54.Minor types of word-formation: change of stress; sound interchange; sound imitation; lexicalization.

Several nouns and verbs of Romanic origin have a distinctive stress pattern. Such nouns, as rule, are forestressed, and verbs have a stress on the second syllable, e.g.: “accent (n.):: ac”cent (v.), “contest (n.):: “con’test (v.), etc.

The same distinctive stress pattern is observed in some pairs of adjectives and verbs, e.g.: “absent(a.), “abstract(a.)::ab”stract(v.), “frequent(a.)::fre”quent(v.), etc.

Sound interchange (gradation)

Words belonging to different parts of speech may be differentiated due to the sound interchange in the root, e/g/: food(n.):: feed(v.), gold(n.)::gild(v.), etc.

Sound imitation (onomatopoeia)Sound-imitative (onomatopoetic) words are made by imitating sounds produced by living beings and inanimate objects, e.g.: babble, bang, buzz, crash,etc.

Lexicolization of the plural of nouns

There are cases when the grammatical form of the plural of nouns becomes isolated from the paradigm and acquires a new lexical meaning. This leads to the appearance of new lexical units, cf.: look “погляд»:: looks «зовнішність».

Lexicography as a branch of applied linguistics. The main problems in lexicography

The word, “lexicography” is derived from the Greek origin:

λεξίκόs belonging to word and

γραφω I write, if we translate it into English it means “I write words”.

Definition: Lexicography is the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries.

It’s an important part of applied linguistics. The word “lexicography” is of the

Greek origin as well as lexicography.

λεξίκόs belonging to word and

λόγοξ means learning, if we translate it into English it means “learning of

words”

Definition: Lexicography is the part of lexis dealing with the body of a language and the properties of words as the main units of language (words, words combinations) Lexicography and lexicology have a common object of study for they describe the vocabulary of a language.

The essential difference between them lies in the degree of systematization and ompleteness. Lexicography aims at systematization revealing characteristic features of words. The field of lexicography is the semantic, formal, and functional description of all individual words. Dictionaries aim at a more or less complete description.

Lexicology shows that the vocabulary of every particular language is not a chaos of diversified phenomena but a homogeneous whole, a system constituted by independent elements related in certain specific ways.

It goes without saying that neither of these branches of linguistics could develop successfully without the other.

Lexicography this section of linguistics concerns practice of theory of compiling dictionaries. Every theory is a result of practical needs. Practical lexicography and theoretical one are closely connected carrying out different socially important functions.

The ultimate goal of lexicography is the art of making dictionaries. Lexicology deals with words, forms and structure, lexical meaning, usage and diachronic analysis (origin and development). Lexicography is applied knowledge of lexicology. There is a constant give and take reciprocal relationship between lexicology and lexicography. They both strive for completeness and systematization. The only distinction is that lexicography is exhaustive in listing and describing all the existing words, i.e. the lexical units in a language, which is not the case with lexicology that only chooses examples to provide rules and principles.

Some basic problems of dictionary compiling.

The most important problems the lexicographers face are:

1. The selection of items for inclusion and their arrangement. The questions to be decided upon are:

a) The type of lexical units to be chosen for inclusion;

b) The number of items to be recorded;

c) What to select and what to leave out in the dictionary;

d) Which form of the language, spoken or written, or both, is the dictionary to reflect;

e) Should the dictionary contain obsolete and archaic units, technical terms, dialectisms, colloquialisms etc.

There have been 2 competing and disputing trends (approaches): normative and registrative.

Normative. Adherers of normative approach consider a dictionary an instruction as to proper usage of good words and forms. Samuel Johnson 1755 Dictionary laid the foundation of modern lexicography. A dictionary has to have a great influence on the usage of words in speech. Against contracted forms (don’t, can’t). It is due to S. Johnson’s dictionary the American phonetic system lacked in developing (orthoepic – changed, orthography - not).

Registrative: the dictionary should be mirror of language & speech. Webster’s International Dictionary, 1961―present; the greatest number of units (600,000 entries). Outdated words and special terms are included. Today the criteria are the frequency usage for dictionaries of different balks and purposes.

2. The setting of the entries. The entries can be given in a single alphabetical listing or arranged in nests, based on some principles (e.g. in descending order of their frequency, in synonymic sets etc).

3. The selection, arrangement and definition of meanings. The choice of meanings depends on: 1) What aim the compilers set themselves; 2) What decisions they make concerning the extent to which obsolete, archaic, dialectal or highly specialised meanings should be recorded, how the problem of polysemy and homonymy is solved etc. The meanings of words may be given through a group of synonyms, description or so-called metalanguage (Oxf. Contemporary DIOCDMEJ1985 – 55,000 are explained through 2000).

There are three different ways in which the word meanings are arranged:

a) In the sequence of their historical development (historical order);

b) In conformity with frequency of use , i.e. with the most common meaning first (actual order);

c) In their logical connection (logical order).

Meanings of words may be defined in different ways:

a) by means of definitions that are characterised as encyclopaedic;

b) by means of descriptive definitions or paraphrases;

c) with the help of synonymous words and expressions;

d) by means of cross-references.

4. The illustrative examples to be supplied.

The purpose of these examples depends on the type of the dictionary & the aim the compilers set themselves. They can illustrate the first and the last known occurrences of the entry word with the successive changes in its graphic and phonemic forms as well as in its meaning, the typical patterns & collocations, the difference between synonymous words, they place words in a context to clarify their meaning & usage. The questions to be decided upon: when are illustrative examples to be used? Which words may be listed without illustrations? Should illustrative sentences be made up or should they always be quotations of some authors? Which examples should be chosen as typical?

5. The supplementary material.

It can be a list of geographical names, standard abbreviations pertaining to the public, political, economic & industrial life, rules of pronunciation, brief outlines of grammar etc.

The choice among the possible solutions depends upon the type to which the dictionary belongs, the aim the compilers pursue, the prospective user of the dictionary; the linguistic conceptions of the dictionary makers etc.

III. Some problems of compilation of learner’s dictionary.

Designed for foreign learners of English, learner’s dictionaries are characterised by their strictly limited word-list, the great attention is given to the functioning of lexical units in speech and their strong perspective orientation.

The problem of classification of English dictionaries.