Lexicology as a linguistic science.

1. Introduction. The object of study

2. The theoretical and practical value of Lexicology

3. Lexicology and other linguistic branches

Lecture I Power Point presentation PowePoint

Seminar 1. The complex nature of the English vocabulary.

Exercises

Lexicology is a branch of linguistics which deals with the vocabulary and characteristic
features of words and word-groups. The term lexicology is composed of two Greek
morphemes lexis meaning word and logos which denotes learning. Thus, the term
lexicology is the science of the word.
The term vocabulary is used to denote the system of words and word-groups that the
language possesses. 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 (e.g. He is as loose as a goose).
Lexicology as a branch of linguistics has its own aims and methods of scientific research, its
basic task being a study and systematic description of vocabulary in respect to its origin,
development and current use. Lexicology is concerned with words, variable word-groups,
phraseological units and with morphemes which make up words.
The general study of words and vocabulary of any particular language is known as general
lexicology. Special lexicology devotes its attention to the study and description of a
particular languageeg. English, French, German) the study and description of its
vocabulary and vocabulary units, primarily words as the main units of language.
There are two principal approaches in linguistic science to the study of language: synchronic
(syn together and chronos time) and diachronic (dia through) approach. The
synchronic approach is concerned with the vocabulary of a language as it exists at a given
time, for instance, at the present time. The diachronic approach deals with the changes and
the development of vocabulary in the course of time.
The evolution of any vocabulary, as well as of its single elements, forms the object of
historical lexicology. This branch of linguistics discusses the origin of various words, their
change and development and investigates the linguistic and extra-linguistic forces modifying
their structure, meaning and usage.
Descriptive lexicology deals with the vocabulary of a given language at a given stage of its
development; its object of study being the English vocabulary as it exists at the present time.

The two approaches should not be contrasted; in fact they are interconnected and
interdependent. Every linguistic structure and system actually exists in a state of constant
development so that the synchronic state of a language system is a result of a long process of
linguistic evolution, of its historical development.
A good example illustrating the distinction between the two approaches and their
interconnection is given by the word to beg and beggar. Synchronically, the words to beg and
beggar are related as a simple and a derived word, the noun beggar being the derived
member of the pair (the derivative correlation is the same as in the case: to teach-teacher, to
sing-singer).
When we approach the problem diachronically we learn that the noun beggar was borrowed
from Old English and only presumed to have been derived from a shorter word, namely the
verb to beg, as in the English language agent nouns are commonly derived from verbs with
the help of the agent suffix er.

2. English lexicology investigates the problems of word-structure and word-formation in

Modern English, the semantic structure of English words, the main principles
underlying the classification of vocabulary units into various groupings. It also studies
the relations existing between various lexical layers of the English vocabulary and the
specific laws and regulations that govern its development at the present time.
Modern English lexicology as a subject of study forms part of the theoretical course of
Modern English and as such is inseparable from its other component parts: grammar,
phonetics, stylistics, on the one hand, and the course of History of the English
language on the other hand. The language learner will find the course of English
lexicology of great practical importance. He will obtain much valuable information
concerning the English word-stock and the laws and regulations governing the
formation and usage of English words and word-groups.
The aim of the course is to teach students to be word-conscious, to be able to guess
the meaning of words they come across from the meanings of morphemes, to be able
to recognize the origin of this or that lexical unit.
Lexicography is also included as a short section in lexicology. Lexicography, the science
and art of dictionary-compiling is a practical application of lexicology so that the
dictionary-maker is guided in his work by the methods and principles laid down by the
lexicologist as a result of his investigation.

3. The treatment of words in lexicology cannot be divorced from the study of all the other elements
in the language system. In the actual process of communication, all these elements are
interdependent and stand in different relations to one another. The word is studied in several
branches of linguistics and not only in lexicology. It is connected with general linguistics, the history
of
the
language,
phonetics
and
especially,
grammar.
The connection of lexicology with phonetics is very important. Phonetics, for instance, investigating
the phonetic structure of language, its system of phonemes and intonation patterns is concerned with
the study of the outer sound form of the word. Phonetical changes may cause the changes in the
structure
of
the
word
and
the
appearance
of
new
word,
e.g.
full-fill,
food-feed.
Lexicology is closely connected with grammar. The word always has some grammatical form and
function. The grammatical function of the word often changes its meaning,
e.g.
to
turn
and
to
turn
pale.

Lexicology is closely connected with stylistics as words have stylistic characteristics, e.g. farewell
(poetical), good-bye(colloquial), so-long(highly colloquial) etc. Both stylistics and lexicology study
metaphor and metonymy, but lexicology studies them as the means of the creation of new words,
while stylistics studies the use of words in figurative meaning and the figures of speech.
The study of lexicology is essential, as it helps to group words, to show the difference in their
structure and meaning, and to explain different lexical elements of the language. One cannot teach
or study a foreign language without knowing its vocabulary, its system of word-building, its lexicosemantic system.

Lecture II. Lexical units and semantic structure of words.

2.1. Definition. The structure and classification of lexical units.

2.2. Lexical units and context.

2.3 Semantic classification of words.

Lecture II. Power Point presentation PowePoint

Seminar 2. Aspects of knowing a word.

reports

2.1. Definition. The structure and classification of lexical units.

a. words and problems connected with their definition.
b. morphemes.
c. word-combinations.
d. phraseological units.
2. Lexical units and context.
3. Semantic classification of words.
2.1. Lexicology studies various lexical units: words, morphemes, variable word-groups,
phraseological units. The word is the principal unit of the language, but it is extremely
difficult to give a good definition of a word. Many scientists even consider it impossible. 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. We
do know about the nature of the word the following:
First, the word is a unit of speech which, as such, serves the purposes of human
communication. Thus, the word can be defined as a unit of communication.
Secondly, the word can be perceived as a total of the sounds which comprise it.
Third, the word, viewed structurally, possesses several characteristics.
There are several problems connected with the definition of the word.
The first problem is the problem of the relation between the word and the objects which
it names, and between the word and the concept. The word and the concept appear
simultaneously. When people see a new object or phenomenon they form a new concept, but
concepts do not exist without words. They can be fixed in the mind of man only with the help
of words, which name new objects or phenomena. Naming a new object or phenomenon
people cannot choose any group of sounds they like.
They must base the new name on the names already existing in the language, otherwise

the new word would not be understood by other people. People name new objects and
phenomena by one of their principal characteristics, e.g. teacher (one who teaches). People
of different nation can take different characteristics for naming the same object. When the
bulb was invented, the English called it by its form -the bulb, the Romanians called it lamp
by its resemblance to a lamp, the Georgians-by its function. But when the English, the
Romanians or the Georgians name it, they get the same idea, the same concept of the object
with all its characteristics.
The expression of one of its characteristics of the object in the word is generally called the
inner form of a word or the motivation of the word. In some words the inner form is easily
found, e.g. ice-cream, beautiful, fruitful etc. In other words it is difficult to discover the inner
form as it has nearly disappeared, e.g. nightingale (O.E nightegale- the singer of the night,
from galan- to sing).The inner form may be forgotten to such an extent that the usage of the
word may become contradictory to the inner form of the word, e.g. Blackberries are red
when they are green.
The inner form of the word may be lost as a result of the simplification of the
morphological structure of the word, e.g. woman, from wifman (wif-wife); lady, from hlafdige one who kneads bread.
Sometimes when the inner form of the word is forgotten, people try to reconstruct it, e.g.
cockney (an inhabitant of London). It is said the inhabitants of London had no idea of the life
in the country and once a Londoner coming to the country exclaimed: The horse is barking!
He was told that the horse neighs. Soon he cried: The cock neighs! Then he was called a
cockney.
The inner form of borrowed words is unknown unless a whole group of words was
borrowed. Sometimes trying to understand the inner form of the word people wrongly
associates it with some other word. Such wrong association of words is called folk etymology,
e.g. to surround is from Fr. suronder (overflow), but it has changed its meaning under the
influence of the word round; cutlet (from Fr. cote-rib) was falsely associated with the verb to
cut.
The second difficult problem connected with the definition of the word is the difference
between the word and word combination. Professor Smirnitsky, who wrote much on the
problem, considers that the inseparability of all the parts of the word distinguishes it from
the word combination, in which every word has its own grammatical forms. The unity of
meaning also characterizes the word.
The difference between a compound word and a word combination becomes clear if we
compare the word a nobleman and the combination of words a noble man. The word has the
following forms: nobleman, noblemans, noblemen, noblemens. In the word combination
every word has its own forms: noble, nobler, noblest and man, men, mans, mens. The
meaning of the compound is different from the meaning of word combination: a nobleman
may not be noble. In nobleman there is one stress at the beginning of the word, while in the
word combination every word has its stress. We find the same in a blackboard and a black
board.
The compound word pickpocket consists of two roots: pick and pocket, but it cannot be
said to consist of two separate words because it has one grammatical form. The element pick
has not got a single grammatical form of the verb; it cannot take any ending of the verb.
Compare: to pick somebodys pocket, in this case pick is an independent word that can take
any form of the verb- he is picking, has picked etc. In the word pickpocket pocket cannot be
said to be singular, common case because those categories belong not only to the word
pocket but to the whole compound word. Pickpocket is a single whole; but to pick
somebodys pocket possesses separability and is a word combination.
The third problem connected with the definition of the word is the problem of the identity
of the grammatical forms of the word. Some scientists, as for example, the representatives
of modern American school of descriptive linguistics consider different grammatical forms of
the word to be separate words, as e.g. pave, paves, paved, paving etc.
The problem of the difference between polysemantic words and homonyms is also very
complicated. Generally the words connected by the central meaning, common to all the other
meanings of the word are considered to be semantic variants of the same word and words of
the same form in which this semantic center either never existed, or is lost are regarded as
homonyms

e.g. box- a wooden case, and box- a blow on the ear.

The modern approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between the external and
the internal structures of the word. By external structure of the word we mean its
morphological structure. For example, in the word post-impressionists the following
morphemes can be distinguished: the prefixes post-, -im, the root press, the suffixes ion,
ist, and the grammatical suffix of plurality s. All these morphemes constitute the external
structure of the word post-impressionists.
The internal structure of the word, or its meaning, is referred to as the words semantic
structure. Words can serve the purposes of human communication.
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.
Structural types of words
According to the nature and the number of morpheme constituting a word there are
different structural types of words in English: simple, affixed, compound, compound-affixed.
a.simple words consist of one root morpheme and an inflection (in many cases the inflection
is zero), e.g. seldom, chairs, longer, asked.
b.affixed words consist of one root morpheme, one or several affixes and an inflection, e.g.
derestricted, unemployed.
c.compound words consist of two or more root morphemes and an inflection, e.g. babymoons, wait-and-see (policy).
d. compound-affixed words consist of two or more root morphemes, one or more affixes and
an inflection, e.g. middle-of-the-roaders, job-hopper, autotimer.
Morphemes are the smallest units of the language which have a meaning. Words consist
of morphemes. The morphemes we find in words are the following:
- the root,
- the affix (prefix and suffix) and
- the inflection.
The root is the morpheme which gives the principal lexical meaning of the word. The
affixes only partly change the meaning of the word. Inflections give the word its grammatical
characteristics. In the word builders the word is build, the suffix er gives the meaning of the
doer performing the action given in the root. If some other affix is added to the root, the
meaning is partly changed, so in the word building the suffix ing gives the meaning of the
process or the result of the action given in the root. The final s in the word builders is an
inflection.
In many cases it is difficult to define the difference between the word and the morpheme.
Different variants of the morpheme may be used to show the difference in the structural
forms of the words. The variants of morphemes are different in sound. However, if difference
in sound is due to the phonetical norms of the language, the two variants of the morpheme
may represent the same variant of the morpheme. So s[z] in dogs or s[s] in cats is the
same variant of the morpheme in spite of the difference between [z] and [s] as the
difference is due to the phonetical rules of the language.
One of the kinds of morphemes is called the zero morphemes. In the forms of the word
live-, live-s, live-d, living etc the first form has a zero morpheme at the end. Zero
morphemes are characteristic of Modern English.
The root and the affixes form the stem of the word builder is the stem of the word
builders and it becomes a word only when it gets all the structural forms of the part of
speech it belong to, builder, builders, builders, builderss. Words have grammatical
categories and consist of different structural forms, as in work, works, worked, working etc;
the stem has no grammatical categories and only one form, e.g. work. The root and the
stem are also different though they are often practically the same morpheme,
e.g. in child, childish, childishness the root is the same child, while the stems are different
child, childish, childishness.
Stems may be simple, consisting of one morpheme (e.g. teach, book) and derived
consisting of a root and an affix (teacher, government). Words in which two stems are joined

have a compound stem (e.g. bookcase). The stem is the part of the word which does not
change and to which inflexions are added. Some stems can form words without the help of
any affixes, e.g. boy, warm etc. Other stems cannot form words without affixes e.g. possible,
captive, deliver, and receive.
Words with different kinds of stems form different structural groups. These groups are the
following:
1. Root-words, consisting of one morpheme, the root. In such words the stem and the root
have the same form.
e.g. red, child, take, pupil.
2. Derivatives, consisting of the root and one or more affix
e.g. movement, hopeless, unkindness.
3. Compounds, consisting of two or more stems
e.g. blackboard, dressmaker.
4. Compound derivatives, consisting of two roots and an affix
e.g. long-legged, kind-hearted.
5. Simple abbreviations, consisting of a part of the stems of the words they are created
from
e.g. exam, lab, pram.
6. Compound abbreviation, consisting of initial letters of two or more words
e.g. M.P, B.B.C.
The word is different from the stem because it has a paradigm. All the structural forms of
the word taken together are called the paradigm of the word e.g. girl, girls, girls, girls.
Every class of words or every part of speech has its own paradigm. The historical
development of the language shows that words may pass from one group of words to
another. Besides different structural forms the word may have several variants:
1. Lexico-semantic variants e.g shade (comparative darkness), shade (a degree of colour).
2. Phonetical variants e.g. direct [dairect and direct].
3. Grammatical variants e.g. learned, learnt.
4. Word-building variants e.g. electrical, electric.
5. Stylistic variants e.g. often (neutral), oft (poetical).
6. Dialectal variants e.g. Lake (Standard English), lock (Scottish)
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.
Phraseological units are defined as non- motivated word-groups that cannot be freely
made up in speech but are reproduced as ready-made units. Unlike components of free
word-groups which may vary according to the needs of communication, member-words of
phraseological units are always reproduced as single unchangeable collocations.
For example, the word red in the free group red flower may be substituted for by any other
adjectives denoting colour (blue, white) without essentially changing the denotational
meaning of the word-group. In the phraseological unit red tape (bureaucratic methods) no
such substitution is possible, as a change of adjective would involve a complete change in
the meaning of the whole group. A blue (black) tape would meana tape of a certain colour.
2. We understand by the term context the minimal stretch of speech determining each
individual meaning of the word. The context individualizes the meanings, brings them out. It
is in this sense that we say that meaning is determined by context. The context generally
gives the word its actual meaning. The word nice, for instance, means of good quality,
excellent, but in a sentence: A nice state of affairs, due to the emotional saturation and
intonation, it may sound ironical and acquire just the opposite meaning. The context will
generally show in what meaning the word is used: in its proper primary sense or figuratively.
When used literally words have their natural meaning, when used figuratively they have a
symbolic meaning. Examine the following meanings of the word .g. Pmntul se
rotete in jurul soarelui pamntul glob n sfrit marinarii au zrit la orizont pamntul
pamntul insul (uscat) Pmnt roditor pamntul sol fertil A lsa ochii n pmnt
pamnt suprafa Pmnt natal - patrie As we see, the meaning of the word is defined by
the context. The context generally shows which meaning out of all its possible meanings is to
be attached to the word. The two recognized main tapes of linguistic contexts, which serve
to determine individual meanings of words, are the lexical context and the grammatical

context. In lexical context of primary importance are those groups of lexical items combined
with the polysemantic word. This can be illustrated by analysing different lexical contexts in
which words are used. The adjective heavy in isolation is understand as meaning of great
weight, weighty (heavy table). When combined with the lexical group of words denoting
natural phenomena such as wind, storm, snow it meansstriking, falling with force as can be
seen from the contexts e.g. heavy rain, wind, storm, snow. In combination with the word
industry, heavy has the meaning the larger kind of something as in heavy industry, heavy
artillery. The verb take in isolation has the meaning lay hold of with the hands, seize etc.
When combined with the lexical group of words denoting some means of transportation e.g.
to take tram, the bus, the train it acquires the meaning of the verb go. In grammatical
context it is the grammatical structure of the context that serves to determine various
individual meanings of a word. One of the meanings of the verb make is to force, to
endure. This meaning occurs only if the verb make is followed by a noun and the infinitive of
some other verb (to make smb laugh, go, work) etc. Another meaning of this verbto
become,to turn out to be is observed in the contexts of a different structure (make
followed by an adjective and a noun) e.g. to make a good wife, a good teacher. In a number
of contexts, we find that both the lexical and the grammatical aspects should be taken into
consideration. There are cases, when the meaning of the word is determined not by these
linguistic factors, but by the actual speech situation in which this word is used. The meanings
of the noun ring, or of the verb get in Ive got it are determined not only by the grammatical
or lexical context, but by the actual speech situation. The noun ring in such context may
possess the meaning a circlet of precious metal or a call on the telephone; the meaning
of the verb to get may be interpreted as possess or understand depending on the actual
situation in which these words are used. This is extra-linguistic context or context of
situation. It should be pointed out that such cases are not actually very numerous.

2.3. All the meanings of the word together with additional stylistic or emotive shades of
meaning form the semantic structure of the word. The semantic structure of two words in
different languages cannot be identical. The study of the lexical structure of a word is a
parallel study of word combination in which different meanings of the word are realized. Every
meaning is structured and every structure is meaningful.
Sometimes different meanings of a polysemantic word are very closely connected and we
easily understand why the word is used to name several objects e.g. foot is not only a part of
the body, but also stands for the lowest part of a bed, a letter, a monument, a page, a wall
etc. When a word has several meanings, one of them is its primary meaning, as foot (a part
of the body).
All the other meanings are secondary. Separate meanings of words are fixed by the
context. The word given without any context is understood in its primary meaning.
Words can be classified in various ways. Classification into monosemantic and polysemantic
words is based on the number of meanings the word possesses. More detailed semantic
classification is generally based on the semantic similarity of words or their component
morphemes.
Words may be classified according to the concepts underlying their meaning. This
classification is closely connected with the theory of semantic fields. By the term semantic
fields we understand closely knit sectors of vocabulary each characterized by a common
concept.
For example, the words blue, red, yellow, black may be described as making up the
semantic field of colours, the words mother, father, sister, brother, cousin as members of

the semantic field of kinship terms, the words joy, happiness, enjoyment as belonging to the
field of pleasurable emotions and so on. The members of the semantic fields are not
synonyms but all of them are joined together by some common semantic component the
concept of colours, kinship.
All members of the field are semantically interdependent as each member helps to delimit
and determine the meaning of its neighbours and is semantically delimited and determined by
them.
Semantic dependence of the word on the structure of the field may be also illustrated by
comparing members of analogous conceptual fields in different languages.
For example, kinship terms in Russian and in English we observe that the meaning of the
English term mother-in-law is different from the Russian or , as the English
term covers the whole area which in Russian is divided between two words.
The word bread, cheese, milk, meat make up a group with the concept of food as the
common denominator of meaning. Such smaller lexical groups consisting of words of the
same part of speech are usually named lexico-semantic groups. Any of the semantic
components may be chosen to represent the group. Another approach to the classification of
vocabulary items into lexico-semantic groups is the study of hyponymic relations between
words.
By hyponymy we understand a semantic relationship of inclusion. For example, vehicle
includes car, bus, taxi; horse entails animal, table entails furniture. The hyponymic
relationship may be viewed as the hierarchical relationship between the meaning of the
general and the individual term. The general term (vehicle, animal, and furniture) serves to
describe the lexico-semantic groups. The individual terms can be said to contain the meaning
of the general term in addition to their individual meanings.
A general problem with this principle of classification is that there often exist overlapping
classifications. For example, persons may be divided into adults (man, woman, wife,
husband) and children (boy, girl, lad), but also into national groups (American, Russian,
Chinese), professional groups (teacher, baker), social and economic groups and so on.
Another problem of great importance for linguists is the dependence of the hierarchical
structures of lexical units not only on the structure of the corresponding group of referents in
real world, but also on the structure of vocabulary in this or that language. We compare
analogous groups in different languages.
Thus, in English we may speak of the lexico-semantic group of meals, which includes:
breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, snack etc. In Russian we have no word for meals in general;
we have several words for different kind of meals.

