Chapter 3语言学三

Chapter 3语言学三

Linguistics–byicywarmteaChapter3Lexicon3.1Whatisword?1.Whatisalexeme?Alexemeisthesmallestunitinthemeaningsystemofalanguagethatcanbedistinguishedfromothersimilarunits.Itisanabstractunit.Itcanoccurinmanydifferentformsinactualspokenorwrittensentences,andisregardedasthesamelexemeevenwheninflected.E.g.theword“write”isthelexemeof“write,writes,wrote,writingandwritten.”2.Whatisamorpheme?Amorphemeisthesmallestunitoflanguageintermsofrelationshipbetweenexpressionandcontent,aunitthatcannotbedividedintofurthersmallerunitswithoutdestroyingordrasticallyalteringthemeaning,whetheritislexicalorgrammatical.E.g.theword“boxes”hastwomorphemes:“box”and“es,”neitherofwhichpermitsfurtherdivisionoranalysisshapesifwedon’twanttosacrificeitsmeaning.3.Whatisanallomorph?Anallomorphisthealternateshapesofthesamemorpheme.E.g.thevariantsoftheplurality“-s”makestheallomorphsthereofinthefollowingexamples:map–maps,mouse–mice,ox–oxen,tooth–teeth,etc.4.Whatisaword?Awordisthesmallestofthelinguisticunitsthatcanconstitute,byitself,acompleteutteranceinspeechorwriting.3.1.1Threesensesof“word”1.Aphysicallydefinableunit2.Thecommonfactorunderlyingasetofforms3.Agrammaticalunit3.1.2Identificationofwords1.StabilityWordsarethemoststableofalllinguisticunits,inrespectoftheirinternalstructure,i.e.theconstituentpartsofacomplexwordhavelittlepotentialforrearrangement,comparedwiththerelativepositionalmobilityoftheconstituentsofsentencesinthehierarchy.Takethewordchairmanforexample.Ifthemorphemesarerearrangedas*manchair,itisanunacceptablewordinEnglish.2.RelativeuninterruptibilityByuninterruptibility,wemennewelementsarenottobeinsertedintoawordevenwhenthereareseveralpartsinaword.Nothingistobeinsertedinbetweenthethreepartsoftheworddisappointment:dis+appoint+ment.Norisoneallowedtousepausesbetweenthepartsofaword:*disappointment.3.AminimumfreeformThiswasfirstsuggestedbyLeonardBloomfield.Headvocatedtreating-18-\nLinguistics–byicywarmteasentenceas“themaximumfreeform”andword“theminimumfreeform,”thelatterbeingthesmallestunitthatcanconstitute,byitself,acompleteutterance.3.1.3Classificationofwords1.VariableandinvariablewordsInvariablewords,onecanfindorderedandregularseriesofgrammaticallydifferentwordform;ontheotherhand,partofthewordremainsrelativelyconstant.E.g.follow–follows–following–followed.Invariablewordsrefertothosewordssuchassince,when,seldom,through,hello,etc.Theyhavenoinflectiveendings.2.GrammaticalwordsandlexicalwordsGrammaticalwords,a.k.a.functionwords,expressgrammaticalmeanings,suchas,conjunctions,prepositions,articles,andpronouns,aregrammaticalwords.Lexicalwords,a.k.a.contentwords,havelexicalmeanings,i.e.thosewhichrefertosubstance,actionandquality,suchasnouns,verbs,adjectives,andadverbs,arelexicalwords.3.Closed-classwordsandopen-classwordsClosed-classword:Awordthatbelongstotheclosed-classisonewhosemembershipisfixedorlimited.Newmembersarenotregularlyadded.Therefore,pronouns,prepositions,conjunctions,articles,etc.areallcloseditems.Open-classword:Awordthatbelongstotheopen-classisonewhosemembershipisinprincipleinfiniteorunlimited.Nouns,verbs,adjectivesandmanyadverbsareallopen-classitems.4.WordclassThisisclosetothenotionofpartsofspeechintraditionalgrammar.Today,wordclassdisplaysawiderrangeofmorepreciselydefinedcategories.Herearesomeofthecategoriesnewlyintroducedintolinguisticanalysis.(1)Particles:Particlesincludeatleasttheinfinitivemarker“to,”thenegativemarker“not,”andthesubordinateunitsinphrasalverbs,suchas“getby,”“doup,”“lookback,”etc.(2)Auxiliaries:Auxiliariesusedtoberegardedasverbs.Becauseoftheiruniqueproperties,whichonecouldhardlyexpectofaverb,linguiststodaytendtodefinethemasaseparatewordclass.(3)Pro-forms:Pro-formsaretheformswhichcanserveasreplacementsfordifferentelementsinasentence.Forexample,inthefollowingconversation,soreplacesthatIcancome.A:Ihopeyoucancome.B:Ihopeso.