Филиал федерального государственного бюджетного образовательного учреждения высшего профессионального образования «Кемеровский государственный университет» в г. Анжеро-Судженске ЛЕКСИКОЛОГИЯ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА
Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации Филиал федерального государственного бюджетного образовательного учреждения высшего профессионального образования «Кемеровский государственный университет» в г. Анжеро-Судженске Кафедра иностранных языков ЛЕКСИКОЛОГИЯ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА Методические указания и практические задания Анжеро-Судженск 2013
УДК 372.881.111.1 ББК 81.2 Л43 Печатается по решению методического совета филиала Кемеровского государственного университета в г. Анжеро-Судженске Л43 Лексикология английского языка: методические рекомендации и практические задания / сост. Е. А. Монастырская; филиал Кемеровского государственного университета в г. Анжеро-Судженске. Анжеро- Судженск, 2013. 71 с. Методические рекомендации и практические задания составлены с целью помочь студентам овладеть материалом по лексикологии современного английского языка. Рекомендации помогут систематизировать теоретические знания и использовать их в практике устной и письменной речи. ББК 81.2 Монастырская Е.А., 2013 АСФ КемГУ, 2013 2
Contents I. Introduction...5 II. Language units...7 2.1 Morphemes...7 2.2 Splinters...8 2.3 Structural types of English words...9 2.4 Disputable Cases of Word-Formation...12 2.5 Practical Part...13 III. Meaning and Concept...14 3.1 Approaches to Lexical Meaning...14 3.2 Similarity and Difference between Meaning and Concept...15 3.3 Types of Lexical Meaning...15 3.4 Lexical and Grammatical Meaning...16 3.5 Practical Part...17 IV. Semantic Changes...18 4.1 Causes of Semantic Changes...18 4.2 Main Gradual Ways of Semantic Changes...19 4.3 Main Momentary Ways of Semantic Changes...19 4.4 Secondary Gradual Ways of Semantic Changes...20 4.5 Secondary Momentary Ways of Semantic Changes...21 4.6 Practical Part...21 V. Word Combination...24 5.1 Lexical and Grammatical Combinability...24 5.2 Meaning of Word Combinations...25 5.3 Interdependence of Structure and Meaning...25 5.4 Motivation in Word Combinations...26 5.5 Practical Part...26 VI. Phraseology...28 6.1 Phraseology as Science...28 6.2 Origin of Phraseological Units in Modern English...29 6.3 Practical Part...32 3
VII. Word-building... 36 7.1 Main Ways of Word-building in Modern English... 36 7.2 Secondary Ways of Word-building... 46 7.3 Practical Part... 47 VIII. Semantic Structure of English Words... 49 8.1 Polysemy. Types of Semantic Components... 49 8.2 Analysis of the Structure of Polysemantic Words... 52 8.3 Practical Part... 54 IX. Homonyms, Synonyms, Paronyms and Antonyms... 56 9.1 Homonyms... 56 9.2 Synonyms... 58 9.3 Paronyms... 60 9.4 Antonyms... 60 9.5 Practical Part... 61 X. The Origin of English Words... 64 10.1 Native Words... 64 10.2 Kinds of Borrowings... 64 10.3 Etymological Doublets... 68 10.4 Practical Part... 69 Список использованных источников... 71 4
I. Introduction The term lexicology is of Greek origin (from lexis word and logos science ). Lexicology is the part of linguistics which deals with the vocabulary and characteristic features of words and word-groups. The term word denotes the main lexical unit of a language resulting from the association of a group of sounds with a meaning. This unit is used in grammatical functions characteristic of it. It is the smallest unit of a language which can stand alone as a complete utterance. The term word-group denotes a group of words which exists in the language as a ready-made unit, has the unity of meaning, the unity of syntactical function, e. g. the word-group as loose as a goose means clumsy and is used in a sentence as a predicative ( He is as loose as a goose ). Lexicology can be general and special. General lexicology is the lexicology of any language, part of General Linguistics. It is aimed at establishing language universals linguistic phenomena and properties common to all languages. Special lexicology is the lexicology of a particular language (English, German, Russian, etc.). Lexicology can study the development of the vocabulary, the origin of words and word-groups, their semantic relations and the development of their sound form and meaning. In this case it is called historical lexicology. Another branch of lexicology is called descriptive and studies the vocabulary at a definite stage of its development. Lexicology is closely connected with other branches of linguistics: with Phonetics because the word s sound form is a fixed sequence of phonemes united by a lexical stress; with Morphology and Word-Formation as the word s structure is a fixed sequence of morphemes; 5
with Morphology because the word s content plane is a unity of lexical and grammatical meanings; with Syntax because a word functions as a part of the sentence and performs a certain syntactical function; with Stylistics, Socio- and Psycholinguistics because a word functions in different situations and spheres of life. But there is also a great difference between lexicology and other linguistic disciplines. Grammatical and phonological systems are relatively stable. Therefore they are mostly studied within the framework of intralinguistics. Lexical system is never stable. It is directly connected with extralinguistic systems. It is constantly growing and decaying. It is immediately reacts to changes in social life. Lexicology is subdivided into a number of autonomous but interdependent disciplines: 1. Lexicological Phonetics. It studies the expression plane of lexical units in isolation and in the flow of speech. 2. Semasiology. It deals with the meaning of words and other linguistic units: morphemes, word-formation types, morphological word classes and morphological categories. 3. Onomasiology or Nomination Theory. It deals with the process of nomination: what name this or that object has and why. 4. Etymology. It studies the origin, the original meaning and form of words. 5. Praseology. It deals with phraseological units. 6. Lexicography. It is a practical science. It describes the vocabulary and each lexical unit in the form of dictionaries. 7. Lexical Morphology. It deals with the morphological stricture of the word. 8. Word-formation. It deals with the patterns which are used in coining new words. 6
