Lecture 3

Question 1

ROOT

Answer 1

1. The ultimate irreducible element
2. The constituent common to all cognate forms
3. The element that remains after removing all inflectional endings

Question 2

STEM:

Answer 2

1. A root + a morpheme (which marks a change in the root)

2. E.g.: ‘bound’ is the stem in ‘boundary/boundless/ness’.

Question 3

BASE can be:

Answer 3

1. The root of a word (‘bind’ in ‘binding’) 2. The stem of a word (‘bound’ in ‘bounded’,
   ‘boundless/ness’)3. A combination of root or stem + derivational affixes (e.g. ‘boundless’ in ‘boundlessness’)

Question 4

They preserve the grammatical class of the free morpheme to which they are attached, e.g. driver (noun) – drivers (noun).

Answer 4

INFLECTIONAL MORPHEMES

Question 5

They may change the grammatical class of the free morpheme to which they are attached, e.g. drive (verb) – driver (noun)

Answer 5

DERIVATIONAL MORPHEMES

Question 6

‘A speech sound or series of speech sounds that symbolizes and communicates a meaning without being divisible into smaller units capable of independent use’

Answer 6

the word

Question 7

‘A sound or combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or of a combination of morphemes’

Answer 7

the word

Question 8

the word

Answer 8

‘One of the units of speech or writing, that native speakers of a language usually
regard as the smallest isolable meaningful element of the language, although linguists would analyze these into morphemes’

Question 9

is the main unit lexicology operates with

Answer 9

the word

Question 10

the basic linguistic unit of speech

Answer 10

the word

Question 11

consists of one or more morphemes

Answer 11

the word

Question 12

made of a speech sound/series of them (which have the function of phonemes)

Answer 12

the word

Question 13

made of a single base with different inflectional elements

Answer 13

the word

Question 14

cannot be divided into smaller units that can be used independently

Answer 14

the word

Question 15

can fulfill a syntactic function on its own

Answer 15

the word

Question 16

has at least one notional meaning

Answer 16

the word

Question 17

the word can be defined by taking into account:

Answer 17

• its phonemic status
• its morphological status (a unit of several morphemes/or a homonym to 1 morpheme)
• its syntactic status (capable to fulfill a syntactic function on its own)
• its semantic status (a unit that has lexical meaning)

Question 18

The orthographic word:

Answer 18

• the word described/understood in terms of alphabetic writing;
• it is a visual sign with space around it; it may/may not have a standard form; e.g.: colour/color; merry was once spelled myry, myrie, mery.

Question 19

The phonological word:

Answer 19

the word described/understood in terms of sound;

e.g. a notion/an ocean; Snow good a tall/It’s no good at all.

Question 20

The morphological word

Answer 20

the word described/understood in terms of form

Question 21

The lexical word (aka lexeme, full word, lexical item, content word):

Answer 21

the word understood in terms of content (it relates to things, actions, states); in structure these words are simple (cat) or composite (blackbird, put up with, Parkinson’s disease)

Question 22

The grammatical word (aka function word, form word): the word in terms of syntactic function;

Answer 22

• it helps to link lexical words;
• they have their own semantic systems: up and down relate to position, direction, space, time;
• before in before the war means the same as pre- in prewar;
• they can also function as affixes: shegoat, yes-man;

e.g.: conjunctions, determiners, pronouns, interjections

Question 23

the word understood in terms of naming; these words establish special/unique
reference; these words are lexical; usually not listed in dictionaries.
E.g.: John (simple); Smithsonian(complex); Raging Bull (motivated).

Answer 23

The onomastic word:

Question 24

The lexicographical word

Answer 24

the word understood in terms of dictionaries.

Question 25

The translinguistic word:

Answer 25

the word understood in terms of distinct languages in which versions of the same form exist: reality, realite, realidad, realitate, realitas.

Question 26

buzz word

Answer 26

a word used more to impress than inform: power breakfast

Question 27

teapot

Answer 27

compound word

Question 28

terms based on –ism

Answer 28

Americanism

Question 29

terms based on –onym

Answer 29

(antonym, synonym)

Question 30

Terms that relate to form more than to meaning

Answer 30

abbreviation, acronym, blend

Question 31

(palindrome –madam, stunt word – yuppie, Mc Yuppie)

Answer 31

Terms that relate to social usage

Question 32

it is a word coined on a specific occasion; many are creations of individual writers, e.g. G.B.Shaw coined the word ‘bardolatry’ (worship of Shakespeare). Sometimes these words are used for jocular-sounding words, e.g. nepotocracy, bananaphobia.

Answer 32

Nonce words

Question 33

the term refers to words that have developed from a common ancestor, e.g. mother (En) is cognate with Mutter (Ge), English is cognate with German;

mama (Ro), madre (Sp)

Answer 33

Cognate words

Question 34

False cognates/friends

Answer 34

a word that has the same or similar form in two or more languages, but different
meanings in each: (Fr) sympathique (nice, pleasant) – (It) simpatico – (En) sympathetic (compassionate, concerned); (En) cold –(Ge) kalt –(Sp)/(It) caldo (hot).

There are false friends inside a language: actual (real), present (gift), chemist (one who prepares and sells medical goods), comfort (well-being; but consolation),
concert (musical entertainment; but harmony, agreement), intelligence (intellect; but news, information).

Question 35

the term refers to two words which are historically from the same source; these words are somehow different in form; these words may be used in different senses. E.g.: human-humane, mood-mode, frail-fragile (from L. fragilis), moral-morale, balm-balsam. We can also identify triplets: hotel-hostelhospital

Answer 35

Doublets

Question 36

International words

Answer 36

these are words easily understood without being deliberately learned; they are
words that are known at least in some languages; they are not words that circulate through all languages.
Their origin: La, Gr, Fr, It, Sp.

Question 37

the term refers to a word/expression which in form or use affect/offend against/influence contemporary standards of correctness and especially purity in a language; they are usually treated as neologisms, being non-naturalized.

Answer 37

Barbarism Gr. barbar (foreign)

Latin: ab initio (from the beginning), ad libitum (according to one’s will), alter idem (exactly the same),
carpe diem (sieze the day), sine die (without date), ad nauseam (to the pint of disgust).
French: coup de grace (a finishing blow) mal de mer (sea sickness), femme fatale.
Italian: dolce far niente (pleasant idleness)

Question 38

REtain – REceive – Rewrite => ‘tain’ and ‘ceive’

Answer 38

do not have a meaning on their on, so they are not free morphemes; they are called pseudo-morphemes (morpheme false)