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Tài liệu dành cho việc ôn thi môn từ vựng, ngữ nghĩa học của các bạn sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng anh tại các trường Đại học ngoại ngữ. Tài liệu chắt lọc những phần kiến thức cơ bản, gần với kiến thức trong câu hỏi đề thi.
1. Major peculiarities of the word: (Đặc tính chủ yếu của từ) - External of structure of the word = morphological structure (cấu trúc bề mặt = cấu trúc hình thái học). E.g: post-impressionists: external structure of this word is constituted by the following morphemes (cấu trúc hình thái được tạo nên từ các hình vị sau): - the prefixes: post-, im- - the root: press - the noun-forming suffixes: -ion, -ist - the grammatical suffix of plurality: -s E.g: dishonestly: -the prefix: dis- - the root: honest - the adverd-forming suffix: -ly - Internal structure of the word = its meaning = semantic structure of the word: E.g: manufacture: make smt, in large number, with the help of machinery Creat: make smt, original, requiring skill, dexterity. => Word is a speech unit used for the purposes of human communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterized by formal and semantic unity. 2. The Etymological Structure of English Vocabulary The Native element The borrowed element I. Indo-European element I. Celtic (5-6 th c.A.D) II. Germanic element II. Latin 1 st group: 1 st c.B.C 2 nd group: 7 th c.A.D 3 rd group: the Renaissance period III. English Proper element (not earlier than 5 th c.A.D) III. Scandinavian (8-11 th c.A.D) IV. French 1. Normal borrowings: 11-13 th c.A.D) 2. Parissian borrowings (Renaissance) V. Greek (Renaissance) VI. Italian (Renaissance and later) VII. Spanish (Renaissance and later) VIII. German IX. Indian X. Russian 3. Native Element in English - Articles (mạo từ) - Prepositions (giới từ) - Pronouns (đại từ) - Conjunctions (liên từ) - Auxiliaries (trợ động từ) - words denoting everyday objects and ideas Indo-European Group: - Family relations (từ chỉ các mối quan hệ gia đình): father, mother, brother - Parts of the human body (từ chỉ các bộ phận cơ thể con người): foot, nose, lip - Animals (từ chỉ các loài động vật): cow, swine, goose - Plants (từ chỉ các loại thực vật): corn, tree, birch - Times of day (từ chỉ thời gian trong ngày): day, night - Heavenly bodies (từ chỉ các yếu tố trên không gian): star, moon, sun - Numerous adjectives (tính từ): red, new, glad - Pronouns: personal, demonstrative - Numerous verbs: be, sit, eat Germanic Element: - Parts of the human body: head, hand, arm - Animals: fox, calf, bear - Plants: oak, fir, grass - Natural phenomena: rain, frost - Seasons of the year: winter, spring, summer - Landscape features: sea, land - Human dwellings and furniture: house, room, bench - Sea-going vessels: boat, ship - Adjectives: green, blue, grey, white - Verbs: see, hear, speak, tell, say English Proper 4. The borrowed element 1. Celtic Celtic words: bald, down, glen, druid, bard, cradle Place names, names of rivers, hills (names of many parts and features of their territory): Avon, Exe, Eskm Usk, Ux 2. Latin - 1 st B.C: Names of new fruits and vegetables: butter, cheese, cherry, pear, plum… Some more examples: cup, kitchen, mill - 7st A.D: names of persons, objects, and ideas associated with church and religious rituals - The Renaissance Period: Abstract words (từ trừu tượng): filial, moderate, intelligent, elect, creat Numerous scientific and artistic terms: datum, status, phenomenon, music, phylosophy 3. Scandinavian (8-11 th c.A.D) Ski-: ski, skate, sky, skill, skin 4. French 4.1. Normal borrowings: 11-13 th c.A.D Administrative words: government, council, power, state Legal terms: court, crime, prison, judge, justice Military terms: war, soldier, battle, officer, army Educational terms: pupil, pen, pencil, lesson, library Numerous terms: plate, saucer, autumn, uncle, river 4.2. Parissian borrowings (Renaissance) Police, machine, ballet, matinée, technique 5. Greek (Renaissance) Numerous scientific and artistic terms: cycle, ethics, esthete, atom 6. Italian (Renaissance and later) Opera, alarm, colonel, piano, violin 7. Spanish (Renaissance and later) 8. German 9. Indian 10. Russian 5. Word-building Morphemes: smaller