suffixes added to verbal stems, such as : -er (commuter), -ing (suffering), - able (flyable), -ment (involvement), -ation (computerization),
b) suffixes added to noun stems, such as : -less (smogless), ful (roomful), -ism (adventurism), -ster (pollster), -nik (filmnik), -ish (childish),
c) suffixes added to adjective stems, such as : -en (weaken), -ly (pinkly), -ish (longish), -ness (clannishness).
4. Origin of suffixes. Here we can point out the following groups:
a) native (Germanic), such as -er,-ful, -less, -ly.
b) Romanic, such as : -tion, -ment, -able, -eer.
c) Greek, such as : -ist, -ism, -ize.
d) Russian, such as -nik.
5. Productivity. Here we can point out the following groups:
a) productive, such as : -er, -ize, --ly, -ness.
b) semi-productive, such as : -eer, -ette, -ward.
c) non-productive , such as : -ard (drunkard), -th (length).
Suffixes can be polysemantic, such as : -er can form nouns with the following meanings : agent,doer of the action expressed by the stem (speaker), profession, occupation (teacher), a device, a tool (transmitter). While speaking about suffixes we should also mention compound suffixes which are added to the stem at the same time, such as -ably, -ibly, (terribly, reasonably), -ation (adaptation from adapt).
There are also disputable cases whether we have a suffix or a root morpheme in the structure of a word, in such cases we call such morphemes semi-suffixes, and words with such suffixes can be classified either as derived words or as compound words, e.g. -gate (Irangate), -burger (cheeseburger), -aholic (workaholic) etc.
Prefixation
Prefixation is the formation of words by means of adding a prefix to the stem. In English it is characteristic for forming verbs. Prefixes are more independent than suffixes. Prefixes can be classified according to the nature of words in which they are used : prefixes used in notional words and prefixes used in functional words. Prefixes used in notional words are proper prefixes which are bound morphemes, e.g. un- (unhappy). Prefixes used in functional words are semi-bound morphemes because they are met in the language as words, e.g. over- (overhead) ( cf over the table ).
The main function of prefixes in English is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech. But the recent research showed that about twenty-five prefixes in Modern English form one part of speech from another (bebutton, interfamily, postcollege etc).
Prefixes can be classified according to different principles :
1. Semantic classification :
a) prefixes of negative meaning, such as : in- (invaluable), non- (nonformals), un- (unfree) etc,
b) prefixes denoting repetition or reversal actions, such as: de- (decolonize), re- (revegetation), dis- (disconnect),
c) prefixes denoting time, space, degree relations, such as : inter- (interplanetary) , hyper- (hypertension), ex- (ex-student), pre- (pre-election), over- (overdrugging) etc.
2. Origin of prefixes:
a) native (Germanic), such as: un-, over-, under- etc.
b) Romanic, such as : in-, de-, ex-, re- etc.
c) Greek, such as : sym-, hyper- etc.
When we analyze such words as : adverb, accompany where we can find the root of the word (verb, company) we may treat ad-, ac- as prefixes though they were never used as prefixes to form new words in English and were borrowed from Romanic languages together with words. In such cases we can treat them as derived words. But some scientists treat them as simple words. Another group of words with a disputable structure are such as : contain, retain, detain and conceive, receive, deceive where we can see that re-, de-, con- act as prefixes and -tain, -ceive can be understood as roots. But in English these combinations of sounds have no lexical meaning and are called pseudo-morphemes. Some scientists treat such words as simple words, others as derived ones.
There are some prefixes which can be treated as root morphemes by some scientists, e.g. after- in the word afternoon. American lexicographers working on Webster dictionaries treat such words as compound words. British lexicographers treat such words as derived ones.
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Shortening (abbreviation) is the formation of a word by cutting off a part of the word. Causes of abbreviation may be linguistic (the demand of rhythm, analogy) or extra-linguistic (changes in people’s life, the pace of life).
Shortenings can be graphical, initial and lexical. Graphical abbreviation is a shortened form of words and word-groups only in written speech while orally the corresponding full forms are used, e.g. Mr – Mister, Dr – Doctor,
e.g. (Latin „exampli gratia“) – for example. Graphical abbreviations can be divided into:
1) abbreviations of Latin origin (e.g. a.m., lb, i.e.);
2) native abbreviations:
* days of the week (e.g. Mon, Tue);
* names of months (e.g. Apr, Aug);
* names of counties in the UK (e.g. Yorks, Berks);
* names of states in the USA (e.g. Ala, Alas);
* names of address (e.g. Mr., Mrs., Dr.);
* military ranks (e.g. capt., col., sgt.);
* scientific degrees (e.g. B.A., D.M.);
* units of time, length, weight (e.g. sec., in., mg.).
Initial abbreviations (acronyms) are words composed of the initial letter of the words of a phrase. There are three types of initial abbreviations:
1) initialisms with alphabetical reading (e.g. UK, USA, BBC);
2) initialisms which are read as words (e.g. UNESCO, NATO);
3) initialisms which coincide with English words in their sound form (e.g. CLASS).
