Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:Lexicology. Practical Course. Лексикология. Практический курс. Учебное пособие
.pdf
c) pejorative prefixes: mis- (mispronounce); mal- (maltreat); pseudo(pseudo-scientific);
d) prefixes of time and order: fore- (foretell); pre- (pre-war); post-
(post-war), ex- (ex-president);
e) prefix of repetition: re- (rebuild, rewrite);
f) locative prefixes: super- (superstructure), sub- (subway), inter(inter-continental), trans- (transatlantic).
5) According to their stylistic reference prefixes fall into:
a) those characterized by neutral stylistic reference, for example, over(oversee); under- (underestimate); un-(unknown);
b) those possessing quite a definite stylistic value, for example,
pseudo- (pseudo-classical); super- (superstructure); ultra- (ultraviolet);
uni- (unilateral); bi- (bifocal). These prefixes are of a literary-bookish
character.
3. PRODUCTIVE AND NON-PRODUCTIVE AFFIXES
The word-forming activity of affixes may change in the course of time.
This raises the question of productivity of derivational affixes, i.e. the
ability of being used to form new, occasional or potential words, which can
be readily understood by the language-speakers. Thus, productive affixes
are those used to form new words in this particular period of language
development (see Table 9).
Table 9
Some productive affixes
Noun-forming suffixes -er (manager), -ing (playing), -ness (darkness), -ism1
(materialism), -ist (parachutist), -ism (realism), -ation
(automation), (impressionist),
-ancy (redundancy), -ry (gimmickry), -or (reactor), -ics
(cybernetics).
Adjective-forming
suffixes
Adverb-forming
suffixes
Verb-forming suffixes -ize/-ise (realise), -ate (oxidate), -ify (qualify).
Prefixes un- (unhappy), re- (reconstruct), dis- (disappoint)
-y (tweedy), -ish (smartish), -ed (learned), -able
(tolerable), -less (jobless), -ic (electronic).
-ly (equally)
81
Non-productive affixes are the affixes which are not able to form new
N
words in this particular period of language development (see Table 10).
Table 10
Some non-productive affixes
oun-forming suffixes -th (truth), -hood (sisterhood), -ship (scholarship).
Adjective-forming
suffixes
Verb-forming suffix -en (strengthen)
-ly (sickly), -some (tiresome), -en (golden), -ous
(courageous), -ful (careful)
The productivity of an affix should not be confused with its frequency
of occurrence that is understood as the existence in the vocabulary of a
great number of words containing the affix in question. An affix may occur
in hundreds of words, but if it is not used to form new words, it is not
productive, for instance, the adjective suffix –ful.
4. VALENCY OF AFFIXES AND BASES
Valency of affixes is understood as their capability to be combined with
certain bases, for example, adjective forming suffixes are mostly attached to
nominal bases. They are: -en (golden), -ful (meaningful), -less (careless), -ly
(soldierly), -like (childlike). The highly productive suffix -able, however,
can be combined with nominal and verbal bases alike (honorable,
advisable).
Valency of bases is the possibility of a particular base to take a
particular affix. The valency of bases is not unlimited. For example, noun
bases can be followed by:
1) the noun-forming suffixes: -eer (profiteer), -ful (spoonful), -ics
(linguistics), - let (cloudlet);
2) the adjective-forming suffixes: -al (doctoral), -ary (revolutionary),
-ous (spacious), -ic (historic);
3) the verb-forming suffixes: -en (hearten), -ize (sympathize).
Valency or the combining possibilities are very important semantically
because the meaning of the derivative depends not only on the morphemes
of which it is composed but also on combinations of bases and affixes that
can be contrasted with it. Contrast is observed in the use of the same
morphemes in different environment or in the use of different morphemes in
the same environment. For instance, the difference in the suffixes -ity and
82
-ism becomes clear when comparing them as combined with identical bases:
m
g
t
t
g
s
d
formality – formalism; reality – realism. Thus, the words in -ity mean the
quality of being what the corresponding adjective describes, or an instance
of this quality. The resulting nouns are countable. The suffix -ism forms
nouns naming a disposition to what the adjective describes, or a
corresponding type of ideology. These nouns are uncountable.
