Download MORPHOLOGY OF ENGLISH - Word Classes – there are 9 word

MORPHOLOGY OF ENGLISH
- Word Classes – there are 9 word classes in English: noun, adjective, adverb, verb, pronoun, numeral,
preposition, conjunction, interjection. In Slovak, we have also častice.
- particular word-classes can consist of more than a single word (phrasal verb). Some words in English may
appear as more than one word-class (play is a noun and also a verb).
Word-classes can be divided into two groups or systems:
- Open-system, there are these word-classes – nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs. New words can enter into this
already exist system. New branches of technology, new words are required.
- Closed-system of word-classes – pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections. The sets of items are
closed, no new words can't come to this system.
VERBS – this term is used in 2 senses:
- the verb is one of the elements in a clause structure like subject, object,…
- a verb is a member of a word-class, like a noun…
Sub-classification and characteristics of English
- in English, we have 3 types of verbs:
- lexical verbs (full meaning verbs) read,
- primary auxiliary verbs – be, have, do –
- modal auxiliary verbs – can, may, should
verbs:
speak
closed-system
– closed-system
- lexical verbs – are in an open system, use do, did in questions also for simple present negative and simple
past tense don't, didn't. They have regular and irregular forms. They can stand on their own expressing a
certain meaning.
- primary auxiliary verbs – are in a closed system and can be used as primary auxiliary verbs and also as
lexical verbs. They help to create the system of tenses in English. They can stand on their own. Here are only
verbs to be, to have and to do.
ex. What did you do yesterday?
I haven't visited my friend this week.
I was working hard last month.
Were you at the cinema on Sunday?
- modal auxiliary verbs (modals) – are in a closed system. In English, we have 9 modal verbs + 4 marginal
modals. Characteristic features of modal auxiliary verbs are, that they followed by infinitives (used to, ought
to). They cannot occur in non-finite functions. They have no –s inflection for the 3. person sg. Most of them
convey several meanings (can – ability, deduction, possibility), sometimes a border context is necessary to
differentiate the meaning of modal verb. Several modals used for one meaning: can, may, might.
Modal auxiliary verbs: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must
Marginal auxiliary verbs: used to, ought to, need to, dare to
ex. He daren't to go there.
He doesn't dare to go there.
He can use a pc. (ability)
He can be at home. (deduction)
The road can be dangerous. (possibility)
Dynamic = progressive verbs – can be used in simple but also in progressive tenses – describe actions,
activities (to read, to speak, to walk,…)
State = non-progressive verbs – they aren't used in any of the progressive tenses, these verbs describe
states, no activities, action (forget, to like, to exist). Some verbs in English can be used both as state
verbs, but also as dynamic verbs (to think, to see, to look, etc.).
Common state = non-progressive verbs are:
mental state - to know, to realize, to understand, to feel, to doubt, to forget, to want, to need, to
believe, to
imagine, to think
emotional state – to love, to like, to hate, to dislike
possession - to possess, to have, to own
sense perceptions – to taste, to smell
other existing state – to seem, to look, to appear, to cost, to exist
Ex. I think he is a kind man.
I'm thinking about you.
It tastes good.
She is tasting a sauce.
I have a penfriend in Norway.
I'm having a trouble.
I am happy.
John is being foolish. - verb to be + adjective can be used in progressive tenses. It describes a temporary characteristic (lazy, silly,
patient, rude, nice, polite,...)
There are the following verb forms in English, and they express the tenses:
- the base (call, speak)
- the –s form (calls, speaks)
- the past form (called, spoke)
- the –ing form (calling, speaking)
- the –ed participle form (called, spoken)
Number of verb forms is regular or irregular.
- regular lexical verbs, they have 4 morphological verb forms (the same –ed suffix for both, the past form and
–ed participle form) ex. open, opens, opening, opened
- irregular lexical verbs, here the number of morphological verb forms varies from 3 (to put) to 8 (to be)
Functions of verb forms:
- the base:
- all the simple present tense, except the 3rd person sg. (you/we/they study)
- imperative (Read it!)
- subjunctive (He demanded that she call him.)
- infinitive, the bare infinitive (He wants her to live with him. He may call.)
- the –s form:
- the 3rd person sg. in the simple present tense (He calls her.)
- the past form:
- the simple past tense (He called her yesterday.)