II. Language units In modern English the following language units can be mentioned: morphemes, splinters, words, nominative binomials, nonidiomatic and idiomatic word-combinations, sentences. 2.1 Morphemes The external structure of the word, and also typical wordformation patterns, are studied in the framework of word-building. By external structure of the word we mean its morphological structure. A word can be divided into smaller sense units morphemes. The morpheme is the smallest meaningful language unit. For example, in the word post-impressionists the following morphemes can be distinguished: the prefixes post-, im-, the root - press, the noun-forming suffixes ion, -ist, and the grammatical suffix of plurality -s. Morphemes are divided into two large groups: lexical morphemes and grammatical (functional) morphemes. Both lexical and grammatical morphemes can be free and bound. Bound morphemes are attached to free morphemes. They cannot stand alone. Free lexical morphemes are roots of words which express the lexical meaning of a word; they coincide with the stem of simple words. Thus, unbound or free-standing morphemes are individual elements that can stand alone within a sentence, such as cat, laugh, look, and box. They are essentially what most of us call words. Bound lexical morphemes are affixes: prefixes, suffixes and also blocked (unique) root morphemes (e. g. Fri-day, cran-berry). Free grammatical morphemes are function words: articles, conjunctions and prepositions (e.g. the, with, and ). Bound grammatical morphemes are inflexions (endings), e. g. -s for Plural of nouns, -ed for Past Indefinite of regular verbs, - ing for Present Participle, -er for Comparative degree of adjectives. 7
2.2 Splinters Scientists include splinters in the affixation stock of the Modern English word-building system. Splinters are the result of clipping the end or the beginning of a word and producing a number of new words on the analogy with the primary wordgroup. For example, there are many words formed with the help of the splinter euro (apocopy produced by clipping the end of the word European ) such as Euratom Eurocard, Euromarket, Europlug, Eurotunnel. There are also splinters which are formed by means of apheresis, that is clipping the beginning of a word. The splinter quake is used to form new words with the meaning of shaking, agitation. This splinter was formed by clipping the beginning of the word earthquake (words with this splinter: Marsquake, Moonquake, youthquake etc). The splinter rama(ama) is a clipping of the word panorama of Greek origin where pan means all and horama means view. In Modern English the meaning view was lost and the splinter rama is used in advertisements to denote objects of supreme quality, e.g. autorama means exhibition-sale of expensive cars, trouserama means sale of trousers of supreme quality etc. Splinters can be called pseudomorphemes because they are neither roots nor affixes, they are more or less artificial. In English there are words which consist of two splinters, e.g. telethon, therefore it is more logical to call words with splinters in their structure compound-shortened words consisting of two clippings of words. Splinters are treated sometimes as semi-affixes. Splinters have only one function in English: they serve to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech, whereas prefixes and suffixes can also change the part-of-speech meaning (e. g. post- post-war events). 8
2.3 Structural types of English words Word, as it was mentioned above, is the smallest language unit which can stand alone as a complete utterance. First, the word is a unit of speech which serves the purposes of human communication. Secondly, the word can be perceived as the total of the sounds which comprise it. Third, the word, viewed structurally, possesses several characteristics. Thus, the word is a speech unit used for the purposes of human communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterized by formal and semantic unity. According to the nature and the number of morphemes constituting a word there are different structural types of words in English: simple, derived, compound, compound-derived. Simple words consist of one root morpheme and an inflexion (in many cases the inflexion is zero), e. g. seldom, chairs, longer, asked. Derived words consist of one root morpheme, one or several affixes and an inflexion, e. g. derestricted, unemployed. Compound words consist of two or more root morphemes and an inflexion, e. g. baby-moons, wait-and-see (policy). Ways of Forming Compound Words English compounds can be formed not only by means of composition but also by means of: a) reduplication: too-too sentimental; b) partial conversion from word-groups: to micky-mouse 1) синхронизировать музыку с действиями на экране ; 2) неискренний, 3) can-do исполнительный, энергичный ; c) back formation from compound nouns or word-groups: to fingerprint (fingerprinting), to baby-sit (baby-sitter); d) analogy: lie-in (on the analogy with sit-in); e) contrast: brain-gain (in contrast to brain-drain). 9
Classification of English Compounds 1. According to the parts of speech classification compounds are subdivided into: a) nouns: baby-moon; b) adjectives: power-happy; c) adverbs: headfirst ( стремглав, очертя голову ); d) prepositions: into, within; e) numerals: fifty-fifty. 2. According to the way components are joined together compounds are subdivided into: a) neutral, which are formed by joining together two stems without any joining morpheme: ball-point; b) morphological where components are joined by a linking element: astrospace, handicraft, sportsman; c) syntactical where components are joined by means of form-word stems, e. g. do-or-die. 3. According to their structure compounds are subdivided into: a) compound words proper which consist of two stems: to job-hunt, train-sick; b) compound-affixed words, where besides the stems we have affixes: ear-minded, hydro-skimmer, astrophysical; c) compound words consisting of three or more stems: cornflower-blue, singer-songwriter; d) compound-shortened words, e. g. V-day, Eurodollar, Camford (Кембриджский и Оксфордский университеты). 4. According to the relations between the components compounds are subdivided into: a) subordinative compounds where one of the components is the semantic centre and the structural centre and the second component is subordinate: honey-sweet сладостный, gold-rich (американский зимоустойчивый урожайный сорт абрикоса с большими вкусными плодами до 150 г. Дозревает в конце июля. Выведен в 1971 году университетом в Вашингтоне, США.), love-sick снедаемый любовью, Tom-cat; 10
