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1、Lecture NotesLecture 1 An Introduction: Basic Concepts in LexicologyTeaching Objectives1. Nature and domain of lexicology2. Connection of lexicology with other branches of linguistics3. Aim, significance, and schedule of the course4. Basic concepts of words and vocabularyEtymology: What is the origi

2、n of term lexicology?(Greek. lexis = word, logos = learning) The term Lexicology first appeared in the 1820s, though there were lexicologists in essence before the term was coined. The word derives from two Greek morphemes: (lexis) meaning word, speech (hence (lexikos) having to do with words) and (

3、logos) which denotes learning, a department of knowledge. Thus, the literal meaning of the term Lexiolg is the science of the word. Definition: What is lexicology?An often-quoted definition of lexicology is that “Lexicology is a branch of linguistics dealing with the vocabulary of a language and the

4、 properties of words as the main units of language”. The literal meaning and the definition of lexicology give only a general notion of the aims and the subject matter of this branch of linguistic science, and they should be best considered as a working tool for a better understanding of subsequent

5、lessons. Scope: What does lexicology study?Lexicology is the scientific study of words and vocabulary. That is to say that it not only tells you what are included in the vocabulary of a language but also enables you to ask why and how? Therefore, lexicology is not equal to learn the vocabulary word

6、by word. It answers questions about words and vocabulary with respect to their origins, development, structure, formation, meaning, relations, grammar and usages. Good knowledge of the description of the vocabulary, rules of word structure and word-formation, origin and history of words helps to gue

7、ss and remember the meaning of new-learned words, to master the standards of their usage, and to prevent mistakes in use. Most importantly, the knowledge of lexicology enables you to not only know what, but why and how.Related Fields: How is lexicology related to other disciplines?Language can be su

8、bdivided into various levels in term of its structure: discourse, sentence, word/lexeme, morpheme, and phoneme. The word plays such a crucial part in the structure of language that we need a special branch of linguistics to examine it in all its aspects. This branch is called lexicology. Lexicology

9、is only one possible level of language analysis, others being phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. It should be note that all these different levels of analysis are inter-dependent. That is to say that none of them can be studied successfully without reference to the others. Since words must

10、 be analyzed in respect of both their form and their meaning, lexicology relies on information derived from other disciplines of linguistics. 1. Phonology: the sound system2. Morphology: the forms of words and their components 3. Syntax: the combination of words into sentences4. Semantics: word mean

11、ing and sense relations5. Pragmatics: rules of language use in context6. Etymology: the origins and development of words 7. Lexicography: words in relation with dictionaries Lexicology vs. LexigraphyAn allied science to lexicology is lexicography, which also studies words in relation with dictionari

12、es it is actually concerned with the inclusion of words in dictionaries and from that perspective with the whole lexicon. Therefore lexicography is the theory and practice of composing dictionaries. Sometimes lexicography is considered to be a part or a branch of lexicology, but the two disciplines

13、should not be mistaken: only lexicologists who do write dictionaries are lexicographers. It is said that lexicography is the practical lexicology; it is practically oriented though it has its own theory, while the pure lexicology is mainly theoretical.BranchesDistinction should be made between Gener

14、al and Special, Descriptive and Historical Lexicology.1. General - the general study of words, irrespective of the specific features of any particular language.2. Special - the description of the vocabulary of a given language. Every special lexicology is based on the principles of the general lexic

15、ology.3. Descriptive - deals with the description of the vocabulary of a given language at a given stage of its development.4. Historical - the study of the evolution of a vocabulary as well as of its elements. This branch discusses the origin of words, their change and development. It surveys the e

16、volution of a vocabulary as a system, showing change and development over the course of time.General Lexicology is part of General Linguistics; it is concerned with the study of vocabulary irrespective of the specific features of any particular language. Special Lexicology is the Lexicology of a par

17、ticular language (e.g. English, Russian, etc.), i.e. the study and description of its vocabulary and words as the main units of language. Needless to say that every Special Lexicology is based on the principles worked out and laid down by General Lexicology, a general theory of vocabulary.Descriptiv

18、e/synchronic Lexicology that deals with the description of the vocabulary of a particular language at a certain time. E.g. A Course in Modern English Lexicology is therefore a course in Special Descriptive Lexicology, its object of study being the English vocabulary as it exists at the present time.