- the –ing form:
- progressive aspect (He is calling her now.)
- non-finite –ing clauses (Calling early, I found them at home.)
- the –ed participle form:
- perfective aspect (He hasn't called her yet.)
- passive voice (He is called John.)
- –ed participle clauses (Called early, he had a quick breakfast.)
Characteristics of finite verb phrases:
- have tense distinction = present and past tense to express grammatical time relations ( He studies English. He
studied English.)
- can occur as the verb phrase of a main clause. There is a person and number agreement between the subject and
the finite verb phrase (She drinks coffee every morning. They drink coffee every morning.)
- have mood, which indicates the speaker's attitude to the predication ( Come here at once! - imperative mood, it
expresses a command). (The committee suggest that he come in tie and jacket. - subjunctive mood, it expresses
recommendation).
- finite verb phrases have a finite verb form, this is, either an operator or a simple present or past tense
form. The infinitive, the –ing participle and the –ed participle are non-finite forms of the verb. They can
occur in the sentences only if a finite verb phrases is used. (Operator in linguistic terminology is a first
verb element.)
FVPs
He smokes.
Don´t smoke!
He is smoking.
NFVPs
To smoke so much is not good for your health.
I can´t see him smoking again.
He entered the room, smoking a big cigar.
Non-finite verb phrase can't exist without finite verb phrase.
Simple finite verb phrases:
- the FVP is simple when it consists of only one verb, which may be in imperative mood, the simple present
tense, or the simple past tense (Study more! He studies hard. He studied a lot.)
Complex finite verb phrases:
- the verb phrases is complex when it consists of two or more verbs (John has called him. - 2 verb elements)
(He may have been working hard - 4 verb elements). Maximum is four verb elements.
- complex finite verb phrases are of 4 basic types:
Type A – modal or periphrastic
- modal or periphrastic auxiliary + the base of the verb phrase head
(He could read it. - modal verb. He has to do it. - periphrastic form).
Type B – perfective
- the auxiliary have + the –ed participle of the verb phrase head
(He has done that. He had done that before he arrived .)
Type C – progressive
- the auxiliary be + the –ing participle of the verb phrase head ( They are studying abroad at the
moment.)
Type D – passive
- the auxiliary be + the –ed participle of the verb phrase head ( The work is done. The house hasn't
been built yet.)
Examples:
It could have been done.
He could have been doing that right now.
He may have been to Rome.
He may be watching TV.
Characteristics of non-finite verb phrases:
- unlike finite verb phrases, non-finite verb phrases have no tense distinction or imperative mood. There is
no information about the person or subject. They can be simple or complex, under non-finite verb phrases can be
included infinitives, –ing participles, –ed participles.
Simple non-finite verb phrases consist only of one verb element (to call: He wants her to call him.)
Complex non-finite verb phrases have these structures:
- present progressive infinitive (to be calling)
- present passive infinitive (to be called)
- past perfect infinitive (to have called)
- past progressive infinitive (to have been calling)
- past passive infinitive(to have been called)
He should have called him – finite complex (more than one word element), type A, type B
It should have been done. type A, type B, type D
He's painting. - type C
He may have been watching TV. type A, type B, type C
He can be calling him now. (a modal verb + present progressive infinitive)
He must be called again. (a modal verb + present passive infinitive)
He should have called him. (a modal verb + past perfect infinitive)
He might have been calling him yesterday in the evening. (a modal verb + past progressive infinitive)
They should have been called yesterday. (a modal verb + past passive infinitive)
SYNTACTIC LEVEL OF ENGLISH
- a phrase is the smallest meaningful syntactic unit. The types of phrases in the English language:
- a noun phrase (NP) – can be simple or complex. [books, interesting books]
Students are usually young people. (simple NP)
It was an emblem of rank and distinction. (complex NP)
- an adjective phrase (AdjP) – they can be simple or complex [good, very good]. A head of an AdjP is an
adjective.
These children are tall.(simple AdjP)
These children are tall enough.(complex AdjP)
- an adverb phrase (AdvP) – can be simple or complex [tall, tall enough]
My brother drive his car carefully. (simple AdvP)
My brother drive his car very carefully. (complex AdvP)
- we have adverbial of place, time, manner and cause expression
- a verb phrase (VP) – can be simple or extended [play, has been playing]
Read this poem once again. (simple VP) [only one verb element]
He must have done that. (extended VP) [two or more verb elements]
- a prepositional phrase (PrepP) – they can be only simple [in the corner]. They consist of two obligatory
elements – a prepositions and a NP.
