КРАТКИЕ КОНСПЕКТЫ ОТВЕТОВ НА ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЕ ВОПРОСЫ ПО
ЛЕКСИКОЛОГИИ
1.. The Word as the Central Unit of the Language
2. Free Word Combinations and Set Expressions. Their Classification and Stylistic Use
3.. Synonyms and Antonyms in the English Language
4. Types of Word-Formation in Modern English
5. The Semantic Structure of the Word. Polysemy. Homonymy
6. The Word-Stock of the English Language
1. The word as the ctntral unit of the language system.
The word is the basic unit of language, uniting meaning and form, consisting of one or
more morphemes. Morphemes are also meaningful elements, but they cannot be used
independently. Words can be used as a complete utterance (Listen!).
Word-meaning is not homogeneous; there are several types of meaning.
Grammatical meaning – can be found in identical sets of individual forms of different
words (e.g. the tense meaning in the word-forms of words of verbs (worked, caught,
asked…).
Lexical meaning – unlike the grammatical meaning it is identical in all the forms of the
word.
Both the lexical and the grammatical meaning make up the word-meaning as neither can
exist without the other.
A paradigm – is a system showing a word in all its word-forms. The lexical meaning is the
same throughout the paradigm, the grammatical meaning varies from one form to another.
Part-of-speech meaning. Lexical units are classified into major word-classes (nouns,
verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and minor classes (articles, prepositions, conjunctions…).
Denotational and Connotational meaning.
Denotational meaning – the component of meaning that makes communication possible,
the leading one. Connotational meaning – the additional component.
E.g.: notorious → “widely known” + for criminal acts,
(evaluative connotation,
bad traits of character
negative)
to glance → “ to look”
+ briefly
(connotation of
duration)
Connotatonal meaning → stylistic reference (stylistically words can be roughly
subdivided
↓
into literary, neutral and colloquial layers).
Emotive charge
(varies in different word-classes.
In interjections, for example, it prevails – Oh!)
Lexical meaning – notion.
A word is a language unit, while a notion is a unit of thinking. There are words which do
not express any notion but have lexical meaning. Interjections express emotions, but not
notions, but they have lexical meanings (Alas!) ← disappointment. Notions, as a ruleare
international, meanings can be nationally limited. The number of meanings does not
correspond to the number of words.
A word can be divided into smaller sense units – morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest
meaningful language units.
Semantically morphemes fall into root and non-root morphemes.
Structurally morphemes fall into free (coincides with the stem or a word form – e.g. friend
); bound morphemes ( occurs only as a constituent part of a word. Here belong: affixes,
prefixes, all unique roots and pseudo-roots. - e.g. –ceive in perceive, theor- in theory); semifree or semi-bound (can function both as an affix and as a free morpheme – e.g. man).
Morphemes can also be lexical and grammatical.
Lexical
Grammatical
Roots of words which express the
Function words: articles,
lexical meaning of the word , they coincide
conjunctions and prepositions (the, with, and).
with the stem of simple words.
Affixes: prefixes (dis-), suffixes (Inflexions(endings) –s for the plural
ish), completives (combining forms –e.g.poly- of nouns.
clinic); blocked or unique root morphemes
(Fri-day).
Allomorphs (or morpheme variants) – morphemes that have different phonetic shapes (please,
leasing, pleasure, pleasant).
Semi-affixes are both bases (основы) and derivational prefixes. (half- →half-broken, halfeaten;
ill- ill-fed).
2. Free Word Combinations and Set Expressions. Their Classification and Stylistic Use
Free word groups present combinations of words which display structural, semantic and
syntactic relation between the units/ There may be differentstructural types of word
combinations subordinate (silent people) and coordinate ( children and grown-ups) word
combinations, Subordinate word combinations are nominal(a red cap), verbal (went slowly)?
adverbal (very much)
Phraseological units are word-groups that exist in the language as ready-made units. Like
words, they express a single notion and are used in a sentence as one part of it. They are also
called idioms by British and American lexicographers. Unlike phraseological units proper,
proverbs and sayings do not always function as word-equivalents.
Semantic classification.
V.V.Vinogradov classified phraseological units according to the degree of motivation of their
meaning.
1) Fusions. The degree of motivation is very low, they are highly idiomatic, we cannot guess
the meaning of the whole from the meaning of its components, cannot be translated word for
word into other languages (at sixes and sevens, red tape; бить баклуши).
2) Unities. The meaning of the whole can be guessed from the meanings of its components,
but it is transferred (metaphorically or metonymically) → to play the first fiddle.
3) Collocations. Words are combined in their original meaning, but their combinations are
different in different languages. (bear a grudge- bear malice).
Structural classification.
( A.I. Smirnitsky)
One-top units (are like affixed words)
a) units of the type to give up (to art up, to nose out).
b) Units of the type to be tired (to be interested in).
c) Prepositional-nominal phraseological units. They are equivalents of unchangeable
words: prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs(on the doorstep, on the nose).
Two-top units (are like compound words).
a) attributive-nominal (a month of Sundays –целая вечность)
b) verb-nominal phraseological units ( to read between the lines – понимать скрытый
смысл)
c) phraseological repetitions (now or never – теперь или никогда).
Syntactical classification.
I.V. Arnold classified phraseological units as parts of speech.
a) noun phraseologisms denoting an object, a person, a living being (latchkey kids – ребенок
работающих родителей)
b) verb phraseological units, denoting an action, a state (to be on the beam- быть в курсе
дела)
с) adjective phraseologisms denoting a quality.(loose and goose – нескладный)
d) adverb phraseologisms (tooth and nail – изо всех сил)
e) preposition phraseologisms (in the course of, on the stroke of)
f) interjection phraseologisms (Catch me! – ни за что!)
In I.V. Arnold’s classification there are also sentence equivalents: proverbs (are usually
metaphorical – Too many cooks spoil the broth) and sayings (are, as a rule, non-metaphorical
- Where there is a will, there is a way).
A.V. Kunin classified phraseological units according to the way they are formed.
Primary ways:
a) by means of transferring the meaning of terminological word-groups ( to link up –
1.стыковать космические корабли.2. знакомиться)
b) simile, contrast, metaphor ( in a nutshell –короче говоря)
c) alliteration (a sad sack –несчастный случай)
d) rhyming (by hook or by crook)
e) using synonyms (to pick and choose)
f) by means of expressiveness (Hear, hear!)
g) distorting a word-group ( odds and ends)
h) using archaisms ( in brown study means “in gloomy meditation”)
i) using sentence in a different sphere of life (that cock won’t fight – can be used
metaphorically
j) using unreal images ( to have butterflies in one’s stomach - испытывать волнение)
Secondary ways:
a) conversion (to vote with one’s feet → vote with one’s feet)
b) changing the grammar form ( Make hay while the sun shines is transferred into a
verbal phrase – to make hay while the sun shines)
c) analogy ( curiosity killed the cat – care killed the cat)
d) contrast ( kiss of death – kiss of life)
e) shortening (you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear → to make a sow’s ear)
f) borrowing ( to take the bull by the horns -Latin)
3. Polysemy and Homonymy
The word polysemy means plurality of meanings. It exists only in the language, not in the
speech. A word which has more than one meaning is called polysemantic. Very few words are
monosemantic, these are usually terms. (molecule, bronchitis).
Homonyms are words different in meaning but identical in sound or spelling, or both in sound
and spelling.
Walter Skeat classified homonyms according to their spelling and sound forms:
1) perfect homonyms (identical in sound and spelling) school 1.косяк рыбы, 2.
школа.
2) Homographs (the same spelling, but different pronounciation) bow [bau] поклон, [bәu]- лук.
3) Homophones (pronounced identically, but spelt differently) night ↔ knight
A.I.Smirnitsky added to Skeat’s classification one more criterion: grammatical meaning.
1) perfect homonyms (identical in their spelling, pronunciation and grammar form (spring –
1.весна, 2.источник.
2) homoforms (coincide in their spelling but have different grammatical meaning) to thin(v.)
–thin(adj.)