19、 The historical/diachronic approach in terms of Special Lexicology deals with the changes and the development of a vocabulary in the course of time. E.g. An English Historical Lexicology would be concerned, therefore, with the origin of English words, their change and development, the linguistic and

20、 extralinguistic factors modifying their structure, meaning and usage within the history of the English language. The two approaches should not be contrasted, or set one against the other; in fact, they are intrinsically interconnected and interdependent: every linguistic structure and system actual

21、ly exists in a state of constant development so that the synchronic state of a language system is a result of a long process of linguistic evolution, of its historical development.A Course in English LexicologyThe aim of the course English lexicology is to give a systematic description of the Englis

22、h vocabulary. Theory and practice are given equal importance in this course. Correctly speaking, English lexicology offers students an insight into the origin and development of the English vocabulary. It deals with meanings of Modern English words and their changes in the course of historical devel

23、opment. It discusses the problems of word structure and word-formation in English, including the formation of new words which have appeared since the Second World War, especially since the 1960s. It also studies theuse of English words, phrases and idioms.Basic concepts of words and vocabularyBefore

24、 we attempt any detailed discussion in the course English lexicology, it is necessary to clarify some basic concepts concerning words and vocabulary. The term word is an elusive notion, which demands careful consideration at the out set. The relation between sound and meaning, between sound and form

25、, and between words and vocabulary requires some discussion as well. What is a word?What is a word? This question has occupied the attention of linguists for centuries. Although numerous definitions have been suggested, none of them seem to be perfect. Scholars still do not agree on the definition o

26、f the word. One definition claims that word is a unit of expression that has universal intuitive recognition by native-speakers, whether it is expressed in spoken or written form. According to this definition, most native speakers seem to know what a word is in their native language by instinct with

27、out being taught to do so. For example, in the following two Chinese sentences, as Chinese native speakers you may find it easy to separate words from each other according to units of meaning. However, sometimes, there is ambiguity in separating units of meaning in a sentence. For another example, m

28、ost fluent speakers of English may think that English words are a cluster of sounds or letters separated in writing by spaces and in speech by pauses. However, in casual speech or writing, when contracted forms occur word may not be a physically definable unit. Therefore, it is one thing to identify

29、 works and another to suggest a definition that will apply to all types of word in English. Nevertheless, it is agreed that the definition of a word shall comprise the following points:1) a minimal free form of a language; 2) a sound unity; 3) a unit of meaning; 4) a form that can function alone in

30、a sentence.Therefore, we can say that a word is a minimal free form of a language that has a given sound and meaning and syntactic function.Words can be simple and complex, yet all must comply with the four criteria. Sun, book, fine, eat, well and fine are simple, but they each have sound, meaning a

31、nd syntactic function, and each can be used alone in a sentence. Naturally they are words. There are words which are complex such as mis.fortune and manage.ment. Both are polysyllabic words. Though misfortune can be further divided as mis- and fortune, the former cannot stand alone as a word. Simila

32、rly, management can be broken down as manage and -ment, the latter cannot be used freely, either. Sound and MeaningA word is a symbol that stands for something else in the world. Each of the worlds cultures has come to agree that certain sounds will represent certain persons, things, places, propert

33、ies, processes and activities outside the language system. This symbolic connection is almost always arbitrary and conventional. By arbitrary, we mean there is no logical or intrinsic relationship between the sound which stands for a thing or an idea and the actual thing and idea itself. By conventi

34、onal, we mean a sound is associated with a particular meaning because People of the same speech community have agreed to use the sound to refer to the entity.A dog is called a dog not because the sound and the three letters (d + o + g) that make up the word just automatically suggest the animal in q

35、uestion. It is only symbolic. The relationship between them is conventional because people of the English speaking community have agreed to refer to the animal with this cluster of sounds and the three letters. Arbitrary relation between sound and meaning can be evidenced in two aspects: 1) The diff

36、erent languages use different sounds to refer to the same thing.In different languages the same concept can be represented by different sounds and forms. Woman, for example, becomes Frau in German, femme in French and fnu in Chinese. 2) The same language can use the same sound to mean different thin

37、gs.son & sun, flower & flour, though denoting entirely different things, yet have the same sound.Sound and FormIt is generally agreed that the written form of a natural language is the written record of the oral form. Naturally the written form should agree with the oral form. In other words, the so

38、und should be similar to the form. This is fairly true of English in its earliest stage i.e. Old English. The speech of the time was represented very much more faithfully in writing than it is today. With the development of the language, more and more differences occur between the two. 1) The intern

39、al reason for this is that the English alphabet was adopted from the Romans, which does not have a separate letter to represent each sound in the language so that some letters must do double duty or work together in combination.2) Another reason is that the pronunciation has changed more rapidly tha

40、n spelling over the years. In the late 1500, printing became well established. It helped to freeze the spelling of words. The standardization makes spelling sacred. Dictionaries did their share in stopping spelling changes. Meanwhile, sounds continued to change as usual, thus bringing more differenc