b) coordinative compounds where both components are semantically independent. Here belong such compounds when one person (object) has two functions. Such compounds are called additive: Anglo-Saxon, woman-doctor. There are also tautological compounds. They are formed by means of reduplication: no-no, fifty-fifty or with the help of rhythmic stems: criss-cross, walkietalkie. 5. According to the meaning of the whole compound we can point out idiomatic and non-idiomatic compounds. Idiomatic compounds are very different in meaning from the corresponding free phrase: a blackboard is quite different from a black board. Nonidiomatic compounds are not different in their meaning from corresponding free phrases: airmail, speedometer. There are two characteristic features of English compounds: a) both components in an English compound can be used as words with a distinctive meaning of their own, e.g. a 'green-house and a 'green 'house; b) English compounds have a two-stem pattern, with the exception of compound words which have form-word stems in their structure, e.g. middle-of-the-road, off-the-record. Compound-derived words consist of two or more root morphemes, one or more affixes and an inflexion, e. g. middle-ofthe-roaders, job-hopper. Sometimes it is rather difficult to distinguish between simple and derived words, especially in the cases of phonetic borrowings from other languages and of native words with blocked (unique) root morphemes, e. g. perestroika, cranberry, absence etc. As far as words with splinters are concerned it is difficult to distinguish between derived words and compound-shortened words. If a splinter is treated as an affix (or a semi-affix) the word can be called derived, e. g. telescreen, maxi-taxi, shuttlegate, cheeseburger. But if the splinter is treated as a lexical shortening of one of the stems, the word can be called compound-shortened word formed from a word combination where one of the compo- 11
nents was shortened, e. g. busnapper was formed from bus kidnapper, minijet from miniature jet. In the English language of the second half of the twentieth century there developed so called block compounds, (compound words which have a uniting stress but a split spelling), such as chat show, pinguin suit etc. Such compound words can be easily mixed up with word-groups of the type stone wall, so-called nominative binomials. Such linguistic units serve to denote a notion which is more specific than the notion expressed by the second component and consists of two nouns, the first of which is an attribute to the second one. If we compare a nominative binomial and a compound noun with the structure N+N we shall see that a nominative binomial has no unity of a stress. The change in the order of its components will produce a new lexical meaning, e. g. vid kid is a kid who is a video fan while kid vid means a video-film for kids or else lamp oil means oil for lamps and oil lamp means a lamp which uses oil for burning. Among language units we can also point out word combinations of different structural types of idiomatic and non-idiomatic character, such as the first fiddle, old salt and round table, high road. There are also sentences which are studied by grammarians. Thus, we can draw the conclusion that in Modern English the following language units can be mentioned: morphemes, splinters, words, nominative binomials, non-idiomatic and idiomatic wordcombinations, sentences. 2.4 Disputable Cases of Word-Formation There exist syntagmas which are intermediate between compounds and word-combinations: complexes of the give up, stone wall and mother-in-law types. 1) Complexes of the give up type are highly productive. The first component is a simple verb. The status of the second one is disputable: an adverb, a postpositive(постпозитивная частица), etc. The units are often polysemantic and idiomatic: come off 12
(«оторваться» о пуговице), fall out (побочный эффект; поссориться). They are more colloquial than their synonyms of Romance origin: give up (abandon). 2) Complexes of the stone wall type are very productive in bookish style: office management, steel production. The second element is a noun. The status of the first one is disputable: an adjective, a noun, a noun-stem. The units are motivated and correlate with prepositional phrases. his life story the story of his life. Their spelling is inconsistent: haircut, crime report, arm-chair. 3) Complexes of the mother-in-law type are phrases that are used as one word. They are mostly occasional units coined in speech: Some people are do-it-nowers, others do-it-some-othertimers. These complexes are usually hyphenated in writing and are pronounced with one heavy stress like many compound words. 2.5 Practical Part 1) Group the given morphemes by their functions Say, raspberry, the, Monday, -ed, dis-, for, with, Wednesday, unit, ham, -ness, is, a, stem, root, -ish, Friday, but, -ing, un-, and 2) Copy out the words grouping them by the splinters formed by means of apheresis or apocope. Define the meaning of splinters, explain their origin if you know Europlug, euromarket, minijet, minivan, miniwar, maxiseries, maxi-taxi, maxi-sculpture, baconburger, beefburger, milliongate, shuttlegate, Irangate, dognapper, busnapper, laundromat, cashomat, groceteria, booketeria, booteteria, marsquake, moonquake, youthquake, trouserama, autorama, aircade, autocatde, musicade, artmobile, bookmobile, snowmobile, tourmobile, moonscape, streetscape, townscape, seascape, motel, boatel, floatel, airtel, dancathon, telethon, speakathon, readathon, walkathon, moviethon, swimathon, talkathon, swearthon. 13
