Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Basic Concepts of Words and Vocabulary 6
1.1 What Is a Word 6
1.2 Sound and Meaning 7
1.3 Sound and Form 8
1.4 Vocabulary 10
1.5 Classification of Words 10
1.5.1 Basic Word Stock and Nonbasic Vocabulary 11
1.5.2 Content Words and Functional Words 16
1.5.3 Native Words and Borrowed Words 17
Questions and Tasks 20
Chapter 2 The Development of the English Vocabulary 23
2.1 The Indo-European Language Family 23
2.2 A Historical Overview of the English Vocabulary 25
2.2.1 Old English(450-1150) 25
2.2.2 Middle English(1150-1500) 26
2.2.3 Modern English(1500-up to now) 28
2.3 Growth of Present-day English Vocabulary 30
2.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development 31
Questions and Tasks 33
Chapter 3 Word Formation Ⅰ 37
3.1 Morphemes 37
3.2 Allomorphs 38
3.3 Types of Morphemes 39
3.3.1 Free Morphemes 39
3.3.2 Bound Morphemes 39
3.4 Root and Stem 42
Questions and Tasks 44
Chapter 4 Word FormationⅡ 45
4.1 Affixation 46
4.1.1 Prefixation 46
4.1.2 Suffixation 48
4.2 Compounding 51
4.2.1 Characteristics of Compounds 52
4.2.2 Formation of Compounds 53
4.3 Conversion 56
4.4 Blending 63
4.5 Clipping 64
4.6 Acronymy 65
4.6.1 Initialisms 66
4.6.2 Acronyms 66
4.7 Back-formation 67
4.8 Words from Proper Names 69
Questions and Tasks 73
Chapter 5 Word Meaning 81
5.1 The Meanings of‘Meaning’ 81
5.1.1 Reference 81
5.1.2 Concept 82
5.2.1 Onomatopoeic Motivation 83
5.1.3 Sense 83
5.2 Motivation 83
5.2.2 Morphological Motivation 84
5.2.3 Semantic Motivation 85
5.2.4 Etymological Motivation 85
5.3 Types of Meaning 85
5.3.1 Grammatical Meaning and Lexical Meaning 86
5.3.2 Conceptual Meaning and Associative Meaning 87
Questions and Tasks 92
Chapter 6 Sense Relations and Semantic Field 95
6.1 Polysemy 95
6.1.1 Tow Approaches to Polysemy 96
6.1.2 Tow Processes of Development 98
6.2 Homonymy 100
6.2.1 Types of Homonyms 100
6.2.2 Origins of Homonyms 101
6.2.4 Rhetoric Features of Homonyms 102
6.2.3 Differentiation of Homonyms from Polysemant 102
6.3 Synonymy 103
6.3.1 Definition of Synonyms 104
6.3.2 Types of Synonyms 104
6.3.3 Sources of Synonyms 105
6.3.4 Discrimination of Synonyms 107
6.4 Antonymy 111
6.4.1 Types of Antonyms 111
6.4.2 Some of the Characteristics of Antonyms 114
6.4.3 The Use of Antonyms 116
6.5 Hyponymy 117
6.6 Semantic Field 119
Questions and Tasks 123
Chapter 7 Changes in Word Meaning 134
7.1 Types of Changes 135
7.1.1 Extension 135
7.1.2 Narrowing 137
7.1.3 Elevation 138
7.1.4 Degradation 139
7.2 Causes of Changes 141
7.2.1 Extra-linguistic Factors 141
7.2.2 Linguistic Factors 144
Questions and Tasks 145
Chapter 8 Meaning and Context 149
8.1 Types of Context 149
8.1.1 Extra-linguistic Context 150
8.1.2 Linguistic Context 152
8.2 The Role of Context 154
8.2.1 Elimination of Ambiguity 155
8.2.2 Indication of Referents 156
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word-meaning 157
Questions and Tasks 159
9.1.1 Semantic Unity 162
9.1 Characteristics of Idioms 162
Chapter 9 English Idioms 162
9.1.2 Structural Stability 163
9.2 Classification of Idioms 165
9.2.1 Idioms Nominal in Nature 165
9.2.2 Idioms Adjectival in Nature 166
9.2.3 Idioms Verbal in Nature 166
9.2.4 Idioms Adverbial in Nature 168
9.2.5 Sentence Idioms 168
9.3 Use of Idioms 169
9.3.1 Stylistic Features 169
9.3.2 Rhetorical Features 173
9.3.3 Variations of Idioms 176
Questions and Tasks 179
Chapter 10 English Dictionaries 184
10.1 Types of Dictionaries 184
10.1.1 Monolingual and Bilingual Dictionaries 184
10.1.2 Linguistic and Encyclopedic Dictionaries 185
10.1.3 Unabridged,Desk and Pocket Dictionaries 186
10.1.4 Specialized Dictionaries 188
10.2 Use of Dictionaries 188
10.2.1 Choice of Dictionaries 188
10.2.2 Content of the Dictionary 191
10.2.3 Use of the Dictionary 194
10.3 Three Good General Dictionaries 195
10.3.1 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English(LDCE) New Edition(1987) 195
10.3.2 Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary(CCELD)(1987) 198
10.3.3 A Chinese-English Dictionary(Revised Edition)(CED)(1995) 200
Questions and Tasks 202
Suggested Answers 205
Reference Books 222
英语词汇学术语英汉对照表 227
后记 238
英语词汇学自学考试大纲 239