Lexicology of the English Language

for a ride», now its meaning is «prepared for anything». «Journey» was

borrowed from French with the meaning «one day trip», now it means «a trip

of any duration».

All auxiliary verbs are cases of generalization of their lexical meaning

because they developed a grammatical meaning : «have», «be», «do», «shall»

, «will» when used as auxiliary verbs are devoid of their lexical meaning

which they have when used as notional verbs or modal verbs, e.g. cf. «I

have several books by this writer» and «I have read some books by this

author». In the first sentence the verb «have» has the meaning «possess»,

in the second sentence it has no lexical meaning, its grammatical meaning

is to form Present Perfect.

METAPHOR

It is a transfer of the meaning on the basis of comparison. Herman Paul

points out that metaphor can be based on different types of similarity:

a) similarity of shape, e.g. head (of a cabbage), bottleneck, teeth (of a

saw, a comb);

b) similarity of position, e.g. foot (of a page, of a mountain), head (of

a procession);

c) similarity of function, behaviour e.g. a whip (an official in the

British Parliament whose duty is to see that members were present at the

voting);

d) similarity of colour, e.g. orange, hazel, chestnut etc.

In some cases we have a complex similarity, e.g. the leg of a table has a

similarity to a human leg in its shape, position and function.

Many metaphors are based on parts of a human body, e.g. an eye of a

needle, arms and mouth of a river, head of an army.

A special type of metaphor is when Proper names become common nouns, e.g.

philistine - a mercenary person, vandals - destructive people, a Don Juan -

a lover of many women etc.

METONYMY

It is a transfer of the meaning on the basis of contiguity. There are

different types of metonymy:

a) the material of which an object is made may become the name of the

object , e.g. a glass, boards, iron etc;

b) the name of the place may become the name of the people or of an

object placed there, e.g. the House - members of Parliament, Fleet Street

- bourgeois press, the White House - the Administration of the USA etc;

c) names of musical instruments may become names of musicians, e.g. the

violin, the saxophone;

d) the name of some person may becom a common noun, e.g. «boycott» was

originally the name of an Irish family who were so much disliked by their

neighbours that they did not mix with them, «sandwich» was named after Lord

Sandwich who was a gambler. He did not want to interrupt his game and had

his food brought to him while he was playing cards between two slices of

bread not to soil his fingers.

e) names of inventors very often become terms to denote things they

invented, e.g. «watt» , «om», «rentgen» etc

f) some geographical names can also become common nouns through metonymy,

e.g. holland (linen fabrics), Brussels (a special kind of carpets) , china

(porcelain) , astrachan ( a sheep fur) etc.

ELEVATION

It is a transfer of the meaning when it becomes better in the course of

time, e.g. «knight» originally meant «a boy», then «a young servant», then

«a military servant», then «a noble man». Now it is a title of nobility

given to outstanding people; «marshal» originally meant «a horse man» now

it is the highest military rank etc.

DEGRADATION

It is a transfer of the meaning when it becomes worse in the course of

time. It is usually connected with nouns denoting common people, e.g.

«villain» originally meant «working on a villa» now it means «a scoundrel».

HYPERBOLE

It is a transfer of the meaning when the speaker uses exaggeration,

e.g. «to hate»(doing something), (not to see somebody) «for ages».

Hyperbole is often used to form phraseological units, e.g. «to make a

mountain out of a molehill», «to split hairs» etc.

LITOTE

It is a transfer of the meaning when the speaker expresses affirmative

with the negative or vica versa, e.g. not bad, no coward etc.

PHRASEOLOGY

The vocabulary of a language is enriched not only by words but also by

phraseological units. Phraseological units are word-groups that cannot be

made in the process of speech, they exist in the language as ready-made

units. They are compiled in special dictionaries. The same as words

phraseological units express a single notion and are used in a sentence as

one part of it. American and British lexicographers call such units

«idioms». We can mention such dictionaries as: L.Smith «Words and Idioms»,

V.Collins «A Book of English Idioms» etc. In these dictionaries we can find

words, peculiar in their semantics (idiomatic), side by side with word-

groups and sentences. In these dictionaries they are arranged, as a rule,

into different semantic groups.

