1. The definition of the word
2. Motivation
I
The
definition of the word was given already. The importance of
remembering about definitions is that they should indicate the most
essential characteristic features of the notion expressed by the term
under discussion, the features by which this notion is distinguished
from other similar notions.
E.g.
In defining the word one must distinguish it from other linguistic
units, such as phonemes, the morphemes, or the word groups.
Another
term, a
description
enumerates all the essential features of a notion.
The
definition of every basic notion is a very hard task; the definition
of the word is the most difficult in Linguistics because the simplest
word has many different aspects. The aspects are:
1)
It has a sound form because it is a certain arrangement of phonemes;
2)
It has its morphological structure, being also a certain arrangement
of morphemes, when used in actual speech, it may occur in different
word forms, and signal various meanings.
Being
the central
element
of any language system the word is a sort of focus for problems of
Phonology, Lexicology, Syntax, Morphology and also for some other
sciences that have to deal with language and speech, such as
Philosophy and Psychology etc.
The
characteristic
features of
a word are different depending in the science field where it is
studied. That’s why the variants of definitions were so numerous
and different in character.
E.g.
This example will show that any definition is conditioned by the aims
and interests of its authors. Thomas Hobbes, one of the great English
philosophers, revealed a materialistic approach to the problem of
nomination when he wrote that words are not mere sounds but names of
matter. Three centuries later Russian physiologist Pavlov examined
the word in connection with signal that can substitute any other
signal from the environment in evoking a response in a human
organism.
We
know such a phenomenon as a machine-translation.
It also deals with words (but by words is meant “a sequence of
graphemes which can occur between spaces”).
Within
the scope of Linguistics the word has been defined syntactically,
semantically, phonologically and by combining various approaches.
Words
seldom occur in isolation. They are arranged in certain patterns
conveying the relations between the thongs for which they stand,
therefore alongside with the lexical they possess some grammatical
meaning.
There
is one more, very important characteristics of the word, it is its
indivisibility:
Sapir says “It cannot cut into without a disturbance of meaning”.
E.g.
Compare a lion- alive (a as an article and a as a prefix).
A
purely semantic treatment can be found in Stephen Ullman’s
explanation: From the semantic point of view, “will fall into a
number of meaningful segments which are ultimately composed of
meaningful units. These units are called words”.
The
semantic phonological approach may be illustrated by Gardiner’s
definition: “A word is an articulate sound symbol in its aspect of
denoting something which is spoken about”.
The
French linguist Millet combines the semantic, phonological and
grammatic criteria and advances a formula which underlines many
definitions: “A word is defined by the association of a given
meaning with a given group of sounds susceptible of a given
grammatical employment”. We can take this formula together with the
statement that the word is the smallest significant unit of a given
language, capable of functioning alone. This addition is very
important to differentiate between a phoneme, morpheme and a word.
II
The
term motivation
is used to denote the relationship existing between the morphemic or
phonemic composition and structural pattern of the word on the one
hand, and its meaning on the other. There are three main types of
motivation: phonetical motivation, morphological and semantic
motivation.
E.g.
The word hiss is motivated by a certain similarity between the sounds
which make it up, and those referred to by the sense: its motivation
is phonetical.
Examples are also: bang, buzz, giggle, whistle etc.
The
derived word rethink is motivated in as much as its morphological
structure suggests the idea of thinking again. Its motivation is
morphological.
Semantic
motivation is based on the co-existence of direct and figurative
meanings, i.e. of the old sense and new within the same synchronous
system.
E.g.
Mouth continues to denote a part of the human face, and at the same
time it can mean metaphorically any opening or outlet: the mouth of a
river, for instance. In its direct meaning the word mouth is not
motivated, so that semantic motivation is also only relative.
If
there is no influence of other words on the word under discussion,
the word under discussion is said to be non-motivated (there is no
connections between the phonetical structure of the word and its
meaning).
The
difference between motivated and non-motivated words is that between
a symbol and a sign. The sign simply points to a meaning. The meaning
of a symbol is not arbitrary but depends upon its structure.
From
the historical point of view, motivation changes in the course of
time. Words that are non-motivated at present may have lost their
motivation due to changes in the vocabulary, their motivation is said
to be faded.
E.g.
The verb earn doesn’t suggest any necessary connection with
agriculture at present. It is purely conventional; historical
analysis shows that it is derived from OE earnian “to harvest”.
In ME this connection no longer exists, the motivation is lost and
earn is now a non-motivated word.
Some
linguists consider one more type of motivation – sound
symbolism.
Some words are supposed to illustrate the meaning more immediately
than do ordinary words. Their sound form is very closely connected
with the meaning. Examples are: flap, flip, flop, flash, glare,
glitter; sleet, slime, slush, where fl is associated with quick
movement, gl – with light and fire, sl – mud.
It’s
practically enough about fundamentals of Lexicology. Now we come to
the methods used to deal with these problems.
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General problems of the teory of the word. Motivation Made by: Pulatova Aiken
Aim Select all the problems of theory of words and find out more about them
Plan 1. General problems of theory of the word. 2. The structure of the word. Types of morphemes and their specific features. 3. Affixation. 4. Conversion. 5. Composition. 6. Shortening.
