American English, lexical meaning and word structure - Шпаргалка

Билет 1. Word as a basic unit of language. Definition. Characteristics word english vocabulary units Basic units of the language are: morpheme, word, phrase, sentence, text. The borderline between various linguistic units is not always sharp and clear and it is important to indicate the most important features and characteristics of the notion expressed by the term when we try to define it. Structurally words are inseparable lexical units taking shape in a definite system of grammatical forms and syntactic characteristics, which distinguishes them both from morphemes and word-groups. When we characterize the word we should distinguish it from other linguistic units showing its main characteristic features. Every definition is a very difficult task. The definition of a word is most difficult because every word has very many different aspects. It is a certain arrangement of phonemes and has its sound form. It has its morphological structure being also an arrangement of morphemes. It can occur in different word-forms and signal different meanings. The term word denotes the basic unit of a given language resulting from the association of a particular meaning with a particular group of sounds capable of a particular grammatical employment. A word is simultaneously a semantic, grammatical and phonological unit. The word is the principle and basic unit of the language system, the largest on the morphologic and the smallest on the syntactic plane of linguistic analysis. The word is a structural and semantic entity within the language system. So the word is a two-facet unit possessing both form and content. A word is the central element of many linguistic disciplines e.g. phonology, syntax, morphology, but its also studied by non-linguistic sciences which still deal with language and speech, such as philosophy and psychology. In every domain of science the definition of the word as a basic unit of the language will have its specific features. There are numerous definitions of the word which characterize and define it from different point of view. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), English philosopher gave materialistic approach - Words are not mere sounds but names of matter. Within linguistics the word has been defined syntactically, semantically, phonologically and by combining various approaches. Syntactically the word is defined as 4he minimum sentence (H. Sweet and as a minimum free form by L. Bloomfield) Syntactic and semantic defines the word as one of the smallest, completely satisfying bits of isolated meaning (definition is given by Edward Sapir) Semantic definition defines the word as a meaningful unit (definition is given byStephen Ullman)Features of the word as a basic unit of the languase : indivisibility /uninterruptabilityl(\i can not be cut without changing the meaning, its an inseparable lexical unit), positional mobility (within a sentence a word is capable of functioning alone). Derivational and functional affixes Affixation is a way of word-building when new words are formed by adding suffixes or prefixes. e.g. -dom - a state, condition -ship - to create, to shape -hood - the state of being Etymology - affixes are subdivided into 2 groups: 1)Native or Germanic (affixes created in English language itself at different periods of its development - under, out, er, hood, dom, ness) 2)Borrowed from Latin, Greek, French (pre, anti, age, ation) Function - affixes are subdivided into: 1. Form - building affixes (inflexious) 2. Classification of suffixes noun-forming : -er (e. g. worker, miner, teacher, painter, etc.); -ness (e. g. coldness, loneliness, loveliness, etc.); -ing (e. g. feeling, meaning, singing, reading, etc.); - dom (e. g. freedom, wisdom, kingdom, etc.); -hood (childhood, manhood, motherhood, etc.); -ship (e. g. friendship, companionship, mastership, etc.) adjective-forming : -ful (e. g. careful, joyful, wonderful, sinful, skilful, etc.); -less (e. g. careless, sleepless, cloudless, senseless, etc.); - у (e. g. cozy, tidy, merry, snowy, showy, etc.), -ish (e. g.