Phraseological units can be classified according to the ways they are

formed, according to the degree of the motivation of their meaning,

according to their structure and according to their part-of-speech meaning.

WAYS OF FORMING PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

A.V. Koonin classified phraseological units according to the way they

are formed. He pointed out primary and secondary ways of forming

phraseological units.

Primary ways of forming phraseological units are those when a unit is

formed on the basis of a free word-group :

a) Most productive in Modern English is the formation of phraseological

units by means of transferring the meaning of terminological word-groups,

e.g. in cosmic technique we can point out the following phrases: «launching

pad» in its terminological meaning is «стартовая площадка» , in its

transferred meaning - «отправной пункт», «to link up» - «cтыковаться,

стыковать космические корабли» in its tranformed meaning it means

-«знакомиться»;

b) a large group of phraseological units was formed from free word groups

by transforming their meaning, e.g. «granny farm» - «пансионат для

престарелых», «Troyan horse» - «компьюторная программа, преднамеренно

составленная для повреждения компьютера»;

c) phraseological units can be formed by means of alliteration , e.g. «a

sad sack» - «несчастный случай», «culture vulture» - «человек,

интересующийся искусством», «fudge and nudge» - «уклончивость».

d) they can be formed by means of expressiveness, especially it is

characteristic for forming interjections, e.g. «My aunt!», « Hear, hear !»

etc

e) they can be formed by means of distorting a word group, e.g. «odds and

ends» was formed from «odd ends»,

f) they can be formed by using archaisms, e.g. «in brown study» means «in

gloomy meditation» where both components preserve their archaic meanings,

g) they can be formed by using a sentence in a different sphere of life,

e.g. «that cock won’t fight» can be used as a free word-group when it is

used in sports (cock fighting ), it becomes a phraseological unit when it

is used in everyday life, because it is used metaphorically,

h) they can be formed when we use some unreal image, e.g. «to have

butterflies in the stomach» - «испытывать волнение», «to have green

fingers» - »преуспевать как садовод-любитель» etc.

i) they can be formed by using expressions of writers or polititions in

everyday life, e.g. «corridors of power» (Snow), «American dream» (Alby)

«locust years» (Churchil) , «the winds of change» (Mc Millan).

Secondary ways of forming phraseological units are those when a

phraseological unit is formed on the basis of another phraseological unit;

they are:

a) conversion, e.g. «to vote with one’s feet» was converted into «vote

with one’s f eet»;

b) changing the grammar form, e.g. «Make hay while the sun shines» is

transferred into a verbal phrase - «to make hay while the sun shines»;

c) analogy, e.g. «Curiosity killed the cat» was transferred into «Care

killed the cat»;

d) contrast, e.g. «cold surgery» - «a planned before operation» was

formed by contrasting it with «acute surgery», «thin cat» - «a poor person»

was formed by contrasting it with «fat cat»;

e) shortening of proverbs or sayings e.g. from the proverb «You can’t

make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear» by means of clipping the middle of

it the phraseological unit «to make a sow’s ear» was formed with the

meaning «ошибаться».

f) borrowing phraseological units from other languages, either as

translation loans, e.g. « living space» (German), « to take the bull by the

horns» ( Latin) or by means of phonetic borrowings «meche blanche»

(French), «corpse d’elite» (French), «sotto voce» (Italian) etc.

Phonetic borrowings among phraseological units refer to the bookish style

and are not used very often.

SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

Phraseological units can be classified according to the degree of

motivation of their meaning. This classification was suggested by acad.

V.V. Vinogradov for Russian phraseological units. He pointed out three

types of phraseological units:

a) fusions where the degree of motivation is very low, we cannot guess

the meaning of the whole from the meanings of its components, they are

highly idiomatic and cannot be translated word for word into other

languages, e.g. on Shank’s mare - (on foot), at sixes and sevens - (in a

mess) etc;

b) unities where the meaning of the whole can be guessed from the

meanings of its components, but it is transferred (metaphorical or

metonymical), e.g. to play the first fiddle ( to be a leader in

something), old salt (experienced sailor) etc;

c) collocations where words are combined in their original meaning but

their combinations are different in different languages, e.g. cash and

carry - (self-service shop), in a big way (in great degree) etc.

STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

Prof. A.I. Smirnitsky worked out structural classification of

phraseological units, comparing them with words. He points out one-top

units which he compares with derived words because derived words have only

one root morpheme. He points out two-top units which he compares with

compound words because in compound words we usually have two root

morphemes.

Among one-top units he points out three structural types;

a) units of the type «to give up» (verb + postposition type), e.g. to

art up, to back up, to drop out, to nose out, to buy into, to sandwich

in etc.;

b) units of the type «to be tired» . Some of these units remind the

Passive Voice in their structure but they have different prepositons with

them, while in the Passive Voice we can have only prepositions «by» or

«with», e.g. to be tired of, to be interested in, to be surprised at etc.

There are also units in this type which remind free word-groups of the type

«to be young», e.g. to be akin to, to be aware of etc. The difference

between them is that the adjective «young» can be used as an attribute and

as a predicative in a sentence, while the nominal component in such units

can act only as a predicative. In these units the verb is the grammar

centre and the second component is the semantic centre;

c) prepositional- nominal phraseological units. These units are

equivalents of unchangeable words: prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs ,

that is why they have no grammar centre, their semantic centre is the

nominal part, e.g. on the doorstep (quite near), on the nose (exactly), in

the course of, on the stroke of, in time, on the point of etc. In the

course of time such units can become words, e.g. tomorrow, instead etc.

Among two-top units A.I. Smirnitsky points out the following structural

types:

a) attributive-nominal such as: a month of Sundays, grey matter, a

millstone round one’s neck and many others. Units of this type are noun

equivalents and can be partly or perfectly idiomatic. In partly idiomatic

units (phrasisms) sometimes the first component is idiomatic, e.g. high

road, in other cases the second component is idiomatic, e.g. first night.

In many cases both components are idiomatic, e.g. red tape, blind alley,

bed of nail, shot in the arm and many others.

b) verb-nominal phraseological units, e.g. to read between the lines , to

speak BBC, to sweep under the carpet etc. The grammar centre of such units

is the verb, the semantic centre in many cases is the nominal component,

e.g. to fall in love. In some units the verb is both the grammar and the

semantic centre, e.g. not to know the ropes. These units can be perfectly

idiomatic as well, e.g. to burn one’s boats,to vote with one’s feet, to

take to the cleaners’ etc.

Very close to such units are word-groups of the type to have a glance, to

have a smoke. These units are not idiomatic and are treated in grammar as a

special syntactical combination, a kind of aspect.

c) phraseological repetitions, such as : now or never, part and parcel ,

country and western etc. Such units can be built on antonyms, e.g. ups and

downs , back and forth; often they are formed by means of alliteration, e.g

cakes and ale, as busy as a bee. Components in repetitions are joined by

means of conjunctions. These units are equivalents of adverbs or adjectives

and have no grammar centre. They can also be partly or perfectly idiomatic,

e.g. cool as a cucumber (partly), bread and butter (perfectly).

Phraseological units the same as compound words can have more than two

tops (stems in compound words), e.g. to take a back seat, a peg to hang a

thing on, lock, stock and barrel, to be a shaddow of one’s own self, at

one’s own sweet will.

SYNTACTICAL CLASSIFICATION

OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

Phraseological units can be clasified as parts of speech. This

classification was suggested by I.V. Arnold. Here we have the following

groups:

a) noun phraseologisms denoting an object, a person, a living being, e.g.

bullet train, latchkey child, redbrick university, Green Berets,

b) verb phraseologisms denoting an action, a state, a feeling, e.g. to

break the log-jam, to get on somebody’s coattails, to be on the beam, to

nose out , to make headlines,

c) adjective phraseologisms denoting a quality, e.g. loose as a goose,

dull as lead ,

d) adverb phraseological units, such as : with a bump, in the soup, like

a dream , like a dog with two tails,

e) preposition phraseological units, e.g. in the course of, on the stroke

of ,

f) interjection phraseological units, e.g. «Catch me!», «Well, I never!»

etc.

