Lexicology 1 What are international words? Etymological doublets? Translation loans? International words are words, either of political, economic, scientific or technological nature, borrowed by sever.
1.What are international words? Etymological doublets? Translation loans? -International words are words, either of political, economic, scientific or technological nature, borrowed by several languages and not just by one Eg: TV, piano, telephone, violin, camera, grand piano… -Etymological doublets are pairs of (or several) words, more or less similar in meaning, phonation taken into a language from the same source but at different times Eg: Shade – shadow; Canal – channel; Skirt – shirt; Hotel – hostel – hospital -Translation loans are special type of borrowings taken into a language by means of literally translating foreign words after their patterns Eg: wonder child, masterpiece, grey matter, hot pot, input/output, bubble economy, black box… 2.What is the relationship between the etymological and stylistic characteristics of words? The relationship between the etymological and stylistic characteristics of words is in fact the relationship between formal and informal words or between borrowed and native ones Native words, belonging to informal strata, having great expressive and emotional values, are often used in daily language and in informal texts while borrowed words, belonging to formal strata, are often used in formal texts, documents or as scientific and technological terms Eg: carry out – implement; put an end to – complete 3.What is word-building? Word-building is a process of building new words from resources of a particular language Eg: work → worker beauty → beautiful watch (n) → watch(v) appoint → appointment sunflower 4.Structurally how many types of word can be found in the English language? Structurally there are types of words: + Root words (Words have only a root morpheme in its structure) Eg: house, book, desk, plant, etc + Derived words (Words consist of a root and an affix or several affixes) Eg: teacher, careless, etc + Compound words (Words consist of two or more root morphemes) Eg: mother-in-law, fanclub, etc + Shortenings (Words formed by contracting one/a certain element of an existing word or word group Eg: MP, CIA, UNICEF, gym, etc 5.What are the main ways of word-building? There are main ways of word-building: + Affixation/ Derivation Eg: election (n) → by-election (n) Create → creator Terrible → terribly + Conversion Eg: nail → to nail love →to love eye → to eye + Composition Eg: fanclub, sunflower forget-me-not, father-in-law + Shortening Eg: TV (television), lab (laboratory) 6.What is affixation? Affixation is a way of word-building in which a new word is formed by adding an affix or several affixes to a/some root morpheme/morphemes Eg: art → artist to care → careless (adj) → careness (n) careful (adj)→ carefully (adv) Etymologically/ Productively/ Semantically/ Functionally how many types can affixes be classified into? -Etymologically, affixes can be classified into types: Native suffixes: Eg: er: teacher, lover, worker en: darken, golden, silken Borrowed affixes: Eg: Latin affixes: ion: union, opinion ute: attribute, constitute, distribute French affixes: ance: entrance, appearance en: enable, enrich, enlarge -Productively affixes can be classified into types: Productive: which are often used to form new words up present Eg: er, ly, less, able Non-productive: are those which are not often used to form new words up present Eg: en, some, dom -Semantically affixes can be classified into various types such as: Negative and positive prefixes: anti, in, im, over, un, under Prefixes of location: sub, extra Prefixes of time and order: ex, pre, re Prefixes of size: mini, micro Prefixes of number: semi, bi, mono -Functionally affixes can be classified into types: Noun-forming affixes: ance, er, or, ion Verb-forming affixes: ize, fy Adjective-forming suffixes: able, ful, less Adverb-forming suffixes: wise, ward 8.What is conversion? Conversion is a way of word-building in which a new word is formed by changing the category of part of speech of an existing word with its morphemic shape remaining unchanged Eg: dog → to dog hand → to hand face → to face Grammatically/ Semantically what should be noted in conversion? (How can the meaning of a word formed by conversion be deduced?) Grammatically, when a word is formed by conversion it is subject to all the grammatical changes of the new part of speech Eg: nurse (n) substantive paradigm + s, plural + ’s, possessive case, singular Nurse (v) verbal paradigm + s, 3rd person singular + ed, past indefinite, past participle + ing, present participle, gerund Semantically, when a word is formed by conversion, its meaning may be slightly different from that of the word from which it was made However, there are usually certain semantic and logical associations between the two (which help the reader or the listener to deduce the meaning of the new word) Eg: hammer → to hammer nail → to nail dog → to dog hand → to hand leg → to leg 10 What is shortening? Clipping? Blending? Abbriviation? - Shortening is a way of word-building in which a new word is formed by contracting certain elements of an existing word or word group