- •2. The connection of lexicology with phonetics, grammar and stylistics.
- •2 The original stock of English words
- •3. The distinction of the terms "source of borrowing", "origin of borrowing", "translation loans", "semantic loans".
- •4. Assimilation of borrowings.
- •1. A word as a fundamental unit of a language.
- •2. Classification of morphemes.
- •4. Structural types of words.
- •1. Productive ways of word-building
- •1.1. Affixation
- •1.3. Substantivation
- •1.4. Compounding (Composition)
- •1.5. Shortening
- •1(Thought or
- •3,The classification of meanings of words
- •1. Classification of synonyms
- •3. Antonyms. Types of antonyms.
- •1. Different types of non-semantic grouping
- •1.1 Morphological grouping of words
- •1.2 Lexico-Grammatical groups.
- •1.3. Thematic groups
- •4. Vocabulary in the process of time
- •Phraseology
- •Criteria to distinguish free word-groups and phraseological units:
- •Structural criterion: restriction in substitution
- •Semantic classification of V.V. Vinogradov
- •Structural classification of phraseological units by a.I. Smirnitsky
- •A.V. Koonin’s classification of phraseological units
- •Classification of phraseological units according to their origin
- •Proverbs, familiar quotations, sayings
- •Stylistic layers of english vocabulary
- •Functional styles
- •Stylistic aspects of formal English
- •Colloquialisms as a characteristic feature of informal vocabulary
- •Dialectal and territorial vocabulary variations
- •Different varients of English
- •Lexicography
- •Historical development of lexicography
- •The main types of modern dictionaries
- •According to the relationships existing between the words. They are synonymic dictionaties, dialect dictionaties, dictionaties of Americanisms, etc.
The main types of modern dictionaries
The term dictionary is used to denote a book listing words of a language with their meanings and often with data regarding pronunciation, usage and/or origin. We can distinguish general and special ones. General dictionaries represent the vocabulary as a whole with a degree of completeness depending upon the scope and bulk of the book in question. Some general dictionaries may have very specific aims and are considered general due to their coverage. They include, for instance, frequency, rhyming, thesaurus dictionaries. General dictionaries may be further subdivided into:
pronouncing (phonetical) dictionaries – concentrate their attention upon the pronunciation of words. The best-known is “An English Pronouncing Dictionary” by Jones;
etymological dictionaries – state the origin of words (the source of borrowing, the origin of borrowing, all the subsequent changes in meaning and usage. Skeat’s Etymological Dictionary is believed to be one of the most widely used;
unilingual or explanatory dictionaries – give definitions of word meaning in the same language. They are further subdivided with regard to time. Diachronic dictionaries, of which the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster’s Dictionary of the English language are usually considered to be the most available and popular editions. They reflect the development of the English vocabulary by recording the history of form and meaning for every word registered. Some synchronic dictionaries are at the same time historical when they represent the state of vocabulary at some past stage of its development;
bilingual or translation dictionaries – represent the most ordinary, widespread type. They contain words and expressions of the native language and their foreign equivalents, or vice-versa;
multilingual or polyglot dictionaries – serve chiefly the purpose of comparing synonyms and terminology in various languages. They are not numerous, e.g. Carl Darling Buck’s Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages.
Special dictionaries may be further subdivided:
according to the sphere of human activity in which they are used (technical, medical, linguistic, economical dictionaties). Unilingual books of this type giving definitions of terms are called glossaries.
according to the specific language units, i.e. with phraseology, abbreviations, neologisms, borrowings, surnames, toponyms, proverbs and sayings, etc.
According to the relationships existing between the words. They are synonymic dictionaties, dialect dictionaties, dictionaties of Americanisms, etc.
Some of the main problems in lexicography
The most burning issue of lexicography are connected with the selection of head-words, the arrangement and contents of the vocabulary entry, the principles of sense and definitions and the semantic and functional classification of words.
Dictionary-makers should attempt to improve and stabilize the English vocabulary according to the best classical samples and advise the readers on preferable usage. A distinctly modern criterion in selection of entries is the frequency of the words to be included.
The arrangement of the vocabulary presents many problems, of which the most important are the differentiation and sequence of various meanings of a polysemantic word.
The explanation of meaning may be achieved by a group of synonyms which together give a fairly general idea. But one synonym is never sufficient for the purpose because no absolute synonyms exist. Definitions serve the purpose much better. These are of two main types. If they are only concerned with words as speech material, the definition is called linguistic. If they are only concerned with things for which the words are names, they are termed encyclopaedic. American dictionaries are traditionally encyclopaedic, which accounts for so much attention upon the facts and things. British dictionaries – are more linguistic and more occupied with lexical data,
grammatical properties of words, their components, stylistic features, etc. The meaning of the word may also explained by examples and contextually.