I.V. Arnold classified only perfect homonyms and suggested 4 criteria for their classification:
lexical meaning, grammatical meaning, basic forms and paradigms:
1) homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings, basic forms and paradigms and
different in their lexical meanings ( board - 1.совет; 2.доска)
2) homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings and basic forms, but different in their
lexical meanings and paradigms (to lie-lied-lied…. to lie-lay-lain)
3) homonyms different in their lexical meanings, grammatical meanings, paradigms, but
coinciding in their basic forms ( light(lights) – light –lighter- the lightest)
4) homonyms different in their lexical meanings, grammatical meanings, in their basic forms
and paradigms, but coinciding in one of the forms of their paradigms ( a bit and bit( from to
bite))
Homonyms can appear in the language as a result of diverging meaning development (
Modern English flower and flour originally were one word) and convergent sound
development ( MnE love-(to) love and OE lufu – lufian)
Wor
5. Synonyms and antonyms
Synonyms
Absolute synonyms (to moan-to groan, noun-substantive, to begin-to
commence, homeland-motherland)
Relative or ideographic synonyms – differ in additional implications (to look –to
stare – to gaze –to peep – to glance- to peer; red- purple-scarlet-crimpson)
Stylistic synonyms ( differ in stylistic connotations: father-daddy-parent)
Contextual synonyms (I’ll go to the shop and get some bread =I’ll go to the shop
and buy some bread).
Euphemisms ( lavatory → powder room, restroom, WC)
Superstitious taboos (to die → to cease to exist, to breathe one’s last, to kick the
bucket)
Lexical variants (laughter-laugh)
Paronyms (to affect –to effect)
Sources of synonymy.
1. borrowings (freedom – liberty)
2. dialects long distance call –trunk call)
3. set-expressions (to choose – to pick out)
4. wordbuilding: shortening (exam); conversion (to laugh – a laugh)
5. phrasal verbs ( to give up – to abandon)
6.
Antonyms
Derivational (happy-unhappy)
Root antonyms (right- wrong)
Antonyms usually appear in pairs. Most antonyms are adjectives and verbs.
If a word is polysemantic, it can have several antonyms/
6. The most productive ways of word-formation
WORDBUILDING
Affixation
Suffixation.
Suffixes can be classified:
1) part-of-speech classification:
a) noun-forming ( -er)
b) adjective-forming (-less)
c) verb-forming (-ify)
d) adverb-forming (-wise)
e) numeral-forming (-ty)
2) Semantic classification:
a) the agent of the action (-er0
b) nationality (-ian’)
c) collectivity (-dom)
d) diminutiveness (-let, -ette)
e) quality (-ness)
f) feminine gender (-ess)
g) abstract notion (-hood0
h) derogatory meaning (-ard, -ster)
3) Lexico-grammatical:
a) suffixes added to verbal stems (-er, -ing, -able)
b) suffixes added to noun stems (-ful, ster,-nik)
c) suffixes added to adjective stems (-ly, -ish, -ness, -en)
4) Origin of suffixes:
a) native ( -er, -ful, -ly, -dom, -ed, -en, -hood, -ing)
b) Romanic ( (-tion, -ment, -able/ible, -ard)
c) Greek ( -ist, -ism, -ize)
d) Russian (-nik)
5) Productivity :
a) productive (-er, -ize,-ly,-ness)
b) semi-productive ( -eer, -ette,--ward)
c) non-productive ( -ard, -th)
6) Structure :
a)simple (-er, -ist)
b) compound ( -ical, -ation, -manship
Preffixes :
1) Semantic classificaton :
a) negative meaning (in-,non-, un-)
b) denoting repetition or reversative actions ( de-, dis, re-)
c) denoting time, space and degree relations ( inter-, hyper-, ex-,pre)
2) origin of prefixes:
a) native ( germanic- un-, over-, under-)
b) Romanic (ex-, re-,de-)
c) .Greek ( sym-,hyper-)
Composition.
The structural unity of a compound word depends upon: the unity of stress,
solid or hyphenated spelling, semantic unity, unity of morphological and
syntactical functioning.
Ways of forming compound words:
Reduplication
Partial
conversion
from wordgroups
Back
formation
from
compound
analogy
Contrast
nouns
Too-too
Can-do
To baby-sit
Lie-in (sit-in) Brain-gain
Rope-ripe
Make-up
To fingerBrown-gain
Toy-boy
print
(brain-drain)
English compounds can be classified according to:
1) the parts of speech:
nouns (glpbe-trotter), adjectives ( free-for-all), verbs (to honeymoon),
adverbs ( headfirst), prepositions ( into), numerals ( fifty-five)
2) According to the way the components are joined together:
a) neutral (ballpoint), morphological ( sportsman), syntactical ( hereand-now, do-or-die)
3) According to their structure :
a) compound words proper( train-sick), compound-affixed (
videoplayer), compound-shortened words ( Eurodollar)
4) According to the relations between the components:
a) subordinative compounds : comparative relations (eggshell-thin),
limiting relations (knee-deep), time relations ( summer-house), , sex
relations (she-goat)
b) Coordinative relations : compound relations where one person has
two functions (woman-doctor), tautological compounds ( roadway
5) According to the order ( direct (syntactic), indirect ( nuclear-free)
6) According to the meaning :idiomatic and non-idiomatic.
Conversion
N---V ( to eye, to crowd, to fish, to winter)
V----N ( a jump, a sleep, a scold)
Abbreviation
Graphical abbreviation:
of latin origin (e.g., a.m., No., ie)
of native origin (Mon – Monday, Aug – August, Yorks – Yorkshive;
Mr, Mrs, Ms, col – colonel; BA – Bachelor of Arts;
m - can be read as: male, married, masculine, metre, mile, million,
minute.
Initial abbreviation (initialisms)
1) with alphabetical reading (UK)
2) read as words (acronyms) (UNESCO)
3) coincide with words (NOW, CLASS)
CLIPPING:
1) the beginning of word is clipped (apheresis)
copter ← helicopter
2) the middle of the word is clipped (syncope)
maths ← mathematics
3) the end is clipped (apocope)
expo (exposition); в русском: уже – уж, или – иль.
Sometimes we have a combination of apocope with apheresis
tec (detective), van (avantguard).
Secondary ways of wordbuilding.
Sound interchange
(to strike – stroke, to sing – song, blood – bleed, life – to live)
Stress interchange
(to ex’port – ‘export, to re’cord – ‘record, to ex’tract - ‘extract)
Sound imitation
a) sounds produced by human beings (to giggle, to whistle)
b) sounds produced by animals, birds… (to bark, to twitter)
c) sounds produced by nature and objects (to splash, to bubble)
BLENDING
Here two ways of word-building are combined: abbreviation and
composition. As a result we have a compound-affixed word
Smog = smoke + fog; chunnel = channel tunnel.
BACK FORMATION (or DISAFFIXATION)
The final morpheme of a word is dropped as a result of misunderstanding
the structure of a borrowedword.
(beggar was borrowed from French, → beg.)
(to bach from bachelor)
6.The Word stock of the English language
Etymological survey of the English word-stock
Native words. They constitute only 30% of the English vocabulary, are the most frequently
used words.
Indo-European – the oldest layer: words denoting kinship (father, pater, Vater); words
denoting animals and birds (cat, Katze,кот); parts of a human body (heart, Hertz, сердце);
Common Germanic – (German, Norwegian, Dutch, Icelandic) : summer, winter, life, shoe,
buy, burn, meet, rise, see, broad, dead, deaf, deep etc.
Native words have a great wordbuilding capacity, they are mostly polysemantic.
BORROWINGS.
More than two thirds of the English vocabulary are borrowings. Mostly they are words of
Romanic origin ( Latin, French, Italian, Spanish). Source of borrowing – the language from
which the word was taken. The origin of borrowing – the language to which the word may be
traced. (paper ←Fr papier ←Lat papyrus← Gr papyrus).
English now has become a giving language, a lingua franca of the 21st century.
Classification of borrowings according to the borrowed aspect.
1) Phonetic borrowings (loan words proper) labour, travel, table
2) Translation loans (masterpiece -German, to take the bull by the horns –Latin)
3) Semantic borrowings (gift – OE «выкуп за жену», MnE «дар, подарок»)
4) Morphemic borrowings (-able)
Classification of borrowings according to the degree of assimilation.
2) Completely assimilated (are not felt as foreign words – capital, service, gate, correct)
3) Partly assimilated (non-assimilated semantically –taiga, steppe; non-assimilated
grammatically – phenomenon-phenomena; non-assimilated phonetically –voice, zero;
partly assimilated graphically –chaos, psychology)
4) Non- assimilated (barbarisms – dolce vita, coup d’etat)
Classification of borrowings according to the language from which they were
borrowed.
