LECTURE 1

1 INTRODUCTION TO LEXICOLOGY
The vocabulary of a language is its most basic level and its most important instrument of communication.
It is obvious that we communicate with texts. These may be simple words like Fire! or Stop!
We categorize extra-linguistic reality by means and the concept-forming power of the word. Such categorization is always
culture-dependent, since different cultures and languages have different needs and values reflected in the words they coin
Lexicology might be defined as the study of the lexicon or lexis (specified as the vocabulary or total stock of words of a
language).
What is most important is that in lexicology the stock of words or lexical items is not simply regarded as a list of isolated
elements. Lexicologists try to find out generalizations and regularities and especially consider relations between elements.
Lexicology is therefore concerned with structure, not with a mere agglomeration/accumulation of word.
2 Lexicology (definition)
Lexicology is a branch of linguistics the science of language. The term lexicology is composed of two Greed morphemes:
lexic = word, prhase
logos = which denotes learning a department of knowledge.
The literal meaning of the term lexicology is the science of the word.
The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDCE) has the following entry:
Lexicology is the study of content words, or lexical items."
Lexicology is the part of linguistics which studies words, their nature and meaning, words' elements, relations between
words (semantical relations), word groups and the whole lexicon. The term 1st appeared in the 1820s, though there were
lexicologists before the term was coined. An allied science to lexicology is lexicography, which also studies words in
relation with dictionaries it is actually concerned with the inclusion of words in dictionaries and from that perspective
with the whole lexicon. Therefore lexicography is the theory and practice of composing dictionaries. Sometimes
lexicography is considered to be a part or a branch of lexicology, but the two disciplines should not be mistaken: only
lexicologists who do write dictionaries are lexicographers. It is said that lexicography is the practical lexicology, it
is practically oriented though it has its own theory, while the pure lexicology is mainly theoretical.
3 Lexicology and Other Linguistic Disciplines
Lexicology is a branch of linguistics that has its own aims and methods of scientific research. Its basic bask is to study and
give systematic description of vocabulary in respect to its origin, development and its current use. Lexicology is
concerned with words, variable word-groups, phraseological units and morphemes which make up words.
Lexicology deals not only with simple words in all their aspects but also with complex and compound words, the
meaningful units of language. Since these units must be analysed in respect of both their form and their meaning, lexicology
relies on information derived from morphology, the study of the forms of words and their components, and semantics, the
study of their meanings. A third field of particular interest in lexicological studies is etymology, the study of the origins of
words. However, lexicology must not be confused with lexicography, the writing or compilation of dictionaries, which is a
special technique rather than a level of language studies.
Grammar is the study of the grammatical structure of language. It is concerned with the various means of expressing
grammatical relations between words as well as with patterns after which words are combined into word-groups and
sentences.
Both grammar and lexicology involve us in an indefinitely large number of superficially different units. In the case of
grammar these are phrases, clauses, and sentences; in the case of lexicology the units are words, or more precisely, lexical
items. It is typical of grammar to make general and abstract statements about the units concerned, showing a common
construction despite formal differences. It is typical of lexicology to make specific statements about individual units. In
consequence, while the grammar of a language is best handled in chapters devoted to different types of construction, it is
normal to deal with the lexicon of a language in an alphabetical dictionary, each entry devoted to a different lexical item.
4 Two Approaches to Language Study

There are two principle approaches in linguistic science to the study of language material: synchronic and diachronic. With
regard to Special lexicology the synchronic approach is concerned with the vocabulary of a language as it exists at a given
time. It deals with the vocabulary and vocabulary units of a particular language at a certain time.
The diachronic approach in terms of Special lexicology deals with the changes and the development of vocabulary in the
coarse of time. It is Special Historical lexicology that deals with the evaluation of the vocabulary units of a language as the
time goes by.
The two approaches shouldnt be set one against the other. In fact, they are interconnected and interrelated because every
linguistic structure and system exists in a state of constant development so that the synchronic state of a language system is
a result of a long process of linguistic evaluation, of its historical development.
Closely connected with the Historical lexicology is Contrastive and Comparative lexicology whose aims are to study the
correlation between the vocabularies of two or more languages and find out the correspondences between the vocabulary
units of the languages under comparison.
5 Varieties of English Language
1) according to region dialect
For geographical or regional variation the term dialect is traditionally used. Regional variation in language seems to be
predominantly realized on the phonological level, but they may also be distinguished by different lexical or grammatical
features.
Within Great Britain we may distinguish between Irish, Scots, Northern, Midland, Welsh, South-Western and recognize
several London varieties. The geographic dimension of a language naturally also plays a very important role. The
differences between British English and American English immediately come to mind. In many schoolbooks we find pairs of
list such as the following:
BrE
AmE