A description of affixes according to the bases with which they are
combined and the lexico-grammatical classes they serve to differentiate is
very helpful in the analysis of the meaning the affixes are used to render.
5. CONVERSION. COMPOSITION
5.1. CONVERSION. VARIETIES OF CONVERSION
Conversion is one of the principal ways of forming words in Modern
English. Conversion consists 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 (see Table 11).
Table 11
Meaning, paradigm and functions of plant (n) – plant (v)
Meaning Paradig
plant a living thing that grows in
soil, has leaves and roots,
and needs water and light
from the sun to live, e.g. a
arden/pot/house plan
to plant to put trees, plants, or seeds
in soil or the ground so that
they will grow there. E.g.
I’ve planted a small apple
tree in the
arden.
-s (plural)
-‘s (possessive case)
-s’ (possessive case
plural)
r
-
(3
person, singular)
-ed (Past Indefinite,
Past Participle
-ing (Present
Participle, Gerund)
83
Function(s)
Subjec
Object
Predicative
Predicate
Among the main varieties of conversion are:
1. verbalization (the formation of verbs): to ape (from ape (n));
2. substantivation (the formation of nouns): a private (from private
adj.);
3. adjectivation (the formation of adjectives): down (adj) (from down
(adv));
4. adverbalization (the formation of adverbs): home (adv) (from home (n)).
6. TYPICAL SEMANTIC RELATIONS IN CONVERSION
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:
a) 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’;
b) instrumental use of the object: screw (n) − screw (v) − ‘fasten with a
screw’; whip (n) – whip (v) – ’strike with a whip’;
c) 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’;
d) deprivation of the object: dust (n) − dust (v) − ‘remove dust from
something’; skin (n) − skin (v) − ’strip off the skin from’; etc.
Diagram 15. Denominal verbs
84
2. Nouns converted from verbs are called deverbal substantives. The
verb generally referring to an action, the converted noun may denote:
a) instance of the action: jump (v) − jump (n) − ’sudden spring from the
ground’; move (v) − move (n) − ‘a change of position’;
b) agent of the action: help (v) − help (n) − ‘a person 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’;
c) place of the action: drive (v) − drive (n) − ‘a path or road along
which one drives’; walk (v) − walk (n) − ‘a place for walking’;
d) 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.
Diagram 16. Deverbal substantives
In case of polysemantic words one and the same member of a
conversion pair may belong to several groups. For instance, the verb dust
belongs to Group d) of Denominal verbs (deprivation of the object) when it
means ‘remove dust from something’, and to Group c) (acquisition or
addition of the object) when it means ‘cover with powder’.
7. WORD-COMPOSITION
Word-composition (or compounding) is the type of word-formation,
in which new words are produced by combining two or more Immediate
Constituents (ICs), which are both derivational bases. Word-composition is
85
one of the productive types of word-formation in Modern English.
Compound words are inseparable vocabulary units. They are formally and
semantically dependent on the constituent bases and the semantic relations
between them, which mirror the relations between the motivating units.
The ICs of compound words represent bases of three structural types:
1) bases that coincide with morphological stems: to day-dream,
daydreamer;
2) bases that coincide with word-forms: wind-driven, paper-bound.
3) bases that coincide with word-groups: blue-eyed, long-fingered.
The bases built on stems may be of different degrees of complexity:
1) simple, for example, week-end, pen-friend;
2) derived, for example, letter-writer, office-management;
3) compound, for example, fancy-dress-maker, aircraft-carrier, etc.
However, this complexity of structure of bases is not typical of the bulk
of Modern English compounds.
