Transcript lexicology

INTRODUCTION TO
MORPHOLOGY AND
LEXICOLOGY
UNIT 1: WHAT IS LEXICOLOGY?
2nd March 2016
Chapter 1: What is lexicology?

Howard Jackson and Etienne Zé Amvela (2007) Words,
Meaning and Vocabulary: An Introduction to Modern
English Lexicology. 2nded. NY: Continuum.
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1.1 LEXICOLOGY DEFINED
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1.2 LEXICOLOGY AS A LEVEL
OF LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS
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1.3 THE STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH
VOCABULARY
Chapter 1: What is lexicology?
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1.1 LEXICOLOGY DEFINED
morphology
semantics
etymology
lexicography
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1.2 LEXICOLOGY AS A LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
lex. & phonology
lex. & syntax
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1.3 THE STRUCTURE OF ENG.VOCABULARY
word & its associative fields lexical fields
word families
word classes
1.1 LEXICOLOGY
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= the study of lexis, understood as the stock of
words in a given language, i.e. its vocabulary
or lexicon
(Greek: lexis = word)
‘word‘ is difficult to define (cf. Ch3)
‘word‘ = a sequence of letters bounded by
spaces
Talking about the ‘stock of words‘
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VOCABULARY – colloquial
LEXIS – ‘middle way‘
LEXICON – learned, technical
X
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DICTIONARY = selective recording of word
stock at a given point in time
Lexicology
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Object of study: WORDS (simple, compound,
complex)
Related fields:
 Morphology (form)
 Semantics (meaning)
 Etymology (origin)
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Lexicography = compilation of dictionaries
(technique)
1.1.1 Morphology
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= the study of morphemes and their
arrangements in forming words
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What are MORPHEMES?
1.1.1 Morphology
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MORPHEMES = the smallest meaninful units
which may constitute words or parts of words
- cannot be broken down further on the
basis of meaning
- have a relationship with the non-linguistic
world
Sample analysis: identify mophemes
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Dog
Cleaning
Bodyguard
Painter
Crocodile
With
Systems
Replay
Unhappiness
Sample analysis: identify mophemes
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Dog – 1 morpheme, simple word
Cleaning – 2 morphemes, clean + -ing
Bodyguard – 2 morphemes, body + guard
Painter – 2 morphemes, paint + -er
Crocodile –1 morpheme, simple word
With – 1 morpheme, meaning, e.g., ‘in company of‘
Systems – 2 morphemes, system + -s
Replay – 2 morphemes, re- + play
Unhappiness – 3 morphemes, un- + happy + -ness
Free & Bound morphemes
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FREE MORPHEMES = ???
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BOUND MORPHEMES = ???
Free & Bound morphemes
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FREE MORPHEMES = can occur alone as
individual words
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BOUND MORPHEMES = can occur only with
another morpheme
Identify free and bound mophemes
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Cleaning – 2 morphemes
Bodyguard – 2 morphemes
Painter – 2 morphemes
Systems – 2 morphemes
Replay – 2 morphemes
Unhappiness – 3 morphemes
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Re vs. Re- ..... Any differences?
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Re X re
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Re (preposition, FORMAL) – (esp. in business
letters) about; on the subject of
Re your communication of 15 February...
Re (noun) – the second note of the sol-fa musical
scale
X
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Re- (prefix) – used to add the meaning ‘do again‘,
esp. to verbs (rebuild); return sth to its original
state (regreen the country = make it green again)
morph
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= concrete realization of a morpheme in a given
utterance
MORPH ≠ SYLLABLE
Morph = represents a specific meaning
Syllable = isolated on the basis of pronunciation
Complete:
 The word BODYGUARD consists of
___???___morphs and _____???____syllables.
allomorphs
= different representations of the same
morphemes
(Greek: allo ‘other‘)
- Phonological variations
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Example: indefinite article
- a/ an (a pear X an orange; a unicorn)
allomorphs
Example: the negative prefix in– (e.g.,
insecure), the consonants following the prefix
trigger assimilation
im-  impatient
il-  illegal
ir-  irresponsible
allomorphs
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Do you know any other examples of
allomorphs?
Allomorphs - examples
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-s/ -es (ducks X horses)
Consider also: ducks, dogs, horses /s, z, iz/
lived, clapped, greeted /d, t, id/
Where one allomorph occurs, its
counterpart(s) cannot occur.
They are mutually exclusive.
Simple, compound and complex words
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SIMPLE words = free morphemes,
morphologically unanalysable (wild, animal)
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COMPLEX words = formed from simpler
words by the addition of affixes or some other
kind of morphological modification (spoonful,
childish, mentally)
 Limiting
case: zero modification or conversion:
 Ex. answer (noun/ verb), dirty (adjective/ verb)
Simple, compound and complex words
COMPOUND words/ COMPOUNDS
= formed by combining two or more words (free
morphemes) with or without morphological
modification
Ex. door-knob, cheeseburger, floppy disc
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No clear distinction between a word compound
(solid and hyphenated) and phrasal compound
(open)
The Importance of morphology in
lexicology
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The construction of words and parts of words,
and the distinction between the different types
of words are all based on morphological
analysis.