railway
railroad

guard
conductor

luggage
baggage

petrol
gas(oline)

lorry
truck

pavement
sidewalk

It is rarely mentioned that a number of British words are perfectly acceptable in many areas in America. On the other hand
numerous Americanisms have become quite familiar in Britain, due to an increase in transatlantic travel and the influence
of broadcast media. ... In many cases the original American flavour has been lost completely, especially for younger British
speakers. Besides these, there are South African English, New Zealand English and Australian English. Although they are
similar in orthography and grammar to British English, there are considerable differences in the lexicon and the phonology
2) according to education and social standing sociolect
Within geographically different forms of English there is a considerable variation depending on education and social
standing. This is sometimes referred to as sociolect or social dialect.
Educated English is often referred to as Standard English which, however, is clearly a notational term. There is a partial
correspondence between educated and literary English as well as between uneducated and so-called substandard and slang.
3) according to medium written and spoken
This term is usually employed to distinguish the spoken from the written variety of a language. Further division is possible.
Thus, dictation is spoken to be written, while a radio news bulletin is written to be spoken."
The choice of medium depends on the situation in which language is used. The written medium normally presupposes the
physical absence of the addressee. There are also differences in the devices used for the transmission of spoken and written
language. In print we have various typographical means, as well as headings and paragraphs, for structuring the message.
The spoken language, on the other hand, makes use of devices such as intonation and speech tempo, as well as extralinguistic communication signals, like gestures and eye contact.
4) according to register formal and informal
This is determined by the speaker's or writers attitude to the hearer or reader, to the subject matter, or to the purpose of the
message. Five variants of attitude are distinguished along the following scale: frozen / FORMAL / neutral / INFORMAL /
familiar. There are different kinds and different degrees formality and informality.

Frozen: Printed unchanging language such as Biblical quotations; often contains archaisms. Examples are the
Pledge of Allegiance of the United States of America, wedding vows, and other "static" vocalizations that are recited in a
ritualistic monotone. The wording is exactly the same every time it is spoken.

FORMAL: One-way participation, no interruption. Technical vocabulary or exact definitions are important.

Includes presentations or introductions between strangers.

Neutral: Two-way participation. Background information is provided prior knowledge is not assumed. "Back-

channel behavior" such as "uh huh", "I see", etc. is common. Interruptions are allowed. Examples include teacher/student,
doctor/patient, expert/apprentice, etc.

INFORMAL: In-group friends and acquaintances. No background information provided. Slang is common.

Interruptions common. This is common among friends in a social setting.

Familiar: Non-public. Intonation more important than wording or grammar. Private vocabulary. Also includes

non-verbal messages. This is most common among family members and close friends.
It is well-established that informal speech registers tend to be made up predominantly of words of Anglo-Saxon or Germanic
origin, whereas the Latinate vocabulary is usually reserved for more formal uses such as legal, scientific, and otherwise
scholarly or academic texts.
The choice of a lexical item or lexical unit is not only determined by the language users property of belonging to a specific
social group, but also by the situation of language use. Not only educated speakers have more than one level or style at
their disposal, a phenomenon which is well known in sociolinguistics under the term code-switching. According to situation,
all speakers may rapidly move from one code to another here code denotes different language varieties.
1.6 The Structure of the English Lexicon
Traditional, synchronic survey of the structure of the English vocabulary based on a diagram is the following:
Scientific, foreign, archaic
= written
Technical, slang, vulgar, dialect = spoken
The representation starts out from the assumption that the vocabulary of English contains a large central area, which is
common to all media, styles and social classes. This concept of common English, symbolized by COMMON, is equivalent,
with respect to the lexicon, to the "common core, which is present in all varieties of English. This central area, which
contains words like e.g. come, father, chair, good, bad, very, is labelled "Common English". Above and below we have the
neighbouring areas of Literary and Colloquial. Connected with these in a radial manner are further areas of the
vocabulary, which are also related to each other in content. It is true, in general, that all categories used in this diagram have
no sharp boundaries. Thus colloquial", "slang", and "vulgar cannot be precisely and unambiguously defined. In the
diagram they are consequently close neighbours. The areas of vocabulary denoted by them merge and interpenetrate. The
radial lines connect the peripheral of the central areas of the vocabulary. The further we get to the periphery, the more they
are removed from the common vocabulary of Common English. Most entries in any dictionary will be neutral with
regard to the above mentioned classes. In other words, the items can be used anywhere in the world where English is spoken
and written.

