词汇学1现代英语词汇学概述ppt课件.ppt

Modern English Lexicology,Lexicology,grammar,pragmatics,semantics,phonology,How words are arranged toform a sentence.,Meanings of wordsand sentences.,Language soundsystems,Social rules in language use.,Unit One A General Survey of English Vocabulary,Overview of the unit,1. The definition of word2. The development of English vocabularyEnglish vocabulary viewed from the historical perspectiveThe rapid growth of present-day English vocabulary 3. Classification of English words according to different criteria4. Other related issues,What is a word?,a minimum free form (Bloomfield,1933:177-178)the association of a given sense with a given group of sounds capable of a given grammatical use (Antoine Meillet) one of the fundamental units of speech and a minimum free form. It is a unity of sound and meaning, capable of performing a given syntactic function,Vocabulary vs. Word,All the words in a language together constitute what is known as its vocabulary.Vocabulary also consists of as well the words and phrases used in dialects, registers and terminology.,The Development of English Vocabulary,Three historical periods of the development of English vocabulary,Rapid growth of the vocabulary of the present-day English,Old English(450-1150),Three Historical Periods,Modern English(1500-present),Middle English(1150-1500),The pronunciation of old English somewhat differs from that of modern English.It is a highly inflected language (synthetic not analytic).,-The Norman Conquest caused the changes in the English language. English has changed from a highly inflected language to an analytic language in terms of grammar.A lot of words were borrowed from French (beef, pork, bacon, air, beauty, music, brown, painting, color, etc.).,-emphasis on Latin and Greek as a result of the renaissance (1500-1700)A time of stabilizing and purifying English language A period of expansion of English vocabulary,vowels undergone changes OLD English Modern English stan ? fot ? fyr ?represented the sound of th by p and wip ? a ?the basic elements remained mann(man), wif(wife), cild(child), hus(house), benc(bench), mete(meet, food),Early Modern English (1476-1776)Latin loan words: mostly connected with science and abstract ideas chemist, function, scientific, vacuum; area, irony, theory, education, adapt, exist, appropriate, precise Greek loan words: mostly literary, technical and scientific drama, comedy, tragedy, lexicon, criterion, botany, physics.,attach, charge daffaires, cafconcert, duet, piano, soprano, solo, tenor, model, bust, studio, dome, balcony, piazzaarmada, cargo, vanilla, cocoa, cigar,Modern English (1776-) English borrowed words form an increasing number of languages, the major ones being the three Romance languages:French: attach, charge daffaires, cafItalian: particularly dominant in the fields of music, art and architecture concert, duet, piano, soprano, solo, tenor, model, bust, studio, dome, balcony, piazzaSpanish: armada, cargo, vanilla, cocoa, cigar,Portuguese: caste and pagodaGerman: bismuth, cobalt, nickel and zincDutch: dock, freight and keelRussian: vodka, troika, ruble and tsar,Australian: boomerang, kangaroo and dingo;Arabic: sugar, sultan and alcohol;Indian: coolie, cashmere and khaki;Hebrew: schmozzo and schmalts;Chinese: tea, typhoon and yamen;Japanese: kimono and tycoon;African: gorilla and zebra.,English has adopted words from almost every known language in the course of its historical development.As summed up in The Encyclopedia Americana: “The English language has vast debts. In any dictionary some 80% of the entries are borrowed” English is supposed to have the most copious vocabulary of all the language in the world, estimated at more than a million words.,The rapid growth of present-day English vocabulary,Reasons for the frequent appearance of neologisms :Marked progress of science and technologySocio-economic, political and cultural changesThe influences of other cultures and languages,nuclear bomb: chain reaction, radioactivity, fall-out, clean bomb, overkill, megadeath, neuron bomb, medium-range ballistic missilesexploration of space: astronaut and cosmonaut, blast off, countdown, capsule, launching pad, space suit, spacemen, space platform, space shuttlecomputer science: software, hardware, input, output, memory, monitor, process, programming, data base, internet, log on (off), etc.,New social habits & new living condition: credit card, fringe benefit, hire purchase, high-rise, condo (short for condominium), house sitter (sitting), kitchenette, spin-driers, pressure cooker, microwave oven, ready-mixed cakes, instant mashed potatoes, supermarket, drug subculture: acid head, upper (a stimulant drug), downer (a depressant drug),civil rights movements: black studies, black power, Black Panther, Black muslin, sit-in, swim-in, , Be-in, love-in (from hippie subculture),homosexual subculture: gay, homophobia, campwomens liberation movements: Ms, chairperson, chair woman, spokeswoman, male-chauvinism, sexism, feminism, education: open classroom, Open University, alternative school (non-traditional curriculum)entertainment: call-in ( of a radio program), discotheque, simulcast, guerrilla or street theatre, acid rock, hard rock, folk rock,sports: roller-hockey, surf-riding, skydiving, designated hitter ( from baseball game),apartheid, was first used in South Africa in 1949 to mean “ (policy of) racial segregation)sputnik, a Russian word, meaning “man-made satellite”autostrade (from Italian), mao tai (from Chinese), autopista (from Spanish),The development of science, the rapid changes in society, the receptive and flexible nature of English with regard to the influence of other cultures and languages-all these have resulted in a dramatic increase in vocabulary, a growth which in turn contributes to the richness and resourcefulness of the English language.,Classification of English words,According to origin Native words: words of Anglo-Saxon or of Old English Loan words: those borrowed from other languages According to level of usage common words vs. literary words According to notion content words vs. function words,Most of the loan words have been perfectly naturalized in usage. They have conformed to native English in accent and in spelling, sometimes even in adoption of an English affix. faultless (fault-French by origin + the English suffix less) uncertain (the English prefix un+certain-French by origin) There are also words borrowed from foreign languages without any change in sound and spelling charge daffairs.,The tacit aspects of knowledge are those that cannot be codified, but can only be transmitted via training or gained through personal experience. Tacit knowledge has been described as “know-how” - as opposed to “know-what” (facts), “know-why” (science), or “know-who” (networking). It involves learning and skills but not in a way that can be written down.,The most native words in Modern English are monosyllabic (单音节的).They form the great majority of the basic word stock of the English language. This basic word stock is the foundation of the vocabulary accumulated over a number of epochs, in which we find auxiliary and model verbs, and a greater part of numerals, pronouns, prepositions and conjunctions. It also includes the most frequently used words that are essential to life, such as names of natural phenomena (sun, moon, rain,), words defining time and space (night, morning, here, there,) and others denoting the most fundamental things of life.,1. Common words: connected with the ordinary things or activities necessary to everyday life. The great majority of English words are common words. The core of the common words is the basic word stock.2. Literary words: chiefly used in writing, especially in books written in a more elevated style, in official documents, or in formal speeches. They are comparatively seldom used in ordinary conversation.,1) Feeling fatigued, Tom retired early.2) Tom went to bed early because he felt tired.3) Tom felt so dog-tired he hit the sack early. (colloquial) adumbrate (outline); albeit (though); cast (throw); edifice (building); endeavor (try); locate (find); matrimony (marriage); purchase (buy); visualize (foresee); expectorate (spit).,1. He asked her to rest.2. His rejection of the offer surprised me.3. The car was hit by a truck.,Function words: short words such as determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, auxiliaries, and so forth. They do not have much lexical meaning and some of them have no lexical meaning of their own; they serve grammatically more than anything else.,Function words belong to a relatively small and permanent set of words, in comparison to content words. The total number of function words is about 154 (Fries 1952: 104).,content words: used to name objects, qualities, actions, process or states, and have independent lexical meaning. They are the nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs of a language.Content words belong to an open list. The list is open in the sense that it is indefinitely extendible.,Conclusion,A word may be defined as one of the fundamental units of speech and having a minimum free form. It is a unity of sound and meaning, capable of performing a syntactical function.All the words in a language together constitute what is known as its vocabulary.,The historical development of English shows that English is a heavy borrower; it has adopted words from almost every known language, especially from Latin, French and Greek. After World War II the English vocabulary expanded at a rate much faster than ever before.,The basic reason for the rapid growth of the vocabulary of present-day English are marked progress of science and technology, the socio-economic, political and cultural changes taking place in the English-speaking countries, and the strong influence of other cultures and languages.,As a result of large-scale borrowings during its historical development, the English vocabulary is extremely rich and heterogeneous. The vocabulary has grown from 50,000 to 60,000 words in Old English to the tremendous number of more than a million words-the largest of all the language in the world.,In spite of the preponderance of the loan words over the native ones, the latter make up the most familiar, most useful part of the English vocabulary, while the former adds to the flexibility and resourcefulness of the language.,The English vocabulary comprises different kinds of words, which may be classified according to different criteria.Words may be classified by their origin into native and loan words. By level of usage, words may be classified into common (or popular) words, literary words, colloquial words, slang words and technical words.,Words can be classified into content and function words. The former have independent lexical meanings while the latter, in most cases, have no lexical meanings of their own, acting as grammatical signals to show the connection between content words. Function words are far fewer than content words yet are much more frequently used.,Questions to be Considered,1. What are the three English periods with a view to its historical development?2. How did the Norman Conquest and the Renaissance influence the English vocabulary?3. What are the characteristics of the English vocabulary as a result of its historical development? 4. Enumerate the causes for the rapid growth of neologism after World War II. Give your examples for each cause.,The End,