The ball is under the table. (simple PrepP) – adverbial of place
The ball under the table is mine (simple PrepP) - subject
The phrases structure – NP, AdjP, AdvP consist of 3 basic elements:
- a head/headword – preceded by modifier and followed by a qualifier. Modifier and qualifier are also
calls pre-modifiers and post-modifiers. Modifiers, that precede the head in NP, are pre-modifier those, that
follow the head in NP are post-modifier.
The books lying on the table are mine. simple sentence, NP
the – central determinant (CD)
books – headword (h)
lying on the table – post-modifier, NFC
pre-modifier (preM) can be formally expressed by:
- prototypical AdjP (fast cars), it gives us more information about the head. It develop the ideas which
was express. It's position is in front of the head. AdjP are formally expressed by present or past
participial constructions (boring films, bored students)
- AdvP (very badly)
post-modifier (postM) can be formally expressed by:
PrepP – the child of these parents
AdvP – old enough
FC – The tall girl who is sitting over there is my friend.
NFC – The girl studying in the corner of the library is my good friend.
Sentences
Types of sentences – 4 basic types:
a simple sentence (SS)
a compound sentence (CpS) priraďovacie súvetie
a complex sentence (CxS) podraďovacie súvetie
a compound-complex sentence (CpCxS) priraďovacio-podraďovacie súvetie
SS – a SS is an independent clause consisting of a subject (S) and a predicate (V), but it can contain some
other sentence elements (SE). SS has only one predicate = verb.
ex. She is reading. (SS – the sentence pattern SV)
ex. She is reading a book. (SS – the sentence pattern SVOd)
ex. She is reading her children a book. (SS – the sentence pattern SVOiOd)
CpS – a CpS is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses (ICs) are joined syndetically or
asyndetically.
A syndetical coordination – coordinating conjunctions, correlatives or conjunctive adverbs are used. We have
some morphological structures, which join these sentences. Coordinating conjunctions (priraďovacie spojky)
[fan boys], here we can identify all coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. All of them
express different meanings. Correlatives (korelatíva) are always used in pairs (but – also, neither – nor).
Conjunctive adverbs are features of adverb.
ex. He is playing in the park and his sister is watching TV. (CpS = IC + IC)
An asyndetical coordination – absence of coordinating conjunction, correlatives or conjunctive adverbs. Here
are only comas or something like that.
ex. He is playing in the park, his sister is watching TV.
CxS – a CxS is a sentence in which two or more clauses are joined by a subordinator (a subordinating
conjunction, a
wh-element, a NFC, no marker of subordination, etc.). They can't stay on they own. A CxS has one main
(independent clause and one or more dependent) subordinate clauses (DC).
ex.
ex.
ex.
ex.
ex.
He is tired because he is ill. (because is a subordinating conjunction)
I don't know why he is late. (wh-element)
I saw a man who was sitting on the bus station. (wh-element)
I don't know how to solve this problem. (NFC)
I know that she is a good student. (no marker)
CpCxS – a CpCxS consists of two or more ICs, but it also contains one or more DCs.
ex. He seems to be tired because he studied a lot, but now he is able to continue in his work. (CpCxS = IC + DC + IC)
ex. I overheard a man who said that he was in the cinema last week. (IC + ID + IC)
ex. My dad says never to trust strangers who seem very friendly. (IC + DC + DC)
In English we don't use comas before subordinating conjunctions, but before coordinating conjunctions we use
it.
SS – I like biking.
CpS – I'm learning English, but my mum is watching TV.
Neither he has come to school, nor has he called. ( ak máme korelatíva negatívne v prvej vete, v druhej bude obrátený
slovosled)
CpCxS – It is hard to study a lot when you are tired. (IC + ID + DC)
INTRODUCTION TO LEXICOLOGY
Lexicology is the part of linguistics, which studies words, their nature and meaning, words' elements,
relations between words = semantical relations, word groups and the whole lexicon. It is the study concerned
with properties, usage and origin of words, and regularities and relations in the vocabulary of a language.