Lecture III-IV. The etymology of English words.

3.1. Etymology the science of the origin and history of words.

3. 2. Sources of the English vocabulary. Borrowings.

3.3. Other elements. International words. Etymological doublets and

triplets. Dialects. Slang. Hybrids.

etymology film

Lecture III-IV. Power Point presentation PowePoint

Seminar III - IV. The constituent elements of the English basic word
stock.
Exercises
3.1. Etymology is the science that deals with the origin and history of words. Speaking of the
etymology of the vocabulary of Modern English we mean the origin and the history of Modern
English words. In the course of the history of England the English people came into contact
with many other nations, and consequently a large number of foreign words came into the
English language.
Some foreign words became so common that even penetrated into the most important part
of the vocabulary, the so called basic word stock of the language. However, the greater part of
the basic word stock of Modern English consists of words common to most of the Indo
European languages, or those common to all the Germanic or Teutonic languages.
The English vocabulary may be divided into three large groups:
1. The Old English vocabulary, consisting of words which were not borrowed from any foreign
language, words common to all the Indo-European languages, and particularly to the languages
of the Teutonic group;
2. Borrowed words.
3. Words created in England in a comparatively later period on the basis of the old vocabulary
and the borrowed words.
The Indo-European group of words, words which have equivalents not only in Germanic
languages, but in many other Indo-European languages (Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, French, Italian,
Spanish, Russian, Persian and others) forms the oldest stratum of words in the English
vocabulary. Their existence in Modern English proves the stability of the basic word stock. The
names of natural phenomena, the members of the family, the parts of the body, many trees,
animals, different materials, some numerals, adjectives, verbs, the pronoun I, and the most
common adverbs and prepositions belong to this group.
The following list of words gives the form of some words of this group in Old English and in
some other languages:
Sun O.E. sunne, G. Sonne, L. sol, Skr. Sura,
Moon O.E. mona, G. mond, Gr. Mene, S. mas.
Star O.E. steorra, G. stern, L. stella, Gr. Aster.
Water O.E. waeter, G.wasser.
Wind O.E. wind, G. wind, L. ventus.

Snow O.E. snow, G. schnee.

Night O.E. nicht, G. nacht.
Man O.E. man, G. mann, Skr. Manu.
Father O.E. feder, G. Vater, L. pater.
Mother O.E. modor, G. Mutter, L. mater.
Sister - O.E. sweostor, G. Schwester.
Brother - O.E. brothor, G. bruder, L. frater, Skr. Bhratr.
The Germanic or Teutonic group of words, words which are found in all or almost all Teutonic
languages (Gothic, Scandinavian, German, English, Dutch and others) but not found in other
Indo-European languages, form the largest part of the basic word stock of Modern English. The
names of animals, birds, plants, things produced by man, food products belong to this group.
Most of the so-called irregular verbs are common to all the Teutonic languages.
The following list of words gives the form of some words of this group in Old English and in
Modern German:
Wife O.E. wif, G. weib.
Cow O.E. cu, G. Kuh.
Hand O.E. hand, G. Hand.
Ship O.E. scip, G. Schiff.
Good - O.E. god, G.gut.
Open - O.E. open, G. offen.
Drink - O.E. drincan, G.trinken.
Live - O.E. libban, G. leben.
See - O.E. seon, G. seher.
Give - O.E. giefan, G. geben.
In many cases words of this group had the same meaning in Old English and in other
Teutonic Languages, but in Modern English their meaning is different.
Meat O.E.mete (food), G. mato.
Fowl O.E. fugol (bird), G.Vogel.
In the basic word stock of Modern English we also find a group of words which are not found
in any other languages, but which consist of morphemes existing in other Indo-European
languages. Those words were created in England.
The following words belong to this group:
e.g. boy, girl, bird, bad, black, spring, always, almost, lord, to build, to understand, early,
morning etc.
2. Sources of the English vocabulary. Borrowings.
The most characteristic feature of English language is usually said to be its mixed character.
Many linguists consider foreign influence especially that of French, to be the most important
factor in the history of English. A lot of words in the vocabulary of Modern English are of foreign
origin. Borrowings have always been an important means of the enlargement of the English
vocabulary.
A large number of words were created in England on the basis of foreign words and foreign
morphemes. The term borrowing is used in linguistics to denote the process of adopting words
from other languages and also the result of this process, the language material itself. It has
been stated that not only words, but also word-building affixes were borrowed into English (as
is the case with able, -ment, -ity). It must be mentioned that some word-groups, too, were
borrowed in foreign form (vis--vis, coup detat).
More than a half of the vocabulary of Modern English consists of words borrowed from

different foreign languages. Latin and Greek, Scandinavian and French have been important
sources of the enlargement of the English vocabulary. The great influx of borrowings from these
sources can be accounted for by a number of historical causes. Due to the great influence of
the Roman civilization Latin was for a long time used in England as the language of learning
and religion. Old Norse (Scandinavian) was the language of the conquerors who were on the
same level of social and cultural development and who merged easily with the local population
in the 9th, 10th and the first half of the 11th century.
French (to be more exact its Norman dialect) was the language of the other conquerors that
brought with them a lot of new notions of higher social system developed feudalism. It was the
language of upper classes, of official documents and school instruction from the middle of the
11th century to the end of the 14th century. Borrowings of later periods became the object of
investigation only in recent years. These investigations have shown that the flow of borrowings
has been steady and uninterrupted. The greatest number has come from French.
They refer to various fields of social, political, scientific and cultural life. A large portion of
borrowings (41%) is scientific and technical terms. The number and character of borrowed
words tell us of the relations between the peoples, the level of their culture etc.
Borrowings enter the language in two ways: through oral speech (by immediate contact
between the peoples) and through written speech (by indirect contact through books, etc). Oral
borrowing took place in the early periods of history, whereas in recent times written borrowing
gained importance. Words borrowed orally (e.g. inch, street) are usually short and they
undergo considerable changes in the act of adoption. Written borrowings (communiqu, belleslettres) preserve their spelling and some peculiarities of their sound-form; their assimilation is
a long process.
In the English language borrowings may be discovered through some peculiarities in
pronunciation, spelling, morphological and semantic structures. Sometimes these peculiarities
enable us to discover the immediate source of borrowing. All borrowed words adjust
themselves to the phonetic and lexico-grammatical norms of the language.
Phonetic assimilation comprises changes in sound-form and stress. Substitution of native
sounds for foreign ones usually takes place in the very act of borrowing. But some words retain
their foreign pronunciation for a long time before the unfamiliar sounds are replaced by similar
native sounds. In words that we added to English from foreign sources, especially from French
and Latin, the accent was transferred to the first syllable. Thus, words like honour, reason were
accented on the same principle as the native father, mother.
Grammatical assimilation finds expression in the change of grammatical categories and
paradigms of borrowed words change of their morphological structure.
Lexical assimilation includes changes in semantic structure and the formation of derivatives.

The Native element in the English vocabulary

Our study of the English vocabulary must begin with the native element which has brought
to Britain in the fifth century by the German tribes. When speaking about the role of the native
element in the English language linguists usually confine themselves to the small Anglo-Saxon
stock of words, which is estimated to make 25-30% of the English vocabulary.
All words of Anglo-Saxon origin belong to very important semantic groups. They include
most of the auxiliary and modal verbs (shall, will, must, can, may, etc), pronouns (I, you, he,
my, his, who, etc), prepositions (in, out, on, under, etc), numerals (one, two, three, four, etc)
and conjunctions (and, but, so, as, till, etc).

Notional words of Anglo-Saxon origin include such groups as words denoting parts of the
body (head, hand, arm, back), members of the family and closest relatives (father, mother,
son, wife, brother), natural phenomena and planets (snow, rain, wind, sun, moon, star),
animals (horse, cow, sheep, cat), qualities and properties (old, young, cold, hot, light, dark,
long), common action (do, make, go, come, see, hear, eat).
Most of the native words have undergone great changes in their semantic structure, and as
results are nowadays polysemantic, e.g. the word finger does not only denote a part of a hand
as in Old English, but also:
1. the part of a glove covering one of the fingers
2. a finger-like part in various machines
3. a hand of a clock
4. an index
5. a unit of measurement
Highly polysemantic are the words man, head, hand, go. Many of them enter a number of
phraseological units. The word heel enters the followings units:
a.heel over head or head over heels upside down.
cool ones heel be kept waiting
b.show a clean pairs of heels or take to ones heels run away
c. turn on ones heels turn sharply round
Most words of native origin make up compound words in the present-day language. The word
wood is the basis for the formation of the following words: wooden, woody, wooded, woodcraft,
woodcutter, woodwork. It should be mentioned that the native element in Modern English is
mostly monosyllabic.
The fundamental features of the basic word stock are: all national character and great
stability. The basic word stock includes all the root words as its core. It is much more limited
than the vocabulary of the language, but it lives for centuries providing the language with a
basis for the formation of new words. We need many examples to illustrates this in the
vocabulary of Modern English.
The word child, for instance (Old English cild) has brought such derivatives and compounds
as: childhood, childish, childlike, childbirth, childbed, unchildlike, unchildlike, unchildlikeness. In
the same way true is the father of such words as: truth, truly, truthful, untrue, trueness,
truthfulness, untruthfulness.
Foot: footer, footing, footless, football, foothold, footmark, footman, footpace, footpad,
footpath, footprint, footrace, footslog, footsore, footstep, footstool, foot-warmer, footwear.
Hand: handy, handle, handwork, handcraft, handful, handbook, handbarrow, handcuff.
Good: goodly, goody, goodness, Goodman, goodwife, good-tempered, good-temperedly, goodlooking, good-humored, goodwill.
Words belonging to the basic word stock often possess plurality of meanings.
One of the peculiar features of the basic stock of words is its stability. The basic word stock
can of course, undergo some changes by being supplemented with new words. Quite a number
of Scandinavian, Latin and French borrowings have become part of the English basic stock of
words:
e.g. wall (L. vallum), street (L. strata), beauty (Fr. beaute), flower (Fr. fleur), autumn (Fr.
automne), colour (Fr. couleur), courage (Fr. courage), cousin (Fr. cousin). Such are numerous
Scandinavian borrowings, e.g. call, take, drown, guess, husband, sister, law, sky, skirt, skin,
etc.
Among later borrowings in the English basic word stock we find, for example the word
potatoes and coffee borrowed from Spanish; or such words as tea borrowed from Chinese.

The Foreign element in Modern English

In the study of the vocabulary words taken from foreign languages are known as loanwords. A study of loan-words is not only of etymological interest. Words give us valuable
information as to the life of nations concerned. Three languages have contributed such
extensive shares to the English word stock as to deserve particular attention. These are: Latin,
French and Greek. Foreign words generally come into a language in two principal ways:
a. as a result of the so-called language cross
b. as a result of economic, political and cultural relations between nations
When a country is invaded, the languages of the conquered and conquerors cross and begin
to struggle for supremacy. In the result of such a struggle one of the languages is victorious; it
preserves its basic word stock and its grammatical system.
The English language experienced language crosses twice: first with Scandinavian languages
(in the 10th century) and then with the Norman dialect of the French language (in the 11th14th centuries). In both cases English was victorious. On the other hand, the English language
has been in contact with many other languages, as for instance, Latin, French (the Central or
Parisian dialect), Spanish has felt their influence and borrowed words largely from them.
By tracing the origin of loan-words and analyzing the ways by which they penetrated into the
English language we can throw some light on the relations between England and other
countries. The influence of a foreign language may be exerted in two ways, through spoken
word, by personal contact between the two peoples, or through the written word by indirect
contact not between the peoples themselves but through their literatures. The former way was
more productive in the earlier stages and the latter has become important in more recent
times.
It comes quite natural that words borrowed in a purely oral manner, as compared to literary
or bookish borrowings have been successfully assimilated to the English language and are
hardly recognizable as foreign in origin.
Foreign borrowings may be subdivided into the following four groups:
1. aliens
2. denizens
3. translation-loans
4.semantic borrowings
1. Aliens are words borrowed from a foreign language without any change of the foreign sound
and spelling. These words are immediately recognizable as foreign words.
E.g. ballet, bouquet, chauffeur, coquette, coup d tat, finesse, resume, regime, vis--vis, role,
etc.
2. Denizens are words easily associated with existing native words and indistinguishable from
the native element. Perfectly naturalized in usage, they have been accommodated to the
English language by the substitution of English sounds for the unusual foreign ones. They have
been conformed to native English in accent and in development of forms.
E.g. Scandinavian borrowings: call, die, husband, law, loose, sky, skin, skirt, troublesome
(trouble-French by origin + the English suffix some), companionship (companion French+
English suffix ship), uncertain (English prefix un + certain (French)).
3. Translation-loans are borrowed in their foreign form, though some phonetical change is
inevitable.
English French English
Latin
By heart par coeur mother tongue lingua maternal

a slip of the tongue lapsus linguae

Most of the given words are international in character.
Procrustean bed After a legendary highwayman of Attica Procrust tied his victims upon an
iron bed and stretched or cut off their legs to adapt them to its length. He was slain by
Theseus.
Sword of Damocles A flatterer whom Dionysius of Syracuse rebuked for his constant praises
of the happiness of kings by sitting him at a royal banquet beneath a sword hung by a single
hair.
Sisyphean labour A crafty and avaricious king of Corinth condemned in Hades to roll up a hill
a huge stone, which constantly rolled back.
Heel of Achilles The hero of Homers Iliad who became the Greek ideal of youthful strength,
beauty and valour. He was fatally wounded by Pariss arrow, which pierced his heel, where
alone he was vulnerable.
Translation loan are not less characteristic in phraseology:
English
French
At any cost
cote que cote
Better late than never
mieux vaut tard que jamais
Fall ill
tomber malade
Make believe
faire croire
Not at all
pas du tout
English
Latin
Either Caesar or nothing
aut Caesar aut nihil
So many men, so many minds quot hominess, tot
sentential
To take something with a
cum grano salis
grain of salt
Semantic borrowings.
The linguistic evidence drowns from the character of loan-words shows that due to the
influence of one language upon other words may undergo different semantic changes.
E.g. The English word dream, for instance, which originally meant joy, music has taken its
modern signification from the Norse (Scandinavian). Semantic borrowings are more frequent in
nouns. The Modern meanings of such words as bread (O.E slice of bread), holm (O.E ocean,
sea) have also been taken from the Norse.
Some semantic groups in English have been changed due to the existence of a borrowed
word. In some cases native nouns acquired corresponding borrowed adjectives.
e.g. sun, sunny solar
brother fraternal
mouth oral
house domestic
Those words which were once borrowed onto the English language have undergone some
changes and have been included into the English vocabulary. They may be considered to be
English words in Modern English. In the 18th century some English linguists were against
borrowing. They wanted to purify the English language from foreign words. This tendency,

which is generally called purism was reactionary, as borrowings has greatly enriched the
English vocabulary.
The Celtic element in the English vocabulary
During the Anglo-Saxon period the English language came into contact with three other
tongues which affected the vocabulary. These were, first, the speech of the native Celtic
inhabitants: secondly, the Latin, and thirdly, the Norse. Of these, Latin was the only one which
at that time added any appreciable number of words to the language of literature.
The principal contact between English and Celtic speech was established by the English
settlement of the British isles. Celtic tribes inhabited Britain before Anglo-Saxon came there in
the 5th century. When Anglo-Saxon invaded Britain the Celtic tribes living there were driven to
the extreme points of the country, to Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Ireland. The descendants
of the Old Celtic tribes are: Scotchmen, Irishmen and Welshmen. They speak their Celtic
languages: Welsh in Wales, Gaelic in Scotland and Erse in Eire. Some words were borrowed
from these Celtic languages in a later period.
e.g. flannel, clan, slogan, whisky, bog, etc.
Older books on English philology contain a long list of words supposed to be derived from
the Celts. Modern investigation, however, has shown that the number of Celtic words in the
English vocabulary apart from numerous place names before the 12th century is not very
considerable. Examples of Celtic loan-words appearing in Old English and preserved until the
present time are: down (hill), dun (colour).
The influence of Celtic upon English may be traced in names of places. This is natural, since
place names are commonly adopted in great numbers from the aboriginal inhabitants of a
country. Celtic names are common in all parts of England though much more largely in the
north and west and especially in Scotland and Ireland.
Skeat registers 165 words borrowed directly or indirectly from the Celts, including in this
number words of uncertain origin supposed to be derived from the Celtic. Here are a few words
Celtic in origin which have acquired international currency: budget, career, clan, tunnel.
The Scandinavian element in English vocabulary
Loan-words from Scandinavian form an important group in the English vocabulary. The term
loan-word is equivalent to borrowing. By loan-words we indicate borrowings of a special kind.
At the end of the 8th century separate groups of Scandinavians or Northmen (Danes,
Norwegians) used to sail to Britain for plunder and back again. In the second half of the 9th
century they began an invasion of Britain and settlement there. In 878 the English king Alfred
the Great was obliged to make peace with the Danes and to recognize Danish rule over two
thirds of England. A greater invasion began at the end of the 10th century and as a result
Danish kings ruled England up to 1042.
The English language and Old Norse (Scandinavian) crossed during that period. The two
languages were of the same origin and it would be more correct to speak not of two different
languages, but of two dialects of the same language. One may even speak not of borrowing
from Scandinavian into English, but of great influence of two dialects of the same language, as
a result of a direct intercourse of the people speaking them.
The Scandinavian invasion in the 9th-12th centuries brought many Scandinavian words into
the English language. As the English and the Scandinavians were on the same cultural level,
the words borrowed from Scandinavian were the names of objects and phenomena already

known to the English. The words came into English not because they were connected with
some new notions, but because they proved to be more suitable for the old notions than the
English words. Sometimes on the basis of two dialectal variants of a word there appeared a
third variant which had some characteristics of both.
It is supposed that the Scandinavian element in Modern English amounts to 650 root-words.
A lot of Scandinavian words entered the basic word stock of the English language and remained
in it, as for examples:
Nouns: anger, fellow, gate, husband, skin, sky, window, skull.
Adjectives: happy, ill, low, loose, tight, ugly, weak, wrong.
Verbs: call, cast, hit, die, take, want, guess, seem, give, scream.
Pronouns: they, them, their, both, same.
Prepositions: till, through.
Some words became different in meaning. The words ill and evil had the same meaning of
bad in Old English. In Modern English the word evil is generally used in the meaning of
malicious (e.g. evil eye, evil tongue) and ill in the meaning of sick. The word bad of unknown
origin, which appeared in the 13th century, has ousted both of them in the principal meaning.
In some cases the English and Scandinavian words remained in the language as stylistic
synonyms.
English heaven
Scandinavian sky
English hide
Scandinavian skin
The Scandinavian words not only entered the language, but served as a basis for the
creation of a lot of new words Scand. Hap (chance, luck) and Modern English hapless (unlucky),
happen, happening, happy, happily, happiness, perhaps.
Thus, Scandinavian words may be regarded as borrowed only because it is known that they
came from Scandinavian, but they are used equally with the English words in the English
language. The only peculiarity of loan words from Scandinavian is the sound [sk] at the
beginning of words.
E.g. sky, skin, skill, skirt etc.
The same sound has changed into [s] in English words. e.g. O.E. scip M.E. ship, O.E. fiscM.E. fish. In Modern English [sk] occurs at the beginning of words which are not of
Scandinavian origin. E.g. scoff, scorn, scoop, scorch, scrap etc.
As the Scandinavians settled in the Midlands and in North, the Scandinavian element is
stronger in those parts of England. Some words were borrowed from Scandinavian languages
(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) in later periods as a result of economic and cultural relations
between the countries, e.g. to dose (from Danish), ski (from Norwegian).
The Latin element in English vocabulary
Loan words from Latin are very numerous are very numerous in English. They are generally
divided into three groups or periods:
1. words borrowed before the English came to Britain and just after their coming to Britain;
2. words borrowed when the English became Christians;
3. words borrowed at the time of the Renaissance.
A great number of Latin words came into the English language through French after the
Norman conquest, but those had undergone great changes before they came into English and
therefore are considered as loan words from French.
1. Loan words from Latin of the earliest period reflect the economical and cultural relations
between the Romans and Germanic tribes on the continent. Coming into contact with a nation

more cultured than them, the Germanic tribes naturally learned about many things and
borrowed their names from Latin. Those were mostly short words learned in a purely oral
manner. E.g. wine (L. vinum), pepper (L. piper), pear (L. pirum), cheese (L. caseus), dish (L.
discus), kitchen (L. coquina), ass (L. asinus), mule (L. mulus), cook (L.coquus), kettle (L.
catillus), street (L.strata), plum (L. prunus).
To this period English owes geographical names ending in chester as Manchester, Lancaster
(from Latin castrum a fortified camp). In analyzing the early Latin loans we see their specific
character. After the invasion of Britain (in 449), which had been occupied by the Romans over
450 years, the English borrowed Latin words mostly connected with the remains of Roman
constructions in Britain. E.g. port, street, camp.
2. The second period is connected with the introduction of Christianity into Britain in 597 (6th7th centuries). At that time Christianity spread culture and becoming Christians the English
learned about many things connected with the church as well as with different aspects of
cultural life.
Most of the words connected with the new religion were of Greek origin, but they were
borrowed into English in their Latin form. Among them are: angel, candle, priest, saint, devil,
cross, chapter etc. The Roman priests brought culture and education with them. It is proved by
the kind of the words borrowed at the time: names of different materials, clothes, plants,
animals etc. e.g. chalk (L. calcem), oil (L. oleum), sock (L. soccus), cup (L. cuppa), fork (L.
furca), rose (L. rosa), lily (L. lilium), plant (L. planta), lion (L. leo).
3. The words borrowed from Latin at the time of the Renaissance were adopted exclusively
through writing. They were mostly abstract or scientific words. Most of the words borrowed at
that period can be recognized by morphological elements, e.g. verbs with the suffix ate as in
separate, translate, exaggerate, congratulate; verbs with the suffix ute, as in constitute,
execute; adjectives with the suffix ant, -ent as in evident, patient, apparent, triumphant,
obedient, etc.
Many English affixes are of Latin origin, but they were not borrowed separately. Many loan
words from Latin with certain affixes became so familiar to the English, that they began to use
the affixes for the creation of new words. Numerous Latin words were borrowed in the 17th and
the 18th centuries. Those were mostly scientific terms and they preserved the morphological
character of Latin words.
E.g. inertia, curriculum, vacuum, sanatorium.
Many Latin words borrowed in the later period have become international e.g. constitution,
alibi, agriculture, modern, laboratory, program, system, climate etc.
The Greek element in the English vocabulary
There are very few Greek words borrowed by the English directly from Greek in the Old
period. Such is, for example the word church (Gr. kuriakon), which was borrowed before the
English came to Britain. A large number of Greek words came into English through Latin e.g.
school, priest etc and through French e.g. fancy, idea, catalogue etc.
Only at that time of the Renaissance, when with the revival of interest in the culture of
ancient Greece English scientists began to read Greek authors in the originals, some Greek
words were directly borrowed from Greek e.g. lexicon, myth, petal, sympathy. At the same
time some Greek words were borrowed through Latin e.g. gymnastics, drama, athlete and
through French e.g. astronomy, geography, geometry, theatre etc.
It is interesting to note that modern scientific and technical terms of Greek origin are nearly
all of international currency. Greek terms added much to the precision of scientific terminology.