(4)Determiners:Determinersrefertowordswhichareusedbeforethenounactingasheadofanounphrase,anddeterminethekindofreferencethenounphrasehas.Determinerscanbedividedintothreesubclasses:-18-\nLinguistics–byicywarmteapredeterminers,centraldeterminersandpostdeterminers.3.2Theformationofword3.2.1MorphemeandmorphologyMorphologystudiestheinternalstructureofwords,andtherulesbywhichwordsareformed.3.2.2Typesofmorphemes1.FreemorphemeandboundmorphemeFreemorphemes:Thosewhichmayoccuralone,thatis,thosewhichmayconstitutewordsbythemselves,arefreemorphemes.Boundmorphemes:Thosewhichmustappearwithatleastanothermorphemearecalledboundmorphemes.2.Root,affixandstemArootisthebaseformofawordthatcannotfurtherbeanalyzed.Anaffixisthecollectivetermforthetypeofformativethatcanbeusedonlywhenaddedtoanothermorpheme.Astemisanymorphemeorcombinationofmorphemestowhichaninflectionalaffixcanbeadded.Arootisthebaseformofawordthatcannotfurtherbeanalyzedwithouttotallossofidentity.Thatistosay,itisthatpartofthewordleftwhenalltheaffixesareremoved.Inthewordinternationalism,aftertheremovalofinter-,-aland-ism,whatisleftistherootnation.Allwordscontainarootmorpheme.Arootmaybefreeorbound.E.g.blackinblackbird,blackboardandblacksmith;-ceiveinreceive,conceiveandperceive.AfewEnglishrootsmayhavebothfreeandboundvariants.E.g.thewordsleepisafreerootmorpheme,whereasslep-inthepasttenceformsleptcannotexistbyitself,andthereforebound.Astemisanymorphemeorcombinationofmorphemestowhichaninflectionalaffixcanbeadded.E.g.friend-infriendsandfriendship-infriendshipsarebothstems.Theformershowsthatastemcanbeequivalenttoaroot,whereasthelattershowsthatastemmaycontainarootandaderivationalaffix.3.InflectionalaffixandderivationalaffixInflectionisthemanifestationofgrammaticalrelationshipsthroughtheadditionofinflectionalaffixes,suchasnumber,person,finiteness,aspectandcase,whichdonotchangethegrammaticalclassofthestemstowhichtheyareattached.Thedistinctionbetweeninflectionalaffixesandderivationalaffixesissometimesknownasadistinctionbetweeninflectionalmorphemesandderivationalmorphemes.Wecantellthedifferencebetweenthemwiththefollowingways:(1)Inflectionalaffixesveryoftenaddaminuteordelicategrammaticalmeaningtothestem.E.g.toys,walks,John’s,etc.Therefore,theyservetoproducedifferentformsofasingleword.Incontrast,derivational-18-\nLinguistics–byicywarmteaaffixesoftenchangethelexicalmeaning.E.g.cite,citation,etc.(2)Inflectionalaffixesdon’tchangethewordclassofthewordtheyattachto,suchasflower,flowers,whereasderivationalaffixesmightormightnot,suchastherelationbetweensmallandsmallnessfortheformer,andthatbetweenbrotherandbrotherhoodforthelatter.(3)Inflectionalaffixesareoftenconditionedbynonsemanticlinguisticfactorsoutsidethewordtheyattachtobutwithinthephraseorsentence.E.g.thechoiceoflikesin“Theboylikestonavigateontheinternet.”isdeterminedbythesubjecttheboyinthesentence,whereasderivationalaffixesaremoreoftenbasedonsimplemeaningdistinctions.E.g.Thechoiceofcleverandclevernessdependsonwhetherwewanttotalkabouttheproperty“clever”orwewanttotalkabout“thestateofbeingclever.”(4)InEnglish,inflectionalaffixesaremostlysuffixes,whicharealwayswordfinal.E.g.drums,walks,etc.Butderivationalaffixescanbeprefixesorsuffixes.E.g.depart,teacher,etc.3.2.3Inflectionandwordformation1.InflectionInflectionisthemanifestationofgrammaticalrelationshipsthroughtheadditionofinflectionalaffixes,suchasnumber,person,finiteness,aspectandcase,whichdonotchangethegrammaticalclassofthestemstowhichtheyareattached.2.WordformationWordformationreferstotheprocessofwordvariationssignalinglexicalrelationships.Itcanbefurthersubclassifiedintothecompositionaltype(compound)andderivationaltype(derivation).(1)CompoundCompoundsrefertothosewordsthatconsistofmorethanonelexicalmorpheme,orthewaytojointwoseparatewordstoproduceasingleform,suchasice-cream,sunrise,paperbag,railway,rest-room,simple-minded,wedding-ring,etc.Theheadofanominaloranadjectivalendocentriccompoundisdeverbal,thatis,itisderivedfromaverb.Consequently,itisalsocalledaverbalcompoundorasyntheticcompound.Usually,thefirstmemberisaparticipantoftheprocessverb.E.g.Nouns:self-control,pain-killer,etc.Adjectives:virus-sensitive,machinewashable,etc.TheexocentriccompoundsareformedbyV+N,V+A,andV+P,whereastheexocentriccomefromV+NandV+A.E.g.Nouns:playboy,cutthroat,etc.Adjectives:breakneck,walk-in,etc.