3.3 General Characteristics of English
3.3.1 Receptivity, Adaptability and Heterogeneity English has taken to itself material from all other languages and has made the new elements its own. Having received all kinds of foreign elements, the English vocabulary is copious and heterogeneous.
3.3.2 Simplicity of InflectionOld English was characterized by ‘full endings’, Middle English by ‘leveled endings’ and Modern English by ‘lost endings’.
3.3.3 Relatively Fixed Word-order In an analytic language like Modern English, the word order is required to be relatively fixed. The semantic relation is closely connected to the positions of the words. The change of word-order may result in a change of meaning.
4.1.1 Morphemes
A morpheme is ‘the smallest meaningful linguistic unit. Some words are formed by one morpheme (e.g. cat, dog) and some words are formed by two or three more (e.g. lovely, unacceptable).
4.1.2 Morphs and Allomorphs
Morphemes are abstract units, which are realized in speech by discrete units known as morphs, that is, ‘they are actual spoken, minimal carriers of meaning’.
Most morphemes are realized by single morphs like bird, tree, sad, etc. These morphemes coincide with words as they can stand by themselves and move freely in a sentence if necessary. Words of this category are called monomorphemic words. Some morphemes, however, are realized by more than one morph according to their position in a word. Such alternative morphs are known as allomorphs or morphemic variants. They are the variants of the same morpheme. For instance, the morpheme of plurality {-s} has a number of allomorphs in different sound context, e.g. in cats /s/, in bags /z/, in matches /iz/.
6.1.3 Two Processes of Development
The development of word-meaning from monosemy to polysemy follows two courses which are called radiation and concatenation.
1) Radiation
It is a semantic process in which the primary meaning stands at the centre and the secondary meanings proceed out of it in every direction like rays. The meaninng are independent of one another ,but can all be traced back to the central meaning
2) Concatenation
Concatenation, literally meaning ‘linking together’, is the semantic process in which the meaning of a word moves gradually away from its first signification by successive shifts of meanings until, in many cases, there is not a shadow of connection between the sense that is finally developed and that which the term had in it at the outset .
Unlike radiation where each of the derived meaning is directly connected to the primary meaning,Concatenation describes a process where each of the later meaning is related only to the preceding one like chains.
Radiation is concatenation is closely related， being different stages of the development leading to polysemy..The two processes work together， complementing each other.
(2) Affixes
Affixes are linguistic fragments that are attached to words or word elements to modify meaning or change function. According to the functions of affixes, we can put them into two groups: inflectional and derivational affixes.
a. Inflectional Affixes
They are affixes attached to the end of words to indicate grammatical relationships, e.g. the regular plural suffix –s (-es); the past tense marker –ed. The number of inflectional affixes is small and stable, which makes English one of the easiest languages to learn.
b. Derivational Affixes
They are affixes added to other morphemes to derive new words. They can be further divided into prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes occur before the word and the suffixes after the word.
7.1 Types of Meaning Change
extension, narrowing, elevation, degradation, transference, and euphemism.
7.1.1 Extension of meaning
Extension of meaning, also known as generalization, is the name given to the widening of meaning which some words undergo. It is a process by which a word which originally had a specialized meaning has now become generalized or has extended to cover a broader and often less definite concept, e.g. manuscript
7.1.2 Narrowing of Meaning
Narrowing of meaning, also called specialization, is the opposite of widening meaning. It is a process by which a word of wide meaning acquires a narrower or specialized sense. In other words, a word which used to have a more general sense becomes restricted in its application and conveys a special concept in present-day English, e.g. garage
7.1.3 Elevation of meaning
Elevation or amelioration refers to the process by which words rise from humble beginnings to positions of importance, e.g. nice
7.1.4 Degradation of Meaning
Degradation or pejoration of meaning is the opposite of semantic elevation. It is a process whereby words of good origin or affective neutrality fall into ill reputation or come to be used in a derogatory sense, e.g. boor
7.1.5 Transference of Meaning
Some words which were used to designate one thing but later changed to mean something else have experienced the process of semantic transfer, known as transference or transfer of meaning. E.g. paper.
1) Associated Transfer
It is what is commonly known as figurative extension of meaning.
2) Transfer between Abstract and Concrete Meanings
Room formerly meant ‘space’ as in “There is no room in the car”. Now it has developed a concrete meaning as in “This flat has three rooms”.
3) Transfer between Subjective and Objective Meanings
Some words were formerly used subjectively but later shifted to an objective use, and the subjective meaning was totally lost, e.g. pitiful.
4) Synesthesia
This kind of transfer takes place between words of sensation. That is, words usually associated with one sense are used to describe another sense, e.g. clear-sounding (from sight to hearing).
1. The most common types of word-meaning changes are extension and n_________. (narrowing) 2. Extension of meaning, also known as g________, is the name given to the widening of meaning which some words undergo. (generalization) 3. The associated transfer of meaning and euphemistic use of words etc. are often due to p_________. (psychological factors) 4. Narrowing of meaning is the opposite of e_______meaning. (extension) 5. Words which were uesd to designate one thing but later changed to mean something else have experienced the process of semantic t________. (transfer) 6. Changes of word meaning are due to linguistic factors and e_____factors. (extra-linguistic) 7. Linguistic factors includes internal factors within the language system, the influx of borrowings and (analogy)
2. nonresistance, irregular, illogical, unnecessary, impolite, dishonest
3. misjudge, misunderstand anti-Japanese, counter-revolution
4. -less: endless, selfless, careless
5. -en: golden
6. -ern: eastern, western
7. -able: comfortable, suitable
8. -ish: childish, foolish, bookish
9. -al: national, cultural
10. -ant: significant, pollutant
11. -ent: different, independent
12. -ous: famous, courageous
13. -y: cloudy, rainy, windy
14. -ic: heroic, democraticMovable comfortable applicable visible responsibleNatural additional educational physical RepublicanMerciful tactful graceful dutifulMokeyish snobbish nightmarish sixtyish wettish thinnish plumpishPriceless timeless Dreamlike animallike ladylike
15. bus=omnibus plane=aeroplane mod=modern demo=demonstration ad=advertisement flu=influenza tec=detective
16.
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