TYPES OF DICTIONARIES

LECTURE 2

What Is A Dictionary?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a dictionary as a "book dealing with the individual words of a language (or
certain specified class of them) so as to set forth their orthography, pronunciation, signification and use, their synonyms,
derivation and history, or at least some of these facts, for convenience of reference. The words are arranged in some stated
order, now in most languages, alphabetical, and in larger dictionaries the information given in illustrated by quotations
from literature.
A dictionary (also called a wordbook, lexicon or vocabulary) is a collection of words in one or more
specific languages, often listed alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), with usage
information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language
with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon. A dictionary may be regarded as a lexicographical product that
is characterised by three significant features:
(1) it has been prepared for one or more functions;
(2) it contains data that have been selected for the purpose of fulfilling those functions; and
(3) its lexicographic structures link and establish relationships between the data so that they can meet the needs of users and
fulfill the functions of the dictionary.
The classification of dictionaries is a very important aspect of lexicography "bearing a direct practical significance"
to the preparation of dictionaries. The entire work of dictionary making from the planning stage to the preparation of press
copy, at its different stages, viz. collection of materials, selection and setting of entries and arrangement of entries and their
meanings is largely governed on the basis of which the dictionary is classified.
Types of Dictionaries
Dictionaries can be classified into different types on the basis of several criteria, varying from the nature of the
lexical entry to the potential user of the dictionary. Below are presented some main criteria for the classification of
dictionaries:

1. the nature of entries (linguistic, nonlinguistic)

2. the number of languages involved (monolingual, bilingual, multilingual)

3. the scope of interest (general, special)
4. the way of presentations (descriptive, perscriptive)
5. the axis of time (diachronic, sinchronic)
6. the number of lexical units included (large, medium-sized, small) 7 other criteria.
All these criteria can be applied, sometimes alone and sometimes with others, for the classification of dictionaries.
Although a typological classification is essential and has been attempted by many writers, it is impossible to delimit
the types into a strict frame work. When we analyse any entry from any dictionary we usually find that many characteristics
of different types of dictionaries have been included in it. As we shall see later, there is a large amount of overlapping in
different types of dictionaries.
But although there is no clear cut division between the scope and the coverage of the dictionaries, there are
dictionaries with definite focus on some major aspect of the language. We are presenting below the description of different
types of dictionaries classified on the above criteria.
*1 The Nature of Entries
The first classification of dictionaries is the most general. We recognize the dictionaries that
are in the focus of lexicography.
a) The dictionaries interested primarily in linguistic properties of units are linguistic. The linguistic dictionary deals with
the lexical stock i.e. words as speech material and may be roughly called 'word book'. The lexical or linguistic information
refer to linguistic characteristics of the lexical unit (pronunciation, definition, etymology, grammatical category, etc.
b) Nonlingustic are those dictionaries (most of all we think of encyclopedia) that are interested in all other attributes of the
given unit that are not only linguistic. The encyclopedic information has the following features:
(a) the inclusion of names of persons, places, and literary works, (b) coverage of all branches of human knowledge,
(c) extensive treatment of facts.
The encyclopedic dictionary is a combination of an encyclopedia and a linguistic dictionary. It also includes items
that are generally characteristic of an encyclopedia in addition to the items of a linguistic dictionary. In the amount of the
information and the manner of its presentation, again, it combines the features of both. Thus, the information on the