It is sufficient to mention the names of such fields as bacteriology, physics, botany, physiology
and zoology in order to suggest how the Greek language has permeated their various
specialized vocabularies. There are also a few of the hundreds of Greek terms used in modern
medicine: adenoids, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychoanalysis.
Greek borrowings were more or less latinized in form. They are spelt and pronounced not as
in Greek but as the Romans spelt and pronounced them. For example, when after the Roman
time Latin changed its pronunciation before e, i, y (k) the pronunciation of many Greek words
also changed. The words spelled with ph, th, ch, [k] and y in the middle of the word are of
Greek origin. Among numerous Greek borrowings in the English vocabulary we find the
following:
Comedy
ode
Democrat
philology
Democracy
philosophy
Dialogue
problem
Epilog
rhythm
Episode
scheme
Elegy
tragedy
Quite a number of proper names are also Greek in origin, e.g. George, Eugene, Helen,
Sophie, Peter, Nicholas, Theodore and still others. In linguistics come the next loan words e.g.
antonym, archaism, dialect, etymology, euphemism, homonym, homophone, hyperbole, idiom,
lexicology, stylistics, metaphor, metonymy, neologism, polysemy, synonym, synecdoche. A lot
of English terms in rhetoric and grammar were originated in Greece. The punctuation mark
called a comma originates from the Greek word komma, which meantthe mark that sets off a
phrase.
There are numerous English compounds coined from such Greek roots as: autos self,
chroma colour, graphein write, logos discourse, phone voice, skopein to see etc.
e.g. autograph, chromatology, geography, phonograph, telegraph, telephone, telescope etc.
Nowadays, Greek morpheme are widely used in coining scientific and technical terms. E.g.
aerodrome, photograph.
The French element in English vocabulary.
There are two strata of loan words from French in the English vocabulary. The first period of
borrowing from French begins after the Norman conquest in 1066 and lasts several centuries.
The second period begins in the 16th century. The words of two periods are different in many
respects.
The first period is the more important of the two. It is connected with the Norman Conquest,
which was the cause of the cross between the English language and the Norman dialect of
French. (12th-15th centuries). The Normans were Scandinavian by origin. They came to France
at the end of the 9th century. In 912 the king of France was obliged to give them a large
territory, boarding upon the English Channel. It return the Normans agreed to become feudal
vassals of the French king. They became Christians and adopted the French language. Their
territory was called Normandy after them and their language became a dialect of French.
In 1002 the Anglo-Saxon king, Ethelred II, married the sister of Richard III, the Duke of
Normandy. Their son, Edward, known in history by the name of Edward the Confessor was
brought up in Normandy. In 1066 Edward the Confessor died and the English chose Harold, an
English nobleman, to be king of England. Then, William, Duke of Normandy, the cousin of the
deceased king, invaded England. At the battle of Hastings Harold was defeated and killed. The

Normans came to rule Britain. William, known in history as William the Conqueror, brought
many Normans along with him.
The Normans remained masters of England for a long time. As the Normans formed the
ruling class, French became the official language of the country. It was used at schools, at the
Court of Justice etc. Educated people wrote in French and in Latin. Yet the common people
continued to speak English. Under such conditions English and the Norman dialect of French
crossed, but the English language was victorious in the struggle. It preserved its basic word
stock its grammatical system, but its vocabulary was greatly enlarged and enriched by French
words.
In 1204 Normandy was lost to the English crown and the French of the Normans developed
into dialect with many English words. In the 13th century it ceased to be a colloquial speech
and little by little became an official language. At the end of the 13th century and in the 14th
century the English gradually stop using French. In the second half of the 14th century English
replaces French as the official language, but many loan words belong just to this period
because the English language needed names for many new notions.
Loan words from French are quite different from those from Scandinavian. The French
language was the language of the conquerors and became the language of the court, the
government and the school. It was the language used in writing together with Latin. Therefore
the words borrowed from French naturally reflected the life of the ruling classes. They were
names of new notions, which the English learned from their Norman conquerors. While a lot of
loan words from Scandinavian entered the basic word stock of the English language, many loan
words from French remained in the literary and scientific language and never became
colloquial.
As French was spoken by the ruling class, many words connected with the state and
administration were borrowed from it, e.g. to govern, state, country, county, power, parliament,
council, nation etc. Feudal relations were reflected in the following loan words: feudal, prince,
duke, count, baron, peer and servant.
As the Norman aristocracy ascribed to themselves the highest qualities, such words as:
honour, glory, noble, fine, courteous etc are of French origin. Almost all the words connected
with the life and tastes of the aristocracy, fashions, cooking articles of luxury, different
amusements are of French origin e.g. dress, dinner, supper, to boil, to fry, to roast, fruit,
sausage, sport, chase, pleasure, leisure, present, comfort, luxury, feast etc.
Military terms were borrowed from French at the period: e.g. army, armor, battle, war,
peace, siege, defense, retreat, defeat, conquest, victory, officer, navy, soldier, sergeant, enemy,
danger, to escape, guard etc. As French was used at low courts, many French law terms came
into English e.g. judge court,, justice, jury, to accuse, crime, felony, fraud, slander, battery,
larceny. Many words connected with religion were borrowed likewise: e.g. religion, saint, pray,
chapel, vice, to tempt clergy. French has enriched the English language with many terms
connected with science and art:
e.g. literature, art, science, college, colour, architecture, to paint, volume, poet, chapter palace,
castle etc.
Numerous words connected with rade are of French origin, e.g. merchant, money, purchase,
value etc. The names of a lot of abstract notions were borrowed at the period e.g. despair,
imagination, spirit, instance, cause etc. Some French words borrowed at the period named the
most usual notions, e.g. autumn, river, to catch, to turn, to use, to cry, to cover, large etc.
In some cases it is seen how the words used by the common people remained English, and
those used by the upper classes were of French origin, e.g. all the names of the parts of the
body are English, except face. The words furniture, table and chair are of French origin, but the

name of such a simple piece of furniture as stool is English. The names of domestic animals are
French, but their flesh is called by French words e.g. cow-beef, sheep-mouton, swine-porc. The
names of the people engaged in simple occupations, such as baker, miller, Smith, fisherman are
English, but the names of the people engaged in those trades which appeared later and served
the upper classes, such as tailor, butcher, mason, carpenter, painter are of French origin
English words borrowed in this period have been fully assimilated. They have undergone
phonetical and morphological changes and sometimes changed in meaning. As a large number
of French words of complex structure entered the English language, the French language
influenced the English word building system. Many French affixes came to be freely used by the
English for the creation of the new words formed not only from French roots, but also from
English roots. There are many words with English roots and French affixes: e.g. unmistakable,
shepherdess, thunderous.
Loan words from French of the second period that is words borrowed in the 16th-17th
centuries and later are of different character. The words of this period are not from the Norman
dialect of French, but from the Central or Parisian dialect. They were borrowed from French as
a result of political and cultural relations between the two countries. In the second half of the
17th century France was the greatest power in Europe.
The French language became fashionable in England and that caused the appearance of a lot
of new French words in the English language. Such words as fiance, unique, machine, marine,
police etc were borrowed at this period. A lot of the words borrowed by the English at this
period are international, e.g. toilet, hotel, illumination, elegant, extravagant, delicate,
symphony, bourgeois.
A large number of loan words of the second period have not been fully assimilated. Their
spelling and pronunciation are often unusual for the English language: the stress is on the last
syllable, the letters ch give the sound [t], the consonants t and s are silent at the end of the
words.
E.g. machine, champagne, buffet.
The influence of the French language on the English vocabulary was extremely great, more
than a half of its words are of French origin.
Borrowings from other languages.
The English borrowed words from the majority of the languages of the world. The
development of cultural relations with other countries and the study of foreign literature and art
also caused the appearance of a great number of foreign words in the English vocabulary.
Borrowings from Italian. Cultural and economic relations between England and Italy brought
many Italian words into the English language. Loan words from Italian may be divided into
three groups. The first group includes words connected with art, mostly borrowed at the epoch
of the Renaissance directly from Italian, but some borrowed in later periods e.g. concert, opera,
piano, solo, duet, tenor, soprano, bust, corridor etc.
The second group includes military terms borrowed mostly through French in the 16th and
17th centuries, e.g. cavalry, infantry, corporal, alarm, battalion, citadel, colonel, brigade, pistol,
bastion etc.
The third group includes words connected with different spheres of life, often specific to
Italy. Most of them were borrowed in the 16th-18th centuries. E.g. artisan, bandit, loterie, duel,
citron, macaroni, umbrella, etc. Autostrata and fascist were borrowed in the 20th century. A lot
of words borrowed from Italian have become international.
Borrowings from Spanish. The English borrowed Spanish words mostly in the 16th century

when Spain was a powerful state. Spanish words were also borrowed in the 17th 19th
centuries. Some Spanish words were borrowed in America. Among the most important loan
words from Spanish are the following: cigar, guitar, cigarette, tango, cafeteria etc. Many words
of American Indians came into English through Spanish e.g. tomato, potato, maize, chocolate,
quinine etc.
Borrowings from German. The English began to borrow from German in the 16th century
and continued borrowing all the time. Most of the borrowed words are terms connected with
those branches of science and techniques which were highly developed in Germany. Some of
the loan words from German which are not technological are the following: e.g. iceberg, zigzag,
plunder. The influence of German on the ordinary vocabulary of English is not considerable.
Borrowings from Dutch. The whole number of Dutch words in English is uncertain, about 200
words. The English borrowed a large number of nautical terms from Dutch, but some of them
are known only to sailors. The most common of them are: deck, yacht, skipper. As the Dutch
school of painting was famous, the English borrowed numerous Dutch art terms, e.g. easel,
landscape, sketch, etc. Some other words borrowed from Dutch are the following: wagon, slim,
brandy, boss, to smuggle, luck etc.
Borrowings from Arabic. Loan words from Arabic reflect the economic and cultural relations
between Europe and the East. The whole number of Arabic words is supposed to be about 170.
The occupation of Spain by Arabs in the 8th-15th centuries, the Crusades in the 11th-13th
centuries, the opening of the sea-route to India and later the English colonization in some
Arabic countries left their trace in the English vocabulary and enriched it by loan words from
Arabic. In the Middle Ages the Arabic science was highly developed and Arabic was the
language of science in the East, as Latin was in West. But most Arabic words were borrowed by
the English not directly, but through other languages. The most important loan words from
Arabic are:
e.g. caliph, assassin, sheikh, sultan, magazine, algebra, apricot, alcohol, zero, amber etc.
Borrowings from India. The majority of loan words from the languages of India come into
English language in the 16th century and continued borrowing in the following centuries.
Among the words borrowed from different languages of India are the following:
e.g. khaki, jungle cashmere, calico, punch, opal, orange, sapphire, sugar, candy, shampoo,
jute, loot etc.
Borrowings from Russian. One of the earliest words borrowed from Russian into English was
the word sable. It is found in the English dictionaries in the 14th century. In the 16th century,
when economic and political relations between England and Russia became more regular, the
English borrow some Russian words: e.g. vodka, samovar, steppe, tundra, tsar. Among loan
words from Russian borrowed in the Soviet period are: labour day, shock work etc. The latest
loan word from Russian is sputnik.
3.3. Other elements. International words.
Many words of any language of a civilized nation are international. Most of them are social,
political, technical, scientific and art terms. E.g. physics, phonetics, mathematics, physiology,
biology, democracy, classic, music, opera, comedy, tragedy etc. Every international word found in
many languages originated in one of them. Most international words are of Latin or Greek origin,
e.g. Greek: thesis, problem, basis, antagonism, system, Latin: industry, credit, collective etc.
In different historical periods different languages became sources of international words. So
Italian has given many words connected with music and fine art, e.g. opera, concert, fresco, studio
etc. French has been the source of many political and literary terms,
e.g. regime, revolution, literature. Germany has given philosophical terms e.g. subjective, objective,
transcendental etc. From Russian come sputnik. International words are mostly alike in form in
many languages, but they are different in pronunciation and their structural forms are determined

by the norms of the languages they have been borrowed into e.g. systematic-sistematic, exerciseexerciiu.
Some times international words have the same meaning in several languages, but frequently the
meaning is different in different languages: The word magazine is an international word and it is
found nearly in the same form in Romanian, but the meanings of the English and the Romanian
word are quite different.
One should not confuse international words, that is words borrowed into many languages, and
words are alike in several languages, because the languages are of the same group as they originate
from the same language e.g. mother (English), mama (Romanian), mere (French), Mutter
(German), madre (Spanish and Italian).
Etymological doublets are two or more words which go back to the same original word though
they are different in form and meaning. The principal source of etymological doublets is borrowing.
Some words have been borrowed by the English from foreign languages more than once and have
become etymological doublets,
e.g. the Latin word discus (circle) was borrowed in the Old English period in the form of disc and
later changed into dish. In the Middle English period the word was borrowed a second time in the
form of desk. It remained in Modern English in the same meaning. At the same time the word came
into English through French in the form of dais (a raised platform).
In the 17th century the word was borrowed again directly from classic Latin in the form of disc and
remained in the language in the same meaning in the word disk or disc. In Modern English the
words dish-desk-dais-disk are etymological doublets. There are several groups of etymological
doublets in Modern English.
The most important among them are the following:
1. Scandinavian - English
2. Latin - French
Sc. Skirt En. Shirt
L. canal Fr. channel
Sc. Screach En. Shriek
L. fact Fr. Feat
Sc. Screw En. Shrew
L. tradition Fr. Treason
Sc. Hale En. Whole
L. dignity Fr. Dainty
Sc. Raise En. Rear
L. defect Fr. Defeat
3. Norman French Central or Parisian French
Nr.Fr. Catch C.Fr. chase
Nr.Fr. captain C.Fr. chieftain
Nr.Fr. card C. Fr. chart
Nr.Fr. cavalry C.Fr. chivalry
Nr.Fr. cattle C.Fr. chattels
Etymological doublets may appear without borrowing. Sometimes they are the result of the
development of English words
e.g. shade shadow; dyke ditch; cloth clothes.
Etymological triplets (groups of three words of common root) occur rarer but here are at least
two examples:
e.g. hospital (Latin) hostel (Norman French) hotel (Parisian).
to capture (Latin) to catch (Norman French) to chase (Paris).
Numerous doublets have been created through shortening. One doublet is a short form of the
other.
e.g. history story; appeal peal; assize size; examination exam; mathematics maths.
Doublets created by shortening are numerous among diminutives of proper names.
E.g. Elizabeth Beth
Catherine Kate personal name contracted by apocope.
Theodora Dora
Nicholas Nick
Edward Ed
Syncopized proper names are not so frequent. Cathia from Catherine.
Dialectal words. It is natural that the English language is not used with uniformity in the British
Isles and in Australia, in the U.S.A and in New Zealand, in Canada and in India. The English
language also has some peculiarities in England, Wales, Scotland in other parts of the British Isles
and America. Modern linguistics distinguishes territorial variants of a national language and local
dialects.

Dialects are varieties of a language used as a means of oral communication in small localities;
they are set off from other varieties by some distinctive features of pronunciation, grammar and
vocabulary.
The development of feudalism in England tended to create dialectical divergences of speech. He
who wrote in the native language wrote in that form of it with which he was most familiar. He wrote
in the dialect of the district in which he had been brought up. There was an entire absence of
controlling standard. During the 12th, 13th centuries there existed a number of dialects, each one of
which had as much right as any other to be called the English language. The geographical limits of
these divisions of English speech may be approximately stated as follows:
1.The Northern dialect was developed into the Scottish language.
2.The Midland dialect was divided into two distinct varieties, called East Midland and West Midland.
3.The Southern dialect was spoken between the Thames and the English Channel.
Thus, in the 14th century three great dialects existed in Britain each calling itself English. Of these
three it was the Midland that became the national language of the country. There were several
reasons that led to the predominance of the Midland dialect. In the first place, it covered a larger
territory than the others. It was the dialect of the region most important economically, politically and
culturally. The dialect of London was the dialect of such cultural centers as Oxford and Cambridge. It
was the form of speech native to Chaucer (1340-1400), the first great literary artist, thefather of
English poetry, as he is often called. He wrote in the Midland dialect and contributed greatly to
raising it into a position of superiority.
We distinguish between local (territorial) dialects and class dialects or jargons. Class dialects,
which it would be more correct to call them jargons, dont serve the masses of people, but a narrow
social group. They do not have a grammatical system and cannot by any means develop into
independent languages. Local dialects on the other hand, serve the masses of people and have a
grammatical system. Some local dialects in the process of the formation of nations may become the
basis of national languages and develop into independent languages.
Slang. The term is often applied to the words and phrases that are used in a special sense by
some class of profession. The origin of the name slang is not known. The word itself is probably a
slang creation. The sources of slang are extremely varied. Slang is often humorous, witty and
sometimes picturesque. It is more and more penetrating into the literary language.
Slang is not only unstable but it also has no fixed meaning. Its terms are vague and ill defined, and
they grow more and more uncertain from day to day. When such a word becomes definite in its
meaning it has almost ceased to be slang. Slang is likely to be created among individuals in group.
A slang word may be substituted for a more formal word and still be understood. Slang may also
bring figures of speech like metonymy, metaphor and hyperbole as well. Most important of all is
metaphor. This is the most characteristic type of creation that slang admits.
The parts of the body may illustrate this particularly well. There are, for instance, numerous
slangy metaphors for the concept head such as bean, block, nut, dome, upper, storey, belfry, coco
and still others. Similar examples might easily be multiplied. One more illustration will serve to show
the variety of slang in this domain. The idea of drunk or intoxicated in such metaphors as:
e.g. three sheets in the wind; half-seas-over; stewed, boiled, fried, pickled; ossified, paralyzed,
petrified; full, tight, half-shot canned, lit, loaded, tanked, pin-eyed, soused. School slang is
particularly rich in such creations e.g. math, trig, lab, gym and so forth.
Hybrids. As a general rule, native prefixes or suffixes are added to native words, Greek to Greek,
French to French. But most foreign prefixes and suffixes have now become neutralized in English
and many derivative words are of mixed origin. Such words are called hybrids. Hybrids are very
common in English. In the following short list, we shall see how the nouns, some of native and some
of Latin origin, have been made adjectives by receiving the Saxon suffix ful and the Latin suffix
ous.
Nouns
Adjectives
Grace (Latin)
gracious (showing grace or favor, kind)
graceful (elegant in form)
beauty (neo-Latin)
beauteous (for persons:
used in poetry)
beautiful (for persons and
things alike)
plenty (Latin)
plenteous(used chiefly in
poetry)
plentiful (same meaning as

plenteous)
Hybrids may also be exemplified by numerous French borrowings. Here are some examples of
native roots with Latin or French prefixes: em-body, en-dear, dis-band, re-call, per-haps. Not less
characteristic are hybrid-words with native roots, and Latin or French suffixes: a-cross, after-piece,
after-noon, fore-close, under-estimate, false-hood, merci-ful, use-full, rapid-ly.
Hybrids compounds are also not uncommon, e.g. black-mail, faint-hearted, long-legged, saltcellar, heirloom etc.