41、es. During the last five hundred years, though the sounds of speech have changed considerably, there have been no corresponding changes of spelling.3) A third reason is that some of the differences were created by the early scribes. Before the printing press was brought to England, everything was wr

42、itten by hand. Those scribes, who made a living by writing for other people often worked in haste to meet the needs of the King, Church, and merchants. One problem was that several letters written with short vertical strokes such as i, u, v, m, w and n looked all alike. Consequently, their handwriti

43、ng caused misunderstanding. To solve the problem in part, they changed the letter u to o when it came before m, n, or v. This is how sum, cum, wuman, wunder, munk came to be written as some, come, woman, wonder, monk. 4) Finally comes the borrowing, which is an important channel of enriching the Eng

44、lish vocabulary. When English borrowed words from other languages, it borrowed spelling as well. The early borrowings were assimilated and the later ones, however, do not conform to the rules of English pronunciation and spelling, e.g. stimulus (L), dnouement (F), fiesta (Sp), eureka(Gr), and kimono

45、(Jap).The written form of English is, therefore, an imperfect representation of the spoken form. From time to time in history, some British and American scholars have made efforts to reform the English spelling, but with little success. In spite of the differences, at least eighty percent of the Eng

46、lish words fit consistent spelling patterns. And even those spellings that appear to be irregular may have more regularity and usefulness than we realize. In such words as hymn, condemn, bomb, for example, the last letter of each is silent. But when these words are extended into longer ones, the sil

47、ent letters become audible: hymnal, condemnation and bombard. This is a general rule.What is vocabulary? Vocabulary means the sum of all the words in the language. All the words in a language make up its vocabulary. The term vocabulary is used in different senses. Not only can it refer to the total

48、number of the words in a language, but it can stand for all the words used in a particular historical period, e.g. Old English vocabulary, Middle English vocabulary and Modern English vocabulary. We also use it to refer to all the words of a given dialect, a given book, a given discipline and the wo

49、rds possessed by an individual person. English is one of the worlds highly developed languages. Naturally the vocabulary is one of the largest and richest. The general estimate of the present-day English vocabulary is over one million words.ReviewIn this lesson, we focus on the basic concepts of Eng

50、lish lexicology “word”, “vocabulary”. A word may be defined as “a minimal free form of a language that has a given sound and meaning and syntactic function”. When we talk about “word”, we find it is important to distinguish it from “vocabulary”. Vocabulary is the sum of all the words in a language.

51、As you may know, a lot of students mix the two concepts up or have difficulty in understanding how English lexicology differs from English vocabulary. After a detailed analysis in this chapter, I am sure that you come to realize that all the words in English together constitute what is known as Engl

52、ish vocabulary while English lexicology is the scientific study of English vocabulary. That is to say that English lexicology is not equal to learn the English vocabulary word by word. However, it is a branch of linguistics concerned with the vocabulary of the English language in respect to words an

53、d word equivalents. In the following chapters, you will find that English lexicology covers rich knowledge about English vocabulary and it embraces the development, structure, formation, meaning, usage of words and word equivalents and other aspects etc.Assignment: Which of the lexicology branches w

54、ill this course deal with, and why do you think so?Poem: “English is a Silly Language”There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger;Neither apple nor pine in pineapple.And while no one knows what is a hotdog,You can be pretty sure it isnt canine.English muffins were not invented in EnglandNor Fr

55、ench-fries in France.Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads,Which arent sweet are meat.We take English for granted.But if we explore its paradoxes,We find that quicksand can work slowly,Boxing rings are square,And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.And why it is that writers writ

56、e, but fingers dont fing, grocers dont groce,And hammers dont ham?If the plural of tooth is teeth,Why isnt the plural of booth, beeth?One goose, two geese. So, one moose, two meese?One mouse, two mice.One louse, two lice.One house, two hice?If teachers taught, why didnt preacher praught?If a vegetar

57、ian eats vegetables,What does a humanitarian eat?Why do people recite at a play, and play at a recital?Ship by truck or car and send cargo by ship?Have noses that run and feet that smell?Park on driveways and drive on parkways?How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,While a wise man and a

58、 wise guy are opposites?How can the weather be hot as Hell one dayAnd cold as Hell another?When a house burns up, it burns down.You fill in a form by filling it outAnd an alarm clock goes off by going on.You get in and out of a car,Yet you get on and off a bus.When the stars are out, they are visibl

59、e,But when lights are out, they are invisible.And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it,But when I wind up this essay, I end it?English is a silly language.It doesnt know if it is coming or going!Reference:Lexicology. (2011, August 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:24, August 25, 2011, from http:/en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lexicology&oldid=4458068248