III. Meaning and Concept 3.1 Approaches to Lexical Meaning There are two main approaches to lexical meaning: referential and functional. The referential approach studies the connection between words and concepts they denote. The referential model of meaning is the so-called basic semantic triangle. It consists of: 1. The sound-form (Sign) of the word: [bз:d]. 2. The referent (Denotatum) the object which the word names: the actual bird. 3. The concept (Designatum) The essential properties of this object which are reflected in human mind: a feathered anial with wings. Meaning is closely connected with all parts of the semantic triangle but cannot be equated with any of them. Generally speaking, meaning can be described as a component of the word through which a concept is communicated, in this way endowing the word with the ability of denoting real objects, qualities, actions and abstract notions. Functional approach studies relations between words. The functional approach assumes that the meaning of a linguistic unit can be studied only through its relation to other linguistic units and not through its relation to concept or referent, e.g. we know that the meaning of bird n and bird v is different because they function in speech differently. Analysing various contexts in which these words are used we can observe that they have different distribution. As the distribution of the two words is different, their meanings are different too. The same is true of a polysemantic word: Look at me You look tired. Consequently, semantic investigation is confined to the analysis of the difference or sameness of meaning. The functional approach is a valuable complement to the referential theory. 14
3.2 Similarity and Difference between Meaning and Concept Meaning and concept are very closely associated but not identical. Meaning is a linguistic category. Concept is a logical and psychological category, a unit of thinking. Meaning and concept coincide only in scientific terms that have no general meanings (morpheme, phoneme, amoeba) and in terminilogical meanings of polysemantic words, e.g. legal, medical or grammatical usages of the word «case». In other aspects meaning and concept do not coincide. Concept is emotionally and stylistically neutral. Meaning may include non-conceptual parts: kid, gorgeous, birdie. One and the same concept can be expressed differently: die pass away, kick the bucket. The number of concepts does not correspond to the number of words and meanings. One concept may be expressed by several synonymous words: child, kid infant. One polysemantic word may express several concepts: draw move by pulling (draw a boat out of the water), obtain from a source (draw water from a well), make with a pen, pencil or chalk (draw a straight line). Some words do not express concepts at all: well, must, perhaps. Concepts are mostly international. Meanings are nationally specific. Words expressing identical concepts may have different meanings and different semantic structures in different languages: house дом; blue - синий, голубой. 3.3 Types of Lexical Meaning The content plane of words includes denotative and connotative meanings. Denotative or referential meaning, the basic type of lexical meaning, is the word s reference to the object. This reference may be individual (The dog is trained) or general (It s not a dog). That is why denotative meaning is subdivided into demonstrative and significative. 15
Connotative meaning includes various additional meanings: emotional, evaluative intensifying and expressive, e.g. hillock, to devour. As a rule, connotation co-exists with denotation. However, sometimes it comes to the fore and weakens the word s denotative meaning. Words also may have a certain stylistic value. It means that they refer to this or that situation or functional style: science, everyday life, business: get obtain procure; child kid infant. The type of denotative meaning varies in different groups of words. 3.4 Lexical and Grammatical Meaning The word is a lexical-grammatical unity. Its content plane includes two types of meaning: lexical and grammatical. Lexical meaning is individual, unique. It does not belong to any other word in the same language: bicycle a vehicle with two wheels, handle-bars to guide it with, a seat, and two pedals to make it go. Grammatical meaning is general, standard. It belongs to a whole class of words and word-forms: bicycle a noun in the common case, singular. At the same time lexical and grammatical meanings co-exist in the word and are interdependent: 1. Lexical meaning affects grammatical meaning: abstract or mass nouns have no plural form (joy, sugar), relative adjectives have no degrees of comparison (watery), statal verbs are not used in progressive tenses (see, understand). 2. Grammatical meaning affects lexical meaning. Different meanings of the polysemantic word go have their own grammatical peculiarities, e.g.: He has gone to China moved (go + adverb of place); They are going to get married soon are planning (be going + to-infinitive); The children went wild with excitement became (go + adjective). 16
3. Combinability of the word depends both on its lexical and grammatical (part-of-speech) meaning, e.g. the noun tea combines with strong but not with strongly. 4. Grammatical form may be isolated from the paradigm and become lexicalized: works factory. 3.5 Practical Part 1) Answer the questions: 1. What are the main approaches to lexical meaning? 2. What is the referential approach? 3. What is the basic semantic triangle? 4. What does the functional approach assume? 5. What is the difference between meaning and concept? 6. When do meaning and concept coincide? 7. When do meaning and concept differ? 8. What types of lexical meaning do you know? 9. What is denotative meanings? 10. What is connotative meanings? 11. Define two types of meaning: lexical and grammatical. 12. How do lexical and grammatical meanings co-exist in the word? 2) Analyse the meanings of the given words from the point of view of referential approach: dog, bicycle, case, bird, building, teacher, pupil, car, mouth, morpheme, cupboard, love, John, he, amoeba, kid, hearth, son, London, this, valour 3) Group the words in task 3 by the types of their denotative meanings: 1) the words with relative meaning, that depends on a context or situation; 2) the words that name the individual object or person and refer to each member of a whole class; 3) the words that only point to the referent and their meaning in isolation is general whereas in speech it s always individual; 4) the words with the referent that can be perceived by the mind and not by the senses);5) the words that refer to an object or person 17