Lecture V-VI. Word formation.

5.1 Word formation. Definition. Basic peculiarities.

5.2. Affixation. General characteristics. Classifications.

5.3. Composition. General characteristics. Ways of forming compound

words

5.4 Conversion.Criteria of semantic derivation.

5.5. Abbreviation. General characteristics

5.6 Some of the minor types of word building.

4.1 Word building is one of the main ways of enriching vocabulary. By word building are
understood processes of producing new words from the resources of this particular language.
Together with borrowing, word building provides for enlarging and enriching the vocabulary of
the language. Before turning to the various processes of making words, it would be useful to
analyze the related problem of the composition of words, of their constituent parts. If viewed
structurally, words appear to be divisible into smaller units which are called morphemes.
Morphemes do not occur as free forms but only as constituents of words. Yet they possess
meanings of their own. Our aim is to learn the word building types existing in the language,
the difference in the structure of words and the ways of the creation of new words in Modern
English, but at the same time we must take into consideration the historical development of the
system of word building. There are four main ways of word building in Modern English:
affixation, composition, conversion, abbreviation. There are also secondary ways of word
building: sound interchange, blends, back formation, sound imitation, clipping.
4.1

Affixation

Affixation has been one of the most productive ways of word building throughout the
history of English. The process of affixation consists in adding an affix to the stem of a definite
part of speech. Affixation is divided into suffixation and prefixation.
Suffixation
The main function of suffixes in Modern English is to form one part of speech from another;
the secondary function is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech.
E.g. educate is a verb, educate is a noun

music is a noun, musicdom is also a noun

There are different classifications of suffixes:
I. Semantic classification. Suffixes changing the lexical meaning of the stem can be subdivided
into groups, e.g. noun forming suffixes can denote:
a. the agent of the action, e.g. - er (experimenter), - ist (taxist), - end (student);
b. nationality, e.g. ian (Russian), - ese (Japanese), - ish (English);
c. collectivity, e.g. dom (moviedom), - ry (peasantry), - ship (readership), - ati (literaty);
d. diminutiveness, e.g. ie (horsie), - let (booklet), - ling (gooseling), - ette (kitchenette), -y
(hanky), - ock (hillock);
e. quality, e.g. ness (copelessness), - ity (answerability);
f. feminine gender, e.g. ess (actress), - ine (heroine), - ette (cosmonette);
g. abstract notion, e.g. hood (childhood), - ness (politeness), - ence/ance (tolerance);
h. derogatory meaning, e.g. ard (drunkard), - ster (gangster), ling (underling);
II. Part of speech classification. Suffixes which can form different parts of speech are given
here:
A. noun forming suffixes, such as:
1. denoting persons:
- er (T.) writer, Londoner, islander
- or (R.) actor, doctor, professor
- ant, -ent (R.) inhabitant, applicant, student, president
- an, -ian (R.) republican, librarian, American, African
- ess (R.) hostess, actress, tigress
- ist (Gr,) communist, artist, pianist
2. abstract nouns:
- dom (T.) freedom (kingdom)
- hood (T.) childhood, boyhood
- ship (T.) friendship, ownership
- ing (T.) swimming, feeling (building)
- ness (T.) goodness, carelessness, darkness
- age (R.) marriage, (village)
- ance, -ence (R.) guidance, ignorance, obedience, absence.
- ment (R.) development, astonishment
- tion (R.) revolution, organization, (dictation)
- tude (R.)attitude, gratitude
- ty (R.) liberty, cruelty, poverty
- ure (R.) capture, pleasure, (picture)
- ism (Gr.) heroism, realism
3.diminutives:
- ie, -y (T.) auntie, daddy, granny
- let (R.) - booklet
B. adjective forming suffixes, such as:
1. full of:
- ful (T.) hopeful, graceful, powerful
- ous (R.) dangerous, glorious, ambitious
2. without:
- less (T.) hopeless, homeless, tireless
3. like:

- ish (T.) yellowish, foolish, childish

- ly (T.) manly, friendly (daily, weekly)
- y (T.) muddy, rocky, funny, wiry
4. of the nature of:
- al (R.) comical, political
- ary (R.) necessary, ordinary
- ic, -ical (R.) artistic, grammatic (al)
5. capable of:
- able (R.) curable, eatable, comfortable
C. verb-forming suffixes, such as:
make or become:
- en (T.) lengthen, soften, darken
- ify, -fy (R) - simplify, glorify, terrify
,
- ize, -ise (Gr.) organize, apologize, analyse (analyze)
D. adverb forming suffixes, such as:
1.like:
- ly (T.) badly, quickly, recently
2. direction:
- ward (s) (T.) forward(s), backward(s), homeward(s)
III. Lexico grammatical character of the stem. Suffixes which can be added to certain groups
of stems are divided into:
a.suffixes added to verbal stems, such as: - er (commuter), - ing (suffering), - able (flyable), ment (involvement), - ation (computerization);
b.suffixes added to noun stems, such as: - less (smoogless), - ful (roomful), - ism
(adventurism), - ster (pollster), - nik (filmnik), - ish (childish);
c.suffixes added to adjective stems, such as: - en (weaken), - ly (pinkly), - ish (longish), - ness
(clannishness).
IV. From the etymological point of view suffixes are classified into the same two large groups as
words: native and borrowed.
a.Some Native Suffixes
Noun forming
- er Worker, miner, teacher, painter, etc.
- ness Coldness, loneliness, loveliness, etc.
- ing Feeling, meaning, singing, reading, etc
- dom Freedom, wisdom, kingdom, etc.
- hood Childhood, manhood, motherhood, etc.
- ship Friendship, companionship, mastership, etc.
- th Length, breadth, health, truth, etc.
- teen/ty Property, canteen, etc.
Adjective-forming
- ful Careful, joyful, wonderful, sinful, skilful, etc.
- less Careless, sleepless, cloudless, senseless, etc.
- y Cozy, tidy, merry, snowy, showy, etc.
- ish English Spanish, reddish, childish, etc.
- ly Lonely, lovely, ugly, likely, lordy, etc

- en Wooden, woolen, silken, golden, etc.

- some Handsome, quarrelsome, tiresome, etc.
Verb forming
- en Widen, redden, darken, sadden, etc.
Adverb forming
- ly Warmly, hardly, simply, carefully, coldly, etc.
The table gives examples of especially frequent native affixes.
b. Some Borrowed Suffixes:
- Romanic, such as: - tion (attention), - ment (development), - able/ible (terrible, moveable), eer (mountaineer), - ant/ent (student, pleasant), - age (carriage), - ard (drunkard), ance/ence (attendance, absence), - ate (dictate);
- Greek, such as: - ist (taxist), - ism, - ize;
- Russian, such as nik (filmnik).
Borrowed suffixes, especially of Romance origin are numerous in the English vocabulary. It
would be wrong to suppose that suffixes are borrowed in the same way and for the same
reasons as words.
An affix of foreign origin can be regarded as borrowed only after it has begun an independent
and active life in the language, that is, is taking part in the word-making processes of that
language. This can only occur when the total of words with this affix is so great in the recipient
language as to affect the native speakers subconscious to the extent that they no longer
realize its foreign flavour and accept it as their own.
V. Productivity. Suffixes can also be classified into productive and non-productive types. By
productive suffixes we mean the ones, which take part in deriving new words in this particular
period of language development. The best way to identify productive suffixes is to look for
them among neologisms and so-called nonce-words, i.e. words coined and used only for this
particular occasion. The later are usually formed on the level of living speech and reflect the
most productive and progressive patterns in word-building.
E.g. Professor Pringle was a thinnish, baldish, dispeptic-lookingish cove with an eye like a
haddock.
The adjectives thinnish and baldish bring to mind dozens of other adjectives made with the
same suffix: oldish, youngish, mannish, girlish fattish, longish, etc. But dyspeptic lookingish
is the authors creation aimed at a humorous effect, and at the same time, proving beyond
doubt that the suffix ish is a live and active one.
The same is well illustrated by the following popular statement:I dont like Sunday evenings: I
feel so Mondayish (Mondayish is certainly a nonce-word).
Some Productive Suffixes
Noun forming suffixes - er, - ing, - ness, - ism, - ist, - ance
Adjective forming suffixes - y, - ish, - ed, - able, - less
Verb forming suffixes - ize/-ise, - ate
Adverb forming suffix - ly

Some Semi Productive Suffixes

Noun forming suffixes - eer, - ette, - ward
Some Non Productive Suffixes
Noun forming suffixes - th, - hood, - ard
Adjective forming suffixes - ly, - some, - en, - ous
Verb forming suffix - en
Structure of suffixes.
Here we can point out:
a.simple, such as: - er (speaker), - ist (taxist);
b.compound, such as: - ical (ironical), - ation (formation), - manship (sportsmanship), ably/ibly (terribly, reasonably);
Suffixes can be polysemantic,
e.g. er can form nouns with the following meanings: agent, doer of the action expressed by
the stem (speaker), profession, occupation (teacher), a device, a tool (transmitter).
There are also disputable cases whether we have a suffix or a root morpheme in the
structure of the word. In such cases we call such morphemes semi suffixes and words with
such suffixes can be classified either as affixed words or as compound words,
e.g. gate (Irrigate), - burger (cheeseburger), - aholic (workaholic), - man (postman).

Prefixation
Prefixation is the formation of words by means of adding a prefix to the stem. In English it is
characteristic for forming verbs. Prefixes are more independent than suffixes. Prefixes can be
classified according to the nature of words in which they are used: prefixes used in notional
words and prefixes used in functional words. Prefixes used in notional words are proper prefixes
which are bound morphemes, e.g. un- (unhappy). Prefixes used in functional words are semi
bound morphemes because they are met in the language as words,
e.g. over- (overhead); over the table.
The main function of prefixes in English is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of
speech. But the recent research showed that about twenty five prefixes in Modern English
form one part of speech from another (bebutton, interfamily, postcollege etc). The prefix beforms transitive verbs with adjective, verb and noun stems,
e.g. belittle to make little
benumb to make numb
to befriend to treat like a friend
to becloud to cover with clouds
to bemadam to call madam
to bejewel to deck with jewels
Sometimes the meaning is quite different, as in such a case as to behead which means to
cut off the head.
The prefix en-/em- is now used to form verbs from noun stems with the meaning to put an
object into or on something, e.g. to engulf, to embed. It can also form verbs with adjective and

noun stems with a meaning to bring into some condition or state, e.g. to encase, to enable, to
enslave.
The prefix a- is the characteristic feature of words belonging to statives: asleep, awake,
anew etc. The prefixes pre-, post-, non-, anti-, and some other very productive modern
prefixes of Romanic and Greek origin are used to form adjectives with a very clear cut lexical
meaning of their own, e.g. pre war, post war, anti war, non party, pro life etc.
Prefixes can be classified according to different principles:
I. Semantic classification:
a. prefixes of negative meaning, such as: in- (invaluable), non- (nonformals), un- (unfree) etc.
Non- used to be restricted to simple unemphatic negation. Beginning with the 1960s nonindicates not so much the opposite of something but rather that something is not real or worthy
of the name,
e.g. non book is a book published to be bought rather than to be read;
non thing something insignificant and meaningless;
non person somebody unworthy of attention etc.
Un- can denote simple negation,
e.g. uneven, unkind, unhappy and also reversative action when it shows an action contrary to
that of a simple verb,
e.g. unpack, unbind.
b. prefixes denoting repetition or reversative actions, such as: de- (decolonize), re(revegetation), dis- (disconnect) and also un- mentioned above.
c. prefixes denoting time, space, degree relations, such as: inter- (interplanetary), hyper(hypertension), ex- (ex - student), pre- (pre - election), over- (overdrugging).
II. Origin of prefixes:
a.native (Germanic), such as: un- (unhappy), over- (overfeed), under- (undernourish) etc.
b.romanic, such as: in- (inactive), de- (demobilize), ex- (ex - president), re- (rewrite) etc.
c. greek, such as sym- (sympathy), hyper- (hypertension) etc.
When we analyze such words as adverb accompany where we can find the root of the word
(verb, company) we may treat ad-, ac- as prefixes though they were never used as prefixes to
form new words in English and were borrowed from Romanic languages together with words. In
such cases we can treat them as affixed words. But some scientists treat them as simple
words.
Another group of words with a disputable structure are such as contain, retain, detain and
conceive, receive, deceive where we can see that con- and de- act as prefixes and tain, ceive can be understood as roots. But in English these combinations of sounds have no lexical
meaning and are called pseudo morphemes. Some scientists treat such words as simple
words, others as affixed ones.
There are some prefixes which can be treated as root morphemes by some scientists, e.g.
after- in a word afternoon. American lexicographers working on Webster dictionaries treat such
words as compound words. British lexicographers treat such words as affixed ones.

4.3 Composition. Compound words.

Composition is the way of word building when a word is formed by joining two or more stems to
form one word. The structural unity of a compound word depends upon:
a.the unity of stress;
b.solid or hyphenated spelling;

c.semantic unity;
d.unity of morphological and syntactical functioning.
These are characteristics features of compound words in all languages. For English compounds
some of these factors are not very reliable. As a rule, English compounds have one uniting stress
(usually on the first component),
e.g. hard cover, best seller.
We can also have a double stress in an English compound, with the main stress on the first
component and with a secondary stress on the second component, e.g. blood vessel. The main
stress can be on the second component,
e.g. snow white, sky blue.
The third pattern of stresses is two level stresses. The third pattern is easily mixed up with word
groups unless they have solid or hyphenated spelling.
Besides, the stress may be phonological and help to differentiate the meaning of compounds,
e.g. overwork extra work, overwork hard work injuring ones health,
bookcase a piece of furniture with shelves for books, book case - a paper cover for books etc.
Spelling in English compounds is not very reliable as well because they can have different spelling
even in the same text, e.g. war ship, blood vessel can be spelt through a hyphen and also with a
break, insofar, underfoot can be spelt solidly and with a break: in so far. All the more there has
appeared in Modern English a special type of compound words which are called block compounds,
they have one uniting stress but are spelt with a break,
e.g. air piracy, cargo module, coin change, penguin suit etc.
The semantic unity of a compound word is often very strong. In such cases we have idiomatic
compounds where the meaning of the whole is not a sum of meanings of its components, e.g. to
ghostwrite, skinhead, braindrain etc. In non idiomatic compounds semantic unity is not strong,
e.g. airbus, to bloodtransfuse, astrodynamics etc.
English compounds have the unity of morphological and syntactical functioning. They are used
in a sentence as one part of it and only one component changes grammatically,
e.g. These girls are chatter boxes. Chatter boxes is a predicative here and only the second
component changes grammatically.
There are two characteristic features of English compounds:
a. both components in an English compound are free stems, that is they can be used as words with
a distinctive meaning of their own. The sound pattern will be the same except for the stresses, e.g.
a green house (sera) and a green house (a house painted green).
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, up and
doing etc. The two stem pattern distinguishes English compounds from German ones.
2. Ways of forming compound words
Compound words in English can be formed not only by means of composition but also by means of:
a. reduplication, e.g. too too sentimental, and also by means of reduplication combined with
sound interchange,
e.g. rope ripe worthy of being hung,
shock frock bare - bosomed cocktail dress,
toy boy a gigolo;
b. partial conversion from word- groups, e.g. to micky mouse, can do, make up. It is different
from conversion proper as the basic forms are not homonymous, because of the difference in the
stress pattern and spelling. It can be the result of ellipses,
e.g. drive in cinema a drive in;
c. back formation from compound nouns or word groups, e.g. to bloodtransfuse (from blood
transfusion), to fingerprint (from fingerprinting), to baby sit (from baby - sitter) etc.
d. analogy, e.g. lie in (on the analogy with sit - in) and also phone in, brawn drain (on the

analogy with brain drain) etc.

e. contrast, brain gain (in contrast to brain - drain) etc.
Classifications of English compounds
I. According to the parts of speech compounds are subdivided into:
a. nouns, such as: baby - moon, globe - trotter;
b. adjectives, such as: free for all, power happy;
c. verbs, such as: to honeymoon, to baby-sit, to henpeck;
d. adverbs, such as: downdeep, headfirst;
e. prepositions, such as: into, within;
f. numerals, such as: fifty five.
II. 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,
e.g. ball point, to window shop;
b. morphological where components are joined by a linking element: vowels o or I or the
consonant s,
e.g. astrospace, handicraft, sportsman;
c. syntactical where the components are joined by means of form word stems,
e.g. here and now, free for all, do or die.
III. According to their structure compounds are subdivided into:
a. compound words proper which consist of two stems, e.g. to join hunt, train sick, go go, tip
top;
b. compound affixed words, where besides the stems we have affixes,
e.g. ear minded, hydro skimmer, autotimer, videoplayer, astronautics, astrophysical etc.
The essence of compounds affixed words will be clear if we compare them with affixed words
and compounds proper that possess a similar structure. Let us compare the words: brainstruster,
honeymooner and millowner. If we analyze the word millowner we shall see that the immediate
constituents of it are two noun stems: mill and owner, the first stem is simple, the second one is
affixed.
For the word honeymooner such division is impossible since moon-er does not exist in English.
The immediate constituents are honeymoon + er (honey+moon) +er. Thus, the word millowner is
formed by means of composition and the word honeymooner by means of affixation. If we analyze
the word brainstruster we shall see that it is formed from a word group brains trust - a group of
experts. So braintruster is formed by means of composition and by means of affixation;
c. compound words consisting of three or more stems,
e.g. cornflower-blue, eggshell-thin, singer-songwriter. In such compounds one of the immediate
constituents is a compound stem or, as in the last case, it consists of an affixed stem and a
compound - affixed stem;
d. compound-shortened words,
e.g. boatel, tourmobile, V-day, motocross, inter-vision. Eurodollar, Camford. Compoundshortened words can be of different structure: the first stem can be shortened by means of
apocope,
e.g. Eurodollar, maxi-series, Ecoforum, telecommunication and also by means of initial shortening,
e. g. V-day. AIDSophobia.. Sometimes the second stem is shortened by means of apheresis, e.g.
beefburger, by means of apocope, e.g. Skylab, or it can be an initial shortening e.g. Three-D
(stereofilm). Sometimes both stems are shortened: we can have two cases of apocope , e.g. comsat
(communication satellite), Centcom (Central Command). But more often the first stem is a case of
apocope and the second one is a case of apheresis,

e.g. motel (motorcar hotel), boatel (boat hotel), slanguist (slang linguist), magalog ('magazine
catalogue).
IV. According to the relations between the components compound words 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; these subordinative relations can be
different:
a) comparative relations, e.g. honey-sweet, eggshell-thin, goldfish;
b) limiting relations, e.g. breast-high, knee-deep;
c) emphatic relations, e.g. dog-cheap:
d) objective relations, e.g. gold-rich: c) cause relations, e.g. lovesick:
e) space relations, e.g. top-heavy, garden-party;
g) time relations, e.g. spring-fresh, summer-house:
h) subjective relations, e.g. footsore:
i) functional relations, e.g. raincoat, bathrobe, textbook:
j) material relations, e.g. silverware, clay-pipe:
k) sex relations, e.g. she-dog, he-goat, Tom-cat.
(B) Coordinative compounds where both components are semantically independent.
a) Here belong such compounds when one person (object) has two functions,
e.g. secretary stenographer, woman-doctor. Oxbridge, Anglo-Saxon etc.
Such compounds are called additive.
b) There are also tautological compounds, e.g. roadway, courtyard. This group also includes
compounds formed by means of reduplication, e.g. fifty-fifty, no-no, and also compounds formed
with the help of rhythmic stems (reduplication combined with sound interchange), e.g. criss-cross,
walkie-talkie.
V. According to the order of the components compounds are divided into compounds with direct
order (syntactic),
e.g. killjoy, and compounds with indirect order (asyntactic).
e.g. nuclear-free, rope-ripe.
VI. According to the meaning of the whole compound we can point out idiomatic and non-idiomatic
compounds. Compounds may be very different in meaning from the corresponding free phrase.
Such compounds are called idiomatic,
e.g. a blackboard is quite different from a black board. A blackboard is a teaching aid; it can be a
piece of linoleum of some dark colour. And a black board is a board painted black.
Such compounds as wheelchair and pushchair look interchangeable, but wheel-chairs are for
invalids and pushchairs are for infants. Non-idiomatic compounds are not different in their meaning
from corresponding free phrases,
e.g. airmail (mail carried by planes), swimming-pool (a pool for swimming), speedometer (a meter
for measuring speed).

