44)Affixation

Affixation is one of the most productive ways of word-building throughout the history of English. It consists in adding an affix to the stem of a definite part of speech. Affixation is divided into suffixation and prefixation.

Suffixation.

The main function of suffixes in Modern English is to form one part of speech from another, the secondary function is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech. ( e.g. «educate» is a verb, «educatee» is a noun, and « music» is a noun, «musicdom» is also a noun) .

There are different classifications of suffixes :

1. Part-of-speech classification. Suffixes which can form different parts of speech are given here :

a) noun-forming suffixes, such as : -er (criticizer), -dom (officialdom), -ism (ageism),

b) adjective-forming suffixes, such as : -able (breathable), less (symptomless), -ous (prestigious),

c) verb-forming suffixes, such as -ize (computerize) , -ify (micrify),

d) adverb-forming suffixes , such as : -ly (singly), -ward (tableward),

e) numeral-forming suffixes, such as -teen (sixteen), -ty (seventy).

2. Semantic classification . Suffixes changing the lexical meaning of the stem can be subdivided into groups, e.g. noun-forming suffixes can denote:

a) the agent of the action, e.g. -er (experimenter), -ist (taxist), -ent (student),

b) nationality, e.g. -ian (Russian), -ese (Japanese), -ish (English),

c) collectivity, e.g. -dom (moviedom), -ry (peasantry, -ship (readership), -ati ( literati),

d) diminutiveness, e.g. -ie (horsie), -let (booklet), -ling (gooseling), -ette (kitchenette),

e) quality, e.g. -ness (copelessness), -ity (answerability).

3. Lexico-grammatical character of the stem. Suffixes which can be added to certain groups of stems are subdivided into:

a) suffixes added to verbal stems, such as : -er (commuter), -ing (suffering), - able (flyable), -ment (involvement), -ation (computerization),

b) suffixes added to noun stems, such as : -less (smogless), ful (roomful), -ism (adventurism), -ster (pollster), -nik (filmnik), -ish (childish),

c) suffixes added to adjective stems, such as : -en (weaken), -ly (pinkly), -ish (longish), -ness (clannishness).

4. Origin of suffixes. Here we can point out the following groups:

a) native (Germanic), such as -er,-ful, -less, -ly.

b) Romanic, such as : -tion, -ment, -able, -eer.

c) Greek, such as : -ist, -ism, -ize.

d) Russian, such as -nik.

5. Productivity. Here we can point out the following groups:

a) productive, such as : -er, -ize, --ly, -ness.

b) semi-productive, such as : -eer, -ette, -ward.

c) non-productive , such as : -ard (drunkard), -th (length).

Suffixes can be polysemantic, such as : -er can form nouns with the following meanings : agent,doer of the action expressed by the stem (speaker), profession, occupation (teacher), a device, a tool (transmitter). While speaking about suffixes we should also mention compound suffixes which are added to the stem at the same time, such as -ably, -ibly, (terribly, reasonably), -ation (adaptation from adapt).

There are also disputable cases whether we have a suffix or a root morpheme in the structure of a word, in such cases we call such morphemes semi-suffixes, and words with such suffixes can be classified either as derived words or as compound words, e.g. -gate (Irangate), -burger (cheeseburger), -aholic (workaholic) etc.

Prefixation

Prefixation is the formation of words by means of adding a prefix to the stem. In English it is characteristic for forming verbs. Prefixes are more independent than suffixes. Prefixes can be classified according to the nature of words in which they are used : prefixes used in notional words and prefixes used in functional words. Prefixes used in notional words are proper prefixes which are bound morphemes, e.g. un- (unhappy). Prefixes used in functional words are semi-bound morphemes because they are met in the language as words, e.g. over- (overhead) ( cf over the table ).

The main function of prefixes in English is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech. But the recent research showed that about twenty-five prefixes in Modern English form one part of speech from another (bebutton, interfamily, postcollege etc).

Prefixes can be classified according to different principles :

1. Semantic classification :

a) prefixes of negative meaning, such as : in- (invaluable), non- (nonformals), un- (unfree) etc,

b) prefixes denoting repetition or reversal actions, such as: de- (decolonize), re- (revegetation), dis- (disconnect),

c) prefixes denoting time, space, degree relations, such as : inter- (interplanetary) , hyper- (hypertension), ex- (ex-student), pre- (pre-election), over- (overdrugging) etc.

2. Origin of prefixes:

a) native (Germanic), such as: un-, over-, under- etc.

b) Romanic, such as : in-, de-, ex-, re- etc.

c) Greek, such as : sym-, hyper- etc.