4) What connotative meanings can be found in the following words: hillock, rose, to devour, sonny, fry (n), home, fanatical, crippled, ailment, wan, doggish, to stroll, ingenuity, mediocrity, to endure, feast, to awe, jailbird, to itch 5) Group the words and words combinations by the concepts they express: to die; child; to eat; stubborn; kid; to pass away; stiff-necked; to devour; hard-nosed; infant; to gobble; to call off all bets; pigheaded; to gorge; to kick the bucket 6) What concepts do the following words express? In which of the given words do concepts and meaning coincide? Iron; mail; to draw; to take; morpheme; limb; flat; pucker; apocope, case IV. Semantic Changes 4.1 Causes of Semantic Changes The meaning of a word can change in the course of time. Transfer of the meaning is called lexico-semantic word-building. In such cases the outer aspect of a word does not change. The causes of semantic changes can be extra-linguistic and linguistic. For example, 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 a bird). In the course of time the name was transferred to steel pens which were later on used for writing. Still later any instrument for writing was called a pen. On the other hand, causes may be linguistic. For example, one of two synonyms (native and borrowed) can specialize in its meaning. The noun tide in Old English was polysemantic and denoted time, season, hour. When the French words time, season, hour 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 mean- 18
ing of a word can also change due to ellipsis: the word-group a train of carriages had the meaning of a row of carriages, later on 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. 4.2 Main Gradual Ways of Semantic Changes There exist different classifications of semantic changes. According to the Herman Paul s classification there are main and secondary ways of semantic changes. The two main ways where the semantic change is gradual are specialization and generalization. Specialization is a gradual process when a word passes from a general sphere to some special sphere of communication, e.g. case has a general meaning circumstances in which a person or a thing is. It is socialized in its meaning when used in law (a lawsuit), in grammar (a form in the paradigm of a noun), in medicine (a patient, an illness). The difference between these meanings is revealed in the context. Generalization is the gradual transfer from a concrete meaning to an abstract one, e.g. journey was borrowed from French with the meaning one day trip, now it means a trip of any duration ( jour means a day in French). All auxiliary verbs are cases of generalization of their lexical meaning because they developed a grammatical meaning: have, be, do, shall, will when used as auxiliary verbs are devoid of their lexical meaning which they have when used as notional verbs or modal verbs, c.f. I have several books by Austin and I have read some books by Austin. 4.3 Main Momentary Ways of Semantic Changes The two main ways where the semantic change is momentary are metaphor and metonymy. Metaphor is a momentary transfer of the meaning on the basis of comparison. Metaphor can be based on different types of similarity: 19
a) similarity of shape: head (of a cabbage), bottleneck, teeth (of a saw, a comb); b) similarity of position: foot (of a page, of a mountain), head (of procession); c) similarity of function, behaviour: a whip (an official in the British Parliament whose duty is to see that members were present at the voting), a bookworm (a person who is fond of books); d) similarity of colour: orange, hazel, chestnut. A special type of metaphor is when proper names become common nouns, e.g. philistine a mercenary person, vandals destructive people. Metonymy is a momentary transfer of the meaning on the basis of contiguity. There are different types of metonymy: a) the material of which an object is made may become the name of the object (a glass, boards); b) the name of the place may become the name of the people or of an object placed there (the House members of Parliement, the White House the Administration of the USA); c) names of musical instruments may become names of musicians when they are united in an orchestra (the violin, the saxophone); d) the name of some person may become a common noun ( boycott was originally the name of an Irish family who were so much disliked by their neighbors that they did not mix with them); e) names of inventors very often become terms to denote things they invented (watt, om, roentgen); f) some geographical names can also become common nouns through metonymy ( Holland (linen fabrics), Brussels (a special kind of carpets), china (porcelain). 4.4 Secondary Gradual Ways of Semantic Changes The secondary gradual ways of semantic changes are elevation and degradation. Elevation is a gradual transfer of the meaning when it becomes better in the course of time: knight originally meant a 20
boy, then a young servant, then a military servant, then a noble man. Now it is a title of nobility given to outstanding people. Degradation is a gradual transfer of the meaning when it becomes worse in the course of time, e.g. villain originally meant working on a villa, now it means a scoundrel. 4.5 Secondary Momentary Ways of Semantic Changes The secondary momentary ways of semantic changes are hyperbole and litotes. Hyperbole is a momentary transfer of the meaning when the speaker uses exaggeration, e.g. to hate (doing something), not to see somebody for ages. Hyperbole is often used to form phraseological units, e.g. to split hairs. Litotes is a momentary transfer of the meaning when the speaker expresses the affirmative with the negative or vice versa, e.g. not bad ( it is good ), no coward, not half as important. 4.6 Practical Part 1) Match the definitions and the terms: a transfer of the meaning when the speaker expresses the affirmative with the negative a transfer of the meaning when it becomes worse in the course of time a transfer of the meaning on the basis of comparison a transfer of the meaning when it becomes better in the course of time a transfer of the meaning when the speaker uses exaggeration a transfer of the meaning on the basis of contiguity 1 metonymy 2 elevation 3 hyperbole 4 metaphor 5 degradation 6 litotes 2) Complete the definitions: 21
