- •1.Lexicology as a branch of linguistics. Aims and the object of Lexicology. Two approaches to language studies.
- •2. Links of Lexicology with other branches of Linguistics. The course of modern English Lexicology, its theoretical and practical significance.
- •3. The etymological composition of the English lexicon. Words of native origin.
- •4. Borrowings: their causes and criteria.
- •5. Assimilation of borrowings.
- •6. Classifications of borrowings: according to the borrowed aspect, according to the language from which they were borrowed.
- •8. The morpheme as the smallest meaningful language unit. Classifications of morphemes.
- •9. The word as the basic unit of the language system. Characteristics of words. Structural types of words. Word-groups. The notion of a lexeme.
- •10. Types of designation (nomination).
- •12. Types of word-meaning.
- •13. Polysemy: its nature, the main causes and sources. Meaning and context.
- •14. Polysemy. Semantic structure of words.
- •15. Change of word-meaning: the causes, nature and results.
- •16. Homonymy. Sources of homonyms.
- •17. Classifications of homonyms.
- •18. Polysemy and homonymy: etymological, semantic, distribution and spelling criteria.
- •24. Groups of words based on several types of semantic relations: conceptual (semantic or lexical) fields, lexical-semantic groups
- •25. Word-structure and morphemes. Morphemic types of words.
- •26. Segmentation of words into morphemes. Types of word segmentability. The procedure of morphemic analysis.
- •27. Derivative structure of words. The basic derivational units.
- •28. Affixation as a way of word formation. Prefixation. Classifications of prefixes.
- •29. Suffixation. Productivity of suffixes. Classifications of suffixes.
- •30.Conversion as a way of word formation. Typical semantic relations. Productivity of conversion.
- •31. Word-composition as a type of word formation. Features of compound-words. Classifications of compound-words.
- •32. Secondary types of word-formation: lexicalization, sound-imitation, reduplication, back-formation (reversion), sound and stress interchange.
- •33. Secondary types of word-formation: shortening (contraction), abbreviation, acronyms, blends, clippings.
- •34. Ways and means of enriching the vocabulary.
- •35. Neologisms: semantic groups, ways of forming.
- •36.Phraseological units and their properties. Criteria of phraseology.
- •37. Classifications of phraseological units.
- •38.Phraseological units: ways of formation. The sources of phraseology.
- •39. Historical development of British and American lexicography.
- •40. Encyclopedic dictionaries. Linguistic dictionaries: their basic features and criteria of classification.
- •41. Types of linguistic dictionaries.
- •42. Basic problems of dictionary-compiling: selection of lexical units, arrangement of entries, selection and arrangement of meanings, definition of meanings.
- •43. Basic problems of dictionary-compiling: illustrative examples, choice of adequate equivalents, setting of the entry, structure of the dictionary.
- •45. Variant vs. Dialect. General characteristics of the English language in different parts of the English-speaking world.
- •48. Methods of lexicological analysis (contrastive analysis, statistical analysis, immediate constituents analysis, distributional analysis, transformational analysis, componential analysis).
12. Types of word-meaning.
Meaning: a component of the word through which a concept is communicated
According to the conception of word meaning as a specific structure:
functional meaning: part of speech meaning (nouns usually denote "thingness", adjectives – qualities and states)
grammatical: found in identical sets of individual forms of different words (she goes/works/reads, etc.) lexical: the component of meaning proper to the word as a linguistic unit, i.e. highly individual and recurs in all the forms of a word (the meaning of the verb to work 'to engage in physical or mental activity' that is expressed in all its forms: works, work, worked, working, will work) Lexical Meaning: denotational, connotational
Denotational lexical meaning provides correct reference of a word to an individual object or a concept. Denotational meaning makes communication possible. It is explicitly revealed in the dictionary definition (chair 'a seat for one person typically having four legs and a back'). to glare – to look Connotational lexical meaning is an emotional colouring of the word. Unlike denotational meaning, connotations are optional.
Connotations: Emotive charge may be inherent in word meaning (like in attractive, repulsive) or may be created by prefixes and suffixes (like in piggy, useful, useless).
It’s always objective because it doesn’t depend on a person’s perception.
2. Stylistic reference refers the word to a certain style:neutral words, colloquial, bookish, or literary words Eg. father – dad – parent .
3. Evaluative connotations express approval or disapproval (charming, disgusting).
4. Intensifying connotations are expressive and emphatic (magnificent, gorgeous)
Denotative component: Lonely = alone, without company; To glare = to look
Connotative component : melancholy, sad (emotive con.) ; 1) steadily, lastingly (con. of duration); 2) in anger, rage (emotive con.)
13. Polysemy: its nature, the main causes and sources. Meaning and context.
A polysemantic word is a word having more than one meaning.
Polysemy is the ability of words to have more than one meaning.
Most English words are polysemantic. A well-developed polysemy is a great advantage in a language.
If each word is capable of conveying at least two notions instead of one, the expressive power of language increases two times.
Monosemantic Words: most terms (synonym, bronchitis, molecule); some pronouns (this, my, both); numerals, etc.
The main causes of polysemy: a large number of: 1) monosyllabic words; 2) words of long duration (that existed for centuries).
The sources of polysemy: 1) the process of meaning change (meaning specialization due to its being used in more concrete spheres); 2) figurative language (metaphor and metonymy); 3) homonymy; 4) borrowing of meanings from other languages.
blanket : a woolen covering used on beds, a covering for keeping a house warm, a covering of any kind (a blanket of snow), covering in most cases (used attributively), e.g. we can say: a blanket insurance policy.