units which constitute the words. Morphemes do not occur as free forms but only constituents of words. Yet they possess meaning of their own. All morphemes are subdivided into 2 large classes: free -> roots (or radicals) and bound -> affixes (prefixes and suffixes) 5.1. Root words: house, book, tree, plant, see, heard -> have only a root morpheme in its structure => conversion The hammer -> to hammer The nail -> to nail Dog -> to dog Wolf -> to wolf Hand -> to hand 5.2. Derived words = a root + an affix (or several affixes) => affixation (or derivation). E.g: invisible, invaluable 5.3. Compound words = 2 or more stems => composition. E.g: dancing-hall, dancing-partner, mother-in-law… Compounds: + Structurally: Neutral compounds: +++ simple neutral compound = affixless stems. E.g: sunflower, bedroom, tallboy… +++ Derivational compounds have affixes in their structure. E.g: absent-mindedness, blue-eyed, music-lover… +++ Contracted compounds have shortened stem in their structure. E.g: TV-set, V-day, H-bag… Morphological compounds. E.g: Anglo-saxon, handiwork, spokesman, sportscar, statesman… Syntactic compounds: lily-of-the-valley, merry-go-round, mother-in- law, up-to-date… + Semantically: basing on the degree of semantic cohesion of the constituent parts, it is divided into 2 groups: Non – Idiomatic compounds: their meanings do not correspond to the separate meanings of their constituent parts: classroom, bedroom, working-man, sleeping-car… Idiomatic compounds: their meanings correspond to the separate meanings of their constituent parts: blackboard, blackbird, football, pickpocket, chatterbox, ladybird, tallboy, bluestocking, butter-finger, man-of-war, merry-go- round, horse-marine… 5.4. Shortenings. E.g: Laboratory-> lab, influenza -> flu + Clipping: airplane -> plane, influenza -> flu, examination -> exam, mathematics -> maths + Abbreviation: NATO = North Atlatic Treaty Organization + Initial Shortenings: Gif = Girl Friend + Blending: Channel + tunnel => Chunnel Camera + recorder => Camcorder Breakfast + lunch => Brunch Spoon + fork => Spork 6. Meaning Generally speaking, Meaning can be more or less described as a component of the word through which a concept is communicated, in this way endowing the word with the ability of denoting real objects, qualities, actions and abstract notions. Types of semantic components: - Denotations (Denotative Components): expresses the conceptual of a word. - Connotations (Connotative Components): E.g: Lonely: alone, without company (Denotation) melancholy, sad (Emotive connotation) Glare: to look (Denotation) steadily, lastingly (Connotation of duration) in anger, rage, etc. (Emotive connotation) CAUSES OF DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MEANINGS - The first group of causes is traditionally termed historical or extra- linguistic. E.g: carriage: a vehicle drawn by horses -> new meaning: a railway car -> the new travelling conveyance was also naturally associated in people’s mind with the old one: horse – drawn vehicle > part of railway train. The job of both, horse-drawn carriage and the railway carriage, is the same: to carry passengers on a journey. - The second group of causes is linguistic factors E.g: deer: any beast ->a certain kind of beast It is important to note that in any case of semantic change, it is not the meaning but the word that is being transferred from one referent onto another. The result of such tranference is the appearance of a new meaning. 2 Types of transference: - Transference based on Resemblance (Similarity): this type of tranference is also refered to as linguistic metaphor. A new meaning appears as a result of associating 2 objects due to their outward similarity. Carriage is an example of this type of tranference. Eye: hole in the end of a needle (kim khâu): based on resemblance of shape. Drop: (a small particle of water or other liquid) -> new meanings: earrings (hoa tai) shaped as drops of water; candy of the same shape (viên kẹo). Bar: original meaning barrier -> developed a figurative meaning realized in such contexts as social bar, colour bar. - Transference based on Contiguity: is refered to linguistic metonymy. The association is based upon subtle psychological links between different objects and phenomena, sometimes traced and identified with much difficulty. 