1) Romanic borrowings:
a) Latin (street, wall, dean)
b) French (the largest group –state, government, army, battle, coat, collar, dinner,
lunch, appetite)
c) Italian (bank, basso, solo)
d) Spanish (cargo, embargo, tobacco, banana, guitar)
2) Germanic:
e)Scandinavian (skirt, scream, call, call, die, egg)
f) German (zinc, cobalt, iceberg, lobby, kindergarten)
g) Dutch ( skipper, dock, leak)
Etymological doublets – words that are borrowed twice (skirt-shirt, castle-chateau)
International words – (gene, football, shorts, piano).
The word-stock of the English language is divided into three main layers:
the literary layer, the neutral layer and the colloquial layer.
The literary and the colloquial layers contain a number of subgroups each of which
has a property it shares with all the subgroups within the layer. This common
property, which unites the different groups of words within the layer may be called
its aspect.
The aspect of the literary layer is its markedly bookish character. This makes the
layer more or less stable.
The aspect of the colloquial layer of words is its lively spoken character. This makes
it unstable, fleeting. The aspect of the neutral layer is its universal character. That
means it is unrestricted in its use. This makes the layer the most stable of all.
The literary vocabulary consists of the following groups of words:
1) Common literary;
2) Terms and learned words;
3) Poetic words
4) Archaic words
5) Barbarisms and foreign words
6) Literary coinages, including nonce-words
The colloquial vocabulary falls into the following groups:
1) Colloquial words
2) Slang
3) Jargonisms
4) Professional words
5) Dialectical words
6) Vulgar words
7) Colloquial coinages.
The common literary, neutral and common colloquial words are called standard
English vocabulary. Other groups in the literary layer are regarded as special literary
vocabulary and those in the colloquial layer are regarded as special colloquial(nonliterary) vocabulary.
14. SYNONYMS нужно в Печать !!
Synonyms are words different in their outer aspects, but identical or similar in
their inner aspects. In English there are a lot of synonyms, because there are
many borrowings, e.g. hearty / native/ - cordial/ borrowing/. After a word is
borrowed it undergoes desynonymization, because absolute synonyms are
unnecessary for a language. However, there are some absolute synonyms in the
language, which have exactly the same meaning and belong to the same style,
e.g. to moan, to groan; homeland, motherland etc. In cases of desynonymization
one of the absolute synonyms can specialize in its meaning and we get
semantic synonyms, e.g. «city» /borrowed/, «town» /native/. The French
borrowing «city» is specialized. In other cases native words can be specialized
in their meanings, e.g. «stool» /native/, «chair» /French/.
Sometimes one of the absolute synonyms is specialized in its usage and we get
stylistic synonyms, e.g. «to begin»/ native/, «to commence» /borrowing/. Here
the French word is specialized. In some cases the native word is specialized, e.g.
«welkin» /bookish/, «sky» /neutral/.
Stylistic synonyms can also appear by means of abbreviation. In most cases the
abbreviated form belongs to the colloquial style, and the full form to the neutral
style, e.g. «examination’, «exam».
Among stylistic synonyms we can point out a special group of words which are
called euphemisms. These are words used to substitute some unpleasant or
offensive words, e.g «the late» instead of «dead», «to perspire» instead of «to
sweat» etc.
There are also phraseological synonyms, these words are identical in their
meanings and styles but different in their combining with other words in the
sentence, e.g. «to be late for a lecture» but «to miss the train», «to visit
museums» but «to attend lectures» etc.
In each group of synonyms there is a word with the most general meaning,
which can substitute any word in the group, e.g. «piece» is the synonymic
dominant in the group «slice», «lump», «morsel». The verb « to look at» is the
synonymic dominant in the group «to stare», «to glance», «to peep». The
adjective «red’ is the synonymic dominant in the group «purple», «scarlet»,
«crimson».
When speaking about the sources of synonyms, besides desynonymization and
abbreviation, we can also mention the formation of phrasal verbs, e.g. «to give
up» - «to abandon», «to cut down» - «to diminish».
ANTONYMS
Antonyms are words belonging to the same part of speech, identical in style,
expressing contrary or contradictory notions.
V.N. Comissarov in his dictionary of antonyms classified them into two groups :
absolute or root antonyms /»late» - «early»/ and derivational antonyms / «to
please’ - «to displease»/ . Absolute antonyms have different roots and
derivational antonyms have the same roots but different affixes. In most cases
negative prefixes form antonyms / un-, dis-, non-/. Sometimes they are formed
by means of suffixes -ful and -less.
The number of antonyms with the suffixes ful- and -less is not very large, and
sometimes even if we have a word with one of these suffixes its antonym is
formed not by substituting -ful by less-, e.g. «successful» -»unsuccessful»,
«selfless» - «selfish». The same is true about antonyms with negative prefixes,
e.g. «to man» is not an antonym of the word «to unman», «to disappoint» is not
an antonym of the word «to appoint».
The difference between derivational and root antonyms is not only in their
structure, but in semantics as well. Derivational antonyms express contradictory
notions, one of them excludes the other, e.g. «active»- «inactive». Absolute
antonyms express contrary notions. If some notions can be arranged in a group
of more than two members, the most distant members of the group will be
absolute antonyms, e.g. «ugly» , «plain», «good-looking», «pretty», «beautiful»,
the antonyms are «ugly» and «beautiful».
Leonard Lipka in the book «Outline of English Lexicology» describes different
types of oppositeness, and subdivides them into three types:
a) complementary, e.g. male -female, married -single,
b) antonyms, e.g. good -bad,
c) converseness, e.g. to buy - to sell.
In his classification he describes complimentarity in the following way: the
denial of the one implies the assertion of the other, and vice versa. «John is not
married» implies that «John is single». The type of oppositeness is based on
yes/no decision. Incompatibility only concerns pairs of lexical units.
Antonymy is the second class of oppositeness. It is distinguished from
complimentarity by being based on different logical relationships. For pairs of
antonyms like good/bad, big/small only the second one of the above mentioned
relations of implication holds. The assertion containing one member implies the
negation of the other, but not vice versa. «John is good» implies that «John is
not bad», but «John is not good» does not imply that «John is bad». The
negation of one term does not necessarily implies the assertion of the other.
An important linguistic difference from complementaries is that antonyms are
always fully gradable, e.g. hot, warm, tepid, cold.
Converseness is mirror-image relations or functions, e.g. husband/wife,
pupil/teacher, preceed/follow, above/below, before/after etc.
«John bought the car from Bill» implies that «Bill sold the car to John». Mirrorimage sentences are in many ways similar to the relations between active and
passive sentences. Also in the comparative form: »Y is smaller than X, then X is
larger than Y».
L. Lipka also gives the type which he calls directional opposition up/down,
consiquence opposition learn/know, antipodal opposition North/South,
East/West, ( it is based on contrary motion, in opposite directions.) The pairs
come/go, arrive/depart involve motion in different directions. In the case
up/down we have movement from a point P. In the case come/go we have
movement from or to the speaker.
L. Lipka also points out non-binary contrast or many-member lexical sets. Here
he points out serially ordered sets, such as scales / hot, warm, tepid, cool, cold/ ;
colour words / black, grey, white/ ; ranks /marshal, general, colonel, major,
captain etc./ There are gradable examination marks / excellent, good, average,
fair, poor/. In such sets of words we can have outer and inner pairs of antonyms.
He also points out cycles, such as units of time /spring, summer, autumn, winter/
. In this case there are no «outermost» members.
Not every word in a language can have antonyms. This type of opposition can
be met in qualitative adjectives and their derivatives, e.g. beautiful- ugly, to
beautify - to uglify, beauty - ugliness. It can be also met in words denoting
feelings and states, e.g. respect - scorn, to respect - to scorn, respectful scornful, to live - to die, alive - dead, life - death. It can be also met among
words denoting direction in space and time, e.g. here - there, up - down , now never, before - after, day - night, early - late etc.
If a word is polysemantic it can have several antonyms, e.g. the word «bright»
has the antonyms «dim», «dull», «sad».
Билет 15
Types of Word-Formation in Modern English.
By word-building are understood processes of producing new words from the
resources of this particular language. Word-building provides for enlarging and
enriching the vocabulary of the language. The four types (root words, derived
words, compounds, shortenings) represent the main structural types of Modern
English words, and conversion, derivation and composition the most productive
ways of word-building.
Structurally words consist of smaller units which are called morphemes.
Morphemes do not occur as free forms but only as constituents of words. Yet
they possess meanings of their own.
All morphemes are subdivided into two large classes: roots and affixes, which
fall into prefixes preceding the root in the structure of the word re-read and
suffixes which follow the root teach-er).
Words which consist of a root and an affix are called derived words or
derivatives and are produced by the process of word-building known as
affixation (or derivation).
