- •L.M. Takumbetоvа english lexicology preface
- •1. Morphological and Derivational Structure of Words.........................................57
- •Abbreviations and symbols
- •Introduction lexicology as a branch of linguistics.
- •Its subject matter and objectives
- •1. The Subject Matter of Lexicology.
- •2. The Theoretical and Practical Value of Lexicology
- •Questions and Tasks
- •2. The Problem of Word Definition
- •3. Types of Nomination and Motivation of Lexical Units
- •4. The Notion of Lexeme. Variants of Words
- •Questions and Tasks
- •Chapter 2 semasiology. The problem of meaning
- •1. Referential and Functional Approaches to Meaning
- •2. Types of Meaning
- •3. The Semantic Structure of Words. Polysemy
- •4. Сauses, Types and Results of Semantic Change
- •Questions and Tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. Which of the following words are monosemantic (use a dictionary)?
- •II. Group together the following pairs of words according to the lsVs they represent. Use dictionaries if necessary.
- •III. Define the meanings of the italicized words in the following sentences. Say how meanings of the same word are associated one with another.
- •IV. Explain the logical associations in the meanings of the same words in the following word combinations. Define the type of transference which has taken place.
- •V. Comment on the change of meanings in the italicized words.
- •Chapter 3 english vocabulary as a system
- •1. Semantic Classes of Lexemes in the Lexico-semantic
- •System of the English Language
- •2. Synonymy
- •3. Antonymy
- •4. Homonymy
- •The Origin of Homonyms in the English Language
- •Questions and Tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. Classify the following words into logical groups on the principle of hyponymy.
- •II. Arrange the following lexemes into three lexico-semantic groups - feelings, parts of the body, education.
- •III. Prove that the following sets of words are synonyms (use dictionaries).
- •IV. Find the dominant synonym in the following synonymic sets. Explain your choice.
- •V. Find antonyms for the words given below.
- •VI. A) Find the homonyms proper for the following words; give their Russian equivalents.
- •VI. Match the italicized words with the phonetics.
- •Chapter 4 morphological structure of english words and word formation
- •1. Morphological and Derivational Structure of Words
- •2. Аffixation
- •Clаssification of Prefixes
- •Classification of Suffixes
- •3. Conversion
- •Patterns of Semantic Relations by Conversion
- •Basic Criteria of Sеmantic Derivation within Conversion Pairs
- •4. Word-Composition (Compounding)
- •Classifications of Compound Words
- •Meaning and Motivation in Compound Words
- •Historical Changes of Compounds
- •5. Minor Types of Word-Formation
- •Questions and tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. A) Give examples of nouns with the following suffixes; state which of the suffixes are productive.
- •II. Explain the etymology and productivity of the affixes given below. Say what parts of speech they form.
- •III. In the following examples the italicized words are formed from the same root by means of different affixes. Translate these derivatives into Russian and explain the difference in meaning.
- •IV. Find cases of conversion in the following sentences.
- •V. Explain the semantic correlations within the following pair of words.
- •VI. Identify the compounds in the word-groups below. Say as much as you can about their structure and semantics.
- •VII. Match the following onomatopoeic words with the names of referents producing the sounds they denote in brackets.
- •VIII. Define the particular type of world-building process by which the following words were formed and say as much as you can about them.
- •Chapter 5 word-groups and phraseological units
- •1. Lexical Valency and Collocability
- •2. Criteria of phraseological units
- •3. Classifications of phraseological units
- •4. Origin of phraseological units
- •Questions and tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. What is the source and meaning of the following idioms?
- •II. Explain whether the semantic changes in the following units are complete or partial.
- •III. Give Russian equivalents of the following phraseological units from the list below.
- •IV. Give the proverbs from which the following phraseological units have developed.
- •V. Match the beginning of the proverb in the left-hand corner with its ending in the right-hand corner.
- •Chapter 6 etymological background of the english vocabulary
- •1. What Is Etymology?
