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Lecture № 1.
Lexicology (Fundamentals)
Lecture # 2
The Etymology of English Words
Lecture # 3
Morphological structure of English words
Lecture 4
Wordbuilding
Lecture # 6
Plan
1. Meaning of a word.
2. Semantic structure of the word.
3. Polysemy.
4. Main types of lexical meanings of the word.
Lecture # 7
Semantic changes
Plan
1. Causes of semantic changes.
2. Main ways of semantic changes: specialization, generalization, metaphor, metonymy.
3. Secondary ways of semantic changes: elevation, degradation, hyperbole, litotes.
Lecture # 8
Homonymy
Lecture # 9
Synonyms. Antonyms
Lecture # 10
VARIETIES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LEXICOGRAPHY
Classification of dictionaries
The verb to look has only the denotative component look.
So, the word may have no connotation, one connotation or several connotations. Connotations may be of different types: emotive, evoluative, stylistic, of duration, of cause, of manner. We shall discuss them while speaking about synonymy.
3. It is generally known that most words have several meanings. A word possessing several meanings is called polysemantic. The ability of words to have more than one meaning is described by the term polysemy. Polysemy is not an anomaly. Most English words are polysemantic. The expressive resources of a language depend on the degree to which polysemy has developed in the language. One may think that if there is a need to apply to one word several meanings, it means that the language lacks in words. But it is exactly the opposite. If each word is capable to convey more than one concept, for exemple, two concepts, then the expressive potential of the whole vocabulary of any language increases twofold. A well-developed polysemy is not a drawback but an advantage in a language.
On the other hand, the number of sound combinations that human speech organs can produce is limited. At a certain stage of language development the production of new words by morphological means becomes limited. Polysemy becomes important in providing the means for enriching the vocabulary.
The system of meanings of a polysemantic word develops gradually, mostly over the centuries. The complicated process of polysemy development involve both the appearance of new meanings and the loss of old ones. The general tendency with English vocabulary at the modern stage of its history is to increase the total number of its meanings.
5. Linguistic literature abounds in classifications of types of lexical meaning. The following classification reflects relationships existing between different meanings of a word at the same period of time. For example, the word screen is in its direct meaning when it names a piece of furniture used to hide something or protect somebody. The meaning is figurative when the word is applied to anything which protects by hiding, as in smoke screen. We define this meaning as figurative comparing it to the first that we call direct. The meaning a piece of furniture of the word screen is at the same time the main meaning of this word. The main meaning is that which possesses the highest frequency at the present stage of vocabulary development. All the other meanings of the word screen are secondary meanings. The meaning a piece of furniture is concrete in comparison with the abstract meaning the word screen has in the following combinations: screen actor, screen star, screen version etc.
The meanings can be classified not only by comparing them inside the semantic structure of the word but according to the style and sphere of language in which they may occur. All the meanings are classified into stylistically neutral and stylistically coloured. Stylistically coloured meanings may be subdivided into bookish and colloquial. Bookish ones may be general, poetical, scientific. Colloquial ones may be literary colloquial, familiar colloquial, slang.
From a historical point of view the meaning may be:
-etymological, that is the earliest known meaning,
-archaic, that is the meaning superseded at present by a newer one but still remaining in certain collocations;
-obsolete, that is gone out of use;
-present-day meaning, that is the most frequent in the present-day language;
-original meaning serving as basis for the derived ones.
Certain meanings can be realized only in a given phraseological unit, they are called phraseologically bound meanings and they are opposed to free meanings.
Prototypical meaning is believed to be readily translatable into other languages. Peripheral meanings are least translatable.
It is very important to underline that one and the same meaning can at once belong, in accordance with different points, to different groups of meanings.
Lecture # 7
Semantic changes
Plan
Literature
Causes of semantic changes
The meaning of a word can change in the course of time. Changes of lexical meanings can be proved by comparing contextx of different times. Transfer of the meaning is called lexico-semantic wordbuilding. In such cases the outer aspect of a word does not change.
The causes of semantic changes can be extra-linguistic and linguistic. For exemple: the change of the lexical meaning of the noun pen was due to extra-linguistic causes. Primarily pen comes back to the Latin word penna (a feather of the bird). As people wrote with goose pens the name was transferred to steel pens which were later on used for writing. Still later any instrument for writing was called a pen.
Causes of semantic changes can be linguistic. For exemple: the noun tide in Old English denoted time, season, hour. When the French words time, season, hour (temps, saison, heur) were borrowed into English they ousted the word tide in these meanings. It was specialized and now means regular rise and fall of the sea caused by attraction of the moon.
The meaning of a word can also change due to the ellipsis. For exemple: the word-group a train of carriages had the meaning of a row of carriages. Later on the component of carriages was dropped and the noun train changed its meaning. It is used now in the function and with the meaning of the whole word-group.