Traditionally, it includes:
- the study of naming extra-lingual reality = onomasiology
- study of meaning = lexical semantics, semiology
- history of words = etymology
- word formation = lexical morphology
It also deal with fixed expressions, collocations, idioms, phraseology, multi-word units.
Vocabulary is stock of words or all the words known and used by a particular person. Vocabulary usually grows
with age and serves as a fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. It's an open-system
organized in a special way, consisting of a series of interrelating subsystems or networks through not all
equally relevant to individual or practical needs.
Lexicography is the science or practice based on analysis of the form, meaning and behaviour of the words in a
given language. Lexicography is divided into 2 related disciplines:
- practical lexicography – is the art of craft dealing with the principles and procedures involved in
writing, editing,
or compiling dictionaries.
- theoretical lexicography – the scholarly discipline of analysing and describing the semantic,
syntactic and paradigmatic relationship within the lexicon (vocabulary of a language).
Morpheme is a smallest lexical unit, we have 2 types of morphemes: lexical morphemes (it gives us some
meaning), grammatical morpheme (it gives us some more information of grammatical structure, here are also
affixes, prepositions, ...).
Lexical morphology is the field of linguistics that studies the internal structure of words, identifying,
analysing and describing the structure of morphemes and other units of meaning in a language like words,
affixes and parts of speech.
Lexeme is an abstract, meaningful unit of linguistic analysis. It corresponds to a set of forms taken by a
single word belonging to a particular syntactic category and has a particular meaning (semantic value). Lexemes
may be single words, phrasal and compound words and shortened forms. A lexeme is an abstract unit of
morphological analysis in linguistic, that roughly corresponds to a set of words that are different forms of
the same words [ex. in English: run, runs, ran, running are forms of the same lexeme].
take off is a lexeme, as well as the independent morphemes take and off.
Lexical field is a term of linguistics describing a set of words grouped in the specific way which are related
in meaning. In other words, it represents sets of semantically similar words, closely connected layers of
vocabulary, each characterized by a common concept. To understand a word fully, we must know not what it refers
to and what it implies (outer relationship), but also its relation to other elements of vocabulary (inner
lexical relationship), we must know where the boundaries are that separate it from words of related meanings.
ex. chuckle, laugh, smile, titter, giggle,....
affix is a morpheme attacked to word stem to form a word. An affix can be a prefix (attacked before another
morpheme), a suffix (attacked after another morpheme), an infix (inserted within another morpheme), a circumfix
(attacked before and after another morpheme) or a suprafix (attacked suprasegmentally to another morpheme).
Affixes are bound morphemes by definition. Prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes.
-
ex. discovering = prefix + root word + suffix (grammatical, it can be also lexical and sometimes they can be both)
- prefix is an affix places before the root of a word. A prefix usually changes or concretizes the lexical
meaning of a word and only rarely parts of speech. Prefixes are bound morphemes, they cannot occur as
independent words. Prefixes are divided in several groups, mostly according to their semantic or qualities
(negations, degree, measure, size, repetition, time, place or order, attitude, etc. Prefixes change the meaning
of words, grammatical morphemes.
ir – negative meaning
er – comparative degree
- suffix is an affix which is placed after the root of a word. It usually changes only the lexical meaning of a
word, but also a grammatical meaning or its word-class.
ex. coverage = root word (cover) + suffix (age – it is a lexical morpheme)
student – students = suffix -s changes only grammatical form, lexical is the same
Suffixes can carry grammatical information (inflectional suffixes) or lexical information (derivation
suffixes). Alternatively, a suffix can have a semantic function. There are numerous ways of classification of
the suffixes such as noun-forming suffixes, adjective-forming suffixes, verb-forming suffixes, adverb-forming
suffixes.
ex. slow – slowly
happy – happily – happiness
define – definition – definitely
Derivation forms a word with a meaning and/or category distinct from that of its base through the addition of
an affix. The derivational (lexical) affixes are used to build different words. The derived word is often a
different word-class from the original. It may thus take the inflectional affixes of the new word-class.
ex. glory + fy = glorify modern + ise = modernise
enrich
king, kingdom – both are nouns
act + ive = active
en + slave = enslave
en + rich =
prefixation or initial affixation is a process of building new words by adding a prefix to the existing base.
A prefix usually changes or concretizes the lexical meaning of a word and only rarely its word-class.