Derived words are extremely numerous in the English vocabulary. The words
which has only a root morpheme in its structure so-called root word. This type is
widely represented by a great number of words belonging to the original English
stock or to earlier borrowings (house, room, book, work, port, street, table, etc.).
The process of affixation consists in coining a new word by adding an affix or
several affixes to some root morpheme. Affixes can also be classified into
productive and non-productive types. By productive affixes we mean the ones,
which take part in deriving new words in this particular period of language
development.
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. There
are different classifications of suffixes :
1. Part-of-speech classification. Suffixes which can form different parts of
speech:
a) noun-forming suffixes, such as : -er (teacher), -dom (wisdom),
b) adjective-forming suffixes, such as : - less(harmless),ous (prestigious),
c) verb-forming suffixes, such as -ize (computerize) , -ify (micrify),
d) adverb-forming suffixes , such as : -ly (quickly), -ward (tableward),
e) numeral-forming suffixes, such as -teen (sixteen), -ty (seventy).
2. Semantic classification . Suffixes canchange the lexical meaning of the stem
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 -ship(readership), -ati ( literati),
d) diminutiveness, e.g. -ie (horsie), -let (booklet), -ling (gooseling),
-ette (kitchenette),
e) quality, e.g. -ness (happyness), -ity (posibility).
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)
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.
(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. In English it is characteristic for
forming verbs. Prefixes used in notional word un- (unhappy)and prefixes used in
functional words. 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: re- (reread), dis(disconnect),
c) prefixes denoting time, space, degree relations, such as : inter(interplanetary), ex- (ex-student), 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.
Composition
This type of word-building, in which new words are produced by combining two
or more stems,.
Compounds are not homogeneous in structure. Traditionally three types are
distinguished: neutral, morphological and syntactic.
In neutral compounds the process of compounding is realised without any
linking elements, as in blackbird, shop-window, sunflower, bedroom, tallboy,
etc. There are three subtypes of neutral compounds depending on the structure
of the constituent stems:
The neutral compounds consisting of simple affixless stems blackbird.
Compounds which have affixes in their structure are called derived compounds.
E. g. absent-mindedness
The third subtype of neutral compounds is called contracted compounds. These
words have a shortened stem in their structure: TV-set
Morphological compounds are few in number. This type is non-productive. The
words in which two compounding stems are combined by a linking vowel e. g.
Anglo-Saxon, handicraft
Syntactic compounds are formed from segments of speech good-for-nothing,
mother-in-law, sit-at-home.)
The semantic aspect of compound words is of correlations of the separate
meanings of the constituent parts and the actual meaning of the compound.
question, let us consider the following groups of examples.
(1) Classroom - meaning can really be described as the sum of their constituent
meanings. football
In these compounds one of the components (or both) has changed its meaning
football is not a ball but a gamen. It is clear that in all these compounds the
meaning of the whole word cannot be defined as the sum of the constituent
meanings.
Shortening
Shortenings are produced in two different ways. The first is to make a new word
from a syllable (rarer, two) of the original word. The latter may lose its
beginning (as in phone made from telephone, fence from defence), its ending (as
vac from vacation, props from properties, ad from advertisement) or both the
beginning and ending (as in flu from influenza, fridge from refrigerator).
The second way of shortening is to make a new word from the initial letters of a
word group: U.N.O. ['ju:neu] from the United Nations Organisation, B.B.C.
from the British Broadcasting Corporation, M.P. from Member of Parliament.
Both types of shortenings are characteristic of informal speech.
in English can be formed not only by means of composition but also by means
of :
a) reduplication, In reduplication new words are made by doubling a stem,
either without any phonetic changes as in bye-bye (coll, for good-bye) or with a
variation of the root-vowel or consonantas in ping-pong, chit-chat (this second
type is called gradational reduplication).
b) conversion Conversion is referred to as an affixless way of word-building.
conversion as amorphological 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 (adial,dials) for the paradigm of a regular verb (I dial, he
dials, dialed,dialing)
c) back formation In these case the verb was made from the noun by
subtracting last morpheme buglar – to bugle
d) sound-immitation It is the way of word-building when a word is formed by
imitating different sounds of human beings, such as : to whisper, to giggle,
animals, birds, insects, such as : to hiss, to buzz, to bark, to moo, nature and
objects, such as : to splash, to rustle
The Word-Stock of the English
2. On the basis of the interrelation of lexical and grammatical types of meaning
words fall into two classes: notional words is the largest class, having a low
frequency of occurrence and form words — a numerically small class of words
with the highest frequency value. In notional words which are used in speech as
names of objects of reality, their qualities, names of actions, processes, states the
lexical meaning is predominant. In the majority of form words (prepositions,
articles, conjunctions), which primarily denote various relations between
notional words, it is the grammatical meaning that dominates over their lexical
meaning. The difference between notional and form words may be also
described in terms of open and closed sets of vocabulary units.2
4.The development of vocabulary is largely due to the rapid flow of events, the
progress of science and technology and emergence of new concepts in different
fields of human activity. As has been already mentioned, no vocabulary of any
living language is ever stable but is constantly changing, growing and decaying.
The changes occurring in the vocabulary are due both to linguistic and nonlinguistic causes, but in most cases to the combination of both. Words may drop
out altogether as a result of the disappearance of the actual objects they denote.
But the number of new words that appear in the language is so much greater
than those that drop out or become obsolete, that the development of
vocabularies may be described as a process of never-ending growth.
5.Distinction should be made between the qualitative growth of the vocabulary
as a result of semantic extension of the already available words and the
numerical replenishing of vocabulary as a result of appearance of new
vocabulary units.
The growth of the vocabulary reflects not only the general progress made by
mankind but also the peculiarities of the way of life of the speech community in
which the new words appear, the way its science and culture tend to develop.
The analysis of the development of the vocabulary of Modern English shows
that there are two aspects of the growth of the language — the appearance of
new lexical items which increase the vocabulary numerically and the appearance
of new meanings of old words.
Structurally new vocabulary items represent two types of lexical units: words
and word-group atomic pile — ‘reactor’, etc.
Words in their turn comprise various structural types: 2
simple words, zebra — ’street crossing-place, marked by black and white
stripes’;
derived words, such as centrism — ‘a middle-of-the road or a moderate position
in polities’, a preppie — ‘a student or graduate of a preparatory school (sl.)’;
c)compounds, e.g.; house-husband —
6. U.S. ‘a married man who manages a household’, etc. The analysis of new
words for their derivational structure shows a marked predominance of derived
and compound words and a rath
7. There are two ways of enriching the vocabulary as has been mentioned above:
A. vocabulary extension — the appearance of new lexical items. New
vocabulary units appear mainly as a result of:
1. productive or patterned ways of word-formation;
2. non-patterned ways of word-creation;
3. borrowing from other languages. B. semantic extension — the appearance of
new meanings of existing words which may result in homonyms.
8.Productive word-formation is the most powerful source of the numerical
growth of present-day English vocabulary.
There are various ways of non-patterned word creation. The two main types are
lexicalisation and shortening.
9.
The two main types of shortening are: a) transformations of word- groups
into words which involve substantivisation, acronyms and blend- ings and b)
clippings which consist in a change of the word-structure.
Borrowing as a source of vocabulary extension takes the shape of borrowing of
morphemes, borrowing of actual words and loan-translations. Especially active
nowadays is the formation of new words out of borrowed morphemes.
The exact number of vocabulary units in Modern English cannot be stated with
any degree of certainty for a number of reasons:
a)
Constant growth of Modern English word-stock.
b)
Intrinsic heterogeneity of Modern English vocabulary.
Divergent views concerning the nature of basic vocabulary units connected with
some crucial debatable problems of lexicology: homonymy, polysemy,
phraseology, nonce-words.
The absence of a sharp and distinct border-line between English and foreign
words and between modern and outdated English vocabulary units.
12. There is a considerable difference between the number of vocabulary
units in Modern English word-stock and the number of vocabulary items in
actual use.
The selection and number of vocabulary items for teaching purposes depends on
the aims set before language learners.
1. The comparative value and place of the word in the vocabulary system is
conditioned by the interdependence of the structural, semantic, stylistic and
etymological aspects of the words which is brought out most vividly in the
frequency value attached to each word.
2. On the basis of the interrelation of lexical and grammatical types of meaning
words fall into two classes: notional words and form words — a numerically
small class of words with the highest frequency value.
3 Words of high frequency value are mostly characterised by polysemy,
structural simplicity, neutral stylistic reference and emotive charge. They
generally belong either to the native words or to the early borrowings which are
already fully or almost fully assimilated.