classification of bridges by material or construction, which is normally present in the encyclopedia, the dictionary will be
ignored. On the other hand, the encyclopedia will not be uninteresting in providing all the examples where this specific
lexical unit has been confirmed.
We have to make a distinction between an encyclopedia and an encyclopedic dictionary:
- the encyclopedia are more concerned with the concepts and objects of extra linguistic would, that is the things and in a
narrow sense they may be called 'thing books'. Information presented in them is under few general topics. Their aim is to
present information, as noted earlier, on all aspects of human knowledge. The items presented are more of denotational
character including names of plants, animals, diseases. They also give historical events, geographical features,
biographical sketches of important personalities. Many items found in linguistic or general dictionaries do not find place in
them. Such items are function words, verbal forms, and variety of other words. The information provided is more detailed
and relates to the history and the description of the item.
The encyclopedic dictionary is a combination of an encyclopedia and a linguistic dictionary. It also includes items that are
generally characteristic of an encyclopaedia in addition to the items of a linguistic dictionary. In the amount of the information and the
manner of its presentation, again, it combines the features of both. As a matter of fact, there can be no division like a linguistic

dictionary and non-linguistic dictionary equating the latter with encyclopedic dictionary. As already stated any dictionary
combines the features of both. Even the abridged and concise dictionaries present encyclopedic information in so far as they
include proper names and explanation of culture items although it has been contended if proper names (realia) could be
included in the purely linguistic dictionaries because it may make the dictionary encyclopedic. So, many dictionaries give
them not in the main body of the dictionary but in appendices. An ordinary dictionary includes them only when they attain
the status of the common words.
Here we have to mention Encyclopedia Britannica (The Encyclopdia Britannica (Latin for "British
Encyclopaedia"), published by Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is
written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,400 contributors. It is regarded as one of the
most scholarly of English language encyclopedias.
*2 The Number of Languages Involved We distinguish dictionaries that use one, two or more languages.
a) In a monolingual dictionary both the entry words and their definitions or meanings are given in the same language. The
term monolingual refers to the language only irrespective of the information given in it.
b) In bilingual dictionaries two different languages are contrasted. In a bilingual dictionary, the aim of which is to make a
foreign speaker understand the language, words of one language are explained or defined in another language.
c) Multilingual dictionaries are usually compiled for a specific terminology with a narrow sphere of application.
*3 The Scope of Interest
The third division implies that there is an interest in a language as a whole. General
dictionaries cover the total language. The dictionary of any size may be a general dictionary. It contains words from all
spheres of human activities and all areas of the life of the speakers of the language.
The general dictionaries are of two types:
(a) academic or normative dictionary, (b) referential or overall descriptive dictionary.
a) The academic dictionary gives the lexical stock of the standard language. The aim of this dictionary is to present the
language as it is expected to be and stop it from decay. It has an eye on the future usage of the language. The selection of
entries is done from the works of the creative writers, may be both earlier and contemporary, literature of science, arts etc.,
newspapers, magazines and other materials which are considered representative of the standard language. These
dictionaries do not contain words of local or regional variation. Such words are included in the dictionaries only when they
have been used by some writers and have been standardized in the language. Archaic and obsolete words used by creative
writers are also included in them. The whole data in the dictionary represents a self-contained and homogenous system. The
chief feature of such dictionaries is their inclusion of profuse illustrative examples form the corpus with or without
citations. Different types of dictionaries including dictionaries of technical terms, grammatical dictionary, the spelling
dictionary etc., come under this group.