4.4. Conversion is a characteristic feature of the English word-building system. It is also called
affixless derivation or zero-suffixation. The term conversion first appeared in the book by Henry
Sweet New English Grammar in 1891. Conversion is treated differently by different scientists. Prof.
A.I.Smirnitsky treats conversion as a morphological way of forming words when one part of speech
is formed from another part of speech by changing its paradigm,
e.g. to form the verb to dial from the noun dial we change the paradigm of the noun (a dial, dials)
for the paradigm of a regular verb (I dial, he dials, dialed, dialing).
A. Marchand in his book The Categories and Types of Present-day English treats conversion as a

morphological-syntactical word-building because we have not only the change of the paradigm, but
also the change of the syntactic function,
e.g. I need some good paper for my room.(The noun paper is an object in the sentence). I paper my
room every year. (The verb paper is the predicate in the sentence).
Conversion is the main way of forming verbs in Modern English. Verbs can be formed from
nouns of different semantic groups and have different meanings:
a) verbs have instrumental meaning if they are formed from nouns denoting parts of a human body,
e.g. to eye, to finger, to elbow, to shoulder etc. They have instrumental meaning if they are formed
from nouns denoting tools, machines, instruments, weapons, e.g. to hammer, to machine-gun, to
rifle, to nail:
b) verbs can denote an action characteristic of the living being denoted by the noun from which they
have been converted, e.g. to crowd, to wolf, to ape:
c) verbs can denote acquisition, addition or deprivation if they arc formed from nouns denoting an
object, e.g. to fish, to dust, to peel, to paper;
d) verbs can denote an action performed at the place denoted by the noun from which they have
been converted, e.g. to park, to garage, to bottle, to corner, to pocket:
e) verbs can denote an action performed at the time denoted by the noun from which they have
been converted, e.g. to winter, to weekend .
Verbs can be converted from adjectives, in such cases they denote the change of the stale, e.g. to
tame (to become or make lame), to clean, to slim etc. Verbs can be also converted from other parts
of speech, e.g. to down (adverb), to pooh-pooh (interjection).
Nouns can also be formed by means of conversion from verbs. Converted nouns can denote:
a) instant of an action, e.g. a jump, a move:
b) process or state, e.g. sleep, walk,
c) agent of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted, e.g. a help, a
flirt, a scold;
d) object or result of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun was formed by means of
conversion, e.g. a find, a burn, a cut;
e) place of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted, e.g. a drive,
a stop, a walk.
Many nouns converted from verbs can be used only in the singular form and denote
momentaneous actions. In such cases we have partial conversion. Such deverbal nouns are often
used with verbs: to have, to get, to take etc.
e.g. to have a try, to give a push, to take a swim.
Sometimes nouns are formed from adverbs,
e.g. ups and downs, and even from affixes,
e.g. 'ism' - a set of political or religious ideas or principles. (Socialism, communism, and all other
"isms' of modem world).
CRITERIA OF SEMANTIC DERIVATION
In cases of conversion the problem of criteria of semantic derivation arises: which of the
converted pair is primary and which is converted from it. The problem was first analyzed by prof.
A.I. Smirnitsky. Later on P.A. Soboleva developed his idea and worked out the following criteria:
1. If the lexical meaning of the root morpheme and the lexico-grammatical meaning of the stem
coincide the word is primary, e.g. in cases pen - to pen, father - to father the nouns are names of
an object and a living being. Therefore in the nouns pen and father the lexical meaning of the root
and the lexico-grammatical meaning of the stem coincide. The verbs to pen and to father denote an
action, a process; therefore the lexico-grammatical meanings of the stems do not coincide with the
lexical meanings of the roots. The verbs have a complex semantic structure and they were
converted from nouns.
2. If we compare a converted pair with a synonymic word pair which was formed by means of
suffixation we can find out which of the pair is primary. This criterion can be applied only to nouns
converted from verbs, e.g. chat n. and chat v. can be compared with conversation - converse.
3. The criterion based on derivational relations is of more universal character. In this case we must
take a word-cluster of relative words to which the converted pair belongs. If the root stem of the
word-cluster has suffixes added to a noun stem the noun is primary in the converted pair and vice
versa, e.g. in the word-cluster: hand n., handy., handy, handful the affixed words have suffixes

added to a noun stem, that is why the noun is primary and the verb is converted from it. In the
word-cluster: dance n, dance v. dancer, dancing we see that the primary word is a verb and the
noun is converted from it.
SUBSTANTIATION OF ADJECTIVES
Some scientists (O.Yespersen. E.Kruisinga and others) refer substantivation of adjectives to
conversion. But most scientists disagree with them because in cases of substantivation of adjectives
we have quite different changes in the language. Substantivation is the result of ellipsis (syntactical
shortening) when a word combination with a semantically strong attribute loses its semantically
weak noun (man, person etc; e.g. a grown-up person is shortened to a grown-up. In cases of
perfect substantivation the attribute takes the paradigm of a countable noun, e.g. a criminal,
criminals, a criminals (mistake), criminals (mistakes). Such words are used in a sentence in the
same function as nouns,
e.g. I am fond of musicals (musical comedies).
There are also two types of partly substantivized adjectives:
a) those which have only the plural form and have the meaning of collective nouns, such as:
sweets, news, empties, finals, greens;
b) those which have only the singular form and are used with the definite article. They also have
the meaning of collective nouns and denote a class, a nationality, a group of people, e.g. the rich,
the English, the dead. We call these words partly substantivised because they do not get a new
paradigm. Besides, they keep some properties of adjectives; they can be modified by adverbs,
e.g. the very unfortunate, the extravagantly jealous, the enormously rich etc.
STONE WALL COMBINATIONS (NOMINATIVE BINOMIALS)
The problem whether adjectives can be formed by means of conversion from nouns is the subject of
many discussions. In Modern English there are a lot of word combinations of the type, e.g. price
rise, wage freeze, steel helmet, sand castle etc.
If the first component of such units is an adjective converted from a noun, combinations of this
type are free word-groups typical of English (adjective + noun). This point of view is proved by O.
Yespersen by the following facts:
1. "Stone" denotes some quality of the noun "wall".
2. "Stone" stands before the word it modifies, as adjectives in the function of an attribute do in
English.
3. "Stone" is used in the singular though its meaning in most cases is plural, and adjectives in
English have no plural form.
4. There are some cases when the first component is used in the comparative or the superlative
degree, and adjectives can have degrees of comparison,
e.g. the bottomest end of the scale.
5. The first component can have an adverb which characterizes it, and adjectives are characterized
by adverbs, e.g. a purely family gathering.
6. The first component can be used in the same syntactical function with a proper adjective to
characterize the same noun, e.g. lonely-bare stone houses.
7. After the first component the pronoun one can be used instead of a noun,
e.g. I shall not put on a silk dress, I shall put on a cotton one.
However, Henry Sweet and some other scientists say that these criteria are not characteristic of
the majority of such units. They consider the first component of such units to be a noun in the
function of an attribute because in Modern English almost all parts of speech and even wordgroups and sentences can be used in the function of an attribute, e.g. the then president (an
adverb), out-of-the-way villages (a word-group), a devil-may-care speed (a sentence).
There are different semantic relations between the components of "stone wall" combinations
(nominative binomials). E.I. Chopin classified them into the following groups:
1. time relations, e.g. evening paper;
2. space relations, e.g. top floor;
3. relations between the object and the material of which it is made, e.g. steel helmet:
4. cause relations, e.g. war orphan;
5. relations between a part and the whole, e.g. a crew member;

6. relations between the object and an action, e.g. arms production;

7. relations between the agent and an action, e.g. government threat, price rise;
8. relations between the object and its designation, e.g. reception hall, wine glass:
9. the first component denotes the head, organizer of the characterized object,
e.g. Bush government, Forsyte family;
10. the first component denotes the field of activity of the second component,
e.g. language teacher, psychiatry doctor;
11. comparative relations, e.g. moon face;
12. qualitative relations, e.g. winter apples.

4.5 ABBREVIATION
In the process of communication words and word-groups can be shortened. The causes of
shortening can be linguistic and extra-linguistic. By extra-linguistic causes changes in the life
of people are meant. In Modern English many new abbreviations, acronyms, initials, blends are
formed because the tempo of life is increasing and it becomes necessary to give more and
more information in the shortest possible time.
There are also linguistic causes of abbreviating words and word-groups, such as the
demand of rhythm, which is satisfied in English by monosyllabic words. When borrowings
from other languages are assimilated in English they are shortened. Here we have modification
of form on the basis of analogy,
e.g. the Latin borrowing fanaticus is shortened to fan on the analogy with native words: man,
pan, tan etc.
There are two main types of shortenings: graphical and lexical.
GRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS
Graphical abbreviations are the result of shortening of words and word-groups only in
written speech while orally the corresponding fall forms are used. They are used for the
economy of space and effort in writing.
The oldest group of graphical abbreviations in English is of Latin origin. In Romanian this
type of abbreviation is not typical. In these abbreviations in the spelling Latin words are
shortened, while orally the corresponding English equivalents are pronounced in the full form,
e.g. for example (Latin exampli gratia), a.m. in the morning (ante meridiem), No - number
(numero), p.a. - a year (per annum), d - penny (dinarius/, lb - pound (libra), i.e. - that is (id
est). In some cases initial letters are pronounced, e.g. a.m. [ei 'em]. p.m. [pi:'em] etc. In
such cases they can be treated as lexical initial abbreviations.
Some graphical abbreviations of Latin origin have different English equivalents in different
contexts, e.g. p.m. can be pronounced in the afternoon (post meridiem) and after death (post
mortem).
There are also graphical abbreviations of native origin where in the spelling we have
abbreviations of words and word-groups of the corresponding English equivalents in the full
form. We have several semantic groups of them:
a) days of the week. e.g. Mon - Monday, Tue - Tuesday etc;
b) names of months, e.g. Apr - April, Aug August, Sep - September etc;
c) names of counties in UK. e.g. Yorks - Yorkshire. Berks - Berkshire etc:
d) names of states in USA. e.g. Ala -Alabama, Alas - Alaska. Calif - California etc;
e) names of address, e.g. Mr. Mrs, Ms [miz], Dr etc:
f) military ranks, e.g. capt - captain, col -colonel, sgt - sergeant etc;
g) scientific degrees, e.g. BA Bachelor of Arts, DM - Doctor of Medicine. ('Sometimes in

scientific degrees we have abbreviations of Latin origin, e.g. MB - Medicinae Baccakutna);

h) units of time, length, weight, e.g. f./ft - foot/feet, sec. - second in. - inch, mg. milligram
etc.
The reading of some graphical abbreviations depends on the context,
e.g. m can be read as: male, married, masculine, metre, mile, million, minute; l.p. can be read
as long-playing, low pressure.

INITIAL ABBREVIATIONS
Initialisms are the bordering case between graphical and lexical abbreviations. When they
appear in the language, as a rule, to denote some new offices they are closer to graphical
abbreviations because orally full forms are used. e.g. JV - joint venture. When they are used
for some duration of time they acquire the shortened form of pronouncing and become closer
to lexical abbreviations,
e.g. BBC is as a rule, pronounced in the shortened form [,bi:bi:'si:].
In some cases the translation of initialisms is next to impossible without using special
dictionaries. Inilialisms are denoted in different ways. Very often they are expressed in the
way they are pronounced in the language of their origin, e.g. ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand,
United States) is pronounced in Romanian as ANZUS; SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
was used in Romanian as a phonetic borrowing
There are three types of initialisms in English:
a) initialisms with alphabetical reading, such as UK (United Kingdom). BUP (British United
Press), CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), PWA (a person with AIDS) etc;
b) initialisms which are read as if they are words,
e.g UNESCO(United Nations Economic, Scientific, Cultural Organization).
OPEC (Oil Producing European Countries), HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) etc.:
c)initialisms which coincide with English words in their sound form. Such initialisms are called
acronyms, e.g. CLASS (Computer-based Laboratory for Automated School System), NOW
(National Organization of Women), AIDS (Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome) etc.
Some scientists unite groups b) and e} into one group which they call acronyms. Some
initialisms can form new words in which they act as root morphemes by different ways of
wordbuilding:
a) affixation, e.g. AWOLism (Absent WithOut Leave), ex-rafer (Royal Air Force), ex-POW
(Prisoner Of War),'AID Sophobia etc;
b) conversion, e.g. to raff (Royal Air Force), to fly IFR {Instrument Flight Rules) etc;
c) composition, e.g. STOLport (Short Take-Off and Landing), USAFman (United States Air
Force) etc;
d) there are also compound-shortened words where the first component is an initial
abbreviation with the alphabetical reading and the second one is a complete word, e.g. Abomb, V-day etc. In some cases the first component is a complete word and the second
component is an initial abbreviation with the alphabetical pronunciation.
e.g. Three-Ds {Three dimensions)
ABBREVIATION OF WORDS
Abbreviation of words consists in clipping a part of a word. As a result we get a new lexical
unit where either the lexical meaning or the style is different from the full form of the word. In

such cases as fantasy and fancy, fence and defence we have different lexical meanings. In
such cases as laboratory and lab, we have different styles.
Abbreviation does not change the part-of-speech meaning, as in the case of conversion or
affixation, it produces words belonging to the same part of speech as the primary word,
e.g. Prof is a noun and professor is also a noun.
Mostly nouns undergo abbreviation, but we can also meet abbreviation of verbs, such as to
rev from to revolve, to tab from to tabulate etc. But mostly abbreviated forms of verbs arc
formed by means of conversion from abbreviated nouns, e.g. to taxi, to vac etc. Adjectives
can be abbreviated but they are mostly used in school slang and arc combined with suffixation,
e.g. comfy, dilly, mizzy etc. As a rule, pronouns, numerals, interjections, conjunctions are not
abbreviated. The exceptions are: fif (fifteen), (apocope), teenager, in one's teens (apheresis
from numerals from 13 to 19).
Lexical abbreviations are classified according to the part of the word which is clipped. Mostly
the end of the word is clipped, because the beginning of the word in most cases is the root and
expresses the lexical meaning of the word. This type of abbreviation is called apocope.
Here we can mention a group of words ending in -o, such as disco (discotheque), expo
(exposition), intro (introduction) and many others. On the analogy with these words there
developed in Modern English a number of words where -o is added as a kind of a suffix to the
shortened form of the word, e.g. combo (combination), Afro (African) etc.
In other cases the beginning of the word is clipped. In such cases we have apheresis, e.g.
chute (parachute), varsity (university), copter (helicopter), thuse (enthuse) etc. Sometimes the
middle of the word is clipped, e.g. mart (market), fanzine (fan magazine), maths
(mathematics). Such abbreviations are called syncope. Sometimes we have a combination of
apocope with apheresis, when the beginning and the end of the word are clipped,
e.g. tec (detective), van (avanguard) etc.
Sometimes shortening influences the spelling of the word. e.g. c can be substituted by "k"
before e to preserve pronunciation, e.g. mike (microphone), coke (coca-cola) etc. The same
rule is observed in the following cases: fax (facsimile), teck (technical college), trunk
(tranquilizer) etc. The final consonants in the shortened forms are substituted by letters
characteristic of native English words.
4.6 SOME OF THE MINOR TYPES OF MODERN WORDBUILDING
SOUND INTERCHANGE
Sound interchange is the way of word-building when some sounds arc 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.
The causes of sound interchange can be different. It can be the result of Ancient Ablaut which
cannot be explained by the phonetic laws during the period of the language development known to
scientists. e.g. to strike -stroke, to sing song etc. It can be also the result of Ancient Umlaut or
vowel mutation which is the result of palatalizing the root vowel because of the front vowel [i] or [j]
in the syllable coming after the root (regressive assimilation),
e.g. hot - to heat (hotian), blood - to bleed (blodian) etc.
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, e.g. bath to bathe, life - to live, breath - to breathe etc.
Sometimes it is combined with suffixation.

e.g. strong

strength.

STRESS INTERCHANGE
Stress interchange can be mostly met in verbs and nouns of Romanic origin: nouns have the
stress on the first syllable and verbs on the last syllabic, e.g. 'accent to ac'cent. This phenomenon is
explained in the following way: French verbs and nouns had different structure when they were
borrowed into English; verbs had one syllabic more than the corresponding nouns.
When these borrowings were assimilated in English the stress in them was shifted to the previous
syllable (the second from the end). Later on the last unstressed syllable in verbs borrowed from
French was dropped (the same as in native verbs) and after that the stress in verbs was on the last
syllable while in nouns it was on the first syllabic (if the noun consisted of two syllables).
As a result of it we have such pairs in English as: to affix 'affix, to con 'flict - 'conflict, to ex'port
export, to ex"tract - extract etc. As a result of stress interchange we have also vowel interchange in
such words because vowels are pronounced differently in stressed and unstressed positions.
However, this is not regular; there are borrowed nouns and verbs with the stress on the first
syllable,
e.g. comment, exile, figure, preface, quarrel, focus, process, program, triumph etc.
There is a large group words that retain the stress on the second syllable both in verbs and
nouns: account, advance, amounts, attempt, concern, defeat, exclaim, research, distress, escape
etc.
SOUND IMITATION
It is the way of word-building when a word is formed by imitating different sounds. There are
some semantic groups of words formed by means of sound imitation:
a) sounds produced by human beings, such as: to whisper, to giggle, to mumble, to sneeze, to
whistle etc;
b) sounds produced by animals, birds, insects, such as: to hiss, to buzz, to bark, to moo, to
twitter etc;
c) sounds produced by nature and objects, such as: to splash, to rustle, to clatter, to bubble, to
ding-dong, to tinkle etc.
The corresponding nouns are formed by means of conversion,
e.g. clang (of a bell), chatter (of children! etc.

BLENDS
Blends are words formed from a word-group or two synonyms. In blends two ways of wordbuilding are combined: abbreviation and composition. To form a blend we clip the end of the first
component (apocope) and the beginning of the second component (apheresis). As a result we have
a compound - shortened word.
One of the first blends in English was the word smog (smoke + fog) which means smoke mixed
with fog. From the first component the beginning is taken, from the second one the end. "o" is
common for both of them.
Blends formed from two synonyms are: slanguage (slang and language), to hustle 'hurry and
bustle), gasohol (gasoline and alcohol) etc.
Mostly blends are formed from a word-group, such as: acromania (acronym mania), bit (binary
digit), cinemaddict (cinema addict), channel (channel tunnel), dramedy (drama comedy),
detectifiction (detective fiction), faction (fuel fiction fiction based on real facts), informercial
(information commercial). Medicare (medical care), magalog (magazine catalogue) slimnastics

(slimming gymnastics), sociolite (social elite), slanguist 1slang linguist) etc.

The analysis into immediate constituents of blends permits the definition of a blend as a word
with the first constituent represented by a stem whose final part may be missing, and the second
constituent by a stem of which the initial part is missing. The second constituent when used in a
series of similar blends may turn into a suffix. A new suffix -on is, for instance, well under way in
such terms as nylon, rayon, silon, formed from the final element of cotton.
BACK FORMATION (DISAFFIXATION)
It is the way of word-building when a word is formed by dropping the final morpheme to form a
new word. It is opposite to suffixation that is why it is called back formation. At first it appeared in
the language as a result of misunderstanding the structure of a borrowed word.
Prof. V. Yartseva explains this mistake by the influence of the whole system of the language on
separate words. E.g. it is typical of English to form nouns denoting the agent of the action by adding
the suffix -er to a verb stem (speak-speaker). So when the French word beggar was borrowed into
English the final syllable ar was pronounced in the same way as the English -er and Englishmen
formed the verb to beg by dropping the end of the noun.
Other examples of backformation are: to accreditate (from accreditation), to bach (from
bachelor), to collocate (from collocation), to enthuse (from enthusiasm), to compute (from
computer), to emote (from emotion), to reminisce (from reminiscence), to televise (from television)
etc.
As we can notice, in cases of backformation the part-of-speech meaning of the primary word is
changed, verbs are formed from nouns.
CLIPPING
Clipping is the result of reduction of a word to one of its parts: the meaning of the abbreviated
word is that of the full word. There are different types of clipping:
1. back-clipping the final part of the word is clipped, as: doc from doctor, lab laboratory,
mag from magazine, math from mathematics;
2. fore-clipping the first part of the word is clipped as: plane from aeroplane, phone from
telephone, drome aerodrome. Fore-clippings are less numerous in Modern English.
3. the fore and the back parts of the word are clipped and the middle of the word is retain, as: tec
from detective, flu from influenza. Words of this type are few in Modern English. Backclippings are most numerous in Modern English and are characterized by the growing frequency.