The problems associated with the definition of the word have always been most complex and remain disputable. Determining the word involves considerable difficulties for the criteria employed in establishing it are of different character and each language presents a separate system with its own patterns of vocabulary items, its specific types of structural units and its own ways of distinguishing them. The matteris that the simplest word has many different aspects. It has a sound form because it is a certain arrangement of phonemes.
It has its morphological structure, being acertain arrangement of morphemes. Being the central element of any language system, the word is a sort of focus for the problems of phonology, lexicology, syntax, morphology and also some other sciences that have to deal with language and speech, such as philosophy, psychology and probably quiteafew other branches of knowledge. All attempts to characterise the word are necessarily specificfor each domain of science and are considered one-sided by the representatives of all the other domains and criticised for incompleteness,
2. The Structure of the Word. Types of Morphemes and their Specific Features A word has at least one lexical morpheme represented by a root by which we mean the ultimate constituent element which remains after the removal of affixes and it does not admit any further analysis. It is the common element of words within a word -family. It is the primary element of the word, its basic part conveys its fundamental lexical meaning. There are many rootmorphemes which can stand alone as words: table, car chair, room. It is one of the specific features of the English language. Free morphemes can be found only among roots. But not all roots are free morphemes. Only productive roots are free.
Affixation is the creation of a word by modifying its root with an affix. It is a very productive type of word formation. Prefixes modify the lexical meaning of stems to which they are added. A prefixal derivative usually joins the part of speech the unprefixed word belongs to. e. g. : definite – indefinite; convenient – inconvenient. In a suffixal derivative the suffix does not only modify the lexical meaning of the stem it is affixed to, but the word itself is usually transferred to another part of speech. e. g. : care(N) – careless (A), good (A) – goodness (N).
4. Conversion (zero derivation, root formation, functional change) is the process of coining a new word in a different part of speech and with different distribution characteristics but without adding any derivative element, so that the basic form of the original and the basic form of derived words are homonymous. This phenomenon can be illustrated by the following cases: work – to work, love – to love, water – to water. Many affixes are homonymous and therefore the general sound pattern does not contain any information as to the possible part of speech. e. g. : maiden (N), darken (V), woollen (A), often (Adv).
6. Shortening Word-building processes involve not only qualitative but also quantitative changes. As a type of word-building shortening of spoken words also called clipping, curtailment or contraction, is recorded in the English language as far back as 15 century. It is another fairly productive way of vocabulary enrichment. The moving force behind it is economy of effort expressed in the trend towards monosyllabism that has always been characteristic of the English vocabulary. The characteristic feature of graphical abbreviations is that they are restricted in use to written speech, occurring only in various kinds of texts, articles, books. In reading many of them are substituted by the words and phrases that they represent: Mr (Mister), Oct. (October). It is natural that some graphical abbreviations should gradually penetrate into the sphere of oral intercourse : SOS (Save our Souls), MP (Member of Parliament).
The words formed from the initial letters of each of the successive or major parts of a compound term are called acronyms: the USA (United States of America), the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), WASP (Women’s Air Force Service Pilots), США (Сполучені Штати Америки), ООН (Організація Об’єднаних Націй). They are used as words and if an abbreviation that has a wide currency is inconvenient for articulation, it is sometimes altered: W. R. N. S. (Women’s Royal Naval Service) was difficult to pronounce, so it was changed to WRENS. There are two possible ways of reading acronymsin the English language. If the abbreviated written form can be read as though it were an ordinary English word it will be read like one: the NATO, the UNESCO, the UNO. The second way of reading acronyms is reading according to the ABC: BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation), G. I. (Government Issue).
Conclusion In this presentation, I learned for myself the problem of vocabulary words and their meaning
Two of these have already been underlined. The problem of word-building is associated with prevailing morphological word-structures and with processes of making new words. Semantics is the study of meaning. Modern approaches to this problem are characterised by two different levels of study: syntagmatic and paradigmatic.
On the syntagmatic level, the semantic structure of the word is analysed in its linear relationships with neighbouring words in connected speech. In other words, the semantic characteristics of the word are observed, described and studied on the basis of its typical contexts.
On the paradigmatic level, the word is studied in its relationships with other words in the vocabulary system. So, a word may be studied in comparison with other words of similar meaning (e. g. work, n. — labour, n.; to refuse, v. — to reject v. — to decline, v.), of opposite meaning (e. g. busy, adj. — idle, adj.; to accept, v, — to reject, v.), of different stylistic characteristics (e. g. man, n. — chap, n. — bloke, n. — guy, n.). Consequently, the main problems of paradigmatic studies are synonymy (see Ch. 9, 10), antonymy (see Ch. 10), functional styles (see Ch. 1, 2).
Phraseology is the branch of lexicology specialising in word-groups which are characterised by stability of structure and transferred meaning, e. g. to take the bull by the horns, to see red, birds of a feather, etc. (see Ch. 12, 13).
One further important objective of lexicological studies is the study of the vocabulary of a language as a system. The vocabulary can be studied synchronically, that is, at a given stage of its development, or diachronically, that is, in the context of the processes through which it grew, developed and acquired its modern form (see Ch. 3, 4). The opposition of the two approaches accepted in modern linguistics is nevertheless disputable as the vocabulary, as well as the word which is its fundamental unit, is not only what it is now, at this particular stage of the language’s development, but, also, what it was centuries ago and has been throughout its history.
Exercise
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