- •2. Native English Vocabulary
- •3. Loan Words and Their Role in the Formation of the English Vocabulary
- •4. Assimilation of Borrowings
- •5. Degree of Assimilation and Factors Determining It
- •5. Impact of Borrowings on the English Language System
- •Quesions and Tasks
- •Exercises
- •I. Subdivide the following words of native origin into a) Indo-European, b) Germanic, c) English proper.
- •II. Distribute the following Latin borrowings into three groups according to the time of borrowing.
- •III. Find the examples of Scandinavian borrowings in the sentences given below. How can they be identified?
- •IV. Point out whether the italicized words in the sentences given below are Norman or Parisian French borrowings. How can they be identified?
- •V. Explain the etymology of the italicized words (native English and borrowings). Use etymological dictionaries if necessary.
- •VIII. Think of 10-15 examples of Russian borrowings in English and English borrowings in Russian. Literary sources
- •II. Optional
- •Dictionaries
- •Internet sources
2. Native English Vocabulary
As it was mentioned above to native English words belong words of Anglo-Saxon origin brought to the British Isles from the continent in the 5th century. Although Anglo-Saxon lexemes comprise a relatively small part of the total modern lexicon but they provide almost all the most frequently used words in the language [Crystal 1995: 124].
Native words consist of very ancient elements and belong to very important semantic groups. Though the total number of native English words is less than that of the borrowed ones (25 - 30 %), they are very important because of their great word-building ability, collocability and frequency value. The accounts prove that the 100 most frequently used items are almost all Anglo-Saxon. The exceptions are a few Scandinavian loans (such as they and take). To native words belong most of prepositions, conjunctions, numerals, a lot of notional words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs.
According to their origin native words are subdivided into three groups:
1. Words of the Indo-European word-stock, having cognates in other Indo-European languages (Romance, Slavonic, Greek, Baltic, Iranian, Armenian, Sanskrit). Cognates are words of the same etymological root, of common origin. English words of this group denote elementary notions without which no human communication would be possible. They include the following groups:
a) Kinship terms: father (cogn.w. L pater), mother, brother, wife, son, daughter.1
b) Parts of the human body: nose, heart (cogn.w. L cor), lip, foot (cogn.w. Rus пядь), ear.
c) Heavenly bodies: sun, moon, star (cogn.w. Gk aster).
d) Times of day: day, night.
e) Objects and phenomena of nature: wind, water, hill.
f) Animals: cow, swine, goose, wolf, mouse.
g) Plants: tree, birch, corn.
h) Numerous adjectives: new, young, long, glad, sad (cogn.w.L satis, R сыт), red.
i) Numerous verbs: be, do, sit, stand, eat, know (cogn.w. L (g)nosco).
j) Numerals from one to hundred.
2. Words of common Germanic origin having parallels in Germanic languages: German, Norwegian, Dutch, Icelandic, etc. Some of the main groups of Germanic words are the same as in Indo-European element:
a) Parts of the human body: eye, head, hand, arm, finger, bone.
b) Natural objects and phenomena: rain, frost, sea, land, ground.
c) Seasons of the year: winter, spring, summer, except autumn which is a French borrowing.
d) Animals: horse, sheep, calf, bear, hare, fox, hen.
e) Plants: oak, fir, grass.
f) Names of materials: stone, coal, wood, glass, iron, lead.
g) Objects connected with human activities and everyday life: house, room, ship, boat, bridge, shop, cloth, hat, shirt, shoe, bench.
h) Certain abstract names: life, hope, care, evil, need, rest.
i) Adjectives: green, blue, gray, white, dark, bright, warm, hot, good, bad, small, thick, high.
j) Auxiliary and modal verbs: shall, will, must, can, may.
k) Notional verbs: see, hear, speak, tell, say, answer, make, go, drink, keep.
l) Pronouns: I, you, he, we, this, that, my, his, except they which is a Scandinavian borrowing.
m) Prepositions: in, out, on, under, to.
n) Conjunctions: and, but, as.
3. English proper words are specifically English as they have no cognates in other languages. The origin of some of them, such as, boy, girl, bird is unknown, others like lord, lady, woman, daisy, always came into being due to compounding: e.g. lord <OE hlaford f. hlafweard = breadkeeper (loaf, ward).