b) The referential or overall descriptive dictionary does not have any normative aim. The word stock of this dictionary is
selected from different heterogeneous speech groups. The corpus includes not only literary texts but also oral literature. It
contains words of regional, social and stylistic variations.
The most common are the specialized dictionaries that are reduced to one particular aspect of the language (time
period, dialect, profession). These are specialized dictionaries - covering special geographical regions, social dialects or
special spheres of human activity) that includes the dictionaries of the following:
(a) dialects, (b) technical terms glossaries (c) special professions, arts and crafts etc., (d) slangs, jargons and argot, etc.
This group is subdivided according to a number of sub-criteria. The special dictionaries may be classed into the
following groups on the basis of the nature of their word lists:
(1) their covering special geographical regions, social dialects or special spheres of human activity,
(2) their formal shape,
(3) their semantic aspect and their relational value in the lexical stock of the language
(4) their collocational value,
(5) special language units and others.
Special dictionaries classified on the basis of the formal aspects of the lexical units are of the following types:
(a) spelling or orthographical dictionaries,
(b) pronouncing dictionaries,
(c) word formation dictionaries (including dictionaries of roots, verbs etc.),
(d) dictionaries of homonyms,
(e) dictionaries of paronyms (a word deriving from the same root)
(f) grammatical dictionaries,
(g) reverse dictionaries,
(h) dictionaries of abbreviations (is a shortened form of a word or phrase, Like for example PhD, Dr., OK, TV), acronyms
(abbreviations formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters (as
in CEO) or parts of words (as in Benelux). etc.
a) Spelling or orthographical dictionaries give spelling of words with their phonetic variants. They give tones, stress and
accents also, wherever relevant. To this group belong dictionaries which give information whether words would be written
together or separately. These dictionaries are normative in character and are used as reference points for correct spelling.
The general dictionaries are also refereed for correct spelling, especially by the foreigners. But the orthographical
dictionaries differ from the general dictionaries in not giving any other information than spelling.
(b) Pronouncing dictionaries record contemporary pronunciation. They are also normative and are referred to for correct
pronunciation. The information supplied in these dictionaries is different from the general dictionaries. They present variant
pronunciation as well as the pronunciation of grammatical forms.
(c) Word formation or derivational dictionaries give different word forming elements viz., prefixes, suffixes etc. Some of the
learner's dictionaries attain the nature of word formation dictionaries is so for as they give lists of prefixes and suffixes. To
this class belong the dictionaries of roots, verbs etc. Whitney's Dictionary of Sanskrit verb root belongs to this class. The
Dhatupaha of Panini is a dictionary of this group.
(d) Dictionaries of homonyms present the homonyms of a language. Some of them give illustrative examples.
(e) Dictionaries of paronyms give paronyms in the language.
(f) Grammatical dictionaries are prepared to serve as guide or help book for the understanding of (correct) grammatical
system of the language. This is more helpful, when the grammatical system of the language is very difficult and complex. In
a grammatical dictionary, the whole grammatical structure of the language is given in the introduction. The different
grammatical categories and paradigms are numbered. These numbers are given for gender, type of declension etc. These
dictionaries are very useful for teachers of the language.

(g) In reverse dictionaries the entry words are arranged in the alphabetical order of their final letters. Their earlier
counterparts are the Rhyming dictionaries which were prepared as tools of aid for the poets for composing poems as
rhyming was very important for the purpose. The scope of these dictionaries has become very wide at present. In these
dictionaries words with similar endings appear at one place which give a sort of grammatical specification. Identical word
forming suffixes and identical compound forming components are put at one place. These are very useful for preparing
teaching materials and manuals.
(h) Dictionaries of abbreviations and acronyms: they present the abbreviations and acronyms commonly used in a language.
Many dictionaries give list of common abbreviations as appendices.
Dictionaries of special lexical units are generally the following:
(a) dictionaries of phrases or phraseological dictionaries: these dictionaries present the phraseological units of the language
and are usually accompanied with illustrative examples; (b) dictionaries of proverbs and idioms: they deal with proverbs
and idioms of a language; (c) dictionaries of neologism: such dictionaries present new words introduced in the language
and the new meanings acquired by the existing words. They provide good material for the revision of the dictionaries. The
addenda given in some dictionaries is very much nearer to this type of dictionaries; (d) dictionaries of borrowed words:
these dictionaries deal with words which are borrowed in the language from time to time. These dictionaries, in a limited
sense, come under the class of etymological dictionaries.
*4 The Way of Presentations In the fourth division we find a) descriptive and b) perscriptive. The difference is reflected
in the way the lexical material is presented. General dictionaries are usually descriptive. Lexical units are described and
interpreted by lexical units of the same or another language. Special dictionaries are compiled with a special purpose. These
dictionaries are usually prescriptive and prohibitive which means they prescribe and often prohibit the use units, or
combination of some lexical units. They are also named academic dictionary they give the lexical stock of the standard
language. The aim of these dictionaries is to present the language as it is expected to be and stop it from decay. They have an eye on the future usage
of the language. The selection of entries is done from the works of the creative writers, may be both earlier and contemporary, literature of science, arts
etc., newspapers, magazines and other materials which are considered representative of the standard language. These dictionaries do not contain words of
local or regional variation. Such words are included in the dictionaries only when they have been used by some writers and have been standardized in the
language. Archaic and obsolete words used by creative writers are also included in them. The whole data in the dictionary represents a self contained and
homogenous system. The chief feature of such dictionaries is their inclusion of profuse illustrative examples form the corpus with or without citations.
Different types of dictionaries including dictionaries of technical terms, grammatical dictionary, the spelling dictionary etc., come under this group. academic
The referential or overall descriptive dictionary does not have any normative aim. The word stock of this dictionary is selected from different
heterogeneous speech groups. The corpus includes not only literary texts but also oral literature. It contains words of regional, social and stylistic
variations.