-
ex. dis + like
um + fair
a + political
in + formal
non + smoker
In these examples, structure is the same (prefix + base). These prefixes express the negative meaning.
Prefixes are attacked to adjective, noun,...
- suffixation is the formation of a word by means of additing a suffix to the base. Suffixation is
characteristic of noun of adjective formation. The word can be modified in the meaning and/or changed from 1
part of speech to another.
ex. engin + eer
brother + hood
comfort + able
simple + ify
glory + fy
deep + er
SEMANTICS
- semantics is the linguistic discipline dealing with the meaning.
- meaning is a concept that is more difficult to define than we might think.
The verb mean itself serves as an examplne for the different meanings this single word can have.
e.x.
Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.
- the meaning of mean is roughly equivalent to “intend”
Great – this means we'll have to spend another hour in the car.
- means is in the meaning “the consequence of something”
Topánky means shoes in English.
- means as an equivalent of a verb “translate”
- conclusion – from the above sentence examples is clear that a
Common word like mean can be used to describe very different things.
Conventional meaning vs. social and affective meaning
- not only can words be used with different meanings in different contexts, but the entire description of what
something means depends greatly on the type of expression we are talking about. Compare the following examples:
Beagles are a breed of dogs. - conventional meaning – differs from the 2nd and 3rd examples in that it makes a
statement
about the world that can be verified or falsified.
Hey Peter, how are you?
- social meaning – the question provided in this example has social
meaning. The other
examples of expressing social meaning are the words we use to
address people (Mr, Mrs, Sir,
Your Honor, etc.) or ways of greeting and saying
goodbye (Hi, Cheers, Regard, etc.) and
many other parts of language which are
essential in our everyday interactions with others.
Physics is really cool!
- affective meaning – if someone states that he/she likes or dislikes
something this is a
subjunctive and unverifiable statement. Such an expression
still contains important
information, but it has what we call affective
meaning.
Semantics – is concerned purely with the conventional meaning of words and sentences. Conventional (or
sometimes conceptual) meaning can be described in almost mathematical terms and it can be applied to sentences
that we can often evaluate in terms of their truth value. The sentence Beagles are a breed of dogs. Expresses
conventional meaning.
Reference – or referential meaning is one of the most basic ways of thinking about meaning. Multiple
expressions can point to the same person/thing in the world, as the list bellow demonstrates.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Hillary Clinton
the former first lady
the wife of Bill Clinton
the U.S. Secretary of State
the former U.S. presidential candidate
All of these expressions apply to the same referent yet 3 and 4 could (at least hypothetically) change at some
point in time. Referring expressions and referents have a dynamic relationship – it can change as circumstances
change.
By contrast, the underlined expressions bellow never point to anything in the world, regardless of the context
they are used in (they are not referential).
These people come from BA.
He is buying a new car.
These animals do not live in Slovakia, only in Australia.
Nobody came to visit us.
In these sentences examples no definite referent exists, yet they certainly express some meanings.
Denotation and Connotation
- denotation/denotative meaning – the literal, value-neutral and restricted sense of an expression.
- connotation/connotative meaning – figural, cultural or associative meanings. For example, the word pig
denotes an animal, but the connotation of the term is often negative and it can be used in a figurative way,
for example, to describe a person. The connotation of a term depends an the community's values and beliefs, but
denotation doesn't depend on these factors.
Semantic anomaly
John likes basketball.
The table likes basketball. - this sentence is semantically anomalous – it doesn't make any sense – explain why we cannot accept this
sentence as a correct one.
Noam Chomsky's famous example of semantically anomalous sentence: Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.
This sentence can be accepted in social or affective terms, even it is not ungrammatical, but from the semantic
viewpoint it is an inherently illogical sentence. The reasons why from the semantic viewpoint it is an
inherently illogical sentence: ideas can't sleep and can't have any colour.
Semantic roles
- among other things, semantic roles allow us to explain why an example such as the one above (The table likes
basketball.) is semantically anomalous.
- semantic roles describe “who does what” in a sentence, they are often discussed in parallel to syntactic
roles.
- instrument: a medium or tool used to complete the action.
Sue opened the door with the key.
- goal: the location or entity towards which somebody moves
Sue drove to Chicago.
- recipient: the entity that benefits from the action (recipient = prijímateľ)
Sue gave Kim the tickets.