1.1.2 Semantics
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What is semantics?
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Do you know any kinds of semantics?
1.1.2 Semantics
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Semantics is the study of meaning.
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Kinds of semantics:
 Pragmatic
s. (meaning of utterances in context)
 Sentence s. (meaning of sentences, meaning of
relations between sentences)
 Lexical s. (meaning of words, meaning relations
that are internal to the vocabulary of a language)
Lexical semantics is relevant to lexicology.
2 perspectives on semantics:
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1 PHILOSOPHICAL semantics
2 LINGUISTIC semantics
Complete:
 _______ semantics studies the logical properties of
language.
 _______ semantics involves all aspects of meaning in
natural languages.
 _______ semantics deals with the nature of formal
theories.
 _______ semantics studies meaning ranging from the
meaning of complex utterances in specific contexts to
the meaning of individual sounds in syllables.
Acceptability and meaningfulness
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Important concepts, both for sentence
semantics and lexicology.
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Some utterances can be meaningless but
acceptable. Others may be meaningful but
unacceptable.
Acceptable? Meaningful?
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That cat is a hungry animal.
That woman is a man.
That log is a doll.
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-sarcasms, slips of tongue, figures of
speech,...
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CONTEXT helps interpretation.
1.1.3 Etymology
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= study of the history of words, not just their origin
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Term coined by Stoics (Greek philosophers) who
believed that language should be regularly related
to its content (and they noticed a lack of regularity
in the correspondence between form and content)
 wanted to discover the original forms (‘etyma‘)
to establish the regular correspondence between
language and reality. = beginning of etymology
Etymology – major issue
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There can be no ‘true‘ or ‘original‘ meaning
since human language stretches too far back
in the history.
Ex. a nice distinction – the adjective ‘nice‘
really means ‘precise‘ (?) ...but it once meant
‘silly‘ (Lat. nescitus, ignorant), and earlier, it
must have been related to ne, ‘not‘, and se,
‘cut‘... Unknown origins of ne and se... regular
correspondence between language and
reality???
Stoics‘ quest has proved fruitless.
Etymological information is useful
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Makes reference to cognates (words related
in form) in other languages.
The ​Italian word "mangiare" (= to ​eat) is
cognate with the ​French "​manger".
 Ex.
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Gives the source language of a borrowed
word and the date when the borrowing took
place.
Supplies information on the previous history of
the word.
Etymological information is useful
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Knowledge of etymology may help some
learners to understand and retain new
vocabulary items.
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Consider the following French words and think
of their English equivalents. Can you guess
which letter used to follow the letter with
“accent circonflexe“ in the past?
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Forêt, hôpital, hâte, intérêt.
Folk etymology
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= a historical proces whereby speakers who
cannot analyse an obscure form replace it with a
morphologically transparent form.
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Ex. bridegroom
Middle English – the original spelling: bridegome
(bride ‘bride‘ + gome ‘man‘)  gome ceased to be
understood  replaced by groom
(groom = a ​person whose ​job is to take ​care of
and ​clean ​horses)
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1.1.4 Lexicography
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= a special technique, the writing and
compiling dictionaries
= principles that underlie the process of
compiling and editing dictionaries.
can be regarded as derived from lexicological
theory  ‘applied lexicology‘
 E.g.,
descriptive apprach (as opposed to
prescriptive) in lexicography represents direct
application of linguistic principles.
1.2 LEXICOLOGY AS LEVEL OF
LANGUAGE ANALYSIS
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Levels of language analysis:
 Phonology,
morphology, syntax, semantics,
lexicology
 The
levels interact with one another
1.2.1 Lexicology and phonology
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Difference between two otherwise identical lexical
units at the level of phonology:
Pill – bill, sheep – ship,...
 only 1 sound unit is different
Difference at the level of phonology has a serious
effect at the level of lexicology.
Sometimes phonological difference involves
‘suprasegmental‘ features such as stress (ex‘port
vs. ‘export)
Stress pattern in compounds
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COMPOUND ------------------ NOUN PHRASE
‘blackboard ------------------- ‚black ‘board
‘blackbird ---------------------- ‚black ‘bird
‘greyhound -------------------- ‚grey ‘hound
‘White House ------------------ ‚white ‘house
1.2.2 Lexicology and syntax
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Syntax is concerned with the relationships
between words in constructions and the way
these words are put together to form
sentences.
Rules of syntax enable English speakers to
produce and understand English sentences as
needed.
1.2.2 Lexicology and syntax
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Syntax deals with general facts of language.
Lexicology deals with particular aspects of
language.
Syntax deals with rules and regularities that
apply to classes of words as a whole.
Lexicology is concerned with the way
individual words operate and affect other
words in the same context.
1.2.2 Lexicology and syntax
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Sentences A: syntactic but unacceptable from the lexical
point of view.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously. (Chomsky)
Sophisticated mice prefer to eat red elephants.
The flower gracefully walked away.
Acceptability – yes/no; more/less. Context.
Sentence B: deviant on syntactic grounds:
Did it he and I.  OK: He and I did it.
Sentence C: deviant on both syntactic and lexical
grounds:
Did it John and the table.
Time to practise and discuss 
ELF