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Blending: Parts (which are not morphemes!) of two already-existing words are put together to form a new word. Examples: motel (motor hotel) brunch (breakfast & lunch), smog (smoke & fog), telethon (television & marathon), modem (modulator & demodulator), Spanglish (Spanish & English). 

Reduplication

New words are made by doubling a stem either without any phonetic changes or with a varation of the root vowel or consonant as in ping-pong, chit-chat, bye-bye, stylistically speaking most words are made by reduplication represent informal groups colloquialisms and slang.

Reduplication is the morphological process by which a morpheme is repeated, thereby creating a new word with a different word class. There are two types of reduplication: partial which reduplicates only part of the morpheme and full in which the entire morpheme is reduplicated.

Sound-interchange

They may be defined as an opposition in which words or word forms are differentiated due to an alternation in the phonemic composition of the root. It means some sounds are changed to form a new word. It is non-productive in Modern English, it was productive in old English and can be met in other Indo-European languages. In many cases we have vowel and consonant interchange. In nouns we have voiceless consonants and in verbs we have corresponding voiced consonants because in old English these consonants in nouns were at the end of the word and in verbs in the intervocal position. F: life-to live, blood-to bleed, hot-to heat, to sing-song.

31. Define the ways of formation of back-formation, sound-imitation and shortenings.

Backformation: A suffix identifiable from other words is cut off of a base which has previously not been a word; that base then is used as a root, and becomes a word through widespread use. Examples: pronunciate (< pronunciation < pronounce), resurrect (< resurrection), enthuse (< enthusiasm), self-destruct (< self-destruction < destroy), burgle (< burglar), attrit (< attrition), burger (< hamburger). This differs from clipping in that, in clipping, some phonological part of the word which is not interpretable as an affix or word is cut off (e.g. the '-essor' of 'professor' is not a suffix or word; nor is the '-ther' of 'brother'. In backformation, the bit chopped off is a recognizable affix or word ('ham ' in 'hamburger'), '-ion' in 'self-destruction'. Backformation is the result of a false but plausible morphological analysis of the word; clipping is a strictly phonological process that is used to make the word shorter. Clipping is based on syllable structure, not morphological analysis. It is impossible for you to recognize backformed words or come up with examples from your own knowledge of English, unless you already know the history of the word. Most people do not know the history of the words they know; this is normal. 

Sound imitation

Words are made by imitating different kinds of sounds that may be produced by animals, birds, insects, human beings and inanimated objects. It is the way of word-building when a word is formed by imitating different sounds. a) sounds produced by human beings, to whisper, to giggle, to mumble, to sneeze, to whistle; b) sounds produced by animals, birds, insects, to hiss, to buzz, to bark, to moo; c) sounds produced by nature and objects, to splash, to rustle, to clatter, to bubble, to tinkle.

Shortening is a comparatively new way of word-building has achieved a high degree of productivity, especially in American English.

Shortenings are produced in two different ways. The first is to make a new word of syllable of the original word. The latter may lose its beginning (as in phone made from telephone, fence from defence), its ending (as in hols from holidays, vac from vacation, ad from advertisement) or both the beginning and ending (as flu from influenza, fridge from refrigerator).

The second way of shortening is to make a new word from the initial letters of a word group: U.N.O., B.B.C., M.P. this type is called initial shortenings.

32. Express your attitude on causes, nature and results of semantic change.

SEMANTIC CHANGE

The systems of meanings of polysemantic words evolve gradually. The older a word is, the better developed is its semantic structure, i.e. words acquire new meanings. The semantic change may be analysed according to the cause, nature and results.

The factors accounting for semantic changes may be roughly subdivided into two groups: extra-linguistic, linguistic causes.

By extra-linguistic causes (non-verbal) we mean various changes in the life of the speech community, changes in economic and social structure, changes in ideas, scientific concepts, way of life, changes in culture, arts as reflected in word meanings. Newly created objects, new concepts and phenomena must obtain names. We already know of two ways for providing new names for newly created concepts: making new words (word-building) and borrowing foreign ones. One more way of filling such vocabulary gaps is by applying some old word to a new object or notion. F: when the first textile factories appeared in England, the old mill was applied to these early industrial enterprises. In this way mill (a Latin borrowing of the first century) added a new meaning to its former meaning “a building in which corn is ground into flour”. The new meaning was “textile factory”. F: carriage which had the meaning “a vehicle drawn by horses”, but with the first appearance of railways in England, it received a new meaning, that of “a railway car”.