In this connection care should be taken not to confuse compound words
with polymorphic words of secondary derivation, i.e. derivatives built
according to an affixal pattern but on a compound stem for its base such as,
for instance, school-mastership ([n+n]+suf), ex-housewife (prf+[n+n]), to
weekend, to spotlight ([n+n]+conversion).
8. TYPES OF MEANING OF COMPOUND WORDS
The meaning of a compound word is made up of two components:
structural and lexical.
8.1. THE STRUCTURAL MEANING
The structural meaning of compounds is formed on the base of:
1) the meaning of their distributional pattern;
2) the meaning of their derivational pattern.
The distributional pattern of a compound is understood as the order
and arrangement of the ICs that constitute a compound word. A change in
the order and arrangement of the same ICs signals the compound words of
different lexical meanings, cf.: pot-flower – ‘a flower that grows in a pot’
and flower-pot – ‘a small container used for growing flowers in’. A change
in the order and arrangement of the ICs that form a compound may destroy
its meaning. Thus, the distributional pattern of a compound carries a certain
86
meaning of its own which is largely independent of the actual lexical
meaning of their ICs.
The meaning of the derivational pattern of compounds can be
abstracted and described through the interrelation of their ICs. For example,
the derivational pattern n+ven underlying the compound adjectives duty-
bound, wind-driven, mud-stained conveys the generalized meaning of
instrumental or agentive relations which can be interpreted as ‘done by’ or
‘with the help of something’.
Derivational patterns in compounds may be monosemantic and
polysemantic. For instance, the pattern n+n→N conveys the following
semantic relations: 1) of purpose: bookshelf; 2) of resemblance: needle-fish;
3) of instrument or agent: windmill, sunset.
8.2. THE LEXICAL MEANING
The lexical meaning of compounds is formed on the base of the
combined lexical meanings of their constituents. The semantic center of the
compound is the lexical meaning of the second component modified and
restricted by the meaning of the first. The lexical meanings of both
components are closely fused together to create a new semantic unit with a
new meaning, which dominates the individual meanings of the bases, and is
characterized by some additional component not found in any of the bases.
For example, the lexical meaning of the compound word handbag is not
essentially ‘a bag designed to be carried in the hand’ but ‘a woman’s small
bag to carry everyday personal items’.
9. CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOUND WORDS
Compound words can be classified according to different principles.
1. According to the relations between the ICs compound words fall into
two classes: coordinative compounds and subordinative compounds.
In coordinative compounds the two ICs are semantically equally
important. The coordinative compounds are divided into three groups:
a) reduplicative compounds which are made up by the repetition of the
same base: pooh-pooh, fifty-fifty;
b) compounds formed by joining the phonically variated rhythmic twin
forms: chit-chat, zig-zag (with the same initial consonants but different
vowels), walkie-talkie, clap-trap (with different initial consonants but the
same vowels);
87
c) additive compounds which are built on stems of the independently
functioning words of the same part of speech: actor-manager, queen-bee.
In subordinative compounds the components are neither structurally
nor semantically equal in importance but are based on the domination of the
head-member which is, as a rule, the second IC, for example, stone-deaf,
age-long. The second IC preconditions the part-of-speech meaning of the
whole compound.
2. According to the part of speech compounds represent they fall into:
1) compound nouns: sunbeam, maidservant;
2) compound adjectives: heart-free, far-reaching;
3) compound pronouns: somebody, nothing;
4) compound adverbs: nowhere, inside;
5) compound verbs: to offset, to bypass, to mass-produce.
From the diachronic point of view many compound verbs of the present
day language are treated not as compound verbs proper but as polymorphic
verbs of secondary derivation. They are termed pseudo-compounds and are
represented by two groups:
a) verbs formed by means of conversion from the stems of compound
nouns: to spotlight (from spotlight);
b) verbs formed by back-derivation from the stems of compound nouns:
to babysit (from baby-sitter).