It consists mainly of clipping, abbreviation and blending -Clipping is to make a new word from a syllable (sometimes two) of an original word It consists of: Initial clipping (its beginning): airoplane → plane; Omibus → bus Final clipping (its ending): laboratory → lab; Examination → exam Initial-final clipping (its beginning and ending): detective → tec; Influenza → flu Medial clipping (medial part): pantaloos → pants; mathematics → maths -Abbreviation is to make a new word from the initial letters of an existing word group Eg: APEC: Asian Pacific Economic Comp ABAC: Apec Business Advisery Council SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome -Blending is to make a new word by merging parts of existing words into one Eg: motor + hotel → motel; Smoke + fog → smog 11 What is composition? Composition is a way of word-building in which a new word is formed by combining two or more stems Eg: see through, forget-me-not 12.Structurally how many types can compounds be classified into? Structurally compounds can be classified into types: - Neutral compounds: formed by combining stems/words without using any linking elements Eg: handkerchief - Morphological compounds: formed by combining stems with the help of a liking vowel or consonant (nonproductive) Eg: salesman, Anglo-Saxon speedometer, handicraft - Syntactic compounds: formed from segments of speech preserving in their structure numerous traces of syntagmatic relation typical of speech Eg: She threw an if-you-marry-me-I-will-kill-myself look at him He is a know-all man 13 How many subtypes are neutral compounds classified into? Neutral compounds are classified into types: Simple neutral compounds: whose components are root words Eg: snow-white Derivational neutral compounds: are compounds of which one or both elements are derived words Eg: glass-walled Contracted compounds: are compounds of which one component is contracted word Eg: M-day 14 Semantically how many types can compounds be classified into? Semantically compounds can be classified into types: Non-idiomatic: are compounds whose meanings can be seen as the sum of the meanings of their components Eg: classroom, sleeping bag Idiomatic: are compounds of which the meanings of their components have been partially or completely changed or lost Eg: horsesense (lương tri chất phác), butterfly 15 What is onomatopoeia? Reduplication? Back-information? * Onomatopoeia is a minor type of modern word-building in which a new word is formed by imitating different kinds of sounds that may be produced by animals, insects, human beings and inanimate objects Eg: Crow, cuckoo, cricket, humming-bird, sizzle (xèo xèo) * Reduplication is a minor type of modern word-building in which a new word is formed by doubling a stem, either without any phonetic changes or with a variation of the root-vowel or consonant Eg: bye-bye, so so, chit chats, ping pong * Back-information is a minor type of modern word-building in which a new word is formed by subtracting what was mistakenly associated with an English affix Eg: television → televise greedy → greed (tham lam) automatic → automate beggar → to beg 16 What are the main criteria to distinguish word-compound and word-combination? Four main criteria to distinguish word-compound and word-combination are: Graphically, components of compounds are usually jointly written or hyphenated while words in the wordcombination are always separately written Eg: a green house, a blue bottle (word combination) a greenhouse, a bluebottle (compound) Phonetically a compound normally has only stress falling on the 1st syllable while each word in a wordcombination has a stress of its own Eg: ’green ’house - ’greenhouse Semantically, a compound expresses only concept while a word-combination can express or more concepts (depending on the number of words in the word-combination) Eg: bluebottle (con nhặng) ; blue bottle ↓ ↓ ↓ an insect color a container greenhouse green house ↓ ↓ ↓ special nursery color a dwelling structure Syntactically a compound is treated as a complete unity indivisible Each compound belongs to one certain part of speech and is therefore subject to the grammatical changes of that part of speech only No extra word can be added between them In contrast each word in a word-combination is an independent unit having all the grammatical changes of its own part of speech Extra word can be added between them Eg: bluebottle → bluebottles → bluebottles’ blue bottle ↓ ↓ bluer bottles ↓ ↓ bluish blue and red bottle → blue and red plastic bottle 17 What is meaning? Meaning can be more or less described as a component of the word through which a concept is communicated 18 What is semantics? Semantics is the branch of linguistics which specializes in the study of meaning 19 What is the modern approach to semantics based on? The modern approach to semantics is based on the assumption that the inner form of the word presents a structure which is called the semantic structure of the word 20 What is the semantic structure of the word? The semantic structure of the word is the assumed structure of its inner form 21 What are main types of semantic components within the semantic structure of the word? Two main types of semantic components within the semantic structure