english 306a; harris words english 306a; harris the unit lexicology: the word. morphology: the...

English 306A; Harris

Words


The unit

Lexicology: the word.Morphology: the morpheme.Phonology: the phoneme.Phonetics: the phone.Syntax: the sentence.Semantics: the proposition.


Lexicalization

EnglishAirplane spoon

FrenchCuillère en forme d'avion

GermanFlugzeuglöffel

Bird-like-machine-shaped-concave-instrument-for-eating-with


Symbolicity A mode defined by relationship of arbitrariness,

convention, and learning

dog (English)chien (French)Hund (German)perro (Spanish)

leécaa’l (Navajo)kurii (Maori)mbwa (Swahili)khwei (Burmese)


Symbolicity


Quiz


“Arbitrariness” of symbols


“Arbitrariness” of symbols

Telephone words• Ring• Dial• Hang up


Where words come from

quark, googol, hobbit, gollum, …

From the imagination



meow, bang, crackle, sploosh, ring, …

From the world


Iconicity — Sound

Ring, rang, rungSplish, splash,

sploosh, slosh, slush, sleet

Doggie, kitty, itty bitty, teeny weenie

Cock-a-doodle-do (English), cocorico (Spanish), kikeriki (German)


accused, addiction, aerial, alligator, amazement, anchovies, assassination, auspicious, backing, bandit, baseless, beached, bedroom,

besmirch, bet, blanket, bloodstained, blushing, bump, buzzers, cake, cater, champion, circumstantial, compromise, consanguineous,

courtship, cow, critic, dauntless, dawn, deafening, denote, deracinate, design, dialogue, dickens, discontent, disgraceful, dislocate, divest,

domineering, drug, dwindle, elbow, embrace, employer, engagements, enmesh, enrapt, epileptic, equivocal, eventful, excitements, exposure, eyeball, fashionable, film, fixture, foregone, forward, frugal, futurity, generous, gloomy, glow, gnarled, gossip, grovel, gust, hint, hobnob, humour, hurry, hush, immediacy, impedes, importantly, inaudible,

instinctively, investments, invulnerable, jaded, jet, jig, juiced, kickshaws, label, lackluster, lapse, laughable, leapfrog, lonely, lower, luggage,

lustrous, madcap, majestic, manager, marketable, mimic, misgiving, misquote, monumental, mountaineer, negotiate, nervy, noiseless, numb,

obsequiously, ode, olympian, oscene, outbreak, pageantry, pander, partner, pedant, perusal, petition, premeditated, promethean, puke,

quarrelsome, questioning, radiance, rancorous, rant, reclusive, reinforcement, remorseless, retirement, reword, rival, roadway,

rumination, sacrificial, sanctimonious, savagery, scuffles, secure, shudders, softhearted, splitting, stealthy, submerge, swagger, switch,

tardiness, threateningly, tightly, torture, traditional, tranquil, transcendence, trippingly, unaware unclog, unmitigated, unreal, urging,

varied, vaulting, viewless, watchdog, widowed, wormhole, worthless, yelping, zany


From other words


accused, addiction, aerial, alligator, amazement, anchovies, assassination, auspicious, backing, bandit, baseless, beached, bedroom,

besmirch, bet, blanket, bloodstained, blushing, bump, buzzers, cake, cater, champion, circumstantial, compromise, consanguineous,

courtship, cow, critic, dauntless, dawn, deafening, denote, deracinate, design, dialogue, dickens, discontent, disgraceful, dislocate, divest,

domineering, drug, dwindle, elbow, embrace, employer, engagements, enmesh, enrapt, epileptic, equivocal, eventful, excitements, exposure, eyeball, fashionable, film, fixture, foregone, forward, frugal, futurity, generous, gloomy, glow, gnarled, gossip, grovel, gust, hint, hobnob, humour, hurry, hush, immediacy, impedes, importantly, inaudible,

instinctively, investments, invulnerable, jaded, jet, jig, juiced, kickshaws, label, lackluster, lapse, laughable, leapfrog, lonely, lower, luggage,

lustrous, madcap, majestic, manager, marketable, mimic, misgiving, misquote, monumental, mountaineer, negotiate, nervy, noiseless, numb,

obsequiously, ode, olympian, oscene, outbreak, pageantry, pander, partner, pedant, perusal, petition, premeditated, promethean, puke,

quarrelsome, questioning, radiance, rancorous, rant, reclusive, reinforcement, remorseless, retirement, reword, rival, roadway,

rumination, sacrificial, sanctimonious, savagery, scuffles, secure, shudders, softhearted, splitting, stealthy, submerge, swagger, switch,

tardiness, threateningly, tightly, torture, traditional, tranquil, transcendence, trippingly, unaware unclog, unmitigated, unreal, urging,

varied, vaulting, viewless, watchdog, widowed, wormhole, worthless, yelping, zany