Initial abbreviations can be used as root morphemes:
1) in affixed (derived) words (e.g. ex-rafer, ex-PM);
2) in converted words (e.g. to raff);
3) in compound words (e.g. USAFman, STOLport);
4) in compound-shortened words (e.g. A-bomb, Three-Ds, V-day, AIDSophobia). Lexical shortening (truncation) is the word formation process which consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts. According to the part of the word that is cut off (initial, middle or final) there are the following types of shortenings:
1) apocope [ə'pɔkə(u)pɪ] – clipping the end of the word (e.g. discotheque → disco, introduction → intro);
2) apheresis [ə'fɪərɪsɪs] – clipping the beginning of the word (e.g. parachute → chute, helicopter → copter);
3) syncope ['sɪŋkəpɪ] – clipping the middle of the word (e.g. market → mart, mathematics → maths);
4) apocope + apheresis (e.g. detective → tec; avanguard → van).
Lexicology as a branch of linguistics. Types of lexicology. The connection of lexicology with other branches of linguistics.
Lexicology is a branch of linguistics, which studies the vocabulary of a language. Its basic task is to study the origin, the different properties of the vocabulary of a language. In other words, lexicology is concerned with words and set phrases which function in speech. Lexicology also studies all kinds of semantic relations (synonyms, antonyms etc) and semantic grouping (semantic fields). Etymologically the word «lexicology» is a Greek word: «Lexic» means «word» and «logos» -learning.
There are 5 types of lexicology: 1) general; 2) special; 3) descriptive; 4) historical; 5) comparative.
General lexicology is a part of general linguistics, which studies the general properties of words, the specific features of words of any particular language. It studies the peculiarities of words common to all the languages. General lexicology attempts to find out the universals of vocabulary development and patterns. Linguistic phetio Mena and properties common to all languages are generally called language universals.
Special lexicology deals with the words of a definite language. Ex.: English lexicology, Russian lexicology, Uzbek lexicology and so on. Descriptive lexicology studies the words at a synchronic aspect. It is concerned with the vocabulary of a language, as they exist airehe present time. Historical or diachronic lexicology deals with the development of the vocabulary and the changes it has undergone. Ex. In descriptive lexicology the words «to take», «to adopt» are considered as being English not differing from such native words as «child», «foot», «stone» etc. But in historical lexicology they are treated as borrowed words.
Comparative lexicology deals with the properties of the vocabulary of two or more languages. In comparative lexicology the main characteristic features of the words of two or more languages are compared. Ex. Russian - English lexicology, English - French lexicology and etc.
Lexicology is closely connected with other aspects of the language: grammar, phonetics, the history of the language and stylistics. Lexicology is connected with grammar because the word seldom occurs in isolation. Words alone do not form communication. It is only when words are connected and joined in the grammar rules of a language communication becomes possible. On the other hand grammatical form and function in the word affect its lexical meaning. For example. Then the verb «go» in the continuous tenses is follow-by «to» and an infinitive, it expresses a future action. Ex. He is not going to read this book. Participle II of the verb «go» following the link verb «be» denotes the negative meaning. Ex. The house is gone. So the lexical meanings of the words are grammatically conditioned. Lexicology is linked with phonetics because the order and the arrangement of phonemes are related to its meaning. Ex. The words «tip» and «pit» consist of the same phonemes and it is the arrangement of phonemes, alone which determines the meaning of the words. The arrangement of phonemes in the words «increase» and «increase» is the same. Only stress determines the difference in meaning.
Lexicology is also closely linked with the history of the language. In examining the word «information » in terms of its historical development we establish its French origin and study the changes in its semantic and morphological structures. If we do not know the history of the language it will be very difficult to establish different changes in the meaning and form of the words, which have undergone in the course of the historical development of the language.
There is also a close relationship between lexicology and stylistics. The words «to begin» and «to commence» mean one and the same meaning but they can never be used interchangeable because they have different stylistic references.
The relationship existing between words may be either syntagmatic or paradigmatic. The syntagmatic relationship is found in the context. The context is the minimum stretch of speech, which is necessary to bring out the meaning of a word. Ex. Take tea (hoh hhmok - iihtb nan), take tram (TpaMBafi^a lopMOK - exaTB Ha TpaMBae).
The paradigmatic relationship is the relations between words within the vocabulary: polysemy, synonymy and antonym of words etc. There are two approaches to the study of the study of the vocabulary of a language - diachronic and synchronic.
Synchronic approaches deals with the vocabulary, as it exists at a given time, at the present time. The diachronic approach studies the changes and the development of vocabulary in the course of time. Ex. Synchronically the words «help», «accept», «work», «produce» are all of them English words.
But diachronically they came from different languages. Such word as «childhood», «kingdom», «friendship», «freedom» were at one time compound words because the suffixes-dom, -hood, - ship were independent words but synchronically they are derived words because «dom» and «hood» became suffixes.
In the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century lexicology was mainly based on historical principles. At the present time the following method of linguistic research are widely used by lexicologists: distributional, transformational, analysis into immediate constituents, statistical, componential, comparative etc.
The choice of the method in each case depends on what method will yield the most reliable results in each particular case.
Lexicology has some subdivisions such as:
1) Semasiology (deals with the meaning of the word);
2) Word formation (studies all possible ways of the formation of new words in English);
3) Etymology (studies the origin of words);
4) Phraseology (studies the set-expressions, phraseological units);
5) Lexicolography (studies compiling dictionaries).
Comparative study of different peculiarities of English words with words of other languages shows that there are various symptoms of this contrast between English and other languages.
There is also close relationship between lexicology and stylistics. The words "to begin" and "to commence" mean one and the same meaning but they can never be used interchangeable because they have different stylistic references.
Дата: 2019-02-19, просмотров: 728.