Word fields / lexical fields
- semantics deals with meaning. Do the following expressions “go together” or not (if they have something in
common,
or not)? Have a look at the following examples:
eyes, hands, nose, feet
- all of them express the parts of body
green, red, purple, yellow
- all of them are colours
dog, log, hog, fog
- they have the same sound pattern
The first two sets of examples are all related to one another (they form a word field). The words in the third
set of examples make up an arbitrary mix, they only share an identical sound pattern, but their meaning does
not reflect this in any way.
Synonymy
- expresses the degree of similar meaning that two or more terms share. Buy and purchase are the examples for
two near-complete synonyms. In purely semantic terms, both words mean the same thing, but their use depends on
the context they are used in. Purchase is likely to be used in slightly more high-brow language, whereas buy is
the more common variant. English has a fairly high number of (near) synonyms because of the influence of French
words into the lexicon.
Antonymy
- antonyms express opposite meanings ( happy – unhappy, tall – short, young – old, war – peace). The important
characteristics of antonyms is that the meaning of one term automatically excludes the meaning of the other
one, eg. Someone who is tall is not short and someone who is unhappy is not happy.
Hyponomy
- hyponomy describes hierarchical relations between terms. If we can say X is a kind of Y, a hyponymous
relationship exists between X and Y. The two examples below illustrate this kind of connection:
colour: blue, green, red, white, black, purple, yellow
cook: toast, boil, fry, grill, roast, bake, microwave
Homophones
- they have a similar sound pattern, but otherwise they are unrelated.
Examples of homophones are see – sea, buy – bye, night – knight.
Homographs
- two terms are spelled similarly but the sound patterns differ. An example for a pair of homographs is wind,
as in We wind up in the same club every weekend. vs. The wind is very cold in December.
Homonyms
- are words that are superficially identical (in speech and writing) but etymologically unrelated:
match – thing that you light a cigarette with
match – sports terminology
date – a sweet kind of fruit
date – an appointment
Polysemy (viacvýznamovosť)
- is a process in which an individual word expresses multiple and distinct meanings. The word bank, for
example, can denote either the institution or the building in which the institution resides. Both meanings are
associated with the same word, making the word bank polysemous.
SUBCLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH WORDS
- according to their origin:
native words – king, house
loanwords (borrowings) – royal, nucleus
hybrids – beautiful, countless (there are two different elements in these words or a head of word and
some affix)
Native words – they belong to the original vocabulary. They are the most frequent words which belong to the
central core
(83 % of words in English are words of native origin), they are usually shorter, monosyllabic words used in
everyday language.
They are of:
- Indo-Europeean stock: mother, father, daughter, brother, sun, moon, eye, wolf, …. Similar words are
used also in other languages, but with some specific orthography or pronunciation.
- Common Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) stock: summer, winter, house, storm, ….
Loanwords – words borrowed from another language and more or less modified in phonemic shape, spelling, grammar
or meaning according to the rules of the English language (restaurant, mile, bishop, wine, barbecue). This
words can have more different meanings.
The majority of English words have their origin in Latin, Greek and French. These words are usually longer,
polysyllabic, more formal and specialized words (in law, medicine)
The signs of loanwords are the phonemes (virus, regime, garage). Sometimes only new meaning of words are
borrowed – semantic loans or loan shifts (reaction, foot, pioneer, …). The loanwords used in different
languages, such as parliament, republic, video, telephone, sport, etc. are included under the category of
international words.
Hybrids – are words containing native and borrowed components (a part of the word is borrowed from the other
language) [e.g. beautiful, etc.]
Assimilation of loanwords – a partial or complete adaptation of loanwords to the graphical, phonemic and
grammatical standard of the receiving language.
Modern English has a number of foreign words in different stages of assimilation (domestication). In many cases
it is difficult to tell a loanword from a native word (wine, cup, street – from Latin).
The degree of assimilation depends on the length of time the word has been used (honour, chief, chef).
We can speak about:
- fully assimilated (nativised) [úplne prispôsobené]
- partially assimilated (nativised) [čiastočne]
- unassimilated words [prebrané v originálnej podobe, neprispôsobené]
The reason why some loanwords are not semantically assimilated is, that they denote objects and notions typical
to the country from which they come (sheikh, sombrero, maharaja).