In I.V.Arnold’s classification there are also sentence equivalents,

proverbs, sayings and quatations, e.g. «The sky is the limit», «What makes

him tick», » I am easy». Proverbs are usually metaphorical, e.g. «Too many

cooks spoil the broth», while sayings are as a rule non-metaphorical, e.g.

«Where there is a will there is a way».

BORROWINGS

Borrowing words from other languages is characteristic of English

throughout its history More than two thirds of the English vocabulary are

borrowings. Mostly they are words of Romanic origin (Latin, French,

Italian, Spanish). Borrowed words are different from native ones by their

phonetic structure, by their morphological structure and also by their

grammatical forms. It is also characterisitic of borrowings to be non-

motivated semantically.

English history is very rich in different types of contacts with other

countries, that is why it is very rich in borrowings. The Roman invasion,

the adoption of Cristianity, Scandinavian and Norman conquests of the

British Isles, the development of British colonialism and trade and

cultural relations served to increase immensely the English vocabulary. The

majority of these borrowings are fully assimilated in English in their

pronunciation, grammar, spelling and can be hardly distinguished from

native words.

English continues to take in foreign words , but now the quantity of

borrowings is not so abundunt as it was before. All the more so, English

now has become a «giving» language, it has become Lingva franca of the

twentieth century.

Borrowings can be classified according to different criteria:

a) according to the aspect which is borrowed,

b) according to the degree of assimilation,

c) according to the language from which the word was borrowed.

(In this classification only the main languages from which words were

borrowed into English are described, such as Latin, French, Italian.

Spanish, German and Russian.)

CLASSIFICATION OF BORROWINGS ACCORDING TO THE BORROWED ASPECT

There are the following groups: phonetic borrowings, translation loans,

semantic borrowings, morphemic borrowings.

Phonetic borrowings are most characteristic in all languages, they are

called loan words proper. Words are borrowed with their spelling,

pronunciation and meaning. Then they undergo assimilation, each sound in

the borrowed word is substituted by the corresponding sound of the

borrowing language. In some cases the spelling is changed. The structure of

the word can also be changed. The position of the stress is very often

influenced by the phonetic system of the borrowing language. The paradigm

of the word, and sometimes the meaning of the borrowed word are also

changed. Such words as: labour, travel, table, chair, people are phonetic

borrowings from French; apparatchik, nomenklatura, sputnik are phonetic

borrowings from Russian; bank, soprano, duet are phonetic borrowings from

Italian etc.

Translation loans are word-for-word (or morpheme-for-morpheme )

translations of some foreign words or expressions. In such cases the notion

is borrowed from a foreign language but it is expressed by native lexical

units, «to take the bull by the horns» (Latin), «fair sex» ( French),

«living space» (German) etc. Some translation loans appeared in English

from Latin already in the Old English period, e.g. Sunday (solis dies).

There are translation loans from the languages of Indians, such as: «pipe

of peace», «pale-faced», from German «masterpiece», «homesickness»,

«superman».

Semantic borrowings are such units when a new meaning of the unit

existing in the language is borrowed. It can happen when we have two

relative languages which have common words with different meanings, e.g.

there are semantic borrowings between Scandinavian and English, such as the

meaning «to live» for the word «to dwell’ which in Old English had the

meaning «to wander». Or else the meaning «дар» , «подарок» for the word

«gift» which in Old English had the meaning «выкуп за жену».

Semantic borrowing can appear when an English word was borrowed into some

other language, developed there a new meaning and this new meaning was

borrowed back into English, e.g. «brigade» was borrowed into Russian and

formed the meaning «a working collective«,»бригада». This meaning was

borrowed back into English as a Russian borrowing. The same is true of the

English word «pioneer».

Morphemic borrowings are borrowings of affixes which occur in the

language when many words with identical affixes are borrowed from one

language into another, so that the morphemic structure of borrowed words

becomes familiar to the people speaking the borrowing language, e.g. we can

find a lot of Romanic affixes in the English word-building system, that is

why there are a lot of words - hybrids in English where different morphemes

have different origin, e.g. «goddess», «beautiful» etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF BORROWINGS ACCORDING TO THE DEGREE OF ASSIMILATION

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