*5 The Axis of Time

In the fifth we can talk about diachronic and synchronic dictionaries.

From the point of view of time the dictionaries can be either diachronic (dynamic) or synchronic (static), the former dealing
with words across time and the latter at a particular point of time.
The dynamic dictionaries are historical and etymological dictionary. The difference between these two lies in their
approach. The historical dictionary records the development of a lexical item in terms of both the form and the meaning
of the particular lexical unit, whereas the etymological dictionary presents the origin of words by tracing the present day
words to their oldest forms.
The synchronic dictionaries are generally grouped into two classes, general and special. General dictionaries
contain those words of the language which are of general use representing various spheres of life and presenting a complete
picture of the general language. They are meant for the general user of the language. Special dictionaries either cover a
specific part of the vocabulary or are prepared with some definite purpose. By general dictionary it should not be
understood that it contains the entire lexical stock of the language. No dictionary, except the dictionary of dead languages
wherein the possibility of creation of new words is severely restricted, can give all the words of a language. Although the
general dictionaries contain general word list, some of the special dictionaries with their focus on some particular purpose
contain the general word lists. For example, the dictionaries of pronunciation, the reverse dictionaries, the frequency counts
have special purpose but their word list is general.
*6 The Number of Lexical Units
The size of a dictionary is determined by the number of their entries.
1) Large dictionaries have the aim to include all lexical units, and quote all the texts where they may be found. They have
entries for more than 100.000 words. Here we have to mention thesaurus.
Thesaurus is a reference work that lists words grouped together according to similarity of meaning (containing
synonyms and sometimes antonyms), in contrast to a dictionary, which contains definitions and pronunciations, and
generally lists them in alphabetical order. The 1st example of the modern genre, Roget's Thesaurus, was compiled in 1805 by
Peter Mark Roget, and published in 1852. Entries in Roget's Thesaurus are listed conceptually rather than alphabetically.
The largest thesaurus in the world is the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, which contains more
than 920,000 entries.)
2) Medium-sized are usually have more than 40.000 lexical units. Usually they describe a lexical unit, but do not give
archaic forms, forms in different dialects. Uses standard language in contemporary form.
3) Small dictionaries usually contain not less than 10.000 lexical units. The vocabulary is quite reduced comparing to the
medium-sized dictionaries
*7 Other Criteria

These are just basic classifications. There are many criteria by which the division can be carried out:

- depending on dependency (independent and dictionary as a supplement, i.e. various textbooks; here we talk about
a glossary, also known as an idioticon, vocabulary, or clavis, which is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain
of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a glossary appears at the end of a book and includes terms
within that book that are either newly introduced, uncommon, or specialized. While glossaries are most-commonly
associated with non-fiction books, in some cases, fiction novels may come with a glossary for unfamiliar terms.
- depending on media (manuscript, in paper, electronic),
- depending on edition size (pocket, desk, in one volume, two or more volumes).
HISTORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LESSON 3
3.1 History of Vocabulary Development
English introduction
English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by
Germanic invaders and/or settlers from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Netherlands. Initially, Old
English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain. One of these
dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually became predominant.
The English language underwent extensive change in the Middle Ages. Written Old English of AD 1000 is similar in
vocabulary and grammar to other old Germanic languages such as Old High German and Old Norse, while the modern
language is already largely recognizable in written Middle English of AD 1400. The transformation was caused by two

