Chapter 1 Basic Concepts of Words and Vocabulary 1. What is a WordDefinition: A word is a minimal free form of a language that has a given sound and meaning and syntactic function. “词，今指语言组织中的基础单位，能独立 运用，具有声音、意义和语法功能。”（ 辞海（上）页）(1) a minimal free form of language;(2) a sound unity;(3) a unit of meaning;(4) a form that can function alone in a sentence.Eg. Man , fine , misfortune, management, blackmail“The young man left quietly.”2. Sound and MeaningThis symbolic connection is almost always arbitrary, and there is no logical relationship between the sound which stands for a thing or an idea and the actual thing and idea itself (Lodwig and Barret ,1973) Eg. Dog, rose, woman,meat, meet, meteknight, night 洗澡/冲凉；幼儿园/幼稚园3. Sound and FormDifferences occur between the twoInternal reason:English alphabet adopted from the RomansExternal reasons: 1) The pronunciation has changed more rapidly than spelling over the years 2) Some of the differences were created by the early scribes.i,u ,v, m, n, wuo before m,n, veg. sumsome, cum-come, wuman- woman, wunderwonder, munk-monkEnglish word should not end in u or vhence, eg.live, have, due, true 3)In the late 1500,Printing became well established. Dictionaries did their share in stopping spelling changes.4) Finally comes the borrowing.The early borrowings were assimilated and the later ones were not.eg. Stimulus (L), denouement(F), fieste(Sp), eureka (Gr), kimono (Jap)4. VocabularyIt is used in different senses.1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)5. Classification of Words1) Basic word stock and non-basic vocabularyCharacteristics of basic word stock:A. All national character (全民性)Natural phenomena:Human body and relations:Names of plants and animals:Action, size, domain, state:Numerals, pronouns prepositions, conjunctions:B. Stabilityeg. man, fire, mountain, water, sun, moon.arrow, bow, chariot, knightelectricity, machine, car, plane, computer, radio, televisionC. Productivityroot words or monosyllabic wordsfoot: footage, football, footpath, footer, footfall, footed, footloose, footling, footman,footing, footprintDog: doglike, dogcart, dog-cheap, dog- tired, dog-ear, dogfight, doghole, dogpaddle, dogsleep D. PolysemyEg. Take1) to move or carry from one place to another;2) to remove or use without permission;3) to get for oneself;4) to get hold of (sth.) with the hands;5) to be willing to accept;6) to bear or endure;7) to need (a stated amount of time);8) to perform the actions connected with;9) to test or measure;10) to write down;11) to have the intended effect or to work successfullyE. Collocabilityenter set expressions, idiomatic usages, proverbial sayings and the like Eg. HeartA change of heart, a man/woman after my own heart, a heart of gold/stone, at heart, break ones heart, cross ones heart, cry ones heart out, eat ones heart out, have ones heart in ones mouth, heart and hand, heart and soul, ones heart sinks within one, my/his/her heart leapt, my heart bleeds (for sb.),take something to heart, wear ones heart upon ones sleeve, with all ones heartWords do not belong to the common core of the language. A. Terminologymedicine: photoscanning, hepatitis, indigestion, penicillinmathematics:algebra, trigonometry, calculusmusic:symphony, orchestra, sonata,concertoeducation:audiovisual, mega- university, microteachingB. JargonIn business: bottom line, ballpark figures, bargaining chipsIn horse-racing: hold him back; hold him inIn medicine: paranoia, hypoIn warfare: buster C. SlangDough, bread: Grass, pot: Beaver: Smoky, bear: Catch: Roger: X-rays: Nut, dome,upper, bean, block: Elevated, merry, jolly, comfortable, boiled, grassy, tight, knocked out, blue-eyed, fried, paralyzed, pickled, stiff, stunned:D: Argotcan-opener, dip, persuader E. Dialectal wordsstation: AusE ranchauld: ScotE oldbluid: ScotE bloodhame: ScotE homebog: IrE swampF. Archaismsthou: you ye: plural youthee: objective youwilt: willbrethren: brothertroth: pledgequoth: saidtherefrom: from that or thereG: Neologismsmicroelectronics: the branch of electronics dealing with integrated circuitsfuturology:a study that deals with future possibilities based on current trendsAIDS:acquired immune deficiency syndromeE-mail:electronic mailInternet, freak out:withdraw from reality and society esp. by taking drugsSome popular internet English 1. Catch shrimps 2. Chinese cabbage 3. cyber pinup 4. Cyber Romeo 5. Emoticons 6. Online suicide 7. Plant strawberry 8. Proxy kiss9. Q 10. Reptile 11. Prawn 12. White Bone Demon 13. We both realized that we clicked.Content words and Functional words: Notional words and empty words Native words and borrowed words: Four classes of Borrowed words or loan words : 1)Denizens:Words borrowed early in the past and now are well assimilated into the English language.port from portus(L); cup from cuppa(L); shift from skipta(ON); Shirt from skyrta (ON); change from changier (F); pork from porc (F) 的