English LexicologyClassification of English Words

Week 2 Instructor: LIU Hongyong

Words have magic powers!

Innumerable instances can be found where people act as though the name of a thing has power equivalent to that thing.

_ 梅 _ 渴

_ 饼 _ _

It may not be utter superstition. There is also wisdom in the idioms. Then how should we

treat our culture and tradition?

The photograph, taken in July 1888 in Brewster, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, shows eight-year-old Helen Keller seated next to her teacher, Anne Sullivan, as they hold hands.

Helen Keller is an inspiration for all generations. The spilling of water and Anne’s spelling of the word w-a-t-e-r into Helen’s palm made Helen understand the magic power of words.

Classification of English Words:Use: common, literary, colloquial, slang, technical

Common words are connected with the ordinary things or activities in everyday life. The core of the common words constitutes the basic word stock.

Classification of English Words:Use: common, literary, colloquial, slang, technical

Literary words are chiefly used in writing. In English most of the literary words are of French, Latin or Greek origin.

endeavour (try) edifice (building)

visualize (foresee) matrimony (marriage)

purchase (buy) locate (find)

Among literary words, two categories are noteworthy: archaic words & poetical words.

Archaic words are words no longer in common use, although they existed for special purposes, such as in poetry, legal documents, religious speeches, etc.

behold (see) belike (probably)

perchance (by chance, possibly)

Archaic words are marked arch. (aic) in dictionaries.

Archaic words （古语） should not be confused with obsolete words （废词） , which are completely out of current use.

chaise, landau, victoria, gig

(horse wagon in the 19th century: )

Among literary words, two categories are noteworthy: archaic words & poetical words.

Poetic words are words that are traditionally used only in poetry.

array (dress) the deep (the sea)

stead (horse) morn (morning)

She put on her finest array.

她穿上了最漂亮的衣服。

Colloquial Words

Colloquial words are used mainly in conversation. They can also be used in informal writing, but definitely inappropriate in formal speech or writing.

Feeling fatigued, Tom retired early. (literary)

Tom felt so dog-tired. He hit the sack early. (colloquial)

John was dismissed for petty thieving. (common)

John was fired for petty thieving. (colloquial)

Slang Words

Slang words are words of vigorous, colorful, or taboo nature, invented for specific uses, or derived from the unconventional use of the standard vocabulary.

Slang Words

Slang words include those daring and new expressions that have not been accepted by the majority of people as standard English. (buzz ‘telephone call’, nuthouse ‘mental hospital’, spiel ‘persuasive speech’)

Slang Words

Slang words may die if their novelty has worn off. Some slang words may become colloquial words, and some may even become standard words (mob, fun, bet, coax, job)

Technical Words

Technical words refer to those words used in various special fields. They are also called jargons.

Many technical neologisms (new words) created yesterday by specialists are today heard in ordinary conversation, e.g.space walk, moonwalk, radioactivity. When this happens, the technical words become popular words.

Content words(open class)

Function words(closed class)

Verbs auxiliariesprepositions

WordsWords

NounsAdjectives

Adverbsconjunctions

determiners…

Helping a language have Helping a language have lexical meaningslexical meanings

Helping a language Helping a language build structures (grammatical build structures (grammatical meaning)meaning)

flesh & bloodflesh & blood bones & tendonsbones & tendons

Classification of English Words:Notion: function words and content words

open class vs. closed Class

The closed classes contain the so-called ‘grammatical’ or ‘function’ words. They are small classes, with a restricted and largely unchanging membership.

The open classes are large classes, and they are constantly added to. The members of the open classes are the ‘content’ words.

DiscussionThe first stanza of the ‘Jabberwocky’ song in Lewis Carrol

l’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865).

’Twas brilling, and the slithy tovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe:All mimsy were the boro-goves,And the mome raths out-grabe.

1) identify the grammatical category that each word must or most probably belong to;

2) single out words whose category seems difficult to determine;3) rewrite this stanza with English words, using your own imaginatio

n, and upload it to our course blog.

Answer

’Twas raining, and the aging treesDid weep and wail in the ode:All sweaty were the chimpanzees,And the busy rats burrowed .

Classification of English Words:Origin: native words and loan words

Native words are words brought to Britain in the fifth century by the German tribes: the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. Words of Anglo-Saxon origin are small in number, but they form the basic word stock of the English language.

Words borrowed from other languages are loan (borrowed) words.

Loan words

According to the degree of assimilation, loan words can be divided into denizen and alien.

Denizens are words well assimilated into English, in conformity with the English way of pronunciation and spelling; sometimes they can take an English affix.

fault (French by origin)+ the English suffix –lessThe English prefix un- +certain (French by origin)

Loan words

Aliens are borrowed words which have retained their original pronunciation and spelling.

coup d’etat ( 政变）genre （题材；流派）kowtow ( 磕头 )

bazaar ( 集市 )

The Basic Word Stock

It includes the most frequently used words that are essential to life, and words denoting the most fundamental things of life.

National character: they are known to everybody. Stability: they are likely to remain unchanged. Productivity: they are active in forming new words. Ability to form collocation: basic words combine

readily with other words to form habitual phrases.

Native words vs. loan words

Despite large-scale borrowings over the centuries, the major part of words spoken and written by English-speaking people, however, are native words, the nine most frequently used being and, be, have, it, of, the, to, will, and you. Borrowed words are nevertheless extremely useful in enriching the vocabulary and making the language flexible and resourceful.”