Unit 1 Introduction 1
1.1 The Rapid Development of English 2
1.2 The Demand for English 4
1.3 The Future of English 6
Exercises 6
Unit 2 The Development of Engiish Vocabulary 9
2.1 English in Relation to Language Families and Its Development 9
2.2 The Indo-European Language Family 9
2.3 Native Words and Borrowed Words 10
2.4 English People and English Vocabulary 12
2.5 The Divisions of The History of The English Language 16
2.6 The Perfection of The English Language 23
Exercises 26
Unit 3 Lexicology and Some Concepts of Words and Vocabulary 30
3.1 Definition of Lexicology 30
3.2 Connection of Lexicology with Other Branches of Linguistics 30
3.3 Two Approaches to The Study of English Lexicology 32
3.4 Aims and Significance of The Course of English Lexicology 33
3.5 Some Basic Concepts of Words and Vocabulary 34
3.6 Classification of Words 35
3.7 Word Structure 37
Exercises 46
Unit 4 Word-formation 49
4.1 Derivation ＆ Affixation 49
4.2 Compounding(Compound/Composition) 55
4.3 Conversion 57
4.4 Abbreviation 61
4.5 Blending 62
4.6 Back-formation 63
4.7 Onomatopoeia 63
4.8 Word from Proper Names 64
Exercises 65
Unit 5 Word Meaning 68
5.1 The Meaning of The Words 69
5.2 Relationship between Meaning and The Object 72
5.3 Meaning and Motivation 72
5.4 Main Types of Word Meaning 73
Exercises 79
Unit 6 Sense Relations（Ⅰ） 82
6.1 Introduction 82
6.2 Polysemy and Homonymy 82
6.3 Homonymy 87
6.4 Semantic Fields 90
6.5 Componential Analysis 91
6.6 Ambiguity and Vagueness 92
6.7 What Is A Vague Word? 94
Exercises 95
Unit 7 Sense Relations（Ⅱ） 98
7.1 Introduction 98
7.2 Synonymy and Synonyms 98
7.3 Association and Collocation 105
7.4 Antonymy and Antonyms 107
7.5 Some Characteristics of Antonyms and The Use of Antonyms 109
7.6 Hyponymy 111
7.7 Hyponymy and Meronymy 112
Exercises 113
Unit 8 Changes in Word Meaning 124
8.1 Changes in Meaning 124
8.2 Four Tendencies in Semantic Change 125
8.3 Semantic Change from The Literal Use of Words to Their Figurative Use 130
8.4 Why Does Language Change? 135
8.5 Neologisms 135
8.6 Causes of Changes 137
Exercises 139
Unit 9 Context and Meaning 145
9.1 Types of Context 145
9.2 Clues for Inferring Word Meaning in Context 147
Exercises 149
Unit 10 English Idioms 157
10.1 The Definition of Idioms 157
10.2 The Significances of Studying English Idioms 157
10.3 Sources of Idioms 158
10.4 The Features of English Idioms 158
10.5 English Idioms in Different Styles 163
10.6 Classification of English Idioms 164
10.7 Using Idioms 176
Exercises 178
Unit 11 British and American English 181
11.1 British and American English 182
11.2 The Historical Background of American English 184
11.3 Differences between British English and American English 185
11.4 Characteristics of American English 187
11.5 Two Contrasting Word-lists 187
11.6 British and American English in The Future 197
Exercises 197
Unit 12 English Dictionaries 199
12.1 The Development of Dictionaries 199
12.2 Types of Dictionaries 208
12.3 Using A Dictionary 209
Exercises 214
Keys to Exercises 218
Glossary 229
Bibliography 234