From other words

SemasiologicalPermutations of

formborrowingcombiningreducing(converting)

OnomasiologicalPermutations of

meaning metaphoricmetonymicspecializationgeneralization



Semasiological processes

borrowingcombining

morphological (tune in later)compounding acronyms/abbreviationsblending

reducingclippingacronyms/abbreviationsblending

(converting)


Semasiological processes

Borrowing

skunkchocolatepyjamasbungalotyphoontofubananabanjojazz…

We dinna just borrow words. On occasion,

English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for

new vocabulary.

The form inevitably changes (to accommodate the borrowing language’s phonology), and the meaning also shifts in various ways


Semasiological processes--borrowing + reanalysis

Folk etymologieshigh muck-a-muck (or

muckety-muck) from Chinook Jargon hayo

makamak (‘one who has plenty to eat’)



Folk etymologies

Pink-stacios



Folk etymologiesSimple reanalysis

crayfish (écrevisse)muskrat (musquash)belfrey (berfry)

Backformation(reanalysis + morphological clipping)

pea (pease)edit (editor)swindle (swindler)



Folk etymologies

Historical analysisEtymology

vs.Current usage


Semasiological processes--combining

Compounds

airplane

fire engine

greenhouse

tie-in

blackboard

wet suit


Semasiological processes--combining

Compounds

Stress patterns

(like single words, not multiple words)

Orthographic possibilities

Glued together

Hyphenated

Nothing (just stress)


Semasiological processes--reducing

Clipping

professorhamburgerdemonstrationfacsimilesubmarine sandwichdelicatessanworld wide webinternet



Clipping

professorhamburgerdemonstrationfaxcsimilesubmarine sandwichdelicatessenworld wide webinternet



Clipping

Current-usage comparison with parallel terms

longer

phonologically and conceptually similar

Historical comparison

longer

phonologically and conceptually similar



Clipping

Often a form of jargon

Efficiency

In-group certification


Semasiological processes--combining and reducing

Acronymns/Abbreviationradarscubasnafufubartwain

CBCUSAWW1, WW2WWWPR



Acronymns/Abbreviationradarscubasnafufubartwain

CBCUSAWW1, WW2WWWPR

acronymns;pronoun-cable

letter-enunciation



Acronymns/Abbreviation

Jargons, Argots, SlangsSimilar to clipping

EfficiencyIn-group certification

butStronger groupinessMore exclusive

With clipping the linkages are more apparent, so more easily recoverable by outsiders; acronyms and abbreviations require secret information, a key.



Acronymns/Abbreviationtxt msg ortholect

AFAIK As far as I know ASAP As soon as

possible B4 BeforeCUL8TR See you laterBAM By all means BAU Business as usual BCNU Be seeing you BD Brain-dead BTDT Been there,

done that…




AFAIK As far as I know ASAP As soon as possible B4 Before (just

reducing)CUL8TR See you laterBAM By all means BAU Business as usual BCNU Be seeing you BD Brain-dead BTDT Been there,

done that…




AFAIK As far as I know ASAP As soon as possible B4 Before (just

reducing)CUL8TR See you laterBAM By all means BAU Business as usual BCNU Be seeing you BD Brain-dead BTDT Been there,

done that…

Rebus principle

4 = [for]8 = [ejt]



Acronymns/Abbreviation

Sometimes just efficiencyUSACBCTVUW

Sometimes for a high-tech or generally authoritative ethos

IBMBNRCIBCMIT



Blendssmoke + fogmotor + hotelaerobic + exercisebreakfast + lunchinformation + entertainmenteducation + entertainmentNorthern Telecom



Blendssmoke + fogmotor + hotelaerobic + exercisebreakfast + lunchinformation + entertainmenteducation + entertainmentNorthern + Telecom



BlendssmogmotelaerobicisebrunchinfotainmentedutainmentNorTel



BlendsCurrent-usage comparison with parallel terms

Multiple words

Phonologically and conceptually similar

Historical comparison

Multiple words

Phonologically and conceptually similar


Semasiological processes--converting

Conversion (double-dipping)

permít

contést

survéy

butter

ship

toast

nail

pérmit

cóntest

súrvey

dirty

empty

clean

paint


Semasiological processes--converting

Conversion (double-dipping)

Stress patternsDifferent lexical stress, but only for a few cases

Syntactic contextInfallible diagnostic.