When we analyze such words as : adverb, accompany where we can find the root of the word (verb, company) we may treat ad-, ac- as prefixes though they were never used as prefixes to form new words in English and were borrowed from Romanic languages together with words. In such cases we can treat them as derived words. But some scientists treat them as simple words. Another group of words with a disputable structure are such as : contain, retain, detain and conceive, receive, deceive where we can see that re-, de-, con- act as prefixes and -tain, -ceive can be understood as roots. But in English these combinations of sounds have no lexical meaning and are called pseudo-morphemes. Some scientists treat such words as simple words, others as derived ones.

There are some prefixes which can be treated as root morphemes by some scientists, e.g. after- in the word afternoon. American lexicographers working on Webster dictionaries treat such words as compound words. British lexicographers treat such words as derived ones.

45) Compound words may be classified according to the type of composition and the linking element; according to the part of speech to which the compound belongs; and within each part of speech according to the structural pattern. It is also possible to subdivide compounds according to other characteristics, i.e. semantically, into motivated and idiomatic compounds. The classification according to the type of composition permits us to establish the following groups: 1) The predominant type is a mere juxtaposition without connecting elements: heartache n, heart-beat n, heart-break n, heart-breaking a, heart-broken a, heart-felt a. 2) Composition with a vowel or a consonant as a linking element. The examples are very few: electromotive a, speedometer n, Afro-Asian a, handicraft n, statesman n. 3) Compounds with linking elements represented by preposition or conjunction stems: down-and-out n, matter-of-fact a, son-in-law n, pepper-and-salt a, wall-to-wall a, up-to-date a, on the up-and-up adv (continually improving), up-and-coming, as in the following example: No doubt he’d had the pick of some up-and-coming jazzmen in Paris (Wain). There are also a few other lexicalised phrases like devil-may-care a, forget-me-not n, pick-me-up n, stick-in-the-mud n, what’s-her name n. The classification of compounds according to the structure of immediate constituents distinguishes: 1) compounds consisting of simple stems: film-star; 2) compounds where at least one of the constituents is a derived stem: chain-smoker; 3) compounds where at least one of the constituents is a clipped stem: maths-mistress (in British English) and math-mistress (in American English). The subgroup will contain abbreviations like H-bag (handbag) or Xmas (Christmas), whodunit n (for mystery novels) considered substandard; 4) compounds where at least one of the constituents is a compound stem: wastepaper-basket.

46) Conversion is one of the principal ways of forming words in Modern English. Conversionconsists in making a new word from some existing word by changing the category of a part of speech; the morphemic shape of the original word remains unchanged: love — to love, paper — to paper, brief — to brief, work — to work; etc. The new word acquires a meaning, which differs from that of the original one though it can be easily associated with it. The converted word acquires also a new paradigm and a new syntactic function (or functions), which are peculiar to its new category as a part of speech, for example, plant – to plant.

The two categories of parts of speech especially affected by conversion are nouns and verbs.

1. Verbs converted from nouns are called denominal verbs. If the noun refers to some object of reality (both animate and inanimate) the converted verb may denote:

1. action characteristic of the object: ape (n) ─ ape (v) ─ ‘imitate in a foolish way’; butcher (n) − butcher (v) −‘kill animals for food, cut up a killed animal’;

2. instrumental use of the object: screw (n) −screw (v) − ‘fasten with a screw’; whip (n) — whip (v) — ’strike with a whip’;

3. acquisition or addition of the object: fish (n)− fish (v) − ‘catch or try to catch fish’; coat (n)−‘covering of paint'−coat (v)− ‘put a coat of paint on’;

4. deprivation of the object: dust (n) − dust (v) − ‘remove dust from something’; skin (n) − skin (v) − ’strip off the skin from’; etc.

2. Nouns converted from verbs are called deverbal substantives. The verb generally referring to an action, the converted noun may denote:

1. instance of the action: jump (v) — jump (n) — ’sudden spring from the ground’; move (v)−move (n)− ‘a change of position’;

2. agent of the action: help (v)−help (n)− ‘aperson who helps’; it is of interest to mention that the deverbal personal nouns denoting the doer are mostly derogatory, for example, bore (v)−bore (n)− ‘a person that bores’; cheat (v)−cheat (n)− ‘a person who cheats’;

3. place of the action: drive(v)−drive (n)− ‘apath or road along which one drives’; walk (v)−walk (n)− ‘a place for walking’;

4. object or result of the action: peel (v)−peel (n)− ‘the outer skin of fruit or potatoes taken off; find (v)−find (n)− ’something found’, especially something valuable or pleasant’, etc.