of the word are: Denotative – denotation: is the primary or literal meaning of the word expressing the conceptual content Connotative – connotation: is the secondary or additional meaning of the word or its implications, giving a more or less full picture of the meaning 23 What is transference? Transference is the process of development of a new meaning (or a change of meaning) 24 What are the main types of transference? Two main types of transference are: Metaphor: is the transference based on resemblance (similarity) between people or things ↔ polysemy + position: foot: part of human body → foot of the mountain + appearance: eye: part of human body → eye of the potato eye of the needle + function: hand: part of human body → hand of clock factory hand (công nhân) key: to the door → key to the exercise +quality: star: celestial body → movie star, pop star + character: fox: kind of animal → foxy +size: life is a sea of trouble (đời bể khổ) Metonymy is the transference based on contiguity (or relatedness between people or things + names of a container for what is contained: Eg: pint Eat two cans – two cans of meat + geographical names for the products: Eg: china, tweed + proper names as common names: Eg: sandwich, volt + names of material for the product Eg: iron, mink + names of separate part for a whole thing or vice versa Eg: roof, car 25 What is specialization? Generalization? Degeneration? Elevation? Generalization is the extension of semantic capacity of a word during its historical development process Eg: camp: military barracks → any place where people can stay for holiday Specialization is the restriction of semantic capacity of a word during its historical development process Eg: queen: any wife → wife of King meat: any food in Old English → flesh taken from any animal for food Degeneration is the acquisition of less emotive, less pleasant meaning of a word during its historical development process Eg: knave: boy; Swindler; Ass: donkey; Anus Cock: male chicken; Male genital organ Elevation is the acquisition of more emotive, more pleasant meaning of a word during its historical development process Eg: fond: foolish Fine, good 26 What is homonym? Homonyms are words which are identical in sound and spelling or at least in one of these aspects but different in their meanings Eg: ball (n) : a sphere, any spherical body A large dancing party 27 Traditionally, how many types can homonym be classified into? Traditionally, homonyms can be classified into types: + Homonyms proper: which are the same in sound and spelling Eg: marriage is not a word but a sentence + Homophones: they are the same in sound but different in spelling Eg: bare – bear Piece- peace Here – hear + Homographs: those are words which are the same in spelling but different in sound Eg: to wound – wound (to wind) Record: (n) facts known about a person’s past (v) to officially state 29 What are the main sources of homonyms? Four main sources of homonyms are: Phonetic changes: Eg: writan (before) – to write (now); Sae – see Borrowing: Eg: rite (n) – write (v) – right (adj) Rite is latin borrowing (ritus) Word-building: Eg: comb (n) – to comb Bang (n) – to bang Split polysemy: Eg: bar (of chocolate) – (social) bar 30 What is the difference in the bases for classification of homonyms suggested by Smirnitsky and traditional one? The difference in the bases for classification of homonyms is: The traditional classification of homonyms is based on criteria namely sound and spelling while in the classification suggested by Smirnitsky beside sound and spelling one more criterion is added: part of speech Eg: match (n) a game, a contest Match (n) a short piece of a wood used for producing fire To match and match are seen as proper homonyms in the traditional classification while they are partial homonyms in Smirnitsky’s classification 31 What are synonyms? Synonyms are words belonging to the same part of speech and processing one or more identical or nearly identical denotional meaning interchangeable in some contexts but they are different connotational meaning Eg: dumb – mute (a) To make – to create – to invent 32 What is meant by dual characteristics of synonyms? By duality or the dual characteristics of synonyms, we means synonyms are both the same and different They are the same in that they often share the same denotative components or denotations, and they are different in that their connotative components or connotations are usually different Eg: Thrifty -> careful about money (dc) -> a good quality (cc) Stingy -> careful about money (dc) -> a bad \quality (cc) Trot -> walk (dc) -> making short and quick steps (cc) Stroll -> walk (dc) -> making leisurely steps (cc) 33 What are the functions of synonyms? a.The function of synonyms is to represent the same phenomenon in different aspects, shades and variations (principle function) To rain-> To hail or ice-cube (mưa đá) ->To shower ->To pour To smile – to laugh – to gigle b.Synonyms add precision to each detail of description and to show how the correct choice of a word from a group of synonyms may colour the whole text To select a new president – to choose a car c.Synonyms are used for stylistic purposes To walk – to stagger – to stumble – to shamble 34 According to notional/ semantic/ interchangability criteria, how can synonyms be defined? - According to NOTIONAL criteria, synonyms can be defined as words of the same category of parts of speech conveying the same notion but differing either in shades of meaning or in stylistic characteristics - According to SEMANTIC criteria, synonyms can be defined as words with the same denotation, or the same denotative component but differing in connotations or in connotative components - According to INTERCHANGABILITY criteria, synonyms are defined as words which are interchangeable at least in some contexts without any considerable alteration in denotational 35 How many types can synonyms can be classified into? IDEOGRAPHIC: words conveying the same notion but differing in shades of meaning - beautiful – pretty STYLISTIC: words conveying the same notion but differing in stylistic characteristic - build – construct, investigate – look into ABSOLUTE: conciding in all their shades of meaning and in all their stylistic characteristics -lift-elevator 36 What is a more modern and a more effective approach to the classification of synonyms based on? -> may be based on the definition describing synonyms as words differing in connotations 38 What is dominant synonyms? -> Is the central word of a group of synonyms expressing the notion common to all synonyms of the group in the most general way, without contributing any additional information as to the manner intensity, duration or any attending feature of the referent 22 What is the polysemy? Polysemy is the existence of several connected meaning within a word as the result of the development or changes of the original meaning Eg: mouse: a kind of rodent animal → device to control a computer 28 What is split polysemy? Split polysemy is the loss of semantic associations for some reasons, resulting in the appearance of homonyms from various meanings of an original word Eg: bar (social bar); Bar (of soap); Bar (hotel) → all derive from meaning of bar (an iron rod) 37 What are the main types of connotations? Connotation of degree of intensity To surprise – to astonish – to amaze To shout – to yell – to bellow – to roar Connotation of duration To stare – to glare – to gaze – to glance – to peep – to peer To flash – to blaze Emotion connotation To stare – to glare – to gaze Alone – single – lonely – solitary Evaluative connotation Well-known – famous – notorious celebrated To produce – to create – to manufacture – to fabricate Causative connotation To shiver – to shudder – cause of trembling -To shiver with cold from a chill or because of the frost -To shudder with fear, horror Connotation of manner To like – to admire – to love – to adore – to worship Connotation of attendant circumstances To peep – to peer To pump – to pour – to funnel – to inject Connotation of attendant features Pretty, handsome, beautiful Snack – feast Stylistic connotations - First, some scholars not regard the word’s stylistic characteristic as a connotative component of its semantic structure - Second, stylistic connotations are subject to further classification; namely colloquial, slang, dialect, learned, poetic, archaic Eg: meal – snack – bite – snap – refreshment – feast 39 What’s euphemism? -> is the substitution of a mild indirect or even a vague word or expression for an offensive direct or unpleasant one Eg: care-taker government = interim/ provisional government Dumb – mute; deaf – hearing-impaired; blind – visually impaired; Poor/homeless – disadvantaged; cripples – disabled 44 Name the main ways to create euphemism? - Foreign words: or terms often sound finer Eg: affair, amour, liaison, boss(Dutch) - Abbreviations: unpleasant words when abbreviated become more pleasant Eg: Big C (cancer), Big H (HIV), Big A (Addicted) - Abstractions: Casting ideas in the most general terms could reduce the strength of particular taboos Eg: It, problem, situation and thing may refer to anything under the sun Problem days, problem drinking - Indirection: topics and terms that are too touchy may be alluded to in a variety of ways most often by mentioning one aspect of the subject a circumstance involving it, a related subject, or even by saying what it is not Eg: Assembly = brothel: a house where people pay to have sex with prostitutes Break off contact = surrender - Understatements Eg: very hot -> pretty/ rather hot - Lengthy expressions Adjustment downward At this point in time (now) 45 What are antonyms? -> Are words of the same category of parts of speech which have contrasting meanings 46 How many types of antonyms? - Root-word antonyms: are those words which are completely different in sound and form Eg: in – out, thin – fat, here – there - Derivational antonyms: are words which are formed by derivation (they originate form the same root) Eg: decisive – indecisive, proper – improper 47 What is the basic vocabulary? -> Is the central group of the vocabulary whose stylistic neutrality makes it possible for them to be used in all kinds of situation both formal and informal in verbal and written communication 48 What’s informal vocabulary? -> Is vocabulary used among one’s immediate circle family, relatives, friends in everyday’s speech It often comprises main components namely colloquial, slang, dialect words and word-groups 49 Colloquial words? -> Are words used in everyday’s conversational speech by both cultivated and uneducated people of all age groups 50 Slang? -> Language of a highly colloquial style considered as below the level of standard educated speech and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense Eg: How u got beans (money)? Buck – dollar; Egghead – professor 51 Dialect words? - A variety of a language which prevails in a district, with local peculiarities of vocabulary, pronunciation and phrase 52 Learned words? - Are mainly associated with formal documents publications or words that are often used in scientific writings 53 Archaic and obsolete words? - Are words which are used in old English and rarely found in the present day writing They have gone out of or are going out of use in modern language Eg: morn – morning; albeit – although ; aforesaid – above said 54 Professional terminology - Includes words which are used in the certain trade profession or occupation Eg: Predicate, complement, attribute 55 What is phraseology unit? -> Is a stable word-group characterized by a completely or partially transferred meaning 56 Semantically, what’s phraseological unit characterized by? -> By a double sense (nghĩa kép): the current meanings of constituent words build up certain picture, but the actual meaning of the whole unit has little or nothing to with that picture in itself creating an entirely new image Eg: Black sheep: doesn’t mean “sheep is black” but means disobedient child Red-tape doesn’t mean “tape is red” but means “bureautic person” 57 Semantically, what’s the difference between phraseological units and free word-groups? - The meaning of phraseological unit doesn’t correspond to the meaning of its components, that is, their meaning has been completely or partially changed In contrast, the meaning of free word-groups can be seen as the sum of the meaning of its components Eg: Sentence1: To wash one’s dirty clothes in public Sentence2: To wash one’s dirty linen in public -> In sentence2, it is a phraseological unit It doesn’t mean to wash clothes in public but means to expose everything about yourself for unriable person/ refers to the act of revealing one’s family’s secret to unreliable person 58 Structurally, what’s the difference between phraseological units and free word-groups? Restriction in substitution - No word can be substituted for any meaningful component of a phraseological unit without destroying its sense while words in free word-group substitution will change to fit the context or situation where they are used Eg: red-tape -> no substitution likes: pink-tape Restriction in introducing any additional components - No extra word can be added to the structure of a phraseological unit In contrast, in a free word-group such changes can be made without affecting the general meaning of the utterance Grammatical invariability - Components of phraseological unit are not often subject to further grammatical changes in different contexts while a free word-group can be changed in different contexts, extra words can be added, must be changed according to number, person 59 What are historical/ proper Americanisms - Are English words or expressions used by the American people with their old meanings; while the same used by the British people have changed or replaced their meanings by other words Eg: Fall means Autumn To guess – to think Sick – ill, unwell - Proper Americanisms: are words/expressions created by American people to name things, objects, events, natural phenomena, geographical features, plants, animals that they find in the surroundings Proper Americanism also includes words referring to things or objects whose names were already given in BE Eg: egg-plant pickled with sour shrimp Baby cucumber; carriage; compartment What characterizes idioms? Idiom or phraseology are characterized by a double sense: the current meanings of constituent words build up certain picture but the actual meaning of the whole unit has little or nothing to with that picture in itself creating an entirely new image Eg: “a dark house” is actually not “a house” but “a person” about whom no one knows anything defined, so one is not sure what can be expected from him What is idiomatic expression It is fixed expression and used in the right context It is stable, has one meaning reproduce in the right context Eg: don’t wash dirty lion in public The pot calls the kettle back 40 What are the main function of euphemism? - To show the one’s politeness - To avoid hurting other’s feeling - To avoid taboos 41 What are social taboos? -> Are all what considered inappropriate inspired by social convention customs or common practices Eg: deaf by hearing – impaired Dumb is replaced by mute 42 What are superstitious taboos? -> Are all what considered inappropriate caused by the lack of knowledge of natural phenomena or religious beliefs or the phobia of spiritual evils, dangerous animals, sacred objects, plants, etc Grandpa – old dangerous bear 43 What are political taboos? -> Are all what considered inappropriate, going against the law, the government policies, the constitution or thw mainstream politics Eg: Mankind -> humankind Chairman/ Chairwoman -> chairperson