Frequency also reflects the interdependence and comparative importance of
individual meanings within the word. The basic meaning of the word is at the
same time the meaning with the highest frequency value.
The development of vocabulary is largely due to the rapid flow of events, the
progress of science and technology and emergence of new concepts in different
fields of human activity.
Distinction should be made between the qualitative growth of the vocabulary as
a result of semantic extension of the already available words and the numerical
replenishing of vocabulary as a result of appearance of new vocabulary units.
There are three principal ways of the numerical growth of vocabulary: a)
productive word-formation, b) various non-patterned ways of word creation, c)
borrowings.
Productive word-formation is the most powerful source of the numerical growth
of present-day English vocabulary.
There are various ways of non-patterned word creation. The two main types are
lexicalisation and shortening.
9.
The two main types of shortening are: a) transformations of word- groups
into words which involve substantivisation, acronyms and blend- ings and b)
clippings which consist in a change of the word-structure.
Borrowing as a source of vocabulary extension takes the shape of borrowing of
morphemes, borrowing of actual words and loan-translations. Especially active
nowadays is the formation of new words out of borrowed morphemes.
The exact number of vocabulary units in Modern English cannot be stated with
any degree of certainty for a number of reasons:
a)
Constant growth of Modern English word-stock.
b)
Intrinsic heterogeneity of Modern English vocabulary.
Divergent views concerning the nature of basic vocabulary units connected with
some crucial debatable problems of lexicology: homonymy, polysemy,
phraseology, nonce-words.
The absence of a sharp and distinct border-line between English and foreign
words and between modern and outdated English vocabulary units.
12. There is a considerable difference between the number of vocabulary
units in Modern English word-stock and the number of vocabulary items in
actual use.
The selection and number of vocabulary items for teaching purposes depends on
the aims set before language learners.
17. homonymy polysemy Просмотреть ещё раз!!!
Monosemantic words, i.e. words having only one meaning are comparatively
few in number, these are mainly scientific terms, such -as hydrogen, molecule
and the like. The bulk of English words are polysemantic, that is to say possess
more than one meaning. The actual number of meanings of the commonly used
words ranges from five to about a hundred. The word table, e.g., has at least nine
meanings in Modern English: 1. a piece of furniture; 2. the persons seated at a
table; 3. sing. the food put on a table, meals; 4. a thin flat piece of stone, metal,
wood, etc.; 5. pl. slabs of stone; 6. words cut into them or written on them (the
ten tables); 2 7. an orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc.; 8. part of a
machine-tool on which the work is put to be operated on; 9. a level area, a
plateau. Each of the individual meanings can be described in terms of the types
of meanings discussed above.
In polysemantic words we are faced not with the problem of analysis of
individual meanings, but primarily with the problem of the interrelation and
interdependence of the various meanings in the semantic structure of one and the
same word.
The word «polysemy» means «plurality of meanings» it exists only in the
language, not in speech. A word which has more than one meaning is called
polysemantic.
Different meanings of a polysemantic word may come together due to the
proximity of notions which they express. E.g. the word «blanket» has the
following meanings: a woolen covering used on beds, a covering for keeping a
horse warm, a covering of any kind /a blanket of snow/, covering all or most
cases /used attributively/, e.g. we can say «a blanket insurance policy».
There are some words in the language which are monosemantic, such as most
terms, /synonym, molecule, bronchites/, some pronouns /this, my, both/,
numerals.
There are two processes of the semantic development of a word: radiation and
concatination. In cases of radiation the primary meaning stands in the centre and
the secondary meanings proceed out of it like rays. Each secondary meaning can
be traced to the primmary meaning. E.g. in the word «face» the primary
meaning denotes «the front part of the human head» Connected with the front
position the meanings: the front part of a watch, the front part of a building, the
front part of a playing card were formed. Connected with the word «face» itself
the meanings : expression of the face, outward appearance are formed.
In cases of concatination secondary meanings of a word develop like a chain. In
such cases it is difficult to trace some meanings to the primary one. E.g. in the
word «crust» the primary meaning «hard outer part of bread» developed a
secondary meaning «hard part of anything /a pie, a cake/», then the meaning
»harder layer over soft snow» was developed, then «a sullen gloomy person»,
then «impudence» were developed. Here the last meanings have nothing to do
with the primary ones. In such cases homonyms appear in the language. It is
called the split of polysemy.
In most cases in the semantic development of a word both ways of semantic
development are combined.
Homonyms are words different in meaning but identical in sound or spelling, or
both in sound and spelling.Homonyms can appear in the language not only as
the result of the split of polysemy, but also as the result of levelling of grammar
inflexions, when different parts of speech become identical in their outer aspect,
e.g. «care» from «caru» and «care» from «carian». They can be also formed by
means of conversion, e.g. «to slim» from «slim», «to water» from «water». They
can be formed with the help of the same suffix from the same stem, e.g.
«reader»/ a person who reads and a book for reading/.
Homonyms can also appear in the language accidentally, when two words
coincide in their development, e.g. two native words can coincide in their outer
aspects: «to bear» from «beran»/to carry/ and «bear» from «bera»/an animal/. A
native word and a borrowing can coincide in their outer aspects, e.g. «fair» from
Latin «feria» and «fair « from native «fager» /blond/. Two borrowings can
coincide e.g. «base» from the French «base» /Latin basis/ and «base» /low/ from
the Latin «bas» /Italian «basso»/.
Homonyms can develop through shortening of different words, e.g. «cab» from
«cabriolet», «cabbage», «cabin».
Classifications of homonyms.
Walter Skeat classified homonyms according to their spelling and sound forms
and he pointed out three groups: perfect homonyms that is words identical in
sound and spelling, such as : «school» - «косяк рыбы» and «школа» ;
homographs, that is words with the same spelling but pronounced differently,
e.g. «bow» -/bau/ - «поклон» and /bou/ - «лук»; homophones that is words
pronounced identically but spelled differently, e.g. «night» - «ночь» and
«knight» - «рыцарь».
Another classification was suggested by A.I Smirnitsky. He added to Skeat’s
classification one more criterion: grammatical meaning. He subdivided the
group of perfect homonyms in Skeat’s classification into two types of
homonyms: perfect which are identical in their spelling, pronunciation and their
grammar form, such as :»spring» in the meanings: the season of the year, a leap,
a source, and homoforms which coincide in their spelling and pronunciation but
have different grammatical meaning, e.g. «reading» - Present Participle, Gerund,
Verbal noun., to lobby - lobby .
A more detailed classification was given by I.V. Arnold. She classified only
perfect homonyms and suggested four criteria of their classification: lexical
meaning, grammatical meaning, basic forms and paradigms.
According to these criteria I.V. Arnold pointed out the following groups: a)
homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings, basic forms and paradigms
and different in their lexical meanings, e.g. «board» in the meanings «a council»
and « a piece of wood sawn thin»; b) homonyms identical in their grammatical
meanings and basic forms, different in their lexical meanings and paradigms,
e.g. to lie - lied - lied, and to lie - lay - lain; c) homonyms different in their
lexical meanings, grammatical meanings, paradigms, but coinciding in their
basic forms, e.g. «light» / «lights»/, «light» / «lighter», «lightest»/; d)
homonyms different in their lexical meanings, grammatical meanings, in their
basic forms and paradigms, but coinciding in one of the forms of their
paradigms, e.g. «a bit» and «bit» (from « to bite»).
In I. V. Arnold’s classification there are also patterned homonyms, which,
differing from other homonyms, have a common component in their lexical
meanings. These are homonyms formed either by means of conversion, or by
levelling of grammar inflexions. These homonyms are different in their
grammar meanings, in their paradigms, identical in their basic forms, e.g.
«warm» - «to warm». Here we can also have unchangeable patterned homonyms
which have identical basic forms, different grammatical meanings, a common
component in their lexical meanings, e.g. «before» an adverb, a conjunction, a
preposition. There are also homonyms among unchangeable words which are
different in their lexical and grammatical meanings, identical in their basic foms,
e.g. « for» - «для» and «for» - «ибо».
1/ The Phoneme Classification of
The branch of phonetics that studies the linguistic function of consonants
and vowel sounds, syllabic structures, word accent and prosodic features is
called phonology. Phonology investigates the social aspect of sounds, syllables,
phrases and so on.