47) Semasiology (from Gr . semasia - "signification") deals not with every kind of linguistic meaning only. The main objects of semasiological study are as follows: semantic development of words, it’s causes and classification, relevant distinctive features and types of lexical meaning, polysemy and semantic structure of word, semantic groupings and connections in the vocabulary system, i.e. synonyms, antonyms, etc. Meaning is one of the most controversial terms in the theory of language. The essential feature of the first approach is that in distinguishes between the three components, connected with meaning:

1) the sound form of the linguistic sign (sign or symbol);

2) the concept underlying this sound form (meaning; thought or reference).

3 ) the actual referent, i.e. the part or the aspect of reality to which the linguistic sign refers (thing meant).

In recent years a new and entirely different approach to meaning has appeared in structural linguistics. This approach maintains that a linguistic study of meaning is the investigation of the relation of sign to sign only. In other words, they hold the view that the meaning of a linguistic unit may be studied only through its relation to other linguistic units and not through its relation to either concept or referent. Thus, the meaning of the 2 words move and movement is different because they function in speech differently. Really, they occupy different positions in relation to other words. (To) move can be followed by a noun (move the chair), preceded by a pronoun (we move), etc. The position occupied by the word movement is different: it may be followed by a preposition (movement of smth) preceded by an adjective (slow movement) and so on. As the distribution ("the position of a linguistic sign in relation to other linguistic signs) of the 2 words is different they cone to the conclusion that not only they belong to different classes of words, but that that not only meanings are different too.

It follows that in the functional approach meaning may be viewed as the function of distribution: 1) semantic investigation is confined to the analysis of the different or sameness meaning; 2) meaning is understood essentially as the function or the use of linguistic signs.

48) Phraseology, classification of phraseological units. Vinogradov’s classification of phraseological units:

a) phraseological combinations. b) unities. c) fussions.

a) phraseological combinations - are word - groups with a partially changed meaning. They may be said to be clearly motivated, that is the meaning of the units can be easily deduced from the meanings of its constituents.

Ex. to be good at smth., to have a bite….

b) unities - are word - groups with a completely changed meaning, that is, the meaning of the unit doesn’t correspond to the meanings of its constituent parts.

Ex. to loose one’s head (to be out of one’s mind), to loose one’s heart to smb.(to fall in love).

c) fussions - are word - groups with a completely changed meaning but, in contrast to the units, they are demotivated, that is, their meaning can’t be deduced from the meanings of its constituent parts.

Ex. to come a cropper (to come to disaster).

The Koonin’s classification is the latest outstanding achievement in the Russian theory of phraseology. The classification is based on the combined structural - semantic principle and it also considers the quotient of stability of phraseological units.

I. Nominative phraseological units - are represented by word - groups, including the ones with one meaningful word, and coordinative phrases of the type wear and tear, well and good.

II. Nominative - communicative phraseological units - include word - groups, of the type to break the ice - the ice is broken, that is, verbal word - groups which are transformed into a sentence when the verb is used in the Passive Voice.

III. Phraseological units - which are neither nominative nor communicative include interjectional word - groups.

IV. Communicative phraseological units - are represented by proverbs and sayings.

49) Antonyms are words belonging to the same part of speech, identical in style, expressing contrary or contradictory notions.

Comissarov in his dictionary of antonyms classified them into two groups : absolute or root antonyms. 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.

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. to live - to die, alive - dead, life - death.

If a word is polysemantic it can have several antonyms, e.g. the word «bright» has the antonyms «dim», «dull», «sad».

Antonym is oppositeness in meaning. Not every word of a language may have an antonym though practically every word may have a synonym. Antonym is different in different parts of speech. Different lexical-semantic variants of a word have different antonyms. Antonyms may be defined as two or more words of the same part of speech which have some common denotation components in their semantic structure, but express some contrary or contradictory (contrasting) notions; they are characterized by different types of semantic contrast of denotation meaning and interchangeability at least in some contexts.

According to the relationship between the notions expressed antonyms are divided into contradictories and contraries. According to their morphological structure antonyms may be subdivided into root antonyms and derivational antonyms.

50) 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. 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.

Sometimes one of the absolute synonyms is specialized in its usage and we get stylistic synonyms, e.g. «to begin»/ native/, «to commence» /borrowing/.

