Chapter 1 Language,Linguistics and Lexicology 1
1-1-1:A Definition of Language 1
1-1-2:Language,Society and Thought 2
Chapter 4
1-2-1:A Definition of Linguistics 4
1-2-2:The Scope of Linguistics 5
1-3-1:What Is Lexicology? 5
1-3-2:Aims and Significance of the Course of English Lexicology 5
1-3-3:The Connection of Lexicology with Other Branches of Linguistics 7
1.With phonetics 7
2.With grammar 7
3.With stylistics 7
4.With historical linguistics 8
1-3-4:Two Approaches to the Study of English Lexicology 8
2-1-1:The English People and the English Language 11
2-1-2:The Position and Character of the English Language in the Indo-European Family 11
Chapter 2 The Sources of the English Vocabulary 11
2-1-3:The Divisions of the History of the English Language 12
2-1-4:Some Characteristics of Old English 13
2-1-5:Some Characteristics of Middle English 15
2-1-6:Some Characteristics of Modern English 17
2-2-1:Words of Native Origin 21
1.The polysemic character of native words in English 21
2.The collocability of native words in English 22
3.Word-forming ability of native words in Modern English 23
1.Causes and means of borrowings into English 24
2-2-2:Borrowed Words in the English Vocabulary 24
2.Four groups of loan-words 25
2-3-1:The Foreign Elements in the English Vocabulary 27
2-3-2:The Scandinavian Element in the English Vocabulary 28
2-3-3:The French Element in the English Vocabulary 30
1.French loan-words in the Middle English period 32
2.French loan-words after the Middle English period 34
2-3-4:The Latin Element in the English 34
Vocabulary 34
2.The first period of Latin influence 35
1.The zero period of Latin influence 35
3.The second period of Latin influence 36
4.The third period of Latin influence 37
5.The fourth period of Latin influence 37
2-3-5:The Greek Element in the English Vocabulary 38
1.Words relating to literature 38
2.Words relating to linguistics 39
3.Words relating to natural sciences 39
4.Words relating to social sciences 39
5.Words relating to medicine 39
2．The richness of the classical elements in the English vocabulary 40
1．The preciseness of meaning of the classical elements 40
2-3-6:The Influence of the Classical Elements upon the English Vocabulary 40
3．The cosmopolitan character of the classical elements 41
2-3-7:Other Foreign Elements in the English Vocabulary 42
2-3-8:Interrelation between the Native and Foreign Elements in the English Vocabulary 44
Chapter 3 Word Meaning and Semantic Relations 46
3-1-1:Some General Remarks on Semantics 46
and Meaning 46
3-1-2:The Relationship between Meaning and the Object 49
3-2-1:What Is a Word? 50
3-2-2:Meaning and Motivation 52
1.Phonetic motivation 52
2.Grammatical motivation 53
3.Motivation by meaning 53
3-3-1:Classifications of Words 54
1.According to the lexical meaning and grammatical function of words 54
2.According to the usage of words 54
3.According to the character of words 56
4.According to motivation 57
5.According to polysemy and monosemy 57
6.According to the origin 57
2.Lexical meaning 58
3.Contextual meaning 58
1.Grammatical meaning 58
3-3-2:Main Types of Word Meaning 58
4.Denotative meaning 59
5.Connotative meaning 59
6.Stylistic meaning 59
3-3-3:Word Meaning and Context 62
3-4-1:Synonyms 66
1.What are synonyms? 66
2.The source of synonyms 67
3.The significance of studying synonyms 69
4.Absolute synonyms and relative 70
synonyms 70
2.Types of antonyms 73
3-4-2:Antonyms 73
1.What are antonyms? 73
3.Different antonyms of one word 76
4.Use of antonyms 77
3-4-3:Polysemy and Homonymy 79
1.The definition of polysemy 79
2.Two main processes of sense-shift 79
3.The definition of homonymy and homonyms 82
4.The classification of homonyms 82