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By linguistic causes we mean factors acting within the language system or through the influence of other words, mostly of synonyms. F: the word land in old English meant both “solid part of earth’s surface” and “the territory of a nation”. When in middle English period the word country was borrowed at its synonym, the meaning of the word land was somewhat altered and “the territory of a nation” came to be denoted mainly by the borrowed word country.

NATURE OF SEMANTICCHANGE

Generally speaking, of any semantic change has some associations between the old meaning and the new. There are two kinds of association involved in various semantic changes: similarity of meaning (metaphor) and contiguity of meaning (metonymy). In other words transference based on Resemblance is metaphor. Transference based on contiguity is metonymy. The process of development of a new meaning or a change of meaning is traditionally termed transference. The transfer of the meaning on the basis of comparison or resemblance is called metaphor. For example,

1. similarity of shape, e.g. head of a cabbage, bottleneck, teeth of a comb

2. similarity of position, e.g. foot of a mountain, a page, leg of a table

3. similarity of function, behaviour, e.g. branch of a science

4. similarity of colour, e.g. orange, chestnut

5. metaphors which are based on parts of a human body, e.g. an eye of a needle, mouth of a river, head of an army

6. when proper names become common nouns, e.g. vandals-destructive people, a Don Juan-a lover of many women

The transfer of the meaning on the basis of contiguity is called metonymy. For example,

There are different types of metonymy:

1. the material of which an object is made may become the name of the object, e.g. a glass, boards, iron

2. the name of the place may become the name of the people or of an object placed there, e.g. the House –members of Parliament, Fleet Street – bourgeois press, the White House – the administration of the USA

3. names of musical instruments may become names of musicians, e.g. the violin, the saxophone

4. the name of some person may become a common noun, e.g. boycott was originally the name of an Irish family who were so much disliked by their neighbours that they did not mix with them, sandwich-was named after Lord sandwich who was a gambler. He did not want to interrupt his game and had his food brought to him while he was playing cards between two slices of bread not to soil his fingers.

5. names of inventors very often become terms to denote things they invented, e.g. watt, om, roentgen

6. some geographical names can also become common nouns through metonymy, e.g. Holland (linen fabrics), Brussels (a special kind of carpets), china (porcelain), astrakhan (a sheep fur)

Linguistic metonymy may be described as the semantic process of associating two referents one of which makes part of the other or is closely connected with it. This association is based upon subtle psychological links between different objects and phenomena, sometimes traced and identified with much difficulty. The two objects may be associated together because they often appear in common situations, and so the image of one is easily accompanied by the image of the other; or they may be associated on the principle of cause and effect, of common function, of some material and an object which is made of it.

RESULTS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE

Results of semantic change can be generally observed in the changes of the denotational meaning of the word (extension and restriction of meaning) or in the alteration of its connotational component (amelioration and deterioration of meaning). Changes in the denotational meaning may result in the restriction of the types or range of referents denoted by the word. Restriction of meaning is called specialization of meaning or narrowing of meaning. It is gradual process when a word passes from a general sphere to some special sphere of communication. The meaning of a word can specialize when it remains in the general usage. It happens in the case of the conflict between two absolute synonyms when one of them must specialize in its meaning to remain in the language. F: the City –the business part of London, Oxford-university town in England, the Tower-originally a fortress and palace, later a prison, now-a museum, room – originally a space, now-dining room, sleeping room

Changes in the denotational meaning may also result in the application of the word to a wider variety of referents. This is commonly described as extension of meaning. If the word with the extended meaning passes from the specialized vocabulary into common use, we describe the result of the semantic change as the generalization of meaning or broadening of meaning. F: the word borrowed into Middle English from old French where it was persone and came from Latin persona “the mask used by an actor, one who plays a part, a character in a play”. The great theatre spaces in ancient Rome made it impossible for the spectators to see the actor’s face and facial changes. It was also difficult to hear his voice distinctly. That is why masks with a megaphonic effect were used (chairperson, policeperson, salesperson, workperson)

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A change in the connotational meaning may be subdivided into pejoration or degradation of meaning and amelioration or elevation or improvement of the connotational component of meaning. Semantically speaking deterioration or pejoration means the second meaning develops a negative evaluative connotation which was absent in the first meaning. They seem to imply that meanings can become worse which is neither logical nor plausible. Amelioration or elevation is a transfer of the meaning when becomes better in the course of time.