When we talk about the sounds of a language, the term “sound” can be
interpreted in two rather different ways. In the first place, we can say that [t] and
[d] are two different sounds in English. They contrast with each other to make a
difference of meaning. Take, for example, [tu: - du:], [tik - dik], etc. But on the
other hand, if we listen carefully to the [t] in “take” and compare it with the [t]
in “at the”, we can hear that the 2 sounds are also not the same, the [t] of “take”
is alveolar, while the [t] of “at the” is dental. In both examples the sounds differ
in one articulatory feature only (t/d - voiceless/voiced; t/t¶ - alveolar/dental). But
in the second case the difference between the sounds has functionally no
significance. It is perfectly clear, that the sense of the word “sound” in these 2
cases is different. To avoid this ambiguity, linguists use 2 separate terms:
“phoneme” is used to mean “sound” in its contrastive sense, and “allophone” is
used for sounds which are variants of a phoneme: they usually occur in different
positions in the word, cannot contrast with each other, so they are not used to
differentiate the meaning.
The Phoneme Theory was developed by Prof. Baudouin de Courteney, the
founder of the Kazan Linguistic School. There are several conceptions of the
phoneme. One of them was suggested by L. V. Scherba. He described it as a
functional, material and abstract unit. Another phonetician, V. A. Vassilyev,
defined the phoneme like this: "Phoneme is the smallest language unit that exists
in the form of speech sounds which can distinguish one word of the same
language or one grammatical form of a word from another grammatical form of
the same word".
Firstly, the phoneme is a functional unit. It means that the opposition of
phonemes can differentiates the meaning of words and even the whole phrases:
slow-blow; tooth-teeth; He was heard badly-He was hurt badly. Secondly, the
phoneme is material, real and objective. It is realised in speech in the form of
speech sounds, its allophones.
Those allophones which do not change in the chain of speech (for example,
when they occur in an isolated position) are called principal. At the same time
there are predictable changes, which sounds undergo in different phonetic
context (especially under the influence of the neighbouring sounds, intonation,
etc.). Such allophones are called secondary.
The examples below illustrate the articulatory modifications of the phoneme [t]
in various phonetic contexts:
[t] in "tea" is a bit palatalized; in "not there" it is dental; in "not quite" it loses
its plosion; in "little" it is pronounced with the lateral plosion; in "not many" with the nasal plosion; in "try" it becomes post-alveolar; in "stare" - nonaspirated. In spite of the difference in the pronunciation of [t] in different
positions it can be easily noticed that all its allophones possess some common
features, all of them are forelingual, voiceless stops.
In learning English pronunciation the starting point should be, the articulation of
the principal allophone, but special training of the subsidiary allophones should
be provided too.
Apart from predictable changes there are stylistic, dialectal, individual,
occasional modifications. In fact, we pronounce phones.
The third aspect of the phoneme is an abstract. Native speakers may not realise
the difference between allophones, because this difference doesn’t affect the
meaning. So native speakers abstract themselves from the difference between
the allophones of the same phoneme because it has no functional value. At the
same time they understand that they can’t change any of articulatory features
which are common to all the allophones of the same phoneme without
destroying the meaning. This particular features which are common to all the
allophones of one phoneme are called the invariant of the phoneme. Neither of
them can be changed without changing the meaning.
For example, the invariant of [t] consists of the following articulatory features:
occlusive, forelingual and voiceless. If we change the occlusive articulation for
constrictive, [t] will be replaced by [s] (tea-sea; tick-sick); if we change the
forelingual articulation for backlingual [t] will be replaced by [k] (bat-back;
tick-kick); if the fortis articulation is changed for lenis [t] will be replaced by [d]
(bet-bed; tear-bear).
The articulatory features of the invariant of the phoneme are relevant. The
articulatory features which do not serve to distinguish meaning are called
irrelevant (aspiration, for example, is a non-distinctive feature in the English
language).
Any change in the invariant of the phoneme affects to meaning. Naturally,
anyone who studies a foreign language makes mistakes in the articulation of
some sounds. Scherba classifies the pronunciation mistakes as phonological and
phonetic.
If any allophone of some phoneme is replaced by an allophone of a different
phoneme, the mistake is called phonological, because the meaning of the word is
affected. For example: debt-dead; beat-bit, bed-bad.
If an allophone of the phoneme is replaced by another allophone of the same
phoneme the mistake is called phonetic. The meaning of the word does not
change. Nevertheless, language learners are advised not to let phonetic mistakes
into their pronunciation, as they cause their foreign accent.
MODIFICATIONS OF SOUNDS IN CONNECTED SPEECH
When a phoneme is articulated separately it displays all its characteristic
features. But phonemes are seldom articulated in isolation. In speaking they are
generally used in sentences consisting of a number of words, and, consequently,
are pronounced in sequences of sounds, interrupted by pauses. There are
actually some remarkable differences between the pronunciation of a word in
isolation and of the same word in a block of connected speech. When phonemes
are pronounced in sequences, we observe the phenomenon of adaptation - the
speech organs adjust themselves to make a more convenient transition from one
articulation to another. Such changes in the articulation of sounds in speech are
mostly quite regular and predictable.They can be devided into some groups:
assimilation, accommodation, vowel reduction and elision.
The modification of a consonant by a neighbouring consonant in the speech
chain is known as assimilation. It may be of two kinds: historical and “living”
or functioning. Classical examples of historical assimilation can be found in
words borrowed from Norman-French: permission, measure. Here we see the
adaptation of the articulation of [s] and [z] to the articulation of the [j]-phoneme.
We also distinguish between “obligatory” and “non-obligatory” assimilation.
Obligatory assimilation occur in the speech of all persons who speak a certain
language, no matter what style of speech is used. Non-obligatory assimilation
appears in rapid speech and should be avoided.
In the adaptation of articulations is observed two principles: 1) the speech
organs are prepared beforehand for the articulation of a sound that follow, and
then it is called regressive (newspaper); or 2) the activity of speech organs
continue after the sound has been articulated, in this case it is called
progressive(gets).
We also distinguish between complete and partial assimilation. When one
or more features of the sounds are adapted, we have partial assimilation (tree).
When all the features are adapted, we have a case of complete assimilation
(horseshoe).
The term accommodation is used to denote the modification of consonants
under the influence of vowels and vice versa. (never, men - vowels become
slightly nasalized; pour- consonants become a bit labialised.
Vowel reduction is the weakening of vowels in unstressed positions:
‘blackboard, ‘postman.
Elision is a complete loss of sounds, both vowels and consonants, is often
observed in English. It is minimal in slow speech and maximal in rapid relaxed
colloquial speech (has, does, is, don’t want).
English consonants in connected speech
Qualitative features of consonant sounds may be changed in the process of their
interrelation in a speech chain.
Consonants are modified according to 1) the place of articulation: dental, postalveolar…
2)the manner of articulation
1. Loss of plosion (partial regressive) - glad to see you, great trouble
2. Lateral plosion (partial regressive) - settle, at last
3. Nasal plosion (partial regressive) - not now, at night
English vowels in connected speech
The articulation of English vowels is adapted to that of consonants only to a
very slight extent. To a Russian, they do not seem to change at all in connected
speech compared with Russian vowels, which are strongly modified by
consonants (palatalisation - ñïÿò, Þëÿ). Vowels between palatalised consonants
are closer than between non-palatalised ones - äåòè/øåñò.
In English we can speak about the quantitative modification of vowels, when the
shortening of the vowel length occurs before voiceless consonants: - he - heat.
The same kind of modification can be found in an unstressed position - window,
blackboard.
Qualitative modification of most vowels occurs in unstressed positions. In these
cases the quality of the vowel is reduced to the neutral sound.
In rapid colloquial speech reduction or complete omission of the unstressed
vowel can take place - literature, factory.
Stylistic modifications of sounds
Stylistic modifications are observed in the two large types of pronunciation formal and informal. Formal speech suggests unemotional information on the
part of the speaker. It is characterised by careful articulation and relatively slow
speed. Informal speech is everyday conversation. The use of simplified sounds
is typical here. guistic situations of communication also determine the degree of
sound modifications.
For the stylistic modifications of sounds is also important to pay attention to the
character of relationship between the speaker and the listener and the degree of
formality in their discourse. Modifications also differs in prepared and nonprepared speech, in speaking, reading in monolog, in dialog, but such
modifications are not reducted in speaker’s and listener’s minds, because they
do not affect to the meaning.
8 INTONATION
Intonation is a language universal. There are no languages which are spoken as a
monotone. When we speak we have to change intonation parameters.
Most people don’t pay attention to the intonation. We use it unconsciously.