Lecture VII-VIII. Word meaning.

7.1 Word meaning and motivation

7.2 Meaning and polysemy.

7.3 Types of semantic components.

7.4. The process of development and change of meaning.

7.5. Semantic changes.

The branch of lexicology which deals with the meaning is called semasiology. The linguistic
science, at present, is not able to put forward a definition of meaning. Generally speaking,
meaning can be more or less 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. Among the word's various characteristics, meaning is
certainly the most important.
There are two schools to meaning of thought in present day linguistics representing the main
lines of contemporary thinking on the problem: the referential approach, which formulate the
essence of meaning by establishing the interdependence between words and the things or
concepts they denote, and functional approach, which studies the functions of a word in speech
and is less concerned with what meaning is than with how it works.
Concept is the thought of the object that singles out its essential features. Our concepts
abstract and reflect the most common and typical features of the different objects and
phenomena of the world. Being the result of abstraction and generalization all concepts are the
same for the whole of humanity in one and the same period of its historical development. The
meanings of words however are different in different languages. Thus, words expressing
identical concepts may have different meanings and different semantic structures in different
languages.
The mechanism by which concepts (i.e. mental phenomena) are converted into words (i.e.
linguistic phenomena) and the reverse process by which a heard or a printed word is
converted into a kind of mental picture are not yet understood or described. Probably that is
the reason why the process of communication through words, if one gives it some thought,
seems nothing short of a miracle.

Thought or reference

Symbol

Referent

Every word has two aspects: the outer aspect (its sound form) and the inner aspect (its
meaning). Sound and meaning do not always constitute a constant unit even in the same
language. E.g. the word temple may denote a part of a human head and a large church. In
such cases we have homonyms. One and the same word in different syntactical relations can
develop different meanings, e.g. the verb treat in sentences:
(a) He treated my words as a joke.
(b) The book treats of poetry.
(c) They treated me to sweets.
(d) He treats his son cruelly.
In all these sentences the verb treat has different meanings and we can speak about
polysemy. On the other hand, the same meaning can be expressed by different sound forms,
e.g. pilot and airman, horror and terror.
In such cases we have synonyms. Both the meaning and the sound can develop in the
course of time independently. On the other hand, board primarily means a piece of wood sawn
thin. It has developed the meanings: a table, a board of a ship, a stage, a council.

The semantic structure of the word does not present an indissoluble unity. It is generally
known that most words convey several concepts and thus possess the corresponding number of
meanings. A word having several meanings is called polysemantic, and the ability of words to
have more than one meaning is described by the term polysemy.
It should be noted that the wealth of expressive resources of a language largely depends on
the degree to which polysemy has developed in the language. It should be clear that the
process of enriching the vocabulary does not consist merely in adding new words to it, but,
also, in the constant development of polysemy.
The system of meanings of any polysemantic word develops gradually, mostly over the
centuries.So the complicated processes 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 and in this way to
provide for a quantitative and qualitative growth of the language's expressive resources.
Therefore, the semantic structure of a word should be investigated at both these levels:
a) of different meanings, b) of semantic components within each separate meaning. For a
monosemantic word (i. e. a word with one meaning) the first level is naturally excluded.

Lecture XI. Phraseological units and other figurative lexical units.

11.1 History of Idioms. Definition.

11.2 Classification of Idioms.

History of Idioms
Studying idioms many authors call attention to the fact that they can more easily than other
language units cumulate and store facts about the past, cultural semantics of a nation,
traditions, customs, folklore, etc. because of the so called "cumulative" function of a
language. The element, which renders the information, is called national-cultural
component.
We noticed that the background and etymological origins of most idioms is at best obscure.
Some idioms of the worldwide English have first been seen in the works of writers like
Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, Lewis Carroll or even in the paperbacks of contemporary
novelists. An example of Shakespearian quotation can be found in the following lines:
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promisd: yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. (Shakespeare, Macbeth I, 5).
Biblical references are also the source of many idioms. Sports terms, technical terms, legal
terms, military slang and even nautical expressions have found their way to the everyday
use of the English language.
While American and British English share a lot of common vocabulary stock idioms
including there are, two diachronically distinct types of idioms:
-those inherited from British English but which changed some components (one or two
words) on the American soil;
-those the prototypes of which appeared on the American soil some of these idioms are
borrowed by British English.
Etymological analysis of the data that we obtained showed that it is possible to distinguish

several groups of idioms according to the period in the history they reflect.
For example, the life in the woods is reflected in the idiom have a chip on ones shoulder, the
etymological meaning of which was a reference to a man who carries a piece of wood
balanced on his shoulder in the hope that someone will give him an excuse for a fight by
knocking it off. The idiomatic meaning is: to have rather an aggressive manner, as if
always expecting to be insulted, ill-treated etc: He is very difficult to deal withhes always
had a chip on his shoulder about the lack of education. The origin of the idiom run-of-the-mill
has reference to the life in the woods too. It came to mean not special or unusual as can
be seen from the example: The film on television last night was very run-of-the-mill.
Originally it meant upgraded sawn timber as produced by a sawmill.
One more facet of frontier history, the gold rush of the 1850s and 1860s, we found out in
the idiom strike (it) lucky, the etymological meaning of which expressed anticipation of gold
miners (forty-niners) to find gold or silver. Idiomatic meaning: to have good luck in a
particular matter: We certainly struck lucky in choosing that school.
We can distinguish three main groups of Phraseological Units:
1.Native English Phraseological Units
2.Borrowings from foreign languages
3.Adoption from American variant of the English language.
1.Native English Phraseological Units.
The founders of the most primordial English phraseological units remain unknown. It
concerns in most cases proverbs. In general phraseological units in the English language; as
in other languages, are in creation of a nation, the manifestation of his wisdom and linguistic
feelings.
Traditions customs and peculiar beliefs, different realities and facts of the English history are
reflected in many phraseological units. Many of phraseological units are of literal origin. The
first important literary source is the Bible and the second one are Shakespeares works.
phraseological units from the Bible:
at the eleventh hour n ultimul moment;
bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh os din oase i carne din carne;
the root of all evil rdcina tuturor relelor;
from the bottom of my heart din adncul sufletului;
not to let ones left hand know what ones right hand does s nu tie stnga ce face
dreapta;
a prodical son fiul risipitor; forbidden fruits pomul interzis;
daily bread pinea cea de toate zilele; heap cools on smbs head a face pe cineva s
se ruuneze ntorcndu-i rul cu binele.
Phraseological units used by Shakespeare in his works:
eat smb. out of house and home (King Henry IV) a tri pe spinarea cuiva;
lay it on with a trowel 2 (Iulius Caesar) a exagera;
the wish is father to the thiught (King Henry IV) gndurile din dorini se nasc;
a tower of strength (King Richard III) turn de scpare;
more honoured in the breach than in the observance des se ncalc dect se mplinete.
2. Borrowed Phraseological Units
There are a lot of borrowings from the Latin and French languages. There are some
borrowings from Greek, Spanish, Italian and other languages.
Borrowed phraseological units have bookish meaning. We can distinguish five groups of
borrowed phraseological units:
1.Total calcations.
This group can be devided into two subgroups:
a)In the English language there are calcations and their prototypes arent used.
For example:

make believe (Engl.) faire croire (Fr.); proverbs like:

dead men dont bite mortul nu muc; lat. mortui non mordent;
hunger is the best sourse foamea e cel mai bun buctar;
(lat.) fames optimum condimentum (Cicero)
Both: the calcation and its prototype can be used in the English language.
e.g. second to none (de) nentrecut, fr pereche; (lat.) nulli secundus.
man is to man wolf (lat.) homo homini lupus est.
2.Phraseological Units in which some changes are introduced in comparison with original
That is observed when the languages have divergence in the order of lexemes
e.g. an iron hand has a velvet glove o nou min de fier ntr-o mnu de velvet.
(fr.) une main de fer dansun gant de velours.
In French and German proverbs are changed and take the order of lexemes of the Latin
prototypes. Sometimes the change of lexemes of prototypes can be more difficult deep to
their lexical changes:
(engl.) by all thats blue! s-l ieie dracul!
(fr.) parbleu! the euphemism instead of par Dieu.
In the English language phraseological units are added to the components in comparison
with the French prototypes.
3. Phraseological Units in which a part is borrowed and the other part is translated.
Phraseological Units can be of such turns of speech: a propos of nothing (rom.) din
senin; (fr.) propos de rien.
4.The latest Phraseological units formed by a classical base.
To this group we can refer a great number of variations of speech, which are based on the
mythology, on the facts of ancient history.
e.g. the apple of discord mrul discordiei;
one swallow does not make summer o rndunic nu face primvar;
(fr.) une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps.
call a spade a spade a spune lucrurilor pe nume.
the golden mean mijlocul de aur.
Borrowings from the French Language.
e.g. (Eng.) After us the deluge dup noi i potopul;
(Fr.) Aprs nous le dluge.
(En.) All roads lead to Rome toate drumurile duc spre Roma;
(Fr.) Tous les chemins vont Rome.
(En.) Appetite comes with eating pofta vine mncnd;
(Fr.) Lapptit vient en mangeant.
(En.) Every bird likes its own nest fiecare pasre i iubete cuibul;
(Fr.) Chaque oiseau trouve son nid beau.
(En.) Leap to the eye a sri n ochi; (Fr.) Sauter aux yeux.
Borrowings from German.
En. Speech is silver, silence is golden tcerea e de aur.
Germ. sprechen ist silbern, schweigen ist golden.
En. let the cat out of the bag a-i lua gura pe dinainte, a se scpa cu vorba.
Germ. die katze aus dem sack lassen.
En. go to the dogs a se duce de rp; Germ. vor die Hunde ghehen.
En. ones place in the sun loc sub soare; Germ. platz an der sonne.
En. blood and iron fier i snge; Germ. Blut and Eisen.
Phraseological units from fairy-tales.
e.g. an ugly ducking ruca cea urt;
A series of phraseological units are from foreign realities.
e.g. the skeleton at a feast ceea ce stric.

put on the buskin (s) a juca un rol ntr-o tragedie, a scrie o tragedie.
a white elephant avere risipitoare.
A precaution should be taken to establishing the facts of borrowings from a certain language
because there exist parallel expressions which appeared in equal conditions.
In this way the English phraseological unit get on the high horse a se ine cu nasul pe
sus; is taken from military language. There is no reason to confirm, that the English
phraseological unit is the translation from German, Swedish, or French.
The phraseological parallels are often explained by the origin of the common source.
There are some examples which are coherent with the mythology and historical facts:
E.g. Damocless sword sabia lui Damocle. ameninare permanent a pericolului. Fr.
Lpe de Damocles; Span. La espada del Damocles.
En. Cross / pass the Rubicon a trece Rubiconul (a face un pas hotrtor);
Fr. Franchir / passer le Rubicon; Span. Pasar el Rubicon.
En. Pandoras box cutia Pandorei; Fr. La boite de Pandore;
Germ. die Pandora bchse; Span. la casa de pandora.
The important thing is that similar concepts are formed differently in different languages. In
English, French and Spanish languages a phraseological unit in most cases is a wordcombination, but in the German language it is expressed by compound words. Some
phraseological units in Modern languages represent a calcation from ancient classical
languages, especially from Latin.
The Latin phraseological unit: sub rosa is called in English under the rose, in French:
sous la rose.
Many phraseological units coincide with those in the Romanian, English and French
languages, without any borrowing, for example a bird of passage pasre cltoare.
(Fr.) oiseau de passage.
The English proverb bird of a feather flock together is close to the French les oiseaux de
mme plumage, sassemblent sur mme rivage (but we havent proved that the English
proverb is a translation from the French proverb).
The proverb a close mouth catches no flies dac tceai filosof rmneai, is a translation
of the Italian proverb. The origin of these proverbs cant be established.
e.g. by hook or by crook prin orice mijloc.
fight shy of somebody a se ine la o parte, a nu se amesteca.
my aunt! My eye and Betty Martin! ia te uit; na-i-o bun!
take heart of a cpta curaj.
talk through ones hat a spune prostii, a vorbi cai verzi pe perei.
3. Phraseological Units borrowed from the American variant of the English language.
Phraseological units borrowed from the English language of the USA, in contrast to the
borrowings from other foreign languages, are without translation, because they can be
carried out in the limits of a unique literary language and thats why they cant be calcations,
neither whole, no partial.
Many phraseological units came to England from the USA. Some of them were assimilated
and in the English dictionary they are marked as being of American origin. We could find a
lot of such examples.
e.g. bark up the wrong tree a grei adresa;
do ones level best a face tot posibilul;
get it on the ground floor a o lua naintea cuiva;
make a monkey out of smb. a duce de nas;
make the fur fly a face trboi, un scandal monstruos;
paddle ones own canoe a-i conduce singur brcua, a se descurca singur; a depinde
numai de sine nsui;
sell like cakes a se vinde ca pinea cald;

sit on the pence a rmne neutru;

strike oil a descoperi un izvor de ctig;
take a back seat a trece pe planul doi, a rmne n umbr;
spill the ills a divulga un secret.
1.2. Definition of idioms
After consulting several dictionaries, all having slightly different takes on the definitions, we
found the following definitions of idioms:
IDIOM: A phrase that is commonly understood in a given culture or subculture to have a
meaning different from its literal meaning.
A good example of this is to bend over backwards. This phrase is commonly understood in
our culture to mean to exert an enormous effort in order to accomplish something. The
literal meaning, however, is the physical act it describes, of which few may actually be
capable of doing.
A peculiarity of phraseology approved by the usage of the language and often having a
signification other than its grammatical or logical one.
Oxford English Dictionary
A group of words with a meaning of its own that is different from the meanings of each
separate word put together.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
An expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically (as
no, it wasnt me) or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined
meanings of its elements. (as Monday week for the Monday a week after next Monday)
Webster Dictionary
The word idiom is even more polysemantic. The English use it to denote a mode of
expression peculiar to a language, without differentiating between the grammatical and
lexical levels; also, as W.Graff puts it, the syntactical or structural form peculiar to a given
language. It may also mean a group of words whose meaning it is difficult or even
impossible to understand from the knowledge of the words considered separately. Moreover,
idiom may be synonymous to the words language or dialect, denoting a form of
expression peculiar to a people, a country, a district, or to one individual.
In our study we noticed that linguists have two meanings for idiom. From the Greek sense of
something ones own, something personal or private, one sense is the speech typical of a
people or a place, a dialect or a local language. Other linguists say that idiom is an
expression thats unique to a language, especially one thats allusive, figurative or
metaphorical and which as a result isnt always possible to understand from its component
parts.
The most characteristic feature of idioms is identified as lexical integrity:As a general rule an
idiomatic phrase cannot be altered; no other synonymous word can be substituted for any
word in the phrase, and the arrangement of the words can rarely be modified.

Classification of Idioms We know that term phraseology is defined as a section of

linguistics, which studies word collocations, and, on the other hand, a set of all steady
combinations of words of the language.
The word phraseology has very different meanings. In Soviet linguistic literature the
term has come to be used for the whole ensemble of expressions where the meaning of one
element is dependent on the other, irrespective of the structure and properties of the unit

(V.V.Vinogradov); with other authors it denotes only such set expressions which, as
distinguished from idioms, do not possess expressiveness or emotional colouring
(A.I.Smirnitsky), and also vice versa: only those that are imaginative, expressive and
emotional (I.V.Arnold). A.V.Koonin lays stress on the structural separateness of the elements
in a phraseological unit, on the change of meaning in the whole as compared with its
elements taken separately and on a certain minimum stability.
All these authors use the same word phraseology to denote the branch of linguistics
studying the word-groups they have in mind, it is a full-fledged linguistic discipline but in
English and American linguistics no special branch of study exists and the term
phraseology is a stylistic one, meaning mode of expression, peculiarities of diction.
The problem of classification
More or less detailed groupings are given in the books of English idioms by L. P. Smith. Jet
even the authors themselves do not claim that their groupings should be regarded as
classifications. They just collect set expressions, explain them, describe some of their
peculiarities, as alliteration, rhyme, contrast and so on, threading these as devices assuring
expressiveness. They also show interest in the origin and etymology of English phrases and
arrange them accordingly into phrases from sea life, from agriculture, from hunting (198 p.).
As to English language the number of works devoted to phraseology is so grea that it is
impossible to enumerate them: suffice it to say that there exists a comprehensive dictionary
of English idioms by A. V. Koonin, accompanied by articles of the theory of this part of the
vocabulary and doctoral these by N. N. Amosova.
B.A. Larins approach is diachranistic. His classifications reflects three consecutive stages a
set expressions passes through its development.
It originates as a free combination.
The second stage is a clearly motivation of stereotyped metaphorical phrase.
The third stage is that of an idiom with lost motivation.
The meaning of the expression is not built up by the hearer from the meaning of its separate
elements (words and inflexions), but grasped as a whole.
The classification of academician V. V. Vinogradova is synchronistic. He developed some
points first advanced by the linguist Charles Bally and gave a great impetus to a purely
lexicological treatment of the material. His articles on Russian phraseology produced an
immense influence upon very many linguistic in this country and aboard. Thanks to him
phraseological units were rigorously defined as lexical complexes with specific semantic
features and accordingly classified.The stock of words of the language consists not only of
separate words, but also of set expressions, which alongside with separate words serve as
means of expressing conceptions. A set expression represents a set phrase.
Stock of words of the language
Separate words Set expressions
Phraseological fusions
To make up ones mind
To make friends Phraseological unities
He plays with fire
She burst into tears Phraseological collocations
From head to foot
To get on like a house on fire
Stock of words of the language
According to the Academician V.V. Vinogradovs classification phraseological units may be
classified into three groups: phraseological fusions, phraseological unities and phraseological
collocations.
Phraseological fusions/ Pure idioms are completely non-motivated word-groups, such as
heavy father serious or solemn part in a theatrical play; kick the bucket die; and the
like. The meaning of the components has no connection whatsoever, at least synchronically,
with the meaning of the whole group.
Idiomaticity is, as a rule, combined with complete

stability of the lexical components and the grammatical structure of the fusion.
Phraseological fusions are called traditional, set expression with fixed nomination,
combinations, set expression in works of other researchers.
Phraseological unities/ Semi-literal idioms are partially non-motivated, as their meaning
can usually be perceived through the metaphoric meaning of the whole phraseological unit.
For example, to show ones teeth, to wash ones dirty linen in public if interpreted as
semantically motivated through the combined lexical meaning of the component words would
naturally lead one to understand these in their literal meaning. The metaphoric meaning of
the whole unit, however, readily suggests, take a threatening tone or show an intention to
injure for show ones teeth and discuss or make public ones quarrels for wash ones dirty
linen in public. Phraseological unities are as a rule marked by a high degree of stability of the
lexical components.
Phraseological collocations/ Literal idioms are motivated but they are made up of words
possessing specific lexical valence, which accounts for a certain degree of stability in such
word-groups. In phraseological collocations variability of member-words is strictly limited.
For instance, bear a grudge may be changed into bear malice, but not into bear a fancy or
liking. We can say take a liking (fancy) but not take hatred (disgust). These habitual
collocations tend to become kind of clichs where the meaning of member-words is to some
extent dominated by the meaning of the whole group. Due to this, phraseological
collocations are felt as possessing a certain degree of semantic inseparability.*
Phraseological combinations are often called traditional it is usually impossible to account
logically for the combination of particular words. It can be explained only on the basis of
tradition .
E.g. to deliver a lecture (but not to read a lecture)
In phraseological combinations words retain their full semantic independence although they
are limited in their combinative power.
E.g. to wage war (but not to lead war), to render assistance, to render services (but not to
render pleasure).
In phraseological combinations one of the components (generally the components which is
used figuratively) can be combined with different words:
E.g. to talk sports, politics, business (but to speak about life),
Leading worker, leading artiste, leading article (but not the leading problem, we can use: the
main problem)
Deadly enemy, deadly shot (but a mortal wound), keen interest, keen curiosity, keen sense
of humor (but great surprise).
Words of wide meaning, as to make, to take, to do, to give, etc. from many phraseological
units.
E.g. to take an exam, to take a trip, to take a chance, to take interest, to make fun of, to
make a statement, to make friends, to make haste.
Sometimes traditional combinations are synonyms of words.
E.g. to make inquiries = to inquire;
To make haste = to hurry.
Some traditional combinations are equivalents of prepositions.
E.g. by means of, in connection with.
Traditional combinations often have synonymous expressions.
E.g. to make a report = to deliver a report.
Phraseological combinations are not equivalents of words. Trough the components of
phraseological combinations are limited in their combinative power, that is, they can be
combined only with certain words and cannot be combined with any other words, they
preserve not only their meaning, but all their structural forms.
E.g. nice distinction is a phraseological combination and it is impossible to say nice
distinction, nicer distinction, etc.
In prof. A. Smirnitskys opinion traditional combinations are not phraseological units, as he
considers only those words combination to be phraseological units which are equivalents of
words.
* In phraseological unities the meaning of the whole word combination is not the sum of the
meanings of its components, but it is based on them and the meaning of the whole can be
inferred from the image that underlines the whole expression

