Lecture 1. SOME MAJOR NOTIONS OF LEXICOLOGY.
THE MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE WORD
Lexicology is a branch of linguistics studying vocabulary (word stock, lexis) of the language. It deals
with different aspects of the word and accordingly several branches are distinguished in lexicology:
morphology (word formation, word building), semasiology (semantics), etymology (study of the origin and
the history of the word), phraseology, lexicography (dictionaries).
Lexicology is closely connected with other linguistic sciences: grammar, phonetics, stylistics, history
of the language.
Distinction is made between general and special linguistics.
Vocabulary may be viewed in two different ways: historical (diachronic) and descriptive (synchronic).
These two approaches should not be contrasted, they are interconnected because every language unit exists in
a state of constant development and the synchronic state of a language system is a result of a long process of
its historical development.
Units of the vocabulary are words (morphemes) and certain word groups (phraseological units).
Language is a structure. Every utterance can be segmented into smaller units – they make up the levels of the
language.
The unit
Phonology: the phoneme.
Morphology: the morpheme.
Lexicology: the word.
Syntax: the sentence.
Words are made up of morphemes. 1. A morpheme is the smallest significant part of the word. We
distinguish 4. root morphemes and affixational morphemes.
Root morphemes carry the lexical meaning of the word, make its semantic centre; affixational
morphemes fall into inflexions (indicating the grammatical form of the word, e.g. number, tense, etc.) and
derivational morphemes. Inflexions are dealt with in grammar, whereas derivational morphemes are discussed
in lexicology, so that here we deal with derivational affixes. Derivational affixes may be treated from the point
of view of word-building, that is in what way they derive new words or the word is derived; and from the
point of view of word-structure, that is what role they play in the structure of the word, as a structural unit.
Words…
A. …carry meaning in addition to a phonological form
B. …are stored in a speaker’s mental dictionary = lexicon.
C. …are known as “lexemes”.
D. …are the smallest “free form” in a language – that is, the smallest unit where you can leave a space
between it and the next thing when you’re writing something down.
E. …are made up of morphemes = smallest unit which carries information
a. owls = owl + s (1 word, 2 morphemes). owl = “owl”, s = “more than 1, plural”
b. complex word = 2 or more morphemes. Ex: owls
c. simple word = 1 morpheme. Ex: owl
d. free morpheme: can stand on its own. Ex: owl
e. bound morpheme: can’t stand on its own. Ex: “s”.
f. morph = sound form of morpheme (as opposed to the sound + meaning). So, /si/ is the morph for
both the word that means “ocean” and the word that means “look”.
g. Note: What is free and what is bound varies from language to language. Ex: Just because the plural
marker is a bound morpheme in English doesn’t mean that it’s a bound morpheme in another language.
F. 2. Allomorphy = same meaning, but different phonological form (morph)
1
a. a vs. an = “one” or “some”. Ex: A fox and an owl walk into a bar…
b. /s/ vs. /z/ vs. /´z/ = plural. Ex: /pets/, /aulz/, /foksiz/
Word Structure
A. Root = core of word which carries the major component of meaning. Always belongs to a lexical
category – Noun, Verb, Adjective, Preposition. Example: owl, fly, sly, above.
B. Affix = bound morpheme which adds additional meaning to the word. Can be added to root or root
+ other affixes. Ex: -en, -ed, -s, -er, -ation, -ian, -ize, un-, re-.
C. Words are made up of roots and one or more affixes.
Infiixes. An infix goes inside of another morpheme rather than on its front or backside. English does
not have many infixes. English speakers have tried to develop infixes, although they appear to be mostly for
rhetorical effect. The three most famous are -bloody-, -fucking-, and -iz-. The adjective form of bloody dates
back to 1000, but its use as an intensifier seems to have picked up in England from 1660 onward. Some
authorities claim it is a low-class marker, but it is still open for public consumption. The adjective form of
fucking dates back to 1528, so if you are young and believe your generation invented this term, you are wrong
by almost 500 years. Its use as purely an intensifier began in the middle of the 1800s. Both of these intensifier
forms can be used to split up multisyllabic words such as these:
Absolutely Abso-bloody-lutely Abso-fucking-lutely
Irresponsible Irre-bloody-sponsible Irre-fucking-sponsible
The infix -iz- had short bursts of fame, first in the early 1980s and then again in the 1990s. In 1981,
Frankie Smith released the single “Double Dutch Bus” with the fun slang infix -iz- in phrases like Hizey gizirls
‘Hey girls’ and Yizall bizetter mizove ‘Y’all better move.’ Snoop Dogg repopularized the infix in his 1993
album Doggystyle. Although it was usable later the onset of any word, it never seemed to have a reference
meaning. Its social meaning was its key point, with its users demonstrating their authentic credibility.
Morphemic analysis. The structure of the word, the number and type of morphemes is defined through
morphemic analysis. Morphemic analysis is the analysis into immediate constituents and ultimate constituents.
Derivational analysis. The process of word-formation is established by means of derivational analysis.
Derivational analysis shows how the word is made by combining derivational bases and derivational affixes.
To describe the system of word formation derivational schemes and patterns are used.
A derivational scheme shows what parts of speech are involved in the process of word-formation and
which of them are basic and which are subordinate.
1.
What is a morpheme?
2.
What is meant by allomorphs?
3.
What is a paradigm?
4.
What types of morphemes do you know?
5.
What does the morphological analysis aim at?
6.
What is the IC analysis based on?
7.
What is meant by a stem of a word?
8.
What is a lexeme?
9.
What does the diachronic lexicology deal with?
10.
What is meant by semi-affixes?
2
11.
What did the term “Lexicology” originate from?
12.
What are pseudo-morphemes?
13.
What kind of meaning do inflections carry?
3. Generally - A framework, model, or pattern used to formulate generalizations and theories based on shared
assumptions, concepts, questions, methods, etc.
A set of forms having a common root or stem, of which one form must be selected in certain grammatical
environments.
5. Morphological analysis (MA) is a method for identifying, structuring and investigating the total set of
possible relationships contained in a given multidimensional problem complex.
6. Immediate constituent analysis (IA), also called Ic Analysis, in linguistics, a system of grammatical analysis
that divides sentences into successive layers, or constituents, until, in the final layer, each constituent consists
of only a word or meaningful part of a word.
7. In English grammar and morphology, a stem is the form of a word before any inflectional affixes are added.
In English, most stems also qualify as words. The term base is commonly used by linguists to refer to any
stem (or root) to which an affix is attached.
8. A word
9. Diachronic or historical lexicology is devoted to the evolution of words and word-formation over time. It
investigates the origins of a word and the ways in which its structure, meaning, and usage have since changed.
10. Another example of semi-affix is -manin a vast group of English nouns denoting people:sportsman,
gentleman, salesman, statesman, policeman, etc.
11. The term lexicology derives from the Greek word λεξικόν lexicon (neuter of λεξικός lexikos, "of or for
words", from λέξις lexis, "speech" or "word") and -λογία -logia, "the study of" (a suffix derived from λόγος
logos, amongst others meaning "learning, reasoning, explanation, subject-matter").
12. A portion of a word that resembles a morpheme but is not, in fact, one. For example, in the word history,
the portion his is a pseudomorpheme, appearing to some people to be a morpheme and encouraging the coinage
herstory to denote history viewed from a feminine or a feminist perspective.
13. Inflection refers to a process of word formation in which items are added to the base form of a word to
express grammatical meanings.
3