When people begin to study a foreign language they usually concentrate on
sounds. A lot of them say that to study intonation you should have a special
skills. First of all its difficult to hear all the shades of intonation of a foreign
language, but it is more difficult to reproduce the right intonation.
Most linguists agree that intonation is a complex, formed by significant
variations of pitch, tempo and loudness. Some linguists add timber as the 4th
component of intonation. Nowadays there is another term for intonation
“prosody” which means intonation in the most general way. It is widely used in
linguistic literature and seems more adequate.
Among the three components pitch and pitch movements are considered to be
the most important for functional aims.
On acoustic level pitch correlates with the frequency of the vibration of the
vocal cords; loudness correlates with the amplitude of vibrations; tempo is a
correlate of time. Further on we shall consider intonation in the terms of
auditory level, which are more suitable for the aims of teaching.
Each syllable of the speech chain has a special pitch colouring. Some of the
syllables have significant moves of tone up and down. Each syllable bears
(обладает) a definite amount of loudness. Pitch movements are connected with
loudness. Together with the tempo of speech they form an intonation pattern
(интонационный рисунок), which is the basic unit of intonation.
Intonation patterns serve to actualise syntagms in oral speech. A syntagm is a
group of words which is semantically and syntactically complete (подл.-сказ.,
сущ,-прил,). In Phonetics actualised syntagms are called intonation groups. A
phrase may contain more than one intonation group. The number of intonation
groups depends on the length of the phrase and the degree of semantic
importance given to various parts, etc. (The boy| was ‘not a model pupil - The
boy was not a model ‘pupil).
Pitch parameters can be devided into three components: the direction of pitch,
pitch level and pitch range.
Not all stressed syllables are of equal importance. One of the syllables has the
greater prominence than the others and forms the nucleus of an intonation
pattern. So nucleus is generally the last stressed syllable in an intonation pattern
( The boy was not a model ‘pupil). The nuclear tone is the most important part of
the intonation pattern. It is the movement of tone on this syllable. Without it the
intonation group cannot exist at all. On the other hand an intonation pattern may
consist of one syllable which is its nucleus.
The following 6 most important nuclear tones are distinguished: Low Fall (What
a cold day), High Fall (What a cold day), Low Rise( Will you do it?), High Rise
(Will you do it?), Fall-Rise (George, to the left). Each nuclear tone has a special
meaning. All falling tone expresses “certainty, completeness, finality”. A rising
tone expresses “uncertainty, dependence, incompleteness”. A falling-rising tone
combines the falling tone’s meaning of certainty and the rising tone’s meaning
of dependence, so at the end the phrase often conveys a feeling of reservation,
that it suggests that there is smth more to be said (Do you like pop-music?
Sometimes).
There is one more kind of nuclear tone, with no pitch movement - the level
nuclear tone. It has the meaning of boredom, sometimes sarcasm. Low-level
tone is characteristic of reading poetry. Mid-level tone is particularly common in
spontaneous speech.
The tone of a nucleus determines the pitch of the rest of the intonation pattern
(tail). The nucleus and the tail form what is called terminal tone. Thus after a
falling tone the rest of the intonation pattern is at a low pitch. After a rising tone
the rest moves in an upward direction. (‘No, Mary - ’Well, Mary).
The syllables which preceed the nuclear form is called head. The head begins
with the first stress syllable and continues to the nuclears.
To sum it up, we may say that minimally an intonation pattern consists of one
syllable, the nucleus; maximally it consists of three other segments - the head
and the tail.
Two more pitch parameters are pitch range (normal, wide, narrow) and pitch
level (high, medium, low).
All parts of the intonation pattern can be combined in various ways, thus
manifesting changes in meaning. The number of combinations is more than a
hundred.
The tempo of speech consists of the rate of the utterance and pausation. The rate
can be normal, slow and fast. The parts of the utterance which are particularly
important sound slower. Utterances are devided into smaller parts by means of
pauses. Usually a pause is a complete stop of phonation. Usually three kinds of
pauses are distinguished:
1. Short pauses separate intonation groups
2. Longer pauses is at the end of the phrase.
3. Very long pauses are used to separate paragraphs.
Functionally pauses may be syntactic, emphatic and hesitation.
Syntactic pauses separate paragraphs, phrases, intonation groups. Emphatic
pauses serve to make prominent certain parts of the utterance. Hesitation pauses
are mainly used in spontaneous speech to think over what to say next. They may
be silent or filled.
INTONATION AND ITS FUNCTION
The main function of intonation is communicative function. One of the aims of
communication is the exchange of information between people. The meaning of
an English utterance derpends not only on the grammatical structure, the lexical
composition, but also on its intonation.
The communicative function of intonation is realized in various ways.
1. First of all intonation serves to structure the information content so as to
show which information is new or which is already possessed by the listener.
2.grammatic function. It serves to determine the speech function of a phrase
(whether it is a statement, a command, a question, etc.). (Do it , please)
3.pragmatic function To convey meanings of attitude and emotions (surprise,
annoyance, enthusiasm, etc.).
4. To structure a text. On the one hand it delimitates texts into smaller units
(phrases, intonation groups), on the other hand it integrates these smaller
constituents forming a complete text.
5. To differentiate shades of the meaning of phrases and texts (intonation
groups, phrases, phonetic passages) of the same grammatical structure and the
same lexical composition, and that is the distinctive or phonological function of
intonation.
6. To characterise a particular style (stylistic function).
11. Periods in the history of the English language
Traditionally they single out 3 periods in the development of the system of the
English Language
Old English (Y-X c.), Middle English (X-XY) New English (XY-XYII)/ The
criteria of the classification present two different approaches
the extra linguistic one based on historical events Y th century the cconquest of
the British isles by the Germanic tribes Angles, Saxes, Jutes and Friezes – up to
the Scandinavian Conquest and the formation of Dane lag in the Xth century
etc/
linguistic criteria, first suggested by H.Sweet, who took into account the
development of the morphological system of the English language and singled
out the period of “full endings”, the period of “reduced endings” and the period
of “lost endings”
a complex of linguistic criteria, taking into consideration the development of
the three subsystems of the language the phonetic, the grammatical system and
the vocabulary ( Ivavanova I.P. Arakin )
English vocabulary contains an immense number of words of foreign origin. The
history of the language which is closely connected with the history of the nation
explains it.
The first century В. С. Most of the territory of Europe is occupied by the Roman
Empire. Among the inhabitants of the continent are Germanic tribes. Their stage
of development is really primitive, especially if compared with the high
civilisation of Rome. Their tribal languages contain only Indo-European and
Germanic elements.
After a number of wars between the Germanic tribes and the Romans these two
opposing peoples come into peaceful contact. The Germanic people gain
knowledge of new and useful things. Only products known to the Germanic
tribes were meat and milk. From the Romans they learn names of some
foodstuffs and, as there are no words for them in their tribal languages, they are
to use the Latin words. Here are some more examples of Latin borrowings of
this period: cup (Lat. cuppa), , port (Lat. portus), wine (Lat. vinum).
The Germanic tribal languages gained a considerable number of new words and
were thus enriched. All these Latin words became the earliest group of
borrowings in the future English language.
The fifth century A. D. Several of the Germanic tribes (the most numerous
amongst them being the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes) migrated across the
sea to the British Isles. The Celts the original inhabitants of the Isles defended
their lands against the invaders, but they gradually yielded most of their
territory. Through their numerous contacts with the defeated Celts, the
conquerors got to know and a number of Celtic words (Mod. E. bald, down,
glen, druid, bard, cradle). Especially numerous among the Celtic borrowings
were place names, names of rivers, bills, etc. The Germanic tribes occupied the
land, but the names of many parts and features of their territory remained Celtic.
For instance, the names of the rivers Avon, Exe, Esk, Usk, Ux originate from
Celtic words meaning "river" and "water".
Some Latin words entered the Anglo-Saxon languages through Celtic, among
them such widely-used words as street (Lat. strata via) and wall (Lat. vallum).
The seventh century A. D. This century was significant for the christianisation of
England. Latin was the official language of the Christian church, and it was a
new period of Latin borrowings. These words came not from spoken Latin, but
from church Latin. Also, these new Latin borrowings were very different in
meaning from the earlier ones. They mostly indicated persons, objects and ideas
associated with church and religious rituals. E. g. priest (Lai. presbyter), bishop
(Lai. episcopus), monk (Lat. monachus), nun (Lai. nonna), candle (Lai.
candela).
Among them were educational terms. It was quite natural because the first
schools in England were church schools, and the first teachers priests and
monks. So, the very word school is a Latin borrowing (Lat. schola, of Greek
origin) and so are such words as scholar (Lai. scholar(-is) and magister (Lat.
ma-gister).
