- •English Lexicology
- •Preface
- •Organization and Content
- •Contents
- •Part I: Introduction
- •1.2 Methods and Procedures of Lexicological Analysis
- •Part II: The Structure of the English Lexicon
- •2.1 Words and Their Associative Fields
- •2.2 Word Families
- •2.3 Word Classes
- •2.4 Semantic, or Lexical, Fields
- •3.1 Synchronic Approach to the Structure of the English Vocabulary
- •3.1.1 Common, Literary, and Colloquial layers
- •3.1.2 Neologisms
- •3.2 Diachronic Approach: Etymological Survey of the English Word-Stock
- •3.2.1 Definition of Etymology
- •3.2.2 English Lexemes of Native Origin
- •3.2.3 Borrowed, or Loan, Lexemes
- •3.2.4 Classification of Borrowings according to the Degree of Assimilation
- •3.2.5 Etymological Doublets and Triplets
- •3.2.6 Folk Etymology
- •Part IV: The Word
- •4.1 Defining a Word
- •4.2 Morphological Structure of Words
- •4.2.1 Free and Bound Morphemes
- •4.2.2 Roots and Affixes
- •4.2.3 Stems
- •4.2.4 Types of affixes
- •4.2.5 Derivational and Functional Affixes
- •Inflection of Derived or Compound Words
- •4.2.6 Cliticization
- •4.2.7 Internal Change/Alternation
- •4.2.8 Suppletion
- •4.2.9 Reduplication
- •Part V: Word-Formation
- •5.1 Derivation/Affixation
- •5.1.1 Types of Derivational Affixes
- •5.2 Stress and Tone Placement
- •5.3 Compounding
- •5.3.1 Classification of Compounds
- •5.3.2 Endocentric and Exocentric Compounds
- •5.4 Reduplication
- •5.5 Conversion
- •5.6 Blend(ing)
- •5.7 Eponyms
- •5.8 Backformation
- •5.9 Clipping
- •5.10 Acronyms and Abbreviations
- •Part VI: Semantics
- •6.1 Types of Semantics
- •6.2 Word-Meaning
- •6.3 Types of Meaning
- •6.3.1 Grammatical Meaning
- •6.3.2 Lexical Meaning
- •6.3.3 Denotative Meaning
- •6.3.4 Connotative Meaning
- •6.3.5 Differential Meaning
- •6.3 6 Distributional Meaning
- •6.4 Phonetic, Morphological, and Semantic Motivation of Words
- •6.5 Semantics and Change of Meaning
- •7.1 Similarity of Sense
- •7.2 Oppositeness of Sense
- •7.3 Sense Categories: Hyponymy
- •7.4 Sense Categories: Meronymy
- •7.5 Related Senses
- •7.6 Unrelated Senses: Homonymy
- •7.7 Semantic Deviance
- •Part VIII: Word Groups and Phraseological Units
- •8.1 Basic Features of Word-groups
- •8.2 Phraseology
- •8.3 Definition of a Phraseological Unit
- •8.4 The Criteria of Phraseological Units
- •8.5 Classification of phraseologisms
- •8.6 The Origin of Phraseological Units
- •8.6.1 Native Phraseological Units
- •8.6.2 Borrowed Phraseological Units
- •8.7 Semantic Structure of Phraseological Units
- •8.8 Phraseological Meaning
- •8.9 Semantic Relations of Phraseological Units
- •8.9.1 Similarity of Sense
- •8.9.2 Oppositeness of Sense
- •9.1 Differences in Vocabulary between American and British English
- •9.2 Spelling Differences between American and British English
- •7.3 Grammatical Differences between American and British English
- •Part X: Lexicography
- •10.1 Main Types of Dictionaries
- •10.1.1 Non-linguistic Dictionaries: Encyclopaedias
- •10.1.2 Linguistic Dictionaries
- •Imitation
- •Glossary
4.2.2 Roots and Affixes
Complex words such as annotation, builder, professor, and others have internal structure. It is necessary not only to identify each component of the morphemes but also to classify them according to their contribution to the meaning and function of complex words. Typically, complex words consist of a root and one or more affixes. The root constitutes the core of the word and carries the major component of its meaning. Roots belong to a lexical category such as noun (N), verb (V), adjective (Adj), adverb (Adv), and preposition (P). Unlike roots, affixes are bound morphemes, and they do not belong to a lexical category. Affixes are subdivided into prefixes and suffixes. For example, when the suffix –er combines with the root build, the noun builder is coined to denote ‘one who builds.’ The internal structure of this word can be shown in a diagram, which O’Grady, Archibald, Aronoff, and Rees-Miller call “a tree structure” (p. 135). When an affix is attached to the root, the form is called a base or a stem (The terms base and stem may be used interchangeably). Sometimes a base corresponds to the word’s root; for example, in cat, the root is cat, and it is also a base.
4.2.3 Stems
A stem is the actual form to which an affix (a suffix or a prefix) is added. In blacken, for example, the affix -en is added to the root black. Sometimes, an affix can be added to the form, which is larger than a root, e.g., authorization (n).
4.2.4 Types of affixes
We can distinguish three types of affixes in terms of their position relative to the stem. An affix, which is attached to the front of the stem, is called a prefix, and an affix, which is attached to the end of the stem, is called a suffix.
Some English prefixes and suffixes
Prefixes |
Suffixes
|
de+base de+cease dis+prove im+part im+bibe in+tone inter+fere in+trepid pre+fix pre+judge pre+side
|
employ+ment enjoy+ment frang+ible frenz+y fulmin+ate gorge+ous grate+ful hunt+er nation+al+ize profess+or prob+ation |
A less common type of affix is an infix, which occurs within another morpheme. Although it is common in some languages, in English it appears with expletives, which provide extra emphasis to the word. One might point to certain usages on the American frontier such as guaran-damn-tee , abso-bloody-lutely, and others.
4.2.5 Derivational and Functional Affixes
Functional affixes serve to convey grammatical meaning. They build different forms of one and the same word. Instead of creating a new word, functional affixes modify the form of the word in order to mark the grammatical subclass to which it belongs. A word form is defined as one of the different aspects a word may take as a result of inflection. Complete sets of all the various forms of a word when considered as inflectional patterns, such as plurality, declension and conjugation, are termed paradigms. A paradigm is defined as the system of grammatical forms characteristic of a word, e.g., work, work+s, work+ing, and work+ed.
Plurality inflection
Singular |
Plural
|
computer judge country dress fox buzz fly
|
computer+s judge+s countr+ies dresses foxes buzzes flies |
Tense Inflection
Present |
Past
|
play rule cry fix kiss dress
|
played ruled cried fixed kissed dressed |