E.g. to get on ones nerves, to cut somebody short, to show ones teeth.
Phraseological unities are equivalents of words as:
1) only one of the components of a phraseological unity has structural forms;
E.g. to turn (turned, will turn, etc.) a new leaf (but not to turn newer leaf, or new leaves).
2) the whole unity and not its components are parts of the sentence in syntactical analysis.
E.g. he took the bull by the horns (attached a problem boldly). There are only two parts: he
the subject, and took the bull by the horns the predicate.
* In phraseological fusions the meaning of the whole word combination cannot be derived
from the meaning of its components.
E.g. to pull ones leg (to decide)
at sixes and seven (in confusion)
to show the white feather (to show cowardice).
Phraseological fusions are the most idiomatic of all the kinds of phraseological units.
Phraseological fusions are equivalents of words: fusion as well as unities from a syntactical
whole in analysis . According to prof. A. Smirnitsky a phraseological unit is a combination of
words which is a word equivalent.
Prof. Smirnitsky classifies phraseological units by notional elements present in them, dividing
them into those which have one notional element and those which have two notional
elements. Phraseological units with one notional element are subdivided into:
1) Verb-adverb phraseological units in which the semantic center is the first component, and
which are equivalents of verbs, as to give up, to make out, etc;
2) Phraseological units in which the semantic center is the second component, and the
structural center is the first component as to be tired;
3) Phraseological units consisting of prepositions and nouns, with the semantic center in the
nominal components and without any structural center. Such units are used as equivalent of
link-words.
E.g. in order that, by means of; The lather type is nearer to words.
Phraseological units consisting of adjectives and nouns, which are used as equivalents of
nouns.
E.g. common sense, first night, black art.
The first component of phraseological units of this group may be used in free word
combinations:
E.g. high road (a phraseological unit), high house, high tower (free word combinations);
first night (a phraseological unit), first day, first morning, first evening (free word
combinations).
In prof. Smirnitskys opinion such formulations as: to have a smoke are very nearer the
latter type of phraseological units, but they cannot be considered phraseological units as
they are not idiomatic.
Prof. Smirnitsky considers such components as a man of war to be phraseological units as
this type.
2) Phraseological units consisting of verb and nouns, which are used as equivalents of verbs.
As we already know, the vocabulary consists of single words and multiword expressions.
Idioms (While the cat is away, the mice will play; the coast is clear; thats a good question;
guess what?; smell a rat; red herring; bread and butter; at the same time; as good as gold;
the simple life; a war of attrition; etc.) would not exist were it not for the tendency of words
to co-occur, yet any juxtaposition does not result in locutions having the status of
conventionalized multiword expressions in a language. Four factors appear to favour the
acquisition of such a status. They are discussed below.
Multiword expressions need to conform to the grammatical rules of the language. *The
purplish to eating (Determiner (Det) + Adjective (Adj) + Verb (V) or *lock the luckily (V +
Det + Adverb (Adv)) are not likely candidates for multiword expressions, though
grammatical idiosyncrasies do appear in some well-known ones: waste not want not, long
time no see, guess what?, be that as it may, beside oneself, white lie, foot the bill, fancy
free, etc. However, these are not as flagrant in their non-canonical grammar as the invented
ones cited above; their unusualness arises from deletion (waste not want not, guess what?,
etc.), illogicality (beside oneself), figurative use (white lie), or the presence of a specialized
subsense (foot the bill) 'pay' in a restricted context. Nothing loath, happy-go-lucky, etc. are
examples of more extreme departures which, like the others, are conventionalized by usage.

The majority of multiword expressions in English conform to the grammatical rules of the
language as even a cursory scan of collections of idioms and dictionaries will show. Adj +
Noun (N) (sacred cow, white elephant, red herring, etc.) is a common pattern of many
phrasal multiword expressions conventionalized by usage. Commonest, perhaps, is the semiclausal pattern V + Det + N (pass the buck, smell a rat, spill the beans, catch one's breath,
do one's bit, tighten one's belt, etc.). Less frequent is Preposition (Prep) + N + Prep (on
behalf of, by way of, by dint of sth., in case of sth., in the name of sb/sth., etc.). Prep +
Adj ... Prep + Adj (at best ... at worst) is an infrequent pattern in the formation of
conventionalized idioms.
Invariance or the fixity of the words making up the expression, combined with nonliteralness in many cases, are two other factors favouring conventionalized multiword status.
Such fixity and non-literalness are a matter of degree. Consequently, idioms can range from
the completely fixed, semantically non-literal, e.g. pins and needles the tingling sensation
following numbness, through the possibility of some grammatical changes like those for
tense, e.g. spill/spilled the beans commit an indiscretion, to lexical variation from the
restricted and semi-literal, e.g. blue film/joke, etc. obscene, explode a myth/belief/theory/
notion/ idea debunk, to the unrestricted semi-literal, e.g. catch a bus/train, etc. be in time
for.
In this context the fourth factor favouring the emergence of idioms is culturally salient
encodings, that is, the expression captures some phenomenon prominent in the collective
consciousness. Blue blood (le sangre azur) was originally used to signify the blue veins of the
Spanish showing through their white skins in contrast to the invisibility of those of the
swarthy Moors. Later on, it came to signify 'aristocratic birth' regardless of colour. Current
locutions on the way to gaining status as conventionalized multiword expressions are fat cat
person in a sinecure position compassion fatigue reluctance to continue charity, a war of
attrition a war which will continue indefinitely as neither side is strong enough for victory.
These expressions could qualify as conventionalized multiword expressions for they are
likely to be recognized by members of the language community as a standard way of
referring to a familiar concept or situation.
The multiword expressions that we cited above show a variety of structural types:
compounds (happy-go-lucky), phrases of various types (red herring, bread and butter, on
behalf of, at best ... at worst), semi-clauses of various types (guess what?; waste not, want
not; do one's bit, spill the beans), and full clauses of various types (the coast is clear; while
the cat is away, the mice will play). These structural types may also be categorized as lexical
types, a categorization which, from the point of view of how people use words, is much
more illuminating: idioms and their sub-classes as well as collocations and their sub-classes
. What these lexical types all have in common is that they show the regular co-occurrence of
words in a specific form and order, habitual word combinations, so much so that the
presence of one sets up an expectancy of the other. Thus, waste not will very likely elicit
want not from anyone familiar with English; fat chance will elicit only you've got; at best will
be followed by at worst, etc. If variable, such variations occur only within definable
constraints. For example, catch a ... will elicit either a word signifying some form of public
transport bus/train, etc. or an ailment, such as cold.
Idioms yield three sub-classes: pure idioms, semi-idioms and literal idioms.
a) Pure and Semi-Idioms
We have found that pure and semi-idioms are non-literal and, consequently, could be opaque
to language-users in respect of all or some of the words that make them up. Mitchell (1975)
sees an idiom as a cumulate association and as an assemblage of roots, roots being his
term for the base word forms (morphs) constituting the idiom. In other words, an idiom is
formally a multiword expression (an assemblage of roots) functioning as a single semantic
unit (a cumulate association).
A working definition of a pure idiom which is adequate for the present is a type of
conventionalized, non-literal multiword expression. Spill the beans, for example, has nothing
to do with beans. In contrast to its literal counterpart meaning letting fall leguminous
seeds, a non-literal meaning is imposed on the idiom as a whole: commit an indiscretion.
A semi-idiom has one or more literal constituents and at least one with a non-literal
subsense, usually special to that co-occurrence relation and no other: drop has the meaning
overuse only when it co-occurs with names. Other examples are catch one's breath

check, foot the bill pay, etc. Some of these semi-idioms, like their kin, restricted
collocations with specialized subsenses, permit lexical variation, for example, blue obscene
film/joke/gag/story/comedian.
Smell a rat being a pure idiom and not an ad hoc construction, like the cat sat on the mat,
means become suspicious, not sense rodent with olefactory organs. Other examples of
such opaque non-literal pure idioms are: twist sbs arm coerce, cajole; break the ice
deformalize; pins and needles the tingling sensation following numbness; by heart
memorize; pick up collect, improve in health, etc., you can say that again one
agrees, etc. What is evident in all these idioms is that a single meaning different from the
separate meanings of each word is imposed on the whole unit. Though this sort of semantic
unity is most clearly seen in pure idioms, it is also evident in semi-idioms. Thus, the semiidiom blue film has the specialized sense obscene film only when these two words occur
together. This kind of unity brought on by habitual co-occurrence is also seen in the pure
idioms by heart memorize; red herring decoy; or the semi-idiom rain cats and dogs rain
heavily. The typical result of such semantic unity in all these idioms is non-literalness
complete in pure idioms, partial in semi-idioms. Yet even a completely literal idiom such as
try, try and try again because of its currency in this fixed form has become a synonym of
persevere in the same way that the non-literal you can say that again signifies one
agrees. There is, of course, a difference between literal and non-literal idioms. Literal idioms
(e.g. on foot; try, try and try again, etc.) can be interpreted on the basis of their parts: they
are transparent; non-literal pure or semi-idioms (e.g. smell a rat, blue film, foot the bill,
etc.) are opaque, completely or partially.
Non-literalness, and its result, semantic opacity, has already been identified as a salient,
though not invariant feature of idioms. There are many literal expressions which are
regarded as idioms only on the criteria of compositeness and fixity (e.g. try, try and try
again-zoom along; arm in arm); on the other hand, there are also large numbers of common
idioms which have the additional property of partial or complete non-literalness (e.g. rain
cats and dogs, red herring, at the same time, blue film, drop names, etc.). It is these wholly
non-literal pure idioms that will be looked at below.
b) Literal Idioms Literal idioms (on foot; tall, dark and handsome; waste not, want not; on
the contrary; a (very) happy birthday; a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, etc.) can
be interpreted on the basis of their parts: they are transparent. They are less semantically
complex then pure and semi-idioms.

Lecture IX. Homonymy.

9.1 Homonyms: Words of the Same Form

9.2 Sources of Homonyms

9.3 Classification of Homonyms.

9.1 Homonyms: Words of the Same Form

Homonyms are words which are identical in sound and spelling, or, at least, in one of these
aspects, but different in their meaning.
Ex. bank, n. an institution for receiving, lending, exchanging, and safeguarding money
ball, n. a sphere; any spherical body ball, n. a large dancing party
English vocabulary is rich in such pairs and even groups of words. Their identical forms are
mostly accidental: the majority of homonyms coincided due to phonetic changes which they
suffered during their development.
If synonyms and antonyms can be regarded as the treasury of the language's expressive
resources, homonyms are of no interest in this respect, and one cannot expect them to be of

particular value for communication. Metaphorically speaking, groups of synonyms and pairs
of antonyms are created by the vocabulary system with a particular purpose whereas
homonyms are accidental creations, and therefore purposeless.
Homonyms which are the same in sound and spelling (as the examples given in the
beginning of this chapter) are traditionally termed homonyms proper.
Bean, n. and been, Past Part, of to be are homophones. As the example shows they are the
same in sound but different in spelling. Here are some more examples of homophones:
night, n. knight, n.; piece, n. peace, n.; scent, n. cent, n. sent, v. (Past Indef., Past
Part, of to send); rite, n. to write, v. right, adj.; sea, n. to see, v. [si:] (the name
of a letter).
The third type of homonyms is called homographs. These are words which are the same in
spelling but different in sound.
E.g. to lead [li:d], v. - to conduct on the way, go before to show the way
lead [led], n. - a heavy, rather soft metal

9.2 Sources of Homonyms

One source of homonyms has already been mentioned: phonetic changes which words undergo in the course of their
historical development. As a result of such changes, two or more words which were formerly pronounced differently may
develop identical sound forms and thus become homonyms.
Night and knight, for instance, were not homonyms in Old English as the initial k in the second word was pronounced, and not
dropped as it is in its modern sound form: . . kniht (cf .. . niht). A more complicated change of form brought together
another pair of homonyms: to knead ( . . cn dan) and to need (. . nodian).
In Old English the verb to write had the form writan, and the adjective right had the forms reht, riht. The noun sea descends
from the Old English form s , and the verb to see from . . s on. The noun work and the verb to work also had different
forms in Old English: wyrkean and weork respectively.
Borrowing is another source of homonyms. A borrowed word may, in the final stage of its phonetic adaptation, duplicate in
form either a native word or another borrowing. So, in the group of homonyms rite, n. to write, v. right, adj. the second
and third words are of native origin whereas rite is a Latin borrowing (< Lat. ritus). In the pair piece, n. peace, ., the first
originates from O.F. pais, and the second from O.F. (< Gaulish) pettia. Bank, n. ("shore") is a native word, and bank, n. ("a
financial institution") is an Italian borrowing. Fair, adj. (as in a fair deal, it's not fair) is native, and fair, n. ("a gathering of
buyers and sellers") is a French borrowing. Match, n. ("a game; a contest of skill, strength") is native, and match, n. ("a slender
short piece of wood used for producing fire") is a French borrowing.
Word-building also contributes significantly to the growth of homonymy, and the most important type in this respect is
undoubtedly conversion. Such pairs of words as comb, n. to comb, v., pale, adj. to pale, v.,to make, v. make, n. are
numerous in the vocabulary. Homonyms of this type, which are the same in sound and spelling but refer to different categories
of parts of speech, are called lexico-grammatical homonyms.
Shortening is a further type of word-building which increases the number of homonyms. E.g. fan, n. in the sense of "an
enthusiastic admirer of some kind of sport or of an actor, singer, etc." is a shortening produced fromfanatic. Its homonym is a
Latin borrowing fan, n. which denotes an implement for waving lightly to produce a cool current of air. The noun rep, n.
denoting a kind of fabric (cf. with the R. ) has three homonyms made by shortening: rep, n. (< repertory), rep, n.
(< representative), rep, n. (< reputation)', all the three are informal words.

Words made by sound-imitation can also form pairs of homonyms with other words: e. g. bang, n. ("a loud, sudden, explosive
noise") bang, n. ("a fringe of hair combed over the forehead"). Also: mew, n. ("the sound a cat makes") mew, n. ("a sea
gull") mew, n. ("a pen in which poultry is fattened") mews ("small terraced houses in Central London").
The above-described sources of homonyms have one important feature in common. In all the mentioned cases the homonyms
developed from two or more different words, and their similarity is purely accidental. (In this respect, conversion certainly
presents an exception for in pairs of homonyms formed by conversion one word of the pair is produced from the other: a
find < to find.)
Now we come to a further source of homonyms which differs essentially from all the above cases. Two or more homonyms can
originate from different meanings of the same word when, for some reason, the semantic structure of the word breaks into
several parts. This type of formation of homonyms is called split polysemy. From what has been said in the previous chapters
about polysemantic words, it should have become clear that the semantic structure of a polysemantic word presents a system
within which all its constituent meanings are held together by logical associations. In most cases, the function of the
arrangement and the unity is determined by one of the meanings. If this meaning happens to disappear from the word's
semantic structure, associations between the rest of the meanings may be severed, the semantic structure loses its unity and
falls into two or more parts which then become accepted as independent lexical units.
Let us consider the history of three homonyms:
board, n. a long and thin piece of timber
board, n. daily meals, esp. as provided for pay,
board, n. an official group of persons who direct or supervise some activity, a board of directors
It is clear that the meanings of these three words are in no way associated with one another. Yet, most larger dictionaries
still enter a meaning of board that once held together all these other meanings "table". It developed from the meaning "a piece
of timber" by transference based on contiguity (association of an object and the material from which it is made). The meanings
"meals" and "an official group of persons" developed from the meaning "table", also by transference based on contiguity:
meals are easily associated with a table on which they are served; an official group of people in authority are also likely to
discuss their business round a table.
Nowadays, however, the item of furniture, on which meals are served and round which boards of directors meet, is no
longer denoted by the word board but by the French Norman borrowing table, and board in this meaning, though still
registered by some dictionaries, can very well be marked as archaic as it is no longer used in common speech. That is why,
with the intrusion of the borrowed table, the word board actually lost its corresponding meaning. But it was just that meaning
which served as a link to hold together the rest of the constituent parts of the word's semantic structure. With its diminished
role as an element of communication, its role in the semantic structure was also weakened. The speakers almost forgot
that board had ever been associated with any item of furniture, nor could they associate the concepts of meals or of a
responsible committee with a long thin piece of timber (which is the oldest meaning of board). Consequently, the semantic
structure of board was split into three units.
A somewhat different case of split polysemy may be illustrated by the three following homonyms:
spring, n. the act of springing, a leap spring, n. a place where a stream of water comes up out of the earth (R. ,
) spring, n. a season of the year.
Historically all three nouns originate from the same verb with the meaning of "to jump, to leap" ( . . sprin-gan), so that the
meaning of the first homonym is the oldest. The meanings of the second and third homonyms were originally based on
metaphor. At the head of a stream the water sometimes leaps up out of the earth, so that metaphorically such a place could well
be described as a leap. On the other hand, the season of the year following winter could be poetically defined as a leap from

the darkness and cold into sunlight and life. Such metaphors are typical enough of Old English and Middle English semantic
transferences but not so characteristic of modern mental and linguistic processes.
It should be stressed, however, that split polysemy as a source of homonyms is not accepted by some scholars. It is really
difficult sometimes to decide whether a certain word has or has not been subjected to the split of the semantic structure and
whether we are dealing with different meanings of the same word or with homonyms, for the criteria are subjective and
imprecise. The imprecision is recorded in the data of different dictionaries which often contradict each other on this very issue,
so that board is represented as two homonyms in Professor V. K. Muller's dictionary , as three homonyms in Professor V. D.
Arakin's and as one and the same word in Hornby's dictionary.
Spring also receives different treatment. V. K. Muller's and Hornby's dictionaries acknowledge but two homonyms: I. a season
of the year, . a) the act of springing, a leap, b) a place where a stream of water comes up out of the earth; and some other
meanings, whereas V. D. Arakin's dictionary presents the three homonyms as given above.

9.3 Classification of Homonyms.

The subdivision of homonyms into homonyms proper, homophones and homographs is certainly
not precise enough and does not reflect certain important features of these words, and, most
important of all, their status as parts of speech. The examples given in the beginning of this chapter
show that homonyms may belong both to the same and to different categories of parts of speech.
Obviously, a classification of homonyms should reflect this distinctive feature. Also, the paradigm
of each word should be considered, because it has been observed that the paradigms of some
homonyms coincide completely, and of others only partially.
Accordingly, Professor A. I. Smirnitsky classified homonyms into two large classes:
I. full homonyms,
II. partial homonyms.
Full lexical homonyms are words which represent the same category of parts of speech and have
the same paradigm.
E. g. match, n. a game, a contest
match, n. a short piece of wood used for producing fire
match, n. a member of the Women's Royal Naval Service wren,
match, n. a bird
Partial homonyms are subdivided into three subgroups:
A. Simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words which belong to the same category
of parts of speech. Their paradigms have one identical form, but it is never the same form, as will be
seen from the examples.
E. g. (to) found, v.
found, v. (Past Indef., Past Part. of to (find)
(to) lay, v.
lay, v. (Past Indef. of to lie)
to bound, v.

bound, v. (Past Indef., Past Part, of to (bind)

B. Complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words of different categories of parts of speech which
have one identical form in their paradigms.
E. g. rose, n.
rose, v. (Past Indef. of to rise)
maid, n.
made, v. (Past Indef., Past Part, of to make)
left, adj.
left, v. (Past Indef., Past Part, of to leave)
bean, n.
been, v. (Past Part, of to be)
C. Partial lexical homonyms are words of the same category of parts of speech which are identical only in their
corresponding forms.
E. g.

to lie (lay, lain), v. to lie (lied, lied), v.

to hang (hung, hung), v.
to hang (hanged, hanged), v.
to can (canned, canned) (I) can (could)

Lecture X. Synonymy.