Semantic changes have been classified by different scientists. The most complete classification was suggested by a German scientist Herman Paul in his book ‘Принципы истории языка’. This classification is based on the logical principle. He distinguishes:
a) two main ways where the semantic change is gradual (specialization and generalization),
b) two main ways where the semantic change is momentary (metaphor and metonymy),
c) two secondary ways where the semantic change is gradual (elevation and degradation),
d) two secondary ways where the semantic change is momentary (hyperbole and litotes).
Specialization
It is a gradual process when a word passes from a general sphere to some special sphere of communicaton. For exemple: the word case has a general meaning circumstances in which a person or a thing is. It is specialized in its meaning when used in law (a lawsuit), in grammar (a form in the paradigm of a noun), in medecine (a patient, an illness). The difference between these meanings is revealed in the context.
The meaning of a word can specialize when it remains in the general usage. It happens in the case of the conflict between two synonyms when one of them must specialize in its meaning to remain in the language. For exemple: the word meat had the meaning food and this meaning is preserved in the compound sweetmeats. The meaning edible flesh was formed when the word food, the synonym of the word meat won in the conflict of absolute synonyms.
Another exemple: the English verb to starve was specialized in its meaning after the Scandinavian word to die was borrowed into English. The word to die became the general verb with this meaning because in English there were the noun death and the adjective dead beginning with the same consonant d. The verb to starve got the meaning to die of hunger.
One more way of specialization is the formation of proper names from common nouns. For exemple: Oxford – a university town in England which was built near the place where oxen could ford the river. The Tower originally meant a fortress and palace, later – a prison, now – a museum.
Generalization
It is a process contrary to specialization when the meaning of a word becomes more general in the course of time. For exemple: the word ready meant prepared for a ride. Now its meaning is prepared for anything. The word journey was borrowed from French with the meaning one day trip as jour means a day in French. Now it means a trip of any duration.
Metaphor
It is transfer of the meaning on the basis of comparison. Metaphor can be based on different types of similaruty:
In some cases we have a complex similarity. For example: the leg of a table has a similarity to a human leg in its shape, position and function.
Many metaphors are based on parts of a human body: an eye of a needle, arms and mouth of a river, head of an army.
A special type of metaphor is when proper nameы become common nouns: vandals – destructive people, a Don Juan – a lover of many women etc.
Metonymy
It is a transfer of the meaning on the basis of contiguity. There are different types of metonymy:
Secondary ways of semantic changes
Elevation
It is a transfer of the meaning when it becomes better in the course of time. Of course, the meaning itself can not become better or worse. The object onto which the meaning is transferred may become better or worse in the mind of the people. For exemple: the word knight originally meant a boy, then a young servant, then a military servant, then a noble man. Now it is a title of nobility given to outstanding people. The word marshal originally meant a servant looking after horses. Now it is the highest military rank. The word queen originally meant a woman, now it is a royal title.
Degradation
It is a transfer of the meaning when it becomes worse in the course of time. It is usually connected with nouns denoting common people. For example: the word villain originally meant working on a villa. Now it means a scoundrel.
Hyperbole
It is a transfer of the meaning when the speaker uses exaggeration. For example: to hate (doing something), not to see somebody for ages, thousand pardons etc.
Hyperbole is often used to form phraseological units: to make a mountain out of a molehill, to split hairs etc.
Litotes
It is a transfer of the meaning when the speaker expresses the affirmative with the negative or vice versa. For example: the expression it is not bad is used instead of it is good, or the expression not half as important is used instead of it is unimportant etc.
Lecture # 8
Homonymy
Plan
Homonyms are words of different meaning but identical in sound or spelling, or both in sound and spelling.
Linguists believe that synonyms and antonyms can be regarded as the treasury of the language expressive resources. Homonyms are of no interest in this respect. Synonyms and antonyms are created by the language with a particular purpose, homonyms are mostly accidental, purposeless creations. In the process of communication they often lead to confusion and misunderstanding. Yet this very characteristic makes them one of the most important sources of popular humour: A tailor guarantees to give each of his customers a perfect fit (fit – a perfectly fitting clothes, a nervous spasm).
Homonymy exists in many languages, but in English it is particularly frequent, especially among the monosyllabic words. Homonyms are mostly one-morpheme words.
Traditionally homonyms are subdivided into homonyms proper, homophones, homographs. Homonyms proper are homonyms which are the same in sound and spelling: fit – a perfectly fitting clothes, a nervous spasm. Homophones are homonyms which are the same in sound, but differebt in spelling: sea – see, rite – write. Homographs are homonyms which are the same in spelling but different in sound: tear – слезы и рвать, lead – свинец и вести. Sometimes it is said that homographs should be kept apart from homonymy as the object of linguistics, it should be the subject of graphics.. But it is not correct. An average speaker does not separate the written and the oral forms of the language. On the contrary, he is more likely to analyse the words in terms of letters than in terms of phonemes with which he is less familiar. That is why a linguist must take into consideration both the spelling and the pronunciation of words.