Elevation or amelioration of meaning is a transfer of the meaning when it becomes better in the course of time, e.g. 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; marshal originally meant a horse man., now it is the highest military rank.

Degradation or pejoration of meaning is a transfer of the meaning when it becomes worse in the course of time. It is usually connected with nouns denoting common people, e.g. villain-originally meant working on a villa, now it means a scoundrel.

33.Point out linguistic and other functions of a word.

The object of Lexicology is a word and word-combinations or word-groups. When we study Lexicology we should research the word and word-combinations in different sides, for example, its origin, meaning or semantics, development, multilevel structure.

As the main object a word has many functions. The term “word” denotes the main lexical unit of a language resulting from the association of a group of sounds with a meaning. It is the smallest unit of a language which can stand alone as a complete utterance.

A word is a language unit has a particular sound complex, has a particular meaning, is capable of a particular grammatical employment and able to form a sentence by itself.

A word is a unit of speech which serves the purposes of human communication.

The definition of a word is one of the most difficult in linguistics because the simplest word has many different aspects. Being the central element of any language system the word is a sort of focus for the problems of phonology, lexicology, syntax, morphology and also for some other sciences that have to deal with language and speech, such as philosophy, psychology and probably quite a few other branches of knowledge. Any definition that was given to word is conditioned by the aims and interests of its author.

The complete correct definition of the word is a speech unit used for the purposes of communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning, belong to grammatical employment and characterised by formal and semantic unity.

The modern approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between the external and internal structures of the word.

On Lexicology course we analyze the word according to three structures: the morphological, semantic, stylistic. There are several linguistic functions of a word: nominative, significative (polysemantic), expressive, communicative, descriptive, pragmatic.

34. Give the aims and objectives of Lexicology.

Lexicology (from Greek origin lexis – “word” and logos – “science”) is the brunch or part of linguistics which deals with the vocabulary of a language and the properties of words as the main units of language. The term “vocabulary” is used to denote the system of words and word-groups that the language possesses. The literal meaning of the term Lexicology is “the science of the word”. The basic task of Lexicology is the study and systematic description of the vocabulary of some particular language in respect to its origin, development and current use. In other words, Lexicology is concerned with words and word-combinations (or word-groups), phraseological units and morphemes which make up words.

Lexicology must be separated from the rest of the linguistic disciplines. In contrast with phonology, morphology and syntax, it is essentially a socio-linguistic discipline. Lexicology, then is the part of linguistics which is concerned with the “lexis” or the study and analysis of words.

The object of Lexicology is a word and word-combinations or word-groups. When we study Lexicology we should research the word and word-combinations in different sides, for example, its origin, meaning or semantics, development, multilevel structure.

35.Speak on motivation and types of motivation.

One more notion you should know when we speak about the meaning of the word is motivation.

There are three types of motivation.

The morphological motivation is a direct connection between the structural pattern of the word and its meaning. It is the relationship between morphemes. F: one morpheme words sing, tell, eat are non-motivated, if we add suffixes or prefixes and form words as singer, rewrite, eatable they are described as motivated.

The phonetical motivation is a direct connection between the phonetical structure of the word and its meaning. F: words swish, sizzle, boom, splash they may be defined as phonetically motivated because the soundclusters are a direct imitation of the sounds these words denote.

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The semantic motivation is a relationship between the central and coexisting meaning or meanings of a word which are understood as a metaphorical extension of the central meaning. It means generalization of the denotational meaning of a word permitting it to include new referents which are in some way like the original class of referents. F: a woman who has given birth is called a mother, by extension, any act that gives birth is associated with being a mother. A necessity is the mother of invention, a mother looks after a child, so that we can say she became a mother to her orphan nephew, also mother country, a mother tongue.

36.Give the general types of morphemes.

Morphemes are divided into two large groups: lexical and grammatical morphemes. Both lexical and grammatical morphemes can be free and bound. Free lexical morphemes are roots of words which express the lexical meaning of the word, they coincide with the stem of simple words. Free grammatical morphemes are function words: articles, conjunctions and prepositions.

Bound lexical morphemes are affixes: prefixes, suffixes and also blocked root morphemes.

Bound grammatical morphemes are inflexions (endings).

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.

