Курс лекций по лексикологии английского языка для студентов факультетов иностранных языков
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Lectures.on.Le icology1
| SEMINAR No. 6
The vocabulary of a language as a System (continued) Topics for discussion 1.The English vocabulary as an adaptive system. Neologisms. 2.Traditional lexicological grouping. Lexico-grammatical groups. Word-families. 3.The concept of polarity of meaning. Antonyms. Morphological classification of antonyms: absolute or root antonyms and derivational antonyms. Semantic classification of antonyms: antonyms proper, complementaries, conversives. 4.The theory of the semantic field. Common semantic denominator. 5.Thematic or ideographic groups. Common contextual associations, 6.Hyponymy, paradigmatic relation of inclusion. Hyponyms, hyperonyms, equonyms. Exercise 1. Read the following passage. What is understood by semantic fields? Part of the power and flexibility of a language lies in the ability of the speakers to multiply their vocabulary in any given field in the interests of greater precision and clarity. It follows that the more words that are closely associated in meaning the more specific each one's meaning may be in the particular field (irrespective of its uses in other fields). As an organisation becomes more complex and its members more numerous, new ranks and grades appropriately named may be devised, restricting the holders to an exact. Occupations whose operations involve much colour discrimination (paint manufacture, textile manufacture, etc.) develop an extensive technical vocabulary, partly from existing colour words, partly by adding new and specialised meanings to words having reference to coloured things (e.g. magnolia, cream), partly by adapting other words and phrases to give them a definite place in the technical field of colour terms (summer blue, mistletoe green, etc.). Such technical vocabulary may sometimes employ numbers of words unknown to non-technical speakers of the language and devise meanings for other quite different from those they bear outside these specialised contexts. The supreme example of this infinite flexibility is in the use of numerical terms with reference to measurable features of the world, Between any two adjacent number terms another may be added for greater precision; between eleven and twelve may be put eleven and a half, and between eleven and eleven and a half may be put eleven and a quarter, and so on indefinitely. (R.H. Robins. General Linguistics. An Introductory survey.- p. 48-49.) |