《英语词汇学》知识点归纳

other words, a word which used to have a more general sense becomes restricted in its application and conveys a special meaning in present-day English.(e.g: deer, corn, garage, liquor, meat, disease, poison, wife, accident, girl). [ when a common word is turned into a proper noun, the meaning is narrowed accordingly. ]

3.Elevation /amelioration(词义的升华):refers to the process by which words rise from humble（粗陋的） beginnings to positions of importance. [nice, marshal, constable, angel, knight, earl, governor, fond, minister, chamberlain ]

4.Degradation / pejoration(词义的降格):A process whereby words of good origin fall into ill reputation or non-affective words come to used in derogatory（贬损的） sense.[boor, churl, wench, hussy, villain, silly, knave, lewd, criticize, lust ]

5.Transfer(词义的转移): Words which were used to designate指明 one thing but later changed to mean something else have experienced the process of semantic transfer.

Causes of Semantic Change(词义变化的原因) 1.Extra-linguistic factors(词义演变的语言外部因素):

1) Historical reason(历史原因)：Increased scientific knowledge and discovery, objects, institutions, ideas change in the course of time. E.g: pen, car, computer.

2 )Class reason(阶级原因)：The attitude of classes have also made inroads into lexical meaning in the case of elevation or degradation.

3) Psychological reason(心理原因)：the associated transfer of meaning and euphemistic use of words are often due to psychological factors. Such slow, humble and despised occupations take more appealing names is all due to psychological reasons.

2.Linguistic factors（语言内部原因）：the change of meaning may be caused by internal factors with in the language system.

1)shorting缩略:gold-gold medal, gas-coal gas, bulb-light bulb, private-private soldier 2)borrowing借用:deer-animal-beast 3)analogy类推:

Chapter 8 Meaning and Context 词义和语境

Context in its traditional sense refers to the lexical items that precede or follow a given word. Modern linguists have broadened its scope to include both linguistic and extra-linguistic contexts.

Two types of context（语境的种类）

1. Extra-linguistic context/ Non-linguistic situation（非语言语境）：In a broad sense, context includes the physical situation as well, which embraces the people, time, place, and even the whole cultural background. (look out, weekend, landlord )

2.Linguistic context/ grammatical context(语言语境)：In a narrow sense, it refers to the words, clauses, sentences in which a word appears. It may cover a paragraph, a whole chapter and even the entire book.分为两类：

1) Lexical context（词汇语境）：It refers to the word that occurs together with the word in question. (e.g: paper, do)

2) Grammatical context（语法语境）：It refers the situation when the meaning of a word may be influenced by the structure in which it occurs. (e.g: become)

The role of context(语境的作用) 1.Elimination of ambiguity(消除歧义) 1）Ambiguity due to polysemy or homonymy. 2）Grammatical structure can also lead to ambiguity

如何消除歧义？——①extend the original sentence ②alter the context a little 2.Indication of referents(限定所指)

如何限定所指？——①with clear context ②with adequate verbal context 3.Provision of clues for inferring word-meaning (提供线索以猜测词义) 1)definition 2)explanation 3)example 4)synonymy 5)antonymy

6)hyponymy（上下义关系） 7)relevant details 8)word structure

Chapter 9 English Idioms 英语习语

Idioms（习语的定义）: are expressions that are not readily understandable from their literal meaning of individual elements. In a broad sense, idiom may include colloquialisms（俗语）, Catchphrases（标语）,slang expressions （俚语）,proverbs（谚语）,etc. They form an important part of the English vocabulary.

Characteristics of Idioms（英语习语的特点）

1.Semantic unity （语意的整体性）： words in the idiom they have lost their individual identity. Their meanings are not often recognizable in the meaning of the whole idiom. The semantic unity of idioms is also reflected in the illogical relationship between the literal meaning of each of the idiom.

2.Structural stability(结构的稳定性):the structure of an idiom is to a large extent un changeable.

1) the constituents of idioms cannot be replaced 2) the word order cannot be inverted or changed

3) the constituents of idioms cannot be deleted or added to, not even an article. 4) many idioms are grammatically unchangeable

The fixity of idiom depends on the idiomaticity.习语性表达习惯

Classification of Idioms（英语习语的分类）

1. idioms nominal in nature 名词性习语 (white elephant累赘物)

2 .idioms adjectival in nature形容词性习语 （as poor as a church mouse） 3 .idioms verbal in nature 动词性习语 （look into）

4 .idioms adverbial in nature副词性习语 （tooth and nail 拼命） 5 .sentence idioms 句式习语 （never do things by halves）

Use of idioms（习语的使用） 1.Stylistic features（文体色彩）： 1） colloquialisms（俗语）

2） slang （俚语）

3） literary expressions（书面表达）

The same idiom may show stylistic differences when it is assigned（指派）different meanings.

2.Rhetorical features(修辞色彩) 1) phonetic manipulation （语音处理）： （1）alliteration头韵法 （2）rhyme尾韵法

2）lexical manipulation（词法处理）

（1）reiteration（duplication of synonyms）同义词并举 [scream and shout] （2）repetition 重复[out and out]

（3）juxtaposition (of antonyms) 反义词并置 [here and there]

3.figures of speech（修辞格） （1）simile明喻 （2）metaphor暗喻

（3）metonymy换喻/以名词代动作：live by one?s pen （4）synecdoche提喻/以部分代整体：earn one?s bread （5）Personification拟人法

（6）Euphemism委婉语：kick the bucket(die) （7）hyperbole 夸张：a world of trouble

Variations of idioms(习语的变异形式)： 1.addition增加 2.deletion删除