Loanwords that are not assimilated grammatically: bacillus – bacilli, nucleus – nuclei, formula – formulae,
genus – genera. Both of these terms are possible, we use the Greek form in the special types of (in medicine,
law).
Loanwords that are not completely assimilated phonetically or orthographically: machine, bourgeois, ballet,
garage.
The word is not the only unit to be considered on the lexical level. In addition to simple, isolated words,
vocabulary also consists of certain more or less fixed combinations of words.
If we want to master a language properly, we should know which words of the language most likely occur together
– that is, we should know the combinations of the words.
Lexicology includes in its study, sometimes as its specific part, different types or word combinations.
These combinations of words have different degree of fixedness ( make a mistake, play the piano, heavy rain, false teeth,
summer house).
Different terminology is used:
- collocations
- lexical phrases
- fixed combinations
- set expressions
- multi-word expressions
Broadly speaking, these groups of words are traditionally divided into:
- non-idiomatic combinations
- idiomatic combinations
The borderline between them is not always clear.
In English “heavy” collocates with:
- things of great weitht (e.g. a heavy table, a heavy suitcase)
- with words denoting natural phenomens ( e. g. a heavy rain, a heavy storm, a heavy frost – the meaning describes
intensity)
- with a doer of the action (e. g. a heavy smooker, a heavy drinker, a heavy eater – someone who does a lot of; someone
eats a lot)
- some combinations of words are so widely used that they have no predictable lexical items at all, they
are totally
free (the combinations with: have, get, see, be, very, each: have a sister, see a man). They are termed free/open
combinations.
Others, more predictable and limited to a small number of words, are usually termed collocations ( e. g. commit
murder/suicide, a pinch of salt, rancid buttee, black coffee, fresh water, homr town death penalty, single ticket, dirt road, smoked
window)
The term collocation is most frequently used in the following meanings:
- a tendency to co- occur, i. e. the way n which some words are regularly combined (collocated) with
some other words e. g. commit collocated
- a combination of words that regularly occur together, these words are combined in a predicable way and
have a relatively restricted combinatory range and transparent meaning, e. g. submit an application/ a
proposal, flock of sheep, interested in …
Free collocation – two or more words with free commutability within the grammatical and semantic framework of
the language
Restricted collocation – combinations of two or more words, the components of which are used in one of their
unidiomatic meaning, in restricted collocations one word at least is restricted in its commutability not only
by its grammatical and semantic valency, but also by its usage.
Grammatical and lexical collocations:
grammatical collocations consist of a dominant (lexical) word plus grammatical word, e. g. afraid of,
interested in, graduate from
lexical collocations consist of (at least) two equal (lexical ) components: blond hair, hard frost, play the
piano, do damage, make a mistake/ a meal/a noise
Characteristic features of idioms:
there is not generally accepted definition of idioms – they can be broadly characterized as:
words of a multi – word character
words that are institutionalized
words with functions of single semantic units
they are relatively fixed/stable combination of words
their meaning is not-literal, but fully or partially figurative and unique
From the point of view of their fixedness/stability, some idioms are completely fixed – unchangeable idioms,
i. e. they do not undergo any changes.
Other idioms allow the speaker to use a certain limited number of variations, thus we can say that an idiom
Changeable idioms in English: we distinguish grammatical, lexical orthographic and geographical variations
among changeable idioms in English,
grammatical variations – they include irregular limited morphological and/ or syntactical changes (categories,
forms, tenses, word order, articles, etc.) e. g. they have been in the wars/they had been in the wars ( not used
in the future ense or conditional): on and off/off and on, turn up one´s nose (namyslený)/turn one´s nose up.
Lexical variations – they include obligatory and optional variations in the lexical structure of idioms: last
straw (posledná kvapka, možnosť) – final straw
Orthographic variations – they include the changes in spelling and are usually connected with the process of
fixedness, e. g. pay lip service, pay lipservice
Geographical variations –
They are of different types because they may include all the previously mentioned changes.
Geographical variations are idiomatic variations used or accepted only in one part of the English speaking
world (the UK, or the USA), e. g. in second thoughts (brit), on second thought (Amerc.): be at a loose end b,
be at loose ends (amer. , a/the skeleton in the cupboard (Brit), a/the skeleton in the closet ( Amer.)