2 objects may be associated together because they often appear in common situations, and so the image of one is easily accompanied be the image of the other; or they may be associated on the principle of cause and effect, of common function, of common position, of some material and an object which is made of it. + Name of a container for what is contained: pint, a bottle (of wine) + Geographical names for the products: china, tweed, cheviot + Proper names as common names: sandwich, volt, watt + Names of material for the product: mink, iron, taffeta + Names of a separate part for a whole thing or vice versa: They live under the same roof. Your car needs servicing. Glad: old meaning: bright, shining (applied to the sun, gold, precious stones, shining armour…) new meaning: joyful developed on the basic of the usual association of light with joy. Hand of the clock: originates from the main meaning of this noun part of human body. It developed due to the association of common function. The result of tranference: 1. Generalization (Broadening) of the meaning: Sometimes, the process of transference may result in a considerable change in range of meaning. The range of the second meaning may be much broader/ more general or more narrow than that of the original meaning. E.g: To arrive (French borrowing): - The original meaning: to come to shore, to land - The second meaning: to come -> to arrive in a village, town, city, at a hotel, hostel, etc. -> The meaning developed through transference based on contiguity Pipe: - The earliest recorded meaning: a musical instrument - The general meaning: any hollow oblong cylindrical body (water pipe) -> The meaning developed through transference based on similarity of shape which finally led to a considerable broadening of the range of meaning. Bird: - The original meaning: young of a bird - The modern meaning: a creature with feathers and wings, usually able to fly -> The modern meaning developed through transference based on contiguity. 2. Specialization (Narrowing) of the meaning: Word The original meaning The narrowing meaning Deer Any beast A certain kind of beast Meat Any food A certain food product Boy Any young person of male sex Servant of the male sex -> In all these words, the second meaning developed through transference based on contiguity. 3. Degeneration/Degradation and elevation of meaning These terms are open to question because they seem to imply (ngụ ý, bao hàm) that meaning can become “better” or “worse” which is neither logical nor plausible (hợp lí). 3.1. Degeneration of meaning Word The original meaning The second meaning Knave Boy Swindler, scoundrel (to denote a person of bad repute or characteristics) Villain Farm-servant, serf Base, vile person -> Semantically speaking, the second meaning developed a negative evaluative connotation which was absent in the first meaning. 3.2. Elevation of meaning Word The first meaning The second meaning 1. Fond Foolish Loving, affectionate The situation is reserved: the first meaning has a negative evaluative connotation, and the second meaning has not. It is difficult to see what is actually “evaluated” here. Certainly, it is not the meaning of the word 2. Nice Foolish Fine, good 3. Tory Brigand, highwayman Member of the Tories The first meaning has a pronounced negative connotation which is absent in the second meaning. Semantically speaking, the first one is just as good as the second, and the difference lies only in the connotative structure 4. Knight Manservant Noble, courageous man The second meaning acquired a positive evaluative connotation that was absent in the first meaning. So, here, once more, we are faced with a mere readjustment of the connotative components of the word 5. Marshal Manservant attending horses The highest rank in the army In these words, the second meaning developed due to the process of transference based on contiguity. Lord and lady are also examples of narrowing of meaning if we compare the range of the original and of the resultant meanings. No connotation of evaluation can be 6. Lord Master of the house, head of the family Baronet (aristocratic title) 7. Lady Mistress of the house, married Wife or daughter of baronet [...]