further waves of invasion: the 1st by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic language family, who conquered
and colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries; the 2nd by the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old
Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman. A large proportion of the modern
English vocabulary comes directly from Anglo-Norman.
Close contact with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of
the Anglo-Frisian core of English. However, these changes had not reached South West England by the 9th century AD,
where Old English was developed into a full-fledged literary language. The Norman invasion occurred in 1066, and when
literary English rose anew in the 13th century, it was based on the speech of London, much closer to the center of
Scandinavian settlement. Technical and cultural vocabulary was largely derived from Old Norman, with particularly
heavy influence in the church, the courts, and government. With the coming of the Renaissance, as with most other
developing European languages such as German and Dutch, Latin and Ancient Greek replaced Norman and French as the
main source of new words. Thus, English developed into very much a "borrowing" language.
Proto English

The languages of Germanic peoples gave rise to the English language (the Angles, Saxons, Frisii,

Jutes and possibly some Franks, who traded, fought with and lived alongside the Latin-speaking peoples of the Roman
Empire in the centuries-long process of the Germanic peoples' expansion into Western Europe during the Migration
Period). Latin loan words such as wine, cup, and bishop entered the vocabulary of these Germanic peoples before their
arrival in Britain and the subsequent formation of England.
Tacitus' Germania, written around 100 AD, is a primary source of information for the culture of the Germanic
peoples in ancient times. Germanics were in contact with Roman civilization and its economy, including residing within the
Roman borders in large numbers in the province of Germania and others and serving in the Roman military, while many
more retained political independence outside of Roman territories. Germanic troops served in Britannia under Roman
command. Except for the Frisians, Germanic settlement in Britain, according to Bede (672 26 May 735, an English monk at
the Northumbrian monastery), occurred largely after the arrival of mercenaries in the 5th century. Most Angles, Saxons and
Jutes arrived in Britain in the 6th Century as Germanic pagans, independent of Roman control.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relates that around the year 449 Vortigern, King of the Britons, invited the "Angle kin"
(Angles allegedly led by the Germanic brothers Hengist and Horsa) to help repel invading Picts. The Chronicle refers to
waves of settlers who eventually established seven kingdoms, known as the heptarchy. Modern scholars view Hengist and
Horsa as Euhemerised deities from Anglo-Saxon paganism, who ultimately stem from the religion of the Proto-IndoEuropeans.
Old English - From 5th to 11th Century

After the Anglo-Saxon invasion, the Germanic language displaced the

original Brythonic languages and Latin in most of the areas of Great Britain that later became England. The original
Celtic languages remained in parts of Scotland, Wales and Cornwall (where Cornish was spoken into the 19th century).
Latin also remained in these areas as the language of the Celtic Church and of higher education for the nobility. Latin
was later to be reintroduced to England by missionaries from both the Celtic and Roman churches, and it would, in
time, have a major impact on English. What is now called Old English emerged over time out of the many dialects and
languages of the colonizing tribes. Even then, Old English continued to exhibit local variation, the remnants of which
continue to be found in dialects of Modern English. The most famous surviving work from the Old English period is the
epic poem Beowulf composed by an unknown poet.
Old English varied widely from modern Standard English. Native English speakers today would find Old English
unintelligible without studying it as a separate language. Nevertheless, English remains a Germanic language, and
approximately half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. Many non-standard
dialects such as Scots and Northumbrian English have retained features of Old English in vocabulary and pronunciation.
Old English was spoken until some time in the 12th or 13th century.

In the 10th and 11th centuries, Old English was strongly influenced by the North Germanic language Old Norse,
spoken by the Norsemen who invaded and settled mainly in the North East of England. Anglo-Saxons and the
Scandinavians spoke related languages from different branches of the Germanic family; many of their lexical roots were
the same or similar, although their grammars were more divergent. The Germanic language of the Old English-speaking
inhabitants was influenced by extensive contact with Norse colonizers, resulting perhaps in cases of morphological
simplification of Old English, including the loss of grammatical gender and explicitