英语词汇讲义.doc

1、1Lexicology李强：13926195593, liqiang_Course Targets:Vocabulary enlargementLexicological theoriesCourse Rules:1. Self-study and understand every single print symbol of all the text, from which some 80% of all the final exam questions will be extracted.2. Screen out all the new words and expressions dur

2、ing our course presentation and compile a mini-English-Chinese Dictionary (with no less than 2000 entries) of your own by the end of the semester.3. Finish independently all the exercises after each unit without dropping any single item.-lexic-=wordsdictionary dict-ion-aryIntroduction0.1 Nature with

3、out vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed.McCarthy: echoed the same message.For students: to develop your word power, to understand the genuine meaning b)A sound unity;c)A unit of meaning;d)A form that can function alone in a sentenceA minimal free form of a language that has a given sound knight, nig

4、ht1.3 Sound it can also stand for words used in a given context, a given dialect, a given historical period etc. on the other hand.6. Illustrate the relationship between sound and meaning with examples.A word is a symbol that stands for sth else in the world. This symbolic connection, different in v

5、arious cultures, is almost always arbitrary, and there is “no logical or intrinsic relationship between the sound which stands for a thing or an idea and the actual thing or idea itself”.E.g. a dog is called a dog not because the sound and three letters d-o-g automatically suggest the animal in ques

6、tion. It is only symbolic. The relationship between them is conventional（约定俗成的） because people of the same speech community have agreed to denote the animal with this cluster of sounds or in the three letters. The same concept can be represented by different sounds in different languages, say, /inu/

7、 in Japanese. On the other hand, the same sound can be used to denote different things like meet, meat, mete.7. Some more examples of slang words:tart=loose womenbloke =fellowgat =pistol6swell =greatchicken =cowardblue =fightsmoky =policefull =drunkdame =womenbeaver =girl8. Some more examples of arc

8、haisms:haply =perhapsmethinks =it seems to mesooth =truthtroth =faithquoth =saidbillow =wave, the seaalbeit =althougheke =alsomorn =morningere =before “Able was I ere I saw Elba”-Napoleonhallowed =holybade =bidPalindrome 8. Deed, level, radar, madam, Hannah9. Able was I ere I saw Elba.10. A man, a p

9、lan, a canal, Panama!一个人、一个计划、一个运河、巴拿马!“客上天然居，居然天上客”“可以清心”王融春游回文诗:“池莲照晓月 ,幔锦拂朝风。”9. Explain Neologisms with examples:Neologisms are newly created words or expressions, or words that have taken on new meanings.e.g.: e-mail=, microelectronics=10. How do you account for the role of native words in rela

10、tion to loan words?Native words are those brought to Britain in the fifth century by the German tribes, known as Anglo-Saxon words. They are small in number (50-60K), but form the mainstream of the basic word stock and stand at the core of the language.Therefore native words are characterized with “

11、neutral in style” and “frequent in use” along with the five features of basic word stock. The loan words, large in quantity, have enriched the English vocabulary, but can not change the basic structure of the language, grammar, for example.11. Some more examples of loan words:Aliens: confrere, pro p

12、atria, Wunderkind, mikado, parvenuDenizens: kettle(ON), die, wall(HG, L, ON), skirt(ON)Trans. Loans: chopstick, silk(Gr), long time no see, black humor, typhoon(CH, Ar. Gr)Seman. Loans: dream, bloom, gift(ON)*There is overlapping between these classes, e.g. typhoon can go to aliens, and silk to deni

13、zens.More Slang Words:antifreeze: alcoholairhead: stupid personbang: a very powerful thingbeans: moneybread: money7butt: the buttockschicken: cowardcool: excellent, superbdinosaur: sth old-fashioned or out of dateevil: great, excellentget naked (possibly offensive): to completely relax and have a go

14、od timego bananas: go slightly madgrass: marijuanaivories: teethjack around (possibly offensive): waste timekiller: sth exceptional or greatmake waves: cause problemsmonkey bite: a kiss that leaves a mark on the skinparty animal: sb that love partiespeanuts: very little moneypig out: eat too muchpus

15、s: the faceshades: sunglasseswasted: killedzero: an unimportant personChapter 2: The Development of English Vocabulary2.1 The Indo-European Language FamilyApprox. 3000 human languagesroughly 300 language familiesThe prehistoric Indo-European parent language: highly reflected language（内部屈折语）originate

16、d somewhere in the easternmost part of Europe2.2 A Historical Overview of the English VocabularyCelticLatin of Roman Legions(55-54 B.C. until 410) Anglo-Saxon(German Tribes)(Old English) Middle EnglishModern English2.2.1 Old English(450-1150)=Anglo-SaxonThe introduction of Christianity: abbot, candl

17、e, altar, amen, apostleChanging meanings or combining native words:Easter, handbook(manual)9th Century: Norwegian * Semantic change: old form taking on a new meaning to meet the new need;* Borrowing: played a vital role in early times, still at work now but not as actively as before.1961-1976: of th

18、e total 473 borrowings:30% from French, 8% from Latin, 7% from Jap. & Italian respectively, 6% from Spanish, 5% from Deutsch & Greek respectively, 4% from Russian & Yiddish respectively, the rest are from other languagesReviving archaic or obsolete words:Loan: vt. in the 13th centurylendAmE: guess=t

19、hink, druggist=chemist, fall=autumn, sick=illOpposite process of development: old words falling out of use:Jesperson (1948) observed: 37 words meaning “prince” in Beowulf are now mostly no longer in use. Over 30 words denoting the “sea” in old poems and writings have hardly survived.Some more new wo

20、rds to know:Fringe benefit（额外福利）Condo =condominium（分户出售公寓房）KitchenetteLSD(lysergic acid diethylamide) : a hallucinogenic drugAcid head: 频繁使用致幻剂的人Upper: a stimulant drugDowner: a depressant drugHigh: under influence of a drugGay=homophile=homosexualFeminismMale chauvinismsexismCall-inSimulcastSkydivi

21、ngCosmonaut=astronautApartheidMao taiAutostrada (from Italian)Autopista (from Spanish)Indo-European Language FamilyBalto- Albanian Indo- Armenian Italic Celtic Germanic HellenicSlavic IranianPrussian Persian Portuguese Norwegian10Lithuanian Hindi Spanish IcelandicPolish Italian DanishBulgarian Roman

22、ian SwedishSlovenian French EnglishRussian Irish GermanBreton HellenicScottish GreekQuestions & Tasks11. Omitted12. Omitted13. Fill in the blanks:The language used between 450 and _ is called _, which has a vocabulary of _. Middle English refers to the language spoken from 1150 to _, followed by the

23、 _ period, subdivided as early modern English (_ to _ ) and late _ (1700 up to now).4. Decide whether the statements are true or false.* English is more closely related to German than French.* Scandinavian languages refer to Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish.3) Old English is a highly reflect

24、ed language.4) In early Middle English period, English, Latin, and Celtic existed side by side.5) The introduction of printing into England marked the beginning of modern English period.6) Modern English is considered to be an analytic language.7) The four major contributors to English vocabulary in

25、 earlier times are Latin, French, Scandinavian and Italian.8) In modern times, borrowing brings less than ten percent of modern English vocabulary.9) The major factors that promote the growth of modern English vocabulary are advances in science and technology as well as influence of foreign cultures

26、 and languages.10) The most important mode of vocabulary development in present-day English is creation of new words by means of word-formation.11) Old English vocabulary was in essence Germanic with a small quantity of words borrowed form Latin and Scandinavian.12) Middle English absorbed a tremend

27、ous number of foreign words but with little change in word endings.5. Here is a sample text chosen from the Declaration of Independence.When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among

28、powers of the earth separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of natures God entitle them, a Decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.Pick out all the words of Greek or Latin origin from the text. What

29、insight does this exercise give you about borrowings from Greek and Latin?Course, human, event, necessary, people, dissolve, political, connected, assume, separate, equal, station, nature, entitle, decent, respect, opinions, requires, declare, causes, impel, separationLarge in number, official and f

30、ormal in style6. Enumerate the major modes of modern vocabulary development.7. Borrowings usually fall into two classes, the early ones being assimilated and the later ones still retaining foreign pronunciation and spelling. Tell which of the following are early borrowings and which are late ones.savant (l) servant ( )genre (l) gender ( )message ( ) massage (l)chapel ( ) chapeau (l)morale (l) moral ( )button ( ) cartoon (l)8. Identify the origins of the following borrowings:* Thrive, they, egg, ill, die* Status, minimum, arena, species, alibi