However synchronically compound verbs correspond to the definition of
a compound as a word consisting of two free stems and functioning in the
sentence as a separate lexical unit. Thus, it seems logical to consider such
words as compounds by right of their structure.
3. According to the means of composition compound words are
classified into:
1) compounds composed without connecting elements: toothache, dog-
house;
2) compounds composed with the help of a vowel or a consonant as
linking elements: handicraft, speedometer, statesman;
3) compounds composed with the help of linking elements represented
by preposition or conjunction stems: daughter-in-law, bread-and-butter.
4. According to the type of bases that form compounds the following
classes can be singled out:
1) compounds proper that are formed by joining together bases built on
the stems or on the word-forms with or without a linking element: door-
step, street-fighting;
88
2) derivational compounds that are formed by joining affixes to the
bases built on the word-groups or by converting the bases built on the wordgroups into other parts of speech: long-legged → (long legs) + -ed; a
turnkey → (to turn key) + conversion. Thus, derivational compounds fall
into two groups:
a) derivational compounds mainly formed with the help of suffixes -ed
and - er applied to bases built, as a rule, on attributive phrases: narrow-
minded, doll-faced, lefthander;
b) derivational compounds formed by conversion applied to bases built,
as a rule, on three types of phrases – verbal-adverbial phrases (a
breakdown), verbal-nominal phrases (a kill-joy) and attributive phrases (a
sweet-tooth).
10. SOURCES OF COMPOUNDS
The actual process of building compound words may take different
forms.
1) Compound words as a rule are built spontaneously according to
productive distributional formulas of the given period. Formulas productive
at one time may lose their productivity at another period. Thus at one time
the process of building verbs by compounding adverbial and verbal stems
was productive, and numerous compound verbs like outgrow, offset, inlay
(adv + v) were formed. The structure ceased to be productive and today
practically no verbs are built in this way.
2) Compounds may be the result of a gradual process of semantic
isolation and structural fusion of free word-groups. Such compounds as
forget-me-not − ‘a small plant with blue flowers’, bull’s-eye − ‘the centre of
a target; a kind of hard, globular candy’, mainland − ‘a continent’ all go
back to free phrases which became semantically and structurally isolated in
the course of time. The words that once made up these phrases have lost,
within these particular formations, their integrity, the whole phrase has
become isolated in form, specialised in meaning and thus turned into an
inseparable unit − a word having acquired semantic and morphological
unity.
Most of the syntactic compound nouns of the (a+n) structure, for
instance, bluebell, blackboard, mad-doctor, are the result of such semantic
and structural isolation of free word-groups. One more example, highway,
89
which was once actually a high way for it was raised above the surrounding
countryside for better drainage and ease of travel. Now we use highway
without any idea of the original sense of the first element.
QUESTIONS
1. What is word-formation? What are the main types of word-formation?
2. What is word-derivation? What are the basic ways of word-
derivation?
3. What is conversion?
4. What is word-composition?
5. What are the main types of forming words?
6. What are the minor types of forming words?
7. What is shortening? What groups of shortenings can be singled out?
8. What does blending mean?
9. What type of word-formation is called acronymy? What are basic
types of acronyms?
10. What is sound-interchange? What groups does sound-interchange
fall into?
11. What is meant by sound-imitation or onomatopoeia? What groups
of words can be singled out according to the semantic principle?
12. What do we call back-formation?
13. What type of word-formation is known as distinctive stress?
14. What are derivational affixes?
15. What is affixation? What is an affix?
16. What is suffixation? What is a suffix? What is the role of suffixes in
the formation of new words?
17. What are the principles of the classification of suffixes?
18. What is prefixation? What is a
19. What principles of the classification of prefixes can be singled out?
20. What does the term productivity of derivational affixes denote?
21. What affixes are called productive? What affixes are known as non-
productive?
22. What is the difference between the productivity of affixes and the
frequency of occurrence?
23. What is meant by valency of affixes?
24. What is valency of bases?
prefix?
90
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]