词汇学复习要点总结

词汇学复习要点总结

1.Word definition: A word is defined by the association of a given sense with a

given group of sounds capable of a given grammatical use. [ P 2]

2.The development of English vocabulary [P 3]

(1)The Old English: 449-1100,

(2)Middle English: 1100-1500

(3)Modern English: 1500-present

3.Classification of English Words [P 9]

(1)By origin: native words and loan words

(2)By level of usage: common words; literal words; colloquial words; slang words;

technical words

(3)By notion: function words and content words

4.Function words & content words [P 17]

Function words are often short words such as determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, auxiliaries, and so forth. Functions words behave like grammatical signals or functional markers, expressing the kinds of connection between content words.

5.Morpheme definition [P 21]

The morpheme is the smallest meaningful linguistic unit of language, not divisible or analyzable into smaller forms.

6.Allomorphs [P 22]

An allomorph is any of the variant forms of a morpheme as conditioned by position or adjoining sounds.

7.Classification of morphemes [P 23]

A.Free morphemes and bound morphemes

B.Roots and affixes

8.区分Inflectional affixes 和Derivational affixes [P 25]

9.Definition of root stem and base [P 33]

(1)Root: A root is a form which is not further analyzable, either in terms of

derivational or inflectional morphology.

(2)A stem is of concern only when dealing with inflectional morphology….

Inflectional (but not derivational) affixes are added to it: it is the part of the word-form which remains when all inflectional affixes have been removed.

(3)A base is any form to which affixes if any kind can be added; it may also be

defined as”a form to which a rule of word-formation is applied”.

10.Differences of root, stem and base [P 33]

(1)Any root or stem can be termed a base. But a base differs from a root, in that

the former is a derivationally analyzable form to which derivational affixes are added, while the latter is a form which permits no further analysis.

(2)A base is also different from a stem since both derivational and inflectional

affixes can be attached to a base, whereas only inflectional affixes can be added to a stem.

11.Definition of derivation [P 42]

Derivation may be defined as a process of forming new words by the addition of a word element, such as a prefix, suffix or combining form, to an already existing word.

12.Classifications of prefixes [P 44] (给定前缀须知意思，连线题)

(1)“negative” prefixes: un-, non-, in-, dis-, a-

(2)“reversative or privative” prefixes: un-, de-, dis-

(3)“pejorative” prefixes: mis-, mal-, pseudo-

(4)“prefixes of degree or size”: arch-, super-, out-, sub-, over-, under-, hyper-,

ultra-, mini-

(5)Prefixes of attitude: co-, counter-, anti-, pro-

(6)“locative” prefixes: super-, sub-, inter-, trans-

(7)Prefixes of time and order: fore-, pre-, post-, ex-, re-

(8)“number” prefixes: uni-/mono-, bi-/di-, tri-, multi-/poly-

(9)A miscellaneous catalogue: auto-, neo-, pan-, proto-, semi-, vice-

13.Classifications of suffixes [P 49]

(1)According to the word-class o the word they form

(2)According to the kind of base

14.Differences between initialisms and acronyms [P 72]

Initialism is a type of shortening, using the first letters of words to form a proper name, a technical term, or a phrase; an initialism is pronounced letter by letter.

Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of the name of an organization or a scientific term, etc. Acronyms differ from initialisms in that they are pronounced as words rather than as sequences of letters.

15.Clipping [P 75]

The process of clipping involves the deletion of one or more syllables from a word, which is also available in its full form.

16.Blending [P 77]

Blending is the process of word-formation in which a new word is formed by combining the meanings and sounds of two words, one of which is not in its full form or both of which are not in their full forms.

17.Conventionality [P 93]

Most English words are conventional, arbitrary symbols; consequently, there is no intrinsic relation between the sound-symbol and its sense.

A more convincing evidence of the conventional and arbitrary nature of the

connection between sound-symbol and meaning can be illustrated by a set of homophones.

18.Lexical meaning [P 97] 填空

Lexical meaning may be subdivided into denotative meaning, connotative meaning, social meaning and affective meaning.

19.Two process leading to polysemy [P 111]

There are two important process in the development of word meaning: radiation and concatenation.

20.Types of homonyms 对其进行区分[P 115]

(1)Perfect homonyms: Words identical in sound and spelling but different in

meaning are called perfect homonyms. E.g. lie, page, base.

(2)Homophones: Words identical in sound but different in spelling and meaning

are called homophones. E.g. bear/bare, dear/ deer, air/heir, pair/pear.

(3)Homographs: Words identical in spelling but different in sound and meaning

are called homographs. E.g. lead, sow, tear.

21.文体效果

Polysemic and homonymous words are stylistically useful to achieve humor or irony, or to heighten dramatic effect. [P 121]

Synonyms, therefore, are extremely valuable stylistically in helping to avoid monotonous repetition and in achieving precision. [P 133]

22.Definition and types of antonym 需举例[P 136]

Definition: the term antonym is used for “oppositeness of meaning”; words that are opposite are antonyms.

Types:

(1)On the basis of semantic contrast

○1Contraries: Contraries or contrary terms display a type of semantic contrast, illustrated by such pairs as rich and poor, heavy and light.

○2Complementaries: Complementaries or contradictories represent a type of binary semantic opposition. The assertion of one of the items implies the denial of the other; an entity cannot be both at once. E.g. alive and dead, single and married present and absent.

○3Conversives: Another important type of binary opposition. E.g. lend and borrow, husband and wife, employer and employee, above and below.

(2)On the basis of morphological structure

○1Root antonyms: E.g. deep and shallow, love and hate, up and down.

○2Derivational antonyms: Words with the same roots having negative affixes.

E.g. happy and unhappy, possible and impossible, loyal and disloyal, prewar

and postwar, harmful and harmless.

23.简答Two types of contexts [P 152]

The meanings of words, especially those of polysemous words may be viewed as determined either by linguistic (or verbal) contexts or extra-linguistic (or nonverbal) contexts.

(1)Linguistic context: The three main types of linguistic context are the lexical,

grammatical, and verbal context in its broad sense.

(2)Extra-linguistic context/ Context of situation

（不会答，求高人解答)

24.Linguistic cause 简答[P 172]

Change of meaning is frequently brought about by two tendencies in a linguistic system: towards ellipsis and towards analogy.

25.Four Tendencies in Semantic Change 连线题[P 176]

A.Restriction of meaning(specialization);

B.Extension of meaning(generalization);

C.Degeneration of meaning(pejoration);

D.Elevation of meaning (amelioration).

26.The common categories of metonymy 连线题[P 187]

A.Sign for the person or thing signified: e.g. from the cradle to the grave; the

Cross; bloodshed; crown, scepter, throne.

B.Container for its contents; the place for the people occupying it: e.g. the

bottle; wardrobe; the town; the chair.

C.The abstract for the concrete: e.g. a beauty; the pride; authority or authorities;

the management; the press.

D.The concrete for the abstract: e.g. tongue; name; seat; the floor; brain; ear.

E. A part for the whole and vice versa: for a part to indicate the whole, we have

following examples: a sail; hand; head. The whole may be named for a part,

e.g. the smiling year; the army; a country.

F.The material for the thing made: silver; nickel; plastic; nylons; marble;

rubbers.

27.填空题[P 191]

To sum up, an idiom may be defined as a combination of two or more words which are usually structurally fixed and semantically opaque, and function as a single unit of meaning. It is an established form, one that has been accepted by traditional usage. As such, the component words, word order and meaning of each idiom should be learned as a whole.