1. Specialization and generalization are two main ways where 2. Metaphor and metonymy are two 3. Secondary ways of semantic changes are 4. A gradual process when a word passes from a general sphere to a special one is called 5. A transfer from a concrete meaning to an abstract one is called 6. Ellipsis is omission of a word or a phrase necessary 7. Metaphor can be based on 8. Among types of metonymy there exist 9. Elevation is the transfer 10. Degradation is the transfer 11. We use hyperbole when we want to 12. Litotes is a figure of speech that expresses 3) Find out metaphors and metonymies. Which types of these semantic changes are used in the given sentences? 1. She (fame) is a gipsy (J. Keats). 2. Sometimes the pen is mightier than the sword. 3. You've got a nice fox on. 4. My body is the frame wherein 'tis (thy portrait) held (W. Shakespeare). 5. As his unusual emotions subsided, these misgivings gradually melted away. 6. And winds are rude in Biscay's sleepless bay (G. Byron). 7. He is now in the sunset of his days. 8. Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save, From the cradle to the grave Those ungrateful drones who would Drain your sweat nay, drink your blood! (Shelley). 9. I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent (W. Shakespeare). 22
10. Miss Fox s hand trembled she slipped it through Mr. Dombey's arm, and felt herself escorted up the steps, preceded by a cocked hat and a Babylonian collar (Ch. Dickens). 11. Mr. Dombey s cup of satisfaction was so full at this moment, however, that he felt he could afford a drop or two of its contents, even to sprinkle on the dust in the by-path of his little daughter (Ch. Dickens. Dombey and Son). 12. In a cavern under is fettered the thunder, It struggles, and howls at fits (Shelley). 13. The round game table was so boisterous and happy. 14. the indignant fire which flashed from his eyes, did not melt the glasses of his spectacles (Ch. Dickens). 4) Find out examples of semantic changes. Translate and explain the meaning 1. I hate doing domestic chores. 2. What can I say? Not bad. 3. Your father is so low he has to look up to tie his shoes. 4. -I think it is not half as important. At least for me. 5. -I hope she didn t catch what we were talking about. She did. And she was not a little angry. 6. Hello! Haven t seen you for ages. 7. Now we have a refuge to go to. A refuge that the Cylons know nothing about! It won't be an easy journey." 8. I was helpless. I did not know what in the world to do. I was quaking from head to foot, and could have hung my hat on my eyes, they stuck out so far. 9. I am not unaware how the productions of the Grub Street brotherhood have of late years fallen under many prejudices. 10. You're so low down you need an umbrella to protect yourself from ant piss. 5) Answer the questions: 1) What is lexico-semantic word-building? 23
2) What types of semantic changes do you know? Give the examples. 3) What is ellipsis? 4) What two main ways of semantic changes are there in classification of Herman Paul? 5) Name the secondary ways of semantic changes in classification of Herman Paul. 6) Explain the meaning of the terms: metaphor, metonymy, elevation, degradation, hyperbole and litotes. Give the examples. V. Word Combination 5.1 Lexical and Grammatical Combinability The word-combination (WC) is the largest two-facet lexical unit observed on the syntagmatic level of analysis. Lexical combinability (collocation) is the aptness of a word to appear in certain lexical contexts, e.g. the word question combines with certain adjectives: delicate, vital, important. Each word has a certain norm of collocation. Any departure from this norm is felt as a stylistic device: to shove a question. The collocations of correlated words in different languages are not always identical. Compare the collocation of flower цветок in some word-combinations: garden-flowers, hothouse flowers садовые цветы, оранжерейные цветы. But the English word cannot enter into combination with the word room to denote flowers growing in the rooms, cf.: комнатные цветы pot flowers. Grammatical combinability (colligation) is the aptness of a word to appear in certain grammatical contexts, e.g. the adjective heavy can be followed by a noun ( heavy storm ), by an infinitive ( heavy to lift ). Each grammatical unit has a certain norm of colligation: nouns combine with pre-positional adjectives (a new dress), relative adjectives combine with pre-positional adverbs of degree (dreadfully tired). The departure from the norm of colliga- 24
tion is usually impossible: mathematics at clever is a meaningless string of words because English nouns do not allow of the structure N + at + A. 5.2 Meaning of Word Combinations Meaning of WCs is anlysed into lexical and grammatical (structural components). Lexical meaning of the WC is the combined lexical meanings of its component words: red flower red + flower. But in most cases the meaning of the whole combination predominates over the lexical meaning of its constituents, e.g. the meaning of the monosemantic adjective atomic is different in atomic weight and atomic bomb. Polysemantic words are used in WCs in one of their meanings: blind man (horse, cat) blind type (print, handwriting). Only one meaning of the adjective blind (unable to see) is combined with the lexical meaning of the noun man (human being) and only one meaning of man is realized in combination with blind. The meaning of the same adjective in blind type is different. Structural (grammatical) meaning of the WC is conveyed by the pattern of arrangement of the component words, e.g. the word combinations school grammar and grammar school consist of identical words but are semantically different because their patterns are different. The structural pattern is the carrier of a certain meaning quality- substance that does not depend on the lexical meanings of the words school and grammar. 5.3 Interdependence of Structure and Meaning The pattern of the WC is the syntactic structure in which a given word is used as its head: to build + N (to build a house); to rely + on + N (to rely on smb). The pattern and meaning of head-words are interdependent. The same head-word is semantically different in different patterns, cf.: get+n (get a letter); get+to+n (get to Moscow); get+n+inf (get smb to come). 25