37.Give the types of morphemes according to the position. Give examples

According to the position morphemes can be divided into prefixes, suffixes and infixes.

Ex: a) prefixes of negative meaning, as in- , non-, un- (invaluable, nonformals, unfree)

b) prefixes denoting repetition or reversal actions, as: de-, re-, dis- (decolonize, revegetation, disconnect)

1. prefixes denoting time, space, degree relations, as: inter-, hyper-, ex-, pre-, over- (interplanetary, hypertension, ex-student, preelection, overdrugging)

Ex: Some productive affixes

Noun-forming suffixes: -er, -ing, -ness, -ism, -ist, -ance(teacher,raeding,illness,realism, importance)

Adjective-forming suffixes: y, -ish, -ed, -able, -less(sunny,open-hearted,comparable,unless)

Adverb-forming suffixes: -ly(lovely)

Verb-forming suffixes: -ize, -ise, -ate(criticize,adaptate)

Some non-productive affixes

Noun-forming suffixes: -th, -hood(youth,childhood)

Adjective-forming suffixes: -ly, -some, -en, -ous(exactly,handsome,generous)

Verb-forming suffix: -en(heaven).

38. Give the classification types of morphemes according to meaning and functions.

According to the functions and meaning morphemes can be divided into derivational, functional, productive and non-productive.

39.State out the functions of paragigmatic and syntagmatic relations.

There are two introlinguistic relations that exist between words.They are:paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations. In paradigmatic relations we define the word meaning with the help of synonyms and lexical semantic groups.In syntagmatic relations we define the word meaning with the help of different contexts.

40.Compare the analytical, functional and operational categories of definition of meaning.

Meaning is the inner form of the word. There are three main categories of definitions which may be referred to as : analytical, functional, operational definition of meaning.

1) Analytical or referential definition of meaning seek to find out the essence of meaning establishing the interdependence between words of the objects or phenomena they denote. If we hear a sound-form a certain idea arises in our mind and the idea brings out a certain referent that exists in the reality. The dotted line suggests that there is no intermediate relation between word and referent, it is established only through the concept, because there are no objects or phenomena in the reality that predict a certain sound-form.

2) Functional or contextual definition of meaning seeks that the true meaning of a word is to found by observing what a man does with it not what he says about it, the proponents of functional approach to meaning define it as the use of the word in the language. It has been suggested that the meaning of a word is revealed by substituting different contexts. Here the meaning of a linguistic unit may be studied only through its relation to other linguistic units.

3) Operational or information-oriented definition of meaning seeks to define meaning through its role in the process of communication. They are more interested in how the words work, how the meaning works than what the meaning is. Meaning is defined as information conveyed from the speaker to the listener in the process of communication.

41.Differentiate General and Special types of Lexicology.

General lexicology is part of general linguistics,it is concerned with the study of vocabulary according to specific features of any particular language.

Special Lexicology is the Lexicology of a particular language, i.e. the study and description of its vocabulary and units, primarily words as the main units of language. It goes without saying that every special lexicology has its own inner branches as historical and descriptive lexicology. Special l-y divided into two:historical(diachronic), descriptive(synchronic).

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42.Analyze the problems of Lexicology according to their importance in Lexicology.

The problems of Lexicology:

1. Word-formation

2. Semasiology and types of word meaning

3. Paradigmatic (synonymy and functional style) and syntagmatic relations of words

4. Phraseology

5. Lexicography. Types of dictionaries.

6. The study of vocabulary as a system.

The problem of word-building is associated with prevailing morphological word-structures and with processes of making new words. Semantics is the study of meaning. Modern approaches to this problem are characterized by two different levels of study: syntagmatic and paradigmatic.

On the syntagmatic level, the semantic structure of the word is analysed in its linear relationships with neighbouring words in connected speech. In other words, the semantic characteristics of the word are observed, described and studied on the basis of its typical contexts.

On the paradigmatic level, the word is studied in its relationships with other words in the vocabulary system. So, a word may be studied in comparison with other words of similar meaning.

Phraseology is the branch of lexicology specializing in word-groups which are characterized by stability of structure and transferred meaning.

One further important objective of lexicological studies is the study of the vocabulary of a language as a system. The vocabulary can be studied synchronically, that is, at a given stage of its development, or diachronically, that is, in the context of the processes through which it grew, developed and acquired its modern form.

Lexicography is the branch of lexicology that deals with the problems of dictionary compiling.

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