(2)DerivationDerivationshowstherelationbetweenrootsandsuffixes.Incontrast-18-\nLinguistics–byicywarmteawithinflections,derivationscanmakethewordclassoftheoriginalwordeitherchangedorunchanged.3.2.4Thecounterpointofphonologyandmorphology1.Allomorph:Anyofthedifferentformsofamorpheme.2.Morphophonology/morphophonemics:Morphophonologyisabranchoflinguisticsreferringtotheanalysisandclassificationofthephonologicalfactorsthataffecttheappearanceofmorphemes,andcorrespondingly,thegrammaticalfactorsthataffecttheappearanceofphonemes.Itisalsocalledmorphonologyormorphonemics.3.Assimilation:Assimilationreferstothechangeofasoundasaresultoftheinfluenceofanadjacentsound,whichismorespecificallycalled“contact”or“contiguous”assimilation.4.Dissimilation:Dissimilationreferstotheinfluenceexercisedbyonesoundsegmentuponthearticulationofanother,sothatthesoundsbecomelessalike,ordifferent.3.3Lexicalchange3.3.1Lexicalchangeproper1.InventionSinceeconomicactivitiesarethemostimportantanddynamicinhumanlife,manynewlexicalitemscomedirectlyfromtheconsumeritems,theirproducersortheirbrandnames.2.BlendingBlendingisarelativelycomplexformofcompounding,inwhichtwowordsareblendedbyjoiningtheinitialpartofthefirstwordandthefinalpartofthesecondword,orbyjoiningtheinitialpartsofthetwowords.3.Abbreviation/clippingAnewwordiscreatedbycuttingthefinalpart,cuttingtheinitialpartorcuttingboththeinitialpartsoftheoriginalwords.4.AcronymAcronymismadeupfromthefirstlettersofthenameofanorganization,whichhasaheavilymodifiedheadword.5.Back-formationBack-formationreferstoanabnormaltypeofword-formationwhereashorterwordisderivedbydeletinganimagedaffixfromalongerformalreadyinthelanguage.6.AnalogicalcreationTheprincipleofanalogicalcreationcanaccountfortheco-existenceoftwoforms,regularandirregular,intheconjugationofsomeEnglishverbs.7.Borrowing-18-\nLinguistics–byicywarmteaEnglishinitsdevelopmenthasmanagedtowidenhervocabularybyborrowingwordsfromotherlanguages.Greek,Latin,French,Spanish,Arabicandotherlanguageshaveallplayedanactiveroleinthisprocess.3.3.2Phonologicalchange1.LossThelossofsoundcanfirstrefertothedisappearanceoftheverysoundasaphonemeinthephonologicalsystem.Thelossofsoundsmayalsooccurinutterancesattheexpenseofsomeunstressedwords.2.AdditionSoundsmaybelostbuttheymayalsobeaddedtotheoriginalsoundsequence.3.MetathesisMetathesisisaprocessinvolvinganalternationinthesequenceofsounds.Metathesishadbeenoriginallyaperformanceerror,whichwasoverlookedandacceptedbythespeechcommunity.4.AssimilationAssimilationreferstothechangeofasoundasaresultoftheinfluenceofanadjacentsound,whichismorespecificallycalled“contact”or“contiguous”assimilation.3.3.3Morpho-syntacticalchange1.MorphologicalchangeTheformofinflectionalaffixesmayalsochange.2.SyntacticalchangeTherearemoreinstancesofchangesinthesyntacticalfeaturesofwords3.3.4Semanticchange1.BroadeningBroadeningisaprocesstoextendorelevatethemeaningfromitsspecificsensetoarelativelygeneralone.2.NarrowingContrarytobroadening,theoriginalmeaningofawordcanbenarrowedorrestrictedtoaspecificsense.3.MeaningshiftAllsemanticchangesinvolvemeaningshift.Heremeaningshiftisunderstoodinitsnarrowsense,i.e.thechangeofmeaninghasnothingtodowithgeneralizationorrestrictionasmentionedabove.4.ClassshiftByshiftingthewordclassonecanchangethemeaningofawordfromaconcreteentityornotiontoaprocessorattribution.Thisprocessofwordformationisalsoknownaszero-derivation,orconversion.-18-\nLinguistics–byicywarmtea5.FolketymologyFolketymologyreferstoachangeinformofawordorphrase,resultingfromanincorrectpopularnotionoftheoriginormeaningofthetermorfromtheinfluenceofmorefamiliartermsmistakenlytakentobeanalogous.3.3.5OrthographicchangeChangescanalsobefoundatthegraphiticlevel.SincewritingisarecordingofthesoundsysteminEnglish,phonologicalchangeswillnodoubtsetoffgraphiticchanges.-18-