... parts of speech, but have contrasting meanings E.g: cold - warm, sorrow - gaiety, pass - fail, hot - cold, thinner - fatter, true - false, big - small, buy - sell Dull: has the antonyms: - interesting, amusing, entertaining for its meaning of “deficient in interest” - clever, bright, capable for its meaning of “deficient in intellect” - active for the meaning of “deficient in activity” 10.2 Classification... used chiefly in very informal contexts Fast, quick, rapid: may be used interchangeably in reference to smb’s running speed - Fast talker: one who is able to get out of trouble by talking cleverly - Quick talker: one who usually talks in a rapid manner Some ppl may lead their lives in the fast lane, not in the rapid lane or in the quick lane He has a quick mind, not a rapid mind or a fast mind He gave... Synonymy a, Notional criterion b, Semantic criterion c, Criterion of interchangeability 8.3 Types of synonyms - Ideographic: Words conveying the same notion but differing in shades of meaning (đồng nghĩa theo ý) - Stylistic: differing in stylistic characteristic (đồng nghĩa tu từ) - Absolute: coinciding in all their shades of meaning and in all their stylistic characteristics (đồng nghĩa tuyệt đối) 9 EUPHEMISMS... noise Bang: a fringe of hair combed over forehead d, Split polysemy Two or more homonyms can originate from different meanings of the same word when, for some reason, the semantic structure of the word breaks into several parts Board: a long and thin piece of timber daiy meals, esp as provided for pay an official group of persons who direct or supervise some activity Spring: the act of springing, a leap... one identical form in their paradigms E.g: Rose (n) - Rose (past.indef of to rise) Maid (n) - made (past.indef, past part of to make) Left (adj) - left (past.indef, past part of to leave) Bean (n) - been (past.indef, past part of to be) - Partial lexical homonyms are words of the same category of parts of speech which are identical only in their corresponding forms E.g: To lie (lay / lain) (v) To lie... result in development or loss of evaluative connotations 7 Homonyms 7.1 Definition Homonyms are words which are identical in sound and spelling, or, at least, in one of these aspects, but different in their meaning E.g: - Ball: a large formal occasion where people dance - Ball: a sphere, any spherical body - Sent - cent - scent - site - cite - sight - right - rite - write - wright - Bank: + financial institution... belonging to us - Bean / been - night / knight - piece / peace - scent / cent / sent c, Homographs are the words which are the same in spelling but different in sound - Lead /li:d/: to conduct on the way, go before to show the way Lead /led/: a heavy mental / a very dense, dark-grey, poisonous metal - Bow /bau/ (v): to incline the head or body in salutation Bow / bou/ (n): a flexible strip of wood for. .. contest a short piece of wood used for producing fire Wren:member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service a bird b, Partial Homonyms are subdivided into 3 subgroups: - Simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words which belong to the same category of parts of speech Their paradigm have one identical form, but it is never the same form E.g: To found Found (past.indef of to find) To lay lay (past.indef... flexible strip of wood for propelling arrows 7.3 Source of homonyms a, Phonetic changes: b, Borrowing c, Word-building Conversion - Comb (n) / to comb (v) - Pale (adj) / pale (v) - To make / make (n) Shortening - Fan: is a shortening produced from fanatic which means an enthusiastic admirer of some kind of sport or of an actor, singer, etc Fan: means an implement for waving lightly to produce a cool current... Homonyms which are the same in sound and spelling are traditional termed homonyms proper - Jet: + a thin stream of smt, such as water or gas, which is forced out of a small hole + a hard black stone which shines when it is rubbed and is used to make jewellery and other decorative objects b, Homophones (phát âm giống nhau nhưng viết khác nhau): same in sound but different in spelling - Hour: means a twenty-fourth