“He put butter on the toast.”

vs.

“He buttered the toast.”



From other words







From other words





similarityassociationnarrowingbroadening


Metaphor

A new signified based on comparisonbroadcast (to cast out seeds to send out a

signal)

mouse (little squeaky rodent computer

input device)


Metonymy

A new signified based on physical or

conceptual associationjaw (cheek pointy boney thing underneath

cheeks)

horn (boney animal projection (adapted to make

sounds) musical instrument)


Specialization

Narrowing of signifiedpill (a small, ingestible unit of solid

medication

a small, ingestible unit of birth-control

medication)

school (any learning institution a specific

type of learning)


Specialization

houndfrom hund, all domestic canines

meatfrom meat, all edible substances

deerfrom deor, wild beast

writefrom writtan, to scratch

girlfrom gerol, young person


Generalization

Broadening of signifiedship (send by boat send by any means of

transport)

school (learning institution an intellectual

or

creative group)


Generalization

dogfrom dogge, a canine breed

used for hunting

holidayfrom haligdæ, a holy day

placefrom platea, broad street

pantsfrom pantaloons, long, baggy

trousers

virtuefrom virtu, manliness


A radial network

The polysemy of schoolschool of optometry cubist school

school beginsat 8:40

school of fish

the whole schoolwent to the game

she is going to grad school

metonymy

met

onym

ym

etap

hor

specialization

speci

aliz

ati

on

generalization


New terms


mallrat

Teen or tween who spends large amounts of time hanging out in shopping malls


adulescent

An adult dressing/carrying on like a kid


kidult

See “adulescent”


cube farm

An office filled with cubicles.


prairie dogging

When someone yells or drops something loudly in a Cube Farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.


familymoon

A holiday taken after the wedding by a bride, a groom, and their children from previous marriages.


podcast

A digital audio download of autonomous radio programming.


mouse potato

The on-line version of the couch potato.


macarena page

A web page capitalizing on a current fad; usually full of fluff with a short shelf life.


assmosis

The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.


salmon day

The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to be screwed and die in the end.


mousetrapping

A technique that forces a user to remain on a particular (usually pornographic or gambling) web page.


metrosexual

A straight man with the good taste of a gay: scrupulous about his grooming; big consumer of cosmetic products and high fashion suits.


retrosexual

Antonym of “metrosexual”: a straight guy who is scared of hair gel, doesn’t know the difference between teal and aqua, wears sweats.


generica

Features of the North American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, subdivisions.


percussive maintenance

Whacking an electronic device to get it to work again.


vasectomy zoning

Zoning laws and other restrictions that aim to keep children out of an area or neighborhood.


CLM

Career Limiting Move, like doing an uncannily accurate imitation of your boss while she is standing right behind you.


rain dance

A mostly ceremonial sequence of actions performed in the hope that they will solve a computer problem.


Semasiology

Formal processes

Morphologymetrosexual, retrosexual, podcast

Blendassmosis, adulescent, kidult, careware, familymoon, generica,

Conversionprairie dog[ging], mousetrap[ping]

AbbreviationCLM

Compoundingmall rat (metrosexual, retrosexual, podcast)


Semasiology

Formal processes

Nadarain dance, cube farm, macarena page, salmon day,

mouse potato, percussive maintenance, vasectomy zoning

Purely onomasiologicalrain dance: new context of use; new sense; new idiomcube farm, macarena page, salmon day, mouse potato,

percussive maintenance, vasectomy zoning: new adjectival modifications; the creation of new phrases, or idioms, but not new words


Onomasiology

Conceptual processes

Metaphormall rat, kidult, adulescent, rain dance, percussive maintenance, prairie dogging, mousetrapping, cube farm, salmon day, mouse potato

Metonymymall rat, macarena page, mouse potato, cube farm, mousetrapping, metrosexual, retrosexual, assmosis, vasectomy zoning

Purely semasiologicalCLM



Onomasiological processes

MetaphoricMeaning shift on the basis of similarity

MetonymicMeaning shift on the basis of

association

SpecializationA narrowing of meaning (down the

hypernym/hyponym link)

GeneralizationA broadening of meaning (up the

hypernym/hyponym link)


Signifier

Semasiology

Concept evoked synonymy antonymy

Word form polysemy homophony

“dog”yappy, hairyquaduped

Signified

Onomasiology


Onomasiology Synonymy

Lawyer, Attorney, Barrister, Solicitor, Shyster, Ambulance-chaser, ...


Onomasiology Word formation


a) metaphorb) metonymyc) iconicityd) all of the abovee) none of the

above


Semasiology Word formation


a) blendb) clippingc) morphologicald) compoundinge) conversion


Onomasiology

Antonymy

black/white, up/down, boy/girl, stop/go, cat/dog, student/professor, ...