The outstanding Russian philologist A.I. Smirnitsky suggested the classification of synonyms into 3 types:

1. Ideographic synonyms - words conveying the same notion but differing in shades of meaning: to understand - to realize to expect - to anticipate to look - glance - stare - peep - gaze healthy - wholesome - sound - sane

2. Stylistic - words differing only in stylistic characteristics: to begin - to commence - to high to think - to deem enemy - opponent - foe – adversary to help - to aid - to assist courage - valour - dauntlessness - grit - guts

3. Absolute (perfect, complete) - words coinciding in all their shades of meaning and in all their stylistic characteristics. Absolute synonyms are rare in a language. In Russian, f.e.: лётчик - пилот – авиатор; языкознание – языковедение; стерня – пожня.

51) Homonyms (from Gr. “homos” means “the same”, “omona” means “name”) are the words, different in meaning and either identical both in sound and spelling or identical only in spelling or sound. The most widely accepted classification of them is following:

1. Homonyms proper (or perfect homonyms)

2. Homophones

3. Homographs

1. Homonyms proper are words identical in pronunciation and spelling:

a) “Ball” as a round object used in game, “ball” as a gathering of people for dancing;

b) “Bark” v to utter sharp explosive cries; “bark” n is a noise made by dog or a sailing ship, etc.

b) “Bay” v is to bark; “bay” n is a part of the sea or the lake filling wide mouth opening of the land, or the European laurel , or гнедая лошадь.

2. Homophones are words of the same sound, but of different meaning, for example:

“Air” – “heir”, “arms” – “alms”, “bye” – “buy” – “by”, “him” – “hymn”, “knight” – “night”, “rain” – “reign”, “not” – “knot”, “or” – “ore” – “oar”, “piece” – “peace”, “scent” – “cent”, “steal” – “steel” – “still”, “write” – “right”, “sea” – “see”, “son” – “sun”.

3. Homographs are words different in sound and in meaning but accidentally identical in spelling:

Bow [bou] – [bau]

Lead [li:d] – [led]

Row [rou] – [rau]

Sever [sov ] - [sjuv ]

Tear [tεe] – [ti ]

Wind [wind] – [waind]

52) Perhaps the simplest explanation of lexicography is that it is a scholarly discipline that involves compiling, writing, or editing dictionaries.

Many consider lexicography to be divided into two related areas. The act of writing, or editing dictionaries is known as Practical Lexicography. The analysis or description of the vocabulary of a particular language, and the meaning that links certain words to others in a dictionary, is known as Theoretical Lexicography. Theoretical Lexicography is particularly concerned with developing theories regarding the structural and semantic relationships among words in the dictionary. Since it involves theoretical analysis of the lexicon, Theoretical Lexicography is also known as Metalexicography.

All dictionaries are divided into linguistic and encyclopedic dictionaries. Encyclopedic dictionaries describe different objects, phenomena, people and give some data about them. Linguistic dictionaries describe vocabulary units, their semantic structure, their origin, their usage. Words are usually given in the alphabetical order.

Linguistic dictionaries are divided into general and specialized . To general dictionries two most widely used dictionaries belong: explanatory and translation dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include dictionaries of synonyms, antonyms, collocations, word-frequency, neologisms, slang, pronouncing, etymological, phraseological and others.

All types of dictionaries can be unilingual ( excepting translation ones) if the explanation is given in the same language, bilingual if the explanation is given in another language and also they can be polilingual.

There are a lot of explanatory dictionaries (NED, SOD, COD, NID, N.G. Wyld’s «Universal Dictionary» and others). In explanatory dictionaries the entry consists of the spelling, transcription, grammatical forms, meanings, examples, phraseology. Translation dictionaries give words and their equivalents in the other language.

53) Sound interchange may be defined as an opposition in which words or word forms are differentiated due to an alternation in the phonemic composition of the root. The change may affect the root vowel, as in food n : : feed v; or root consonant as in speak v : : speech n; or both, as for instance in life n : : live v.

Some otherwise homographic, mostly disyllabic nouns and verbs of Romanic origin have a distinctive stress pattern. Thus, 'conduct n ‘behaviour’ is forestressed, whereas con'duct v ‘to lead or guide (in a formal way)’ has a stress on the second syllable.

Sound imitating or onomatopoeic words are on the contrary motivated with reference to extra-linguistic reality, they are echoes of natural sounds (e. g. lullaby, twang, whiz.) Sound imitation (onomatopoeia or echoism) is consequently the naming of an action or thing by a more or less exact reproduction of a sound associated with it. For instance words naming sounds and movement of water: babble, blob, bubble, flush, gurgle, gush, splash, etc.