Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 What Is Lexicology? 1
1.2 English Lexicology and Its Relation to Other Disciplines 1
1.3 Methods of Study 3
1.4 Aims and Significance of the Course 3
Exercises 4
Chapter 2 Basic Concepts of Words and Vocabulary 5
2.1 Definition of a Word 5
2.2 Sound and Meaning 6
2.3 Sound and Form 7
2.4 Vocabulary 8
2.5 Classification of Words 8
Exercises 12
Chapter 3 The Developing English Vocabulary 13
3.1 The Indo-European Language Family 13
3.2 A Historical Overview of the English Vocabulary 14
3.3 Growth of Present-Day English Vocabulary 18
3.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development 20
Exercises 22
Chapter 4 Morphological Structure and Word-Formation 25
4.1 The Concept of Morpheme and the Types of Morphemes 25
4.2 The Three Major Processes of Word-Formation 27
4.3 The Minor Processes of Word-Formation 44
Exercises 54
Chapter 5 Word Meaning,Polysemy and Homonymy 56
5.1 Motivation 56
5.2 Main Types of Word Meaning 58
5.3 Componential Analysis and Semantic Features 70
5.4 Polysemy 73
5.5 Homonymy 74
Exercises 77
Chapter 6 Sense Relations Between Words 80
6.1 Synonymy 80
6.2 Antonymy 87
6.3 Hyponymy 94
6.4 Semantic Field 95
Exercises 97
Chapter 7 Changes in Word Meaning 100
7.1 Causes of Changes in Word Meaning 100
7.2 Four Tendencies in Semantic Change 107
7.3 Semantic Changes Resulting from the Figurative Use of Words 115
Exercises 120
Chapter 8 Meaning and Context 123
8.1 Types of Contexts 123
8.2 The Role of Context in Deciding Word Meaning 128
8.3 How to Guess Word Meaning from Context 134
Exercises 141
Chapter 9 English Idioms 144
9.1 Definition of Idioms 144
9.2 Sources of English Idioms 145
9.3 Classification of English Idioms 152
9.4 Syntactic,Structural and Styl istic Features 164
9.5 Beware of Translation Traps 172
Exercises 176
Chapter 10 American English 181
10.1 Growth of American English 182
10.2 Characteristics of American English 186
10.3 Differences Between British and American English 194
10.4 Conclusion 218
Exercises 219
Appendix English-Chinese Lexicology Terms 221
Bibliography 229