From the end of the 8th c. to the middle of the 11th c. England underwent
several Scandinavian invasions. There are some words of early Scandinavian
borrowings:husband, n. (< Sc. hus + bondi, i. e. "inhabitant of the house"),
window n. (< Sc. vindauga, i. e. "the eye of the wind"), ill, adj., loose, adj., low,
adj., weak, adj.
Some of the words of this group are easily recognisable as Scandinavian
borrowings by the initial sk- combination. E. g. sky, skill, skin, ski, skirt.
Certain English words changed their meanings under the influence of
Scandinavian words of the same root. So, the O. E. bread which meant "piece"
associats with the Scandinavian brand.
The О. Е. dream which meant "joy" assimilated the meaning of the
Scandinavian draumr(cf. with the Germ. Traum "dream" and the R. дрёма).
1066. With the famous Battle of Hastings, when the English were defeated by
the Normans under William the Conqueror, it is epoch of the Norman Conquest.
England became a bi-lingual country, and theis period made great influence on
the English vocabulary: French words from the Norman dialect penetrated every
aspect of social life.
Administrative words: state, government, parliament, council, power.
Legal terms: court, judge, justice, crime, prison.
Military terms: army, war, soldier, officer, battle, enemy.
Educational terms: pupil, lesson, library, science, pen, pencil.
Everyday life:. table, plate, saucer, dinner, supper, river, autumn, uncle, etc.
The Renaissance Period. In England, as in all European countries, this period
was marked by significant developments in science, art and culture and, also, by
a great interest in the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome and their
languages. So, there occurred a considerable number of Latin and Greek
borrowings. The Renaissance ones were rarely concrete names. They were
mostly abstract words ( intelligent, permanent, to elect, to create). There were
naturally numerous scientific and artistic terms (datum, status, phenomenon,
philosophy, method, music).1 The same is true of Greek Renaissance borrowings
(e. g. atom, cycle, ethics, esthete).
The Renaissance was a period of cultural contacts between the major European
states. It was only natural that new words also entered the English vocabulary
from other European languages. The most significant once more were French
borrowings. This time they came from the Parisian dialect of French and are
known as Parisian borrowings. Examples: regime, routine, police, machine,
ballet, matinee, scene, technique, bourgeois, etc. Italian also contributed a
considerable number of words to English, e. g. piano, violin, opera, alarm,
colonel.
Modern scholars estimate the percentage of borrowed words in the English
vocabulary at 65—70 per cent. This anomaly is explained by the country's
eventful history and by its many international contacts.
Considering the high percentage of borrowed words, one would have to classify
English as a language of international origin or, at least, a Romance one (as
French and Latin words obviously prevail). But the native element in English
comprises a large number of high-frequency words like the articles,
prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, auxiliaries and, also, words denoting
everyday objects and ideas (e. g. house, child, water, go, come, eat, good, bad,
etc.).
The native element consists of three groups: Indo-European and Germanic and
English proper element appeared in the English vocabulary in the 5th c. It The
tribal languages of the Angles, the Saxons, the Jutes, by the time of their
migration, contained only words of Indo-European and Germanic roots plus a
certain number of the earliest Latin borrowings.
By the Indo-European element are meant words of roots common to all or most
languages of the Indo-European group. English words of this group denote
elementary concepts without which no human communication would be
possible.
I. Family relations: father, mother, brother, son,
daughter.
II. Parts of the human body: foot (cf. R. пядь), nose, lip, heart.
Animals: cow, swine, goose.
Plants:
tree,
birch
(cf.
R.
береза),
corn
(cf.
R. зерно).
V. Time of day: day, night. VI. Heavenly bodies: sun, moon, star. VII.
Numerous adjectives: red (cf. Ukr. рудий, R. рыжий), new, glad (cf. R.
гладкий), sad (cf. R. сыт).
VIII. The numerals from one to a hundred. IX. Pronouns — personal (except
they which is a
Scandinavian borrowing); demonstrative. X. Numerous verbs: be (cf. R. быть),
stand (cf. R. стоять), sit (cf. R. сидеть), eat (cf. R. есть), know (cf. R. знать,
знаю).
The Germanic element represents words of roots common to all or most
Germanic languages. Some of the main groups of Germanic words are the same
as in the Indo-European element.
I. Parts of the human body: head, hand, arm, finger, bone.
II. Animals: bear, fox, calf.
Plants: oak, fir, grass.
Natural phenomena: rain, frost.
V. Seasons of the year: winter, spring, summer.1 VI. Landscape features: sea,
land. VII. Human dwellings and furniture: house, room.
VIII. Sea-going vessels: boat, ship. IX. Adjectives: green, blue, grey, white,
small,
thick, high, old, good.
X. Verbs: see, hear, speak, tell, say, answer, make, give, drink.
It has been mentioned that the English proper element is opposed to the first two
groups. These words have another distinctive feature: they are specifically
English having no cognates ( words of the same etymological root, of common
origin) in other languages whereas for Indo-European and Germanic words such
cognates can always be found, as, for instance, for the following words of the
Indo-European group.
Star: Germ. Stern, Lat. Stella, Gr. aster.
Sad: Germ, satt, Lat. satis, R. сыт, Snscr. sd-.
Stand: Germ, stehen, Lat. stare, R. стоять, Snscr. stha-.
Here are some examples of English proper words. These words stand quite alone
in the vocabulary system of Indo-European languages: bird, boy, girl, lord, lady,
woman, daisy, always.
It should be taken into consideration that the English proper element also
contains all the later formations, that is, words which were made after the 5th
century according to English word-building patterns both from native and
borrowed morphemes. For instance, the adjective 'beautiful' built from the
French borrowed root and the native suffix belongs to the English proper
element. It is natural, that the quantity of such words is immense.
This question partially concerns the historical circumstances which stimulate the
borrowing process. Each time two nations come into close contact, certain
borrowings are a natural consequence. The nature of the contact may be
different. It may be wars, invasions or conquests when foreign words are in
effect imposed upon the reluctant conquered nation. There are also periods of
peace when the process of borrowing is due to trade and international cultural
relations.
The difference in the consequences of these evidently similar historical events is
usually explained by the divergence in the level of civilisation of the two
conflicting nations. Russian civilisation and also the level of its language
development at the time of the Mongol-Tartar invasion were superior to those of
the invaders. That is why the Russian language successfully resisted the
influence of a less developed language system. On the other hand, the Norman
culture of the 11th c. was certainly superior to that of the Saxons. The result was
that an immense number of French words forced their way into English
vocabulary. Yet, linguistically speaking, this seeming defeat turned into a
victory. Instead of being smashed and broken by the powerful intrusion of the
foreign element, the English language managed to preserve its essential structure
and vastly enriched its expressive resources with the new borrowings.
But all this only serves to explain the conditions which encourage the borrowing
process. The question of why words are borrowed by one language from another
is still unanswered.
Sometimes it is done to fill a gap in vocabulary. When the Saxons borrowed
Latin words for "butter", "plum", "beet", they did it because their own
vocabularies lacked words for these new objects. For the same reason the words
potato and tomato were borrowed by English from Spanish when these
vegetables were first brought to England by the Spaniards.
But there is also a great number of words which are borrowed for other reasons.
There may be a word (or even several words) which expresses some particular
concept, so that there is no gap in the vocabulary and there does not need for
borrowing. Yet, one more word is borrowed which means almost the same, —
almost, but not exactly. It is borrowed because it represents the same concept in
some new aspect, supplies a new shade of meaning or a different emotional
colouring. This type of borrowing enlarges groups of synonyms and enrichs the
expressive resources of the vocabulary.
Most of borrowed words undergo certain changes and adapted to new
environment and to the norms of the language
Borrowed words are adjusted in the three main areas of the new language
system: the phonetic, the grammatical and the semantic.
Phonetic adaptation is not completed.
The three stages of gradual phonetic assimilation of French borrowings can be
illustrated by different phonetic variants of the word garage: (Amer.).
Grammatical adaptation consists in a complete change of the former paradigm
of the borrowed word.
By semantic adaptation is meant adjustment to the system of meanings of the
vocabulary. Borrowing is necessary to fill a gap in the vocabulary or to add a
synonym.
International Words -words are borrowed by several languages, and not just by
one which are significant in the field of communication.
Many of them are of Latin and Greek origin. Most names of sciences, political
terms, terms of art are international, e. g. philosophy, mathematics, music,
theatre, politics, policy.