Structurally simple patterns are usually polysemantic: the pattern take+n represents several meanings of the polysemantic headword: take tea (coffee), take measures (precautions). Structurally complex patterns are usually monosemantic: the pattern take+to+n represents only one meaning of take take to sports (to smb). 5.4 Motivation in Word Combinations Motivation in word combinations (WC) may be lexical or grammatical (structural). The WC is motivated if its meaning is deducible from the meaning, order and arrangement of its components: red flower red+flower quality+substance A+N. Nonmotivated WCs are indivisible lexically and structurally. They are called phraseological units. The WC is lexically non-motivated if its combined lexical meaning is not deducible from the meaning of its components: red tape means bureaucratic methods. It is impossible to guess what the meaning of this WC concern with. The WC represents a single indivisible semantic entity. The WC is structurally non-motivated if the meaning of its pattern is not deducible from the order and arrangement of its components: red tape quality+substance A + N bureaucratic methods substance N. The structure of red tape (A + N) does not coincide with the structure of bureaucratic methods (S). 5.5 Practical Part 1. Complete the definitions: 1) The word-combination (WC) is 2) Collocation is 3) Colligation is 4) Meaning of the WCs consists of 5) Lexical meaning of the WCs is 6) Grammatical meaning of the WCs is 7) The structural pattern is 8) The WC is motivated if 26
9) Non-motivated WCs are 10) The WC is lexically non-motivated if 11) The WC is grammatically non-motivated if 12) A stylistic device is 2. Are collocations of the given English and Russian WCs identical or not? 1) garden-flowers садовые цветы 2) hot-house flowers оранжерейные цветы 3) pot flowers комнатные цветы 4) go to bed идти спать 5) go to school ходить в школу 6) take bus number three сесть на автобус номер 3 7) take a book взять книгу 8) generously constructed woman пышнотелая женщина 9) well-constructed plot of a novel хорошо придуманный сюжет романа 10) cupboard love корыстная любовь 11) everlasting love вечная любовь 12) love in a cottage рай в шалаше 3. Analyze the given WCs and find out the departures from the norms of colligations and collocations if any: 1) Heavy storm 2) Heavy to lift 3) A new dress 4) Dreadfully tired 5) To consult a doctor 6) Mathematics at clever 7) To be a beautiful fox on 8) To drive away care 9) To have tenterhooks on 10) To set eyes from smb 11) Swallow dive 12) The table at to sit 27
4. Which of the given WCs are lexically, structurally or lexically and structurally non-motivated? Prove your answer analyzing the lexical and grammatical meanings of the WCs Red flower, red tape, blind gut, blue devils, eligible bachelor, gray mare, green-eyed monster, split chin, devil s darning-needle, wrinkled forehead, lake lawyer, love apple, auburn hair, thrifty mediocrity VI. Phraseology 6.1 Phraseology as Science Phraseology is the branch of linguistics that deals with phraseological units with more or less complicated meanings. Phraseological units are non-motivated word-groups indivisible lexically and structurally. Phraseological units are word-groups that cannot be made in the process of speech, they exist in the language as ready-made units. They are compiled in special dictionaries. Phraseological units express a single notion and are used in a sentence as one part of it. American and British lexicographers call such units «idioms». The upper bound of phraseology is a complex sentence and the lower bound is a group of two words. It s necessary to say that most of problems in phraseology are developed by Russian scientists. There are lots of works in phraseology written by outstanding Russian linguists such as V.V. Vinogradov, A.I. Smirnitskiy, N.N. Amosova, S.G Gavrin, I.V. Arnold, A.V. Koonin. He classified phraseological units according to the degree of motivation of their meaning. There are the following types of phraseological units given by V.V.Vinogradov: 1) Fusions or idioms (фразеологические сращения или идиомы) are non-motivated word-groups used as counterparts of words. We cannot guess the meaning of the whole from the meanings of its components, they are highly idiomatic and cannot be translated word for word into other languages, e.g. on Shank s mare - (on foot), at sixes and sevens - (in a mess) 28
2) Unities (фразеологические единства) are non-motivated word-groups with the meaning formed by the meanings of its components. 3) Collocations (сочетания) are word-groups in which one of its components has phraseologically bound meaning that occurs only in definite word combinations denoting definite concepts. Such collocations cannot be used as counterparts of words. V.V. Vinogradov developed his classification for Russian phraseological units. A.V. Koonin classifies phraseological units according to their semantic meanings and according to the ways they are formed. According to their semantic meanings A.V. Koonin distinguishes the following types: 1) Idioms are word-groups with the figurative meaning that isn t deducible from the meaning of its components. 2) Semi-idioms are word-groups that have two phraseosemantic variants. The first one has the literal complicated meaning. The second one has the comprehended metaphorical meaning. 3) Non-idiomatic phraseological units with the complicated meaning that isn t deducible from the meanings of its components. 6.2 Origin of Phraseological Units in Modern English There exist native and borrowed phraseological units in English. The greatest number of phraseological units belongs to native word-groups formed by unknown authors, e.g. have a bee in one s bonnet носиться с какой-либо идеей ; in for a penny, in for a pound назвался груздем, полезай в кузов ; pay through the nose платить втридорога. Native English phraseological units are connected with traditions, customs, believes, realities and historical facts. English phraseological units connected with traditions and customs of English people: 29