Homonyms can appear in the language due to the following factors:
- split polysemy. It is known that in a polysemantic word interrelations of the primary and secondary meanings may be of three types. The first type is when the primary meaning stands in the centre and the secondary meanings proceed out of it like rays. The second type is when secondary meanings of a word develop like a chain and it is difficult to trace secondary meanings to the primary one. The third type is a combination of the first and of the second types.
The second type of polysemy is called the split of polysemy. For exemple: in the word crust the primary meaning is hard outer part of bread. This meaning developed a secondary meaning hard part of anything. Then the same meaning developed the meaning harder layer over soft snow. Later the meaning sullen gloomy person developed. The last developped meaning is impudence. This last meaning has nothing to do with the primary meaning and previous secondary meanings. We may say that homonyms appeared in the language. However, split polysemy as a source of homonyms is not accepted by all linguists. It is really difficult sometimes to decide wheather a certain word has or has not been subjected to the split of the semantic structure and whether we deal with different meanings of the same word or with homonyms. Criteria are subjective and imprecise. This imprecision is recorded in different dictionaries which often contradict each other on this very issue. For exemple: the word board is represented as two homonyms in Muller’s dictionary, as three homonyms in Arakin’ dictionary and as one and the same word in Hornby’s dictionary.
- levelling of grammar inflexions. It occurs when different parts of speech become identical in their outer aspect. For exemple: the word care came from caru and the word care – from carian.
There are several classifications of homonyms.
Walter Skeat classified homonyms according to their spelling and sound forms. He pointed out three groups: 1) perfect homonyms, that is words identical in sound and spelling: school – косяк рыбы и школа; 2) homographs, that is words with the same spelling but pronounced differently: bow – поклон и лук; 3) homophones, that is words pronounced identically but spelled differently: nightl – ночь, knight –рыцарь.
Александр Иванович Смирницкий classified homonyms into two large classes:
Full homonyms are words which belong to the same part of speech and have the same paradigm. For exemple: match – матч и спичка. Partial homonyms are subdivided into three subgroups:
Ирина Владимировна Арнольд classified only homonyms which Skeat called perfect homonyms. She suggested four criteria of their classification: lexical meaning, grammatical meaning, basic forms and paradigms. According to these criteria I.V. Arnold pointed out the following groups:
I.V. Arnold also speaks about patterned homonyms. Patterned homonyms, differing from other homonyms, have a common component in their lexical meanings. These are homonyms formed either by means of conversion, or by levelling of grammar inflexions. These homonyms are different in their grammatical meanings, in their paradigms, but identical in their basic forms: warm – to warm.
Summing up the discussion of the problem of homonymy we shoul say that this problem is relevant for lexicography but it is not so important for translation. The reason for this is that homonyms may be understood from the context.
Lecture # 9
Synonyms. Antonyms
Plan
1.Criteria of synonymy.
Synonymy is one of the most controversial problems in linguistics. The very existence of words called synonyms is disputed by some linguists. The point is we are still not certain which words should be considered as synonyms and we are not agreed as to characteristic features which qualify two or more words as synonyms.
Traditional linguistics solves this problem with the conceptual criterion and
defines synonyms as words of the same part of speech conveying the same concept but differing in shades of meaning or in stylistic characteristics. But this criterion have been criticized. It has been pointed out that linguistic phenomena should be defined in linguistic terms and that the use of the term concept makes this an extralinguistic definition. The term shades of meaning is indefinite.
In contemporary research on synonymy semantic criterion is frequently used. In terms of componential analysis synonyms may be defined as words with the same denotative component, but differeing in connotations. This approach is not beyond criticism, but it has its advantages. A group of synonyms may be studied with the help of their dictionary definitions. In this work the data from various dictionaries are analysed comparatively. That is we make definitional analysis. After that the definitions are subjected to transformational operations. That is we make transformational analysis. In thia way, the semantic components of each analysed word are singled out. Here are the results of the definitional and transformational analysis of some of the numerous synonyms for the verb to look.
ВСТАВКА-КСЕРОКОПИЯ (АНТРУШИНА, 189).
The common denotation shows that, according to the semantic criterion, the words in the table are synonyms. The connotative components underline their differentiations.
In modern research on synonyms the criterion of interchangeability is sometimes applied. According to this, synonyms are defined as words which are interchangeable at least in some contexts without considerable alteration in denotational meaning.
The criterion of interchangeability is much criticized. Firstly, almost every attempt to apply it to different groups of synonyms seems to lead to the conclusion that either there are very few synonyms or that the synonyms are not interchangeable. Each of the synonyms creates an entirely new situation or demonstrates that the substitution of one word for another is impossible. For exemple, take the synonyms from the table. He glared at her means that He looked at her angrily. He gazed at her means that He looked at her steadily and attentively, perhaps with admiration. He glanced at her means that He looked at her briefly and turned away. He peered at her means that He tried to see her better but something prevented. Or else, analyze the sentence I like you but I cannot love you.