Semasiology

Homophony (lies)

My Bonnie lies over the ocean.

My Bonnie

The ocean

Me

(That’s where she lives; “lies” ≈ ‘lives’.)


Semasiology

Homophony (lies)

My Bonnie lies over the ocean.

I am a direct blood descendantof Mary Magdalene and Saint Peter,

on my father’s side.

(Don’t believe her on a transAtlantic flight; “lies” ≈ ‘tells fibs’.)


Semasiology

Homophony (hoe/ho)

Two (or more) words (therefore, two or more meanings) that happen to sound the same; a product of coincidence.

Ho as in prostitute.Hoe as in garden implement.


Semasiology

Homophony (bear/bare/bear)

Two (or more) words (therefore, two or more meanings) that happen to sound the same; a product of coincidence.

Bear as in ursidae.Bare as in naked.Bear as in carry.


Semasiology

Polysemy (bear)

Tolerate (I can’t bear his jokes.)Give testimony (I bear witness.)Have as an identification (We bear the same

name.)Give birth (She can bear children.) Produce as yield (It has been known to bear

fruit.)Support the weight (That pillar bears the weight

of the whole first floor.)Maintain (They bear me a grudge.)


Semasiology

Polysemy (lies)

My Bonnie lies over the ocean.Lies: (1) is supine

(2) dwells

“lie” = the place whereone is habitually supine.

Which sense is prototypical?

“lie” = to be supine.“lie” = to be supine.


Semasiology

Polysemy (lies)


(2) dwells


Metaphor or

Metonymy?

“lie” = to be supine.


Semasiology

Polysemy (lies)


(2) dwells


Metonymy!

“lie” = to be supine.


Semasiology

Polysemy

Meaning extension• Metonymy

• Metaphor

• Specialization

• Generalization

selection

comparison

narrowing

broadening


Semasiology

Polysemy (over)

My Bonnie lies over the ocean.Over: (1) directly above

(2) on the other side of


Word classes

Content words Function words

Carry the semantic burden; less important syntactically.

Open class.

Do much of the syntactic syntactic work; relatively lightweight semantically.

Closed class.


Word classes

Content words Function words

NounsVerbsAdjectivesAdverbs

PrepositionsDeterminersParticlesQualifiersDegree wordsPronouns Etc. etc. etc.


Word class diagnostics

SemanticWhat sort of signifieds does the category evoke?

MorphologicalWhich affixes (if any) are legitimate?

SyntacticWhich other words does it co-occur with, and in what order?


English Nouns

SemanticPerson, place, or thing.

MorphologicalTakes plural and

possessive suffixes. dogs, dog’s

SyntacticFollows articles and

adjectives, in that order. a dog, the dog, a big dog,

the green dog


SemanticA quality, attribute, or

property (of a person, place, or thing).

MorphologicalTakes comparative and

superlative suffixes.big, bigger, biggest

SyntacticPrecedes nouns, follows

degree word.The very big boy.

English Adjectives


English verbs

SemanticAn action or state.


English verbs

SemanticAn action or state.

nodtalk

listenfeel

jumprunhit

manipulate…

knowagreehearfeel

believedoubt

recognizehate…


English verbs

MorphologicalTake four suffixes:

past tense nodded

3sg present nods

past participle (has) nodded, (had) nodded

pres. participle (is) nodding, (was) nodding


English verbs

SyntacticCan follow an auxiliary verb.He can nod his head.She will know that he is looking for his puppy.


English adverbs

SemanticModifies (in manner, time or location) an action or state.


English adverbs

Morphological

(though many of them end in -ly.)


English adverbs

Morphological

(though many of them end in -ly.)

Inflectional

derivational


English adverbs

Syntactic

Follows a verb.

They nod vigorously.(Weak test, but compare “They nod friendly”)


Function words

Highly specific tests for individual word category; treat them as belonging to one big bag, ‘not content words’.


http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/306a_web/

wordcategories.pdfEnglishInflectionalAffixes.pdf


Words

Linguistic building blocks

Word formation processes

SemasiologyOnomasiologyWord classes


Semasiology

OnomasiologyWord Formation (building new signified/signifier

relations)Morphological Metaphor

Compounding Metonymy

Conversion Specialization

Clipping Generalization

Blending

Folk etymology

Semantic Categories (classifying signified/signifier relations)

Polysemy Synonymy

Homophony Antonymy


Word classes

ContentNounsVerbsAdjectivesAdverbs

FunctionEverything else

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