5.Three ways of forming homonyms 87
1.The definition of neologisms 90
The Changing English Vocabulary 90
4-1-1:Neologisms 90
2.The rate of changes of the English vocabulary 91
3.The sources of new words 91
4.The formation of neologisms 105
4-1-2:Archaisms 111
1.The definition of archaisms 111
2.The reasons for the disappearance of words 111
3.Obsolete words may be still used at the present time 112
4-2-1:Changes in Meaning 116
1.Historical causes 116
4.Linguistic causes 117
2.Social causes 117
3.Psychological causes 117
4-2-2:Four Tendencies in Semantic Changes 118
1.Extension of meaning(Generalization) 118
2.Narrowing of meaning(Specialization) 123
3.Elevation of meaning(Amelioration) 126
4.Degradation of meaning(Deterioration) 127
4-2-3:Semantic Changes from the Literal Use of Words to Their Figurative Use 130
1.Metaphor 130
2.Metonymy 140
3.Synecdoche 145
4.Euphemism 146
5-1-1:Introduction 151
1.Morphological structure and classification of words 151
Chapter 5 Word-formation in English 151
2.Two types of morphemes 152
3.Three types of words 153
4.Root,base,stem 154
5-2-1:The Main Processes of English Word-formation 162
1.Prefixation 163
2.Suffixation 206
3.Conversion 236
4.Compounding 253
1.Clipping or shortening 271
5-2-2:The Minor Processes of English Word-formation 271
2.Acronyms 273
3.Blending 277
4.Back-formation 279
5.Forming new words by analogy 281
6.Onomatopoeia 283
Chapter 6 English Idioms 285
6-1-1:The Definition of Idioms 285
6-1-2:The Significance of Studying English Idioms 286
6-1-3:The Features of English Idioms 287
1.Idioms used in colloquial style 291
6-1-4:English Idioms in Different Styles 291
2.Idioms used in any situation 292
3.Idioms used in formal situations 293
4.Idioms used as slang 293
6-1-5:The Difference between Idiomatic and Free Phrases 294
6-2-1:Classification of English Idioms 295
1.Idiomatic expressions with specific grammatical structures 295
2.Phrases identified with the familiar parts of speech 298
3.Idioms not correlative with a given 309
grammatical part of speech 309
4.Idioms expressing greeting,surprise,praise or criticism 313
5.Proverbs 314
6-2-2:English Idioms around Different Subjects 316
1.Idioms containing names of birds and animals 317
2.Idioms containing names of parts of the human body 318
3.Idioms involving colors 320
4.Idioms containing words related to clothes 321
5.Idioms involving time 322
6.Idioms involving flowers and plants 323
7.Idioms containing words related to fruit 324
8.Idioms containing words related to shapes and measures 325
Chapter 7 British and American English 327
7-1-1:English as a Language of World-wide Use 327
7-1-2:British and American English 329
7-1-3:The Historical Background of American English 332
7-2-1:Differences between British English and American English 334
7-2-2:Differences in Individual Sounds 335
7-2-3:Differences in Stress 337
7-2-4:Differences in Spelling 338
7-2-5:Differences in Vocabulary 340
7-2-6:Differences in Grammar 352
7-3-1:Two Contrasting Word-lists 356
7-3-2:British and American English in the Future 370
8-1-1:What Is a Dictionary? 372
Chapter 8 English Dictionaries and How to Use Them 372
8-1-2:Characteristics of Dictionaries 374
8-2-1:Types of Dictionaries 375
8-2-2:Monolingual,Bilingual and Multilingual Dictionaries 375
8-2-3:General and Special Dictionaries 376
8-2-4:Pocket,Medium-sized and Unabridged Dictionaries 378
8-2-5:Synchronic and Diachronic Dictionaries 378
8-2-6:Encyclopedias and Encyclopedic Dictionaries 379
8-3-1:The History of English Dictionaries 381
8-3-2:Five Periods in the History of English Dictionaries 384
8-4-1:How to Use English Dictionaries 385
Bibliography 393