By (with) bell, book and candle the last words in the church ceremony were doe to the book, quench the candle, ring the bell!. This idiom means completely and entirely. Baker s dozen is translated as чертова дюжина. According to the old English custom bakers gave bread sellers 13 loaves of bread. The thirteenth loaf was for bread seller. The Russian for Good wine needs no bush is хороший товар сам себя хвалит. According to the old custom in Britain publicans hung out ivy bushes as a sign that there was wine for sale in their taverns. English phraseological units connected with realities: Carry coals to Newcastle ехать в Тулу со своим самоваром. Newcastle is the centre of coal industry in Britain. Play fast and loose вести нечестную игру, играть ч-л чувствами. This phraseological unit is connected with an old game that was often played at the English fairs. A belt was wound round the stick and then unwound. Spectators could not catch the manipulation and constantly lost a bet. Put smb. in the cart поставить к-л в тяжелое положение. Criminals were driven in a cart to the place of execution. A strange bedfellow странный знакомый. In the Middle Ages in England separate beds were used rather seldom and persons of the same sex often slept together. English phraseological units connected with beliefs A black sheep паршивая овца, позор семьи. According to the old belief a black sheep is marked by devil. Lick into shape придавать форму. An unlicked cub желторотый юнец, молоко на губах не обсохло. Both the phraseological unit are connected with the old belief. It says that bear cubs are born unshaped and a she-bear gives them a shape by licking them. English phraseological units connected with astrology To be born under a lucky (unlucky) star; Believe in one s star; Bless (thank) one s star; Curse one s star; The stars were against it. 30
English phraseological units connected with legends Have kissed the Blarney stone быть льстецом. The old legend says that everyone who has kissed the stone situated in the castle Blarney in Ireland gets the gift of flattering speech. Halcyon days спокойные дни. The old legend says that halcyon brings out nestlings in midwinter. The nest is swimming in the sea for about two weeks and in this period the sea is perfectly calm. English phraseological units connected with historical facts Dutch defense - притворная защита ; A Dutch feast - пир, на котором хозяин напивается первым ; Dutch courage. The phraseological units having in their structure the component Dutch come back to the English-Holland competition at sea and in wars in the seventeenth century. English phraseological units connected with proper names Tom, Dick and Harry первый встречный. A Sully Lunn сладкая булочка. There was a women-confectioner in XVIII whose name was Sully Lunn. Native English phraseological units of terminological origin Military terms: Mark time 1) маршировать на месте; 2) бездействовать. Sport: Jump the gun 1) начать бежать до выстрела; 2) забегать вперед, предрешать события. Shakespeare s statements There are over 100 of Shakespeare s statements in the English language. They occur only once in Shakespeare s works and their form is fixed. The green-eyed monster ревность (Othello); Have an itching palm - быть взяточником, жадным (Julius Caesar); Midsummer madness - умопомрачение, чистое безумие (Twelfth Night); The seamy side - неприглядная сторона, изнанка (Othello). Borrowed phraseological units come back to Bibles, Greek, Latin, French and other languages. 31
6.3 Practical Part 1. Analyze the semantic meaning of the phraseological units and arrange them according to the Koonin s classification 1) to bear smb a grudge иметь зуб на кого-либо 2) to knit one s brows нахмуриться 3) Have a bee in one s bonnet носиться с какой-либо идеей 4) Bite off more than one can chew взяться за непосильное дело 5) In for a penny, in for a pound (рискнул на пенни, рискуй и на фунт) взялся за гуж не говори, что недюж 6) Pay through the nose платить втридорога 7) Every dog has its day будет и на нашей улице праздник 8) first night премьера 9) a Dutch concert кошачий концерт 10) to mark time 1) шаг на месте (воен. термин); 2) бездействовать 11) a running fire 1) беглый огонь (воен.); 2) град критических замечаний 12) to kick the bucket сыграть в ящик 13) half the battle 1) наполовину выигранный бой (воен.); 2) залог успеха, полдела 14) a Dutch courage храбрость во хмелю 15) a Dutch feast пир, на котором хозяин напивается первым 16) to find a mare s nest попасть пальцем в небо 17) let bygones be bygones что было, то быльем поросло 18) to talk shop говорить о делах (на профессиональные темы) в гостях 19) the rank and file 1) рядовой состав (воен. термин); 2) рядовые люди, рядовые члены организации 20) To drive care away развеяться 21) To be on tenterhooks быть как на иголках 22) Swallow dive прыжок в воду ласточкой 32
2. Choose the right translation of the word combinations and phrases. Classify them as in the first task 1. the green eyed monsteлёная тоска ревность; зеленоглазый монстр; зе- 2. to meet the eye таращить глаза; привлекать внимание; встречаться глазами 3. to have Butterflies in иметь бабочек в животе; нервничать; иметь больной живот the stomach 4. How goes the enemy? Как наш враг? Каково расположение врага? Который час? 5. Little pitchers have long ears маленькие щенки имеют длинные уши; иметь острый слух; маленькие дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых 7. tooth and nail хватать все подряд; изо всех сил (не на жизнь, а на смерть); зубы и ногти 8. hammer and tongs драться всем, что под рукой; энергично, яростно, засучив рукава; молоток и щипцы 9. to quarrel with one s bread and butter поссориться с хлебом и маслом; не иметь даже хлеба с маслом; бросить занятие, дающее средства к существованию 10. a short fuse короткое замыкание; вспыльчивость; недолгая любовная интрижка 11. the apple of Sodom яблоко Содома; красивый, но гнилой внутри; яблочный пирог «Содом» 12. devil s darning-needle очень сложная штопка; стрекоза; налим; игла дьявола 13. out of the blue как гром среди ясного неба; откровение свыше; вид с высоты птичьего полета 33