10.1 Synonyms. Definition. Problems.

10.2 Types of Synonyms.

10.3 Types of Connotations

10.4 The dominant synonym

Synonyms: Are Their Meanings the Same or Different? Synonymy is one of modern
linguistics' most controversial prob-lems. The very existence of words traditionally called
synonyms is disputed by some linguists; the nature and essence of the relationships of these
words is hotly debated and treated in quite different ways by the representatives of different
linguistic schools. Even though one may accept that synonyms in the traditional meaning of
the term are somewhat elusive and, to some extent, ficti-tious it is certain that there are
words in any vocabulary which clearly develop regular and distinct relationships when used in
speech. In the following extract, in which a young woman rejects a pro-posal of marriage,
the verbs like, admire and love, all describe feel-ings of attraction, approbation, fondness: "I
have always liked you very much, I admire your talent, but, forgive me, I could never love
you as a wife should love her husband." (From The Shivering Sands by V. Holt) Yet, each of
the three verbs, though they all describe more or less the same feeling of liking, describes it
in its own way: "I like you, i. e. I have certain warm feelings towards you, but they are not
strong enough 184 for me to describe them as "love"," so that like and love are in a way
opposed to each other. The duality of synonyms is, probably, their most confusing fea-ture:
they are somewhat the same, and yet they are most obviously different. Both as pects of
their dual characteristics are essential for them to perform their function in speech: revealing
different aspects, shades and variations of the same phenomenon. " Was she a pretty girl?
I would certainly have called her attractive." (Ibid.) The second speaker in this short

dialogue does his best to choose the word which would describe the girl most precisely: she
was good-looking, but pretty is probably too good a word for her, so that attractive is again
in a way opposed to pretty (not pretty, only attrac-tive), but this opposition is, at the same
time, firmly fixed on the sameness of pretty and attractive: essentially they both describe a
pleasant appearance. Here are some more extracts which confirm that synonyms add
precision to each detail of description and show how the correct choice of a word from a
group of synonyms may colour the whole text. The first extract depicts a domestic quarrel.
The infuriated hus-band shouts and glares at his wife, but "his glare suddenly softened into a
gaze as he turned his eyes on the little girl" (i. e. he had been looking furiously at his wife,
but when he turned his eyes on the child, he looked at her with tenderness). The second
extract depicts a young father taking his child for a Sunday walk. "Neighbours were apt to
smile at the long-legged bare-headed young man leisurely strolling along the 185 street and
his small companion demurely trotting by his side." (From Some Men and Women by B.
Lowndes) The synonyms stroll and trot vividly describe two different styles of walking, the
long slow paces of the young man and the gait be-tween a walk and a run of the shortlegged child. In the following extract an irritated producer is talking to an ambitious young
actor: "Think you can play Romeo? Romeo should smile, not grin, walk, not swagger, speak
his lines, not mumble them." (Ibid.) Here the second synonym in each pair is quite obviously
and in-tentionally contrasted and opposed to the first: "... smile, not grin." Yet, to grin
means more or less the same as to smile, only, perhaps, denoting a broader and a rather
foolish smile. In the same way to swagger means "to walk", but to walk in a defiant or
insolent manner. Mumbling is also a way of speaking, but of speaking indistinctly or
unintelligibly. Synonyms are one of the language's most important expressive means. The
above examples convincingly demonstrate that the prin-cipal function of synonyms is to
represent the same phenomenon in different aspects, shades and variations. And here is an
example of how a great writer may use synonyms for stylistic purposes. In this extract from
Death of a Hero R. Alding-ton describes a group of survivors painfully retreating after a
defeat in battle: "... The Frontshires [name of battalion] staggered rather than walked down
the bumpy trench ... About fifty men, the flotsam of the wrecked battalion, 186 stumbled
past them .... They shambled heavily along, not keeping step or attempting to, bent wearily
forward under the weight of their equipment, their unseeing eyes turned to the muddy
ground." In this extract the verb to walk is used with its three synonyms, each of which
describes the process of walking in its own way. In contrast to walk the other three words do
not merely convey the bare idea of going on foot but connote the manner of walking as well.
Stagger means "to sway while walking" and, also, implies a consider-able, sometimes
painful, effort. Stumble, means "to walk tripping over uneven ground and nearly falling."
Shamble implies dragging one's feet while walking; a physical effort is also connoted by the
word. The use of all these synonyms in the extract creates a vivid picture of exhausted,
broken men marching from the battle-field and enhances the general atmosphere of defeat
and hopelessness. A carefully chosen word from a group of synonyms is a great as-set not
only on the printed page but also in a speaker's utterance. It was Mark Twain who said that
the difference between the right word and just the right word is the difference between the
lightning and the lightning-bug. The skill to choose the most suitable word in every context
and every situation is an essential part of the language learning process. Students should be
taught both to discern the various connotations in the meanings of synonyms and to choose
the word appropriate to each context. Criteria of Synonymy Synonymy is associated with
some theoretical problems which at present are still an object of controversy. Probably, the
most contro-versial among these is 187 the problem of criteria of synonymy. To put it in
simpler words, we are still not certain which words should correctly be considered as
synonyms, nor are we agreed as to the characteristic features which qualify two or more
words as synonyms. Traditional linguistics solved this problem with the conceptual criterion
and defined synonyms as words of the same category of parts of speech conveying the same
concept but differing either in shades of meaning or in stylistic characteristics. Some aspects
of this definition have been criticised. 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" has been condemned for its
vagueness and lack of precision. In contemporary research on synonymy semantic criterion
is fre-quently used. In terms of componential analysis synonyms may be defined as words

with the same denotation, or the same denotative component, but differing in connotations,
or in connotative compo-nents (see Ch. 7). Though not beyond criticism, this approach has
its advantages and suggests certain new methods of analysing synonyms. A group of
synonyms may be studied with the help of their dic-tionary definitions (definitional analysis).
In this work the data from various dictionaries are analysed comparatively. After that the
definitions are subjected to transformational operations (transformational analysis). In this
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. 188 ] to stare: to glare: to gaze: to glance: to peer: to peer: Denota-tion
Connotations to look + + + + + + steadily, lastingly + + + + + in surprise, cu-riosity, etc. to
look steadily, lastingly in anger, rage, fury to look steadily, lastingly in tenderness, admiration, wonder to look briefly, in passing to look steadily, lastingly by stealth; through an
opening or from a concealed location to look steadily, lastingly with difficulty or strain The
common denotation convincingly shows that, according to the semantic criterion, the words
grouped in the above table are syno-nyms. The connotative components represented on the
right side of the table highlight their differentiations. In modern research on synonyms the
criterion of interchange-ability is sometimes applied. According to this, synonyms are defined
as words which are interchangeable at least in some contexts without any considerable
alteration in denotational meaning. [4] This criterion of interchangeability has been much
criticised. Every or almost every attempt to apply it to this or that group of synonyms seems
to lead one to the inevitable conclusion that either there are very few synonyms or, else, that
they are not interchange-able. 189 It is sufficient to choose any set of synonyms placing
them in a sim-ple context to demonstrate the point. Let us take, for example, the synonyms
from the above table. Cf.: He glared at her (i. e. He looked at her angrily). He gazed at her
(i. e. He looked at her steadily and attentively; probably with admiration or interest). He
glanced at her (i. e. He looked at her briefly and turned away). He peered at her (i. e. He
tried to see her better, but some-thing prevented: darkness, fog, weak eyesight). These few
simple examples are sufficient to show that each of the synonyms creates an entirely new
situation which so sharply differs from the rest that any attempt at "interchanging" anything
can only destroy the utterance devoiding it of any sense at all. If you turn back to the
extracts on p. 184187, the very idea of interchangeability will appear even more incredible.
Used in this way, in a related context, all these words (/ like you, but I cannot love you; the
young man was strolling, and his child was trotting by his side; Romeo should smile, not
grin, etc.) clearly demonstrate that substitution of one word for another is impossible: it is
not simply the context that firmly binds them in their proper places, but the peculiar
individual connotative structure of each individual word. Consequently, it is difficult to accept
interchange-ability as a cri-terion of synonymy because the specific characteristic of
synonyms, and the one justifying their very existence, is that they are not, cannot and
should not be interchangeable, in which case they would simply become useless ballast in
the vocabulary. 190 Synonyms are frequently said to be the vocabulary's colours, tints and
hues (so the term shade is not so inadequate, after all, for those who can understand a
metaphor). Attempts at ascribing to synonyms the quality of interchangeability are equal to
stating that subtle tints in a painting can be exchanged without destroying the picture's
effect. All this does not mean that no synonyms are interchangeable. One can find whole
groups of words with half-erased connotations which can readily be substituted one for
another. The same girl can be described as pretty, good-looking, handsome or beautiful. Yet,
even these words are far from being totally interchangeable. Each of them creates its own
picture of human beauty. Here is an extract in which a young girl addresses an old woman:
"I wouldn't say you'd been exactly pretty as a girl hand-some is what I'd say. You've got
such strong features." (From The Stone Angel by M. Lawrence) So, handsome is not pretty
and pretty is not necessarily hand-some. Perhaps they are not even synonyms? But they are.
Both, the criterion of common denotation ("good-looking, of pleasing appear-ance") and
even the dubious criterion of inter-changeability seem to indicate that. In conclusion, let us
stress that even if there are some synonyms which are interchangeable, it is quite certain
that there are also others which are not. A criterion, if it is a criterion at all, should be
applicable to all synonyms and not just to some of them. Otherwise it is not acceptable as a
valid criterion.

Types of Synonyms The only existing classification system for synonyms was estab-lished by
Academician V. V. Vinogradov, 191 the famous Russian scholar. In his classification system
there are three types of synonyms: ideographic (which he defined as words conveying the
same concept but differing in shades of meaning), sty-listic (differing in stylistic characteristics)
and absolute (coinciding in all their shades of meaning and in all their stylistic characteristics)
[8]. However, the following aspects of his classification system are open to question. Firstly,
absolute synonyms are rare in the vocabulary and, on the diachronic level, the phenomenon of
absolute synonymy is anoma-lous and consequently temporary: the vocabulary system
invariably tends to abolish it either by rejecting one of the absolute synonyms or by developing
differentiation characteristics in one or both (or all) of them. Therefore, it does not seem
necessary to include absolute syno-nyms, which are a temporary exception, in the system of
classifica-tion. The vagueness of the term "shades of meaning" has already been mentioned.
Furthermore there seems to be no rigid demarcation line between synonyms differing in their
shades of meaning and in stylis-tic characteristics, as will be shown later on. There are
numerous synonyms which are distinguished by both shades of meaning and stylistic colouring.
Therefore, even the subdivision of synonyms into ideographic and stylistic is open to question.
A more modern and a more effective approach to the classifica-tion of synonyms may be based
on the definition describing syno-nyms as words differing in connotations. It seems convenient
to clas-sify connotations by which synonyms differ rather than synonyms themselves. It opens
up possibilities for tracing much subtler distinc-tive features within their semantic structures.

10.3 Types of Connotations I. The connotation of degree or intensity can be traced in such
groups of synonyms as to surprise to astonish to amaze to astound;1 to satisfy to
please to content to gratify to de-light to exalt; to shout to yell to bellow to
roar; to like to admire to love to adore to worship. As the table on p. 189 shows,
some words have two and even more connotative components in their semantic structures. In
the above list the synonymic groups headed by to satisfy and to like contain words which can
be differentiated not only by the connotation of intensity but by other types which will be
described later. . In the group of synonyms to stare to glare to gaze to glance to
peep to peer, all the synonyms except to glance de-note a lasting act of looking at somebody
or something, whereas to glance describes a brief, passing look. These synonyms may be said
to have a connotation of duration in their semantic structure. Other examples are: to flash
(brief) to blaze (lasting); to shud-der (brief) to shiver (lasting); to say (brief) to speak,
to talk (lasting). All these synonyms have other connotations besides that of dura-tion. III. The
synonyms to stare to glare to gaze are differenti-ated from the other words of the group
by emotive connotations, and from each other by the nature of the emotion they imply (see the
table on p. 189). In the group alone single lonely solitary, the adjective lonely also has
an emotive connotation. 1 Groups of synonyms here and further on in the text are given
selectively. 7. 193 She was alone implies simply the absence of company, she
was lonely stresses the feeling of melancholy and desolation resulting from being alone. A
single tree on the plain states plainly that there is (was) only one tree, not two or more. A
lonely tree on the plain gives essentially the same information, that there was one tree and no
more, but also creates an emotionally coloured picture. In the group to tremble to shiver
to shudder to shake, the verb to shudder is frequently associated with the emotion of fear,
horror or disgust, etc. (e. g. to shudder with horror) and therefore can be said to have an
emotive connotation in addition to the two others (see the scheme in Ch. 7, p. 136). One
should be warned against confusing words with emotive con-notations and words with emotive

denotative meanings, e. g. to love to admire to adore to worship; angry furious

en-raged; fear terror horror. In the latter, emotion is expressed by the leading semantic
component whereas in the former it is an ac-companying, subsidiary characteristic. IV. The
evaluative connotation conveys the speaker's attitude to-wards the referent, labelling it as good
or bad. So in the group well-known famous notorious celebrated, the adjective
notorious bears a negative evaluative connotation and celebrated a positive one. Cf.: a
notorious murderer, robber, swindler, coward, lady-killer, flirt, but a celebrated scholar, artist,
singer, man-of-letters. In the group to produce to create to manufacture to fab-ricate,
the verb to create characterises the process as inspired and noble. To manufacture means "to
produce in a mechanical way with-out inspiration or originality". So, to create can be said to
have a positive evaluative connotation, and to manufacture a negative one. 194 The verbs to
sparkle and to glitter are close synonyms and might well be favoured by supporters of the
interchangeability criterion. Yet, it would be interesting to compare the following sets of examples: A. His (her) eyes sparkled with amusement, merriment, good hu-mour, high spirits,
happiness, etc. (positive emotions). B. His (her) eyes glittered with anger, rage, hatred, malice,
etc. (negative emotions). The combinability of both verbs shows that, at least, when they are
used to describe the expression of human eyes, they have both emotive and evaluative
connotations, and, also, one further characteristic, which is described in the next paragraph. V.
The causative connotation can be illustrated by the examples to sparkle and to glitter given
above: one's eyes sparkle with positive emotions and glitter with negative emotions. However,
this connota-tion of to sparkle and to glitter seems to appear only in the model "Eyes +
Sparkle/Glitter". The causative connotation is also typical of the verbs we have al-ready
mentioned, to shiver and to shudder, in whose semantic struc-tures the cause of the act or
process of trembling is encoded: to shiver with cold, from a chill, because of the frost; to
shudder with fear, horror, etc. To blush and to redden represent similar cases: people mostly
blush from modesty, shame or embarrassment, but usually redden from anger or indignation.
Emotive connotation can easily be traced in both these verbs. VI. The connotation of manner
can be singled out in some groups of verbal synonyms. The verbs to stroll to stride to trot
to pace to swagger to stagger to stumble all denote different ways and 195 types of
walking, encoding in their semantic structures the length of pace, tempo, gait and carriage,
purposefulness or lack of purpose (see, for instance, the quotations on p. 184187). . The
verbs to peep and to peer also have this connotation in their semantic structures: to peep = to
look at smb./smth. furtively, by stealth; to peer = to look at smb./smth. with difficulty or
strain. The verbs to like to admire to love to adore to wor-ship, as has been
mentioned, are differentiated not only by the connotation of intensity, but also by the
connotation of manner. Each of them describes a feeling of a different type, and not only of
different intensity. VII. The verbs to peep and to peer have already been mentioned. They are
differentiated by connotations of duration and manner. But there is some other curious
peculiarity in their semantic structures. Let us consider their typical contexts. One peeps at
smb./smth. through a hole, crack or opening, from behind a screen, a half-closed door, a
newspaper, a fan, a curtain, etc. It seems as if a whole set of scenery were built within the
word's meaning. Of course, it is not quite so, because "the set of scenery" is actually built in
the context, but, as with all regular contexts, it is in-timately reflected in the word's semantic
structure. We shall call this the connotation of attendant circumstances. This connotation is also
characteristic of to peer which will be clear from the following typical contexts of the verb. One
peers at smb./smth. in darkness, through the fog, through dimmed glasses or windows, from a
great distance; a short-sighted person may also peer at things. So, in the semantic structure of
to peer are encoded circumstances preventing one from seeing clearly. 196 VIII. The synonyms

pretty, handsome, beautiful have been mentioned as the ones which are more or less
interchangeable. Yet, each of them describes a special type of human beauty: beautiful is
mostly associated with classical features and a perfect figure, handsome with a tall stature, a
certain robustness and fine pro portions, pretty with small delicate features and a fresh
complexion. This connotation may be defined as the connotation of attendant features. IX.
Stylistic connotations stand somewhat apart for two reasons. Firstly, some scholars do not
regard the word's stylistic characteristic as a connotative component of its semantic structure.
Secondly, stylistic connotations are subject to further classification, namely: colloquial, slang,
dialect, learned, poetic, terminological, archaic. Here again we are dealing with stylistically
marked words (see Ch. 1, 2), but this time we approach the feature of stylistic characteristics
from a different angle: from the point of view of synonyms frequent differentiation
characteristics. Here are some examples of synonyms which are differentiated by stylistic
connotations (see also Ch. 2). The word in brackets starting each group shows the denotation
of the synonyms. (Meal). Snack, bite (coll.), snap (dial.), repast, refreshment, feast (formal).
These synonyms, besides stylistic connotations, have connota-tions of attendant features.
Snack, bite, snap all denote a frugal meal taken in a hurry; re-freshment is also a light meal;
feast is a rich or abundant meal. (Girl). Girlie (coll.), lass, lassie (dial.), bird, birdie, jane, fluff,
skirt (sl.), maiden (poet.), damsel (arch.). (To leave). To be off, to clear out (coll.), to beat it,
to hoof it, to take the air (sl.), to depart, to retire, to withdraw (formal). 197 5. A man entered
the bar and called for "a Martinus". The barman observed as he picked up a glass, "You mean
Martini, sir!" "No, indeed I don't," the man replied. "I was taught Latin properly and I only want
one." 6. A foreigner was relating his experience in studying the English language. He said:
"When I first discovered that if I was quick I was fast; that if I was tied I was fast; and that not
to eat was fast, I was discouraged. But when I came across the sentence, 'The first one
wonone-dollar prize' I gave up trying." 7. J a n e: Would you be insulted if that good-looking
stranger offered you some champagne?
The Dominant Synonym The attentive reader will have noticed that in the previous chapter much
use was made of the numerous synonyms of the verb to look, and yet, the verb to look itself was
never mentioned. That doesn't seem fair because it is, certainly, a verb which possesses the highest
frequency of use compared with its synonyms, and so plays an important role in communication. Its
role and position in relation to its synonyms is also of some importance as it presents a kind of
centre of the group of synonyms, as it were, holding it together. Its semantic structure is quite
simple: it consists only of denota-tive component and it has no connotations. All (or, at least, most)
synonymic groups have a "central" word of this kind whose meaning is equal to the denotation
common to all the synonymic group. This word is called the dominant synonym. Here are examples
of other dominant synonyms with their groups: To surprise to astonish to amaze to astound.
To shout to yell to bellow to roar. To shine to flash to blaze to gleam to glisten
to sparkle to glitter to shimmer to glimmer. To tremble to shiver to shudder to
shake. To make to produce to create to fabricate to manufacture. 209 Angry furious
enraged. Fear terror horror. The dominant synonym expresses the notion common to all
synonyms of the group in the most general way, without contributing any additional information as
to the manner, intensity, duration or any attending feature of the referent. So, any dominant
synonym is a typical basic-vocabulary word (see Ch. 2). Its meaning, which is broad and
generalised, more or less "covers" the meanings of the rest of the synonyms, so that it may be
substituted for any of them. It seems that here, at last, the idea of interchangeability of synonyms
comes into its own. And yet, each such substitution would mean an irreparable loss of the additional
information supplied by connotative components of each synonym. So, using to look instead of to
glare, to stare, to peep, to peer we preserve the general sense of the utterance but lose a great deal
in precision, expressiveness and colour. Summing up what has been said, the following characteristic

fea-tures of the dominant synonym can be underlined: I. High frequency of usage. II. Broad
combinability, i. e. ability to be used in combinations with various classes of words. III. Broad
general meaning. IV. Lack of connotations. (This goes for stylistic connotations as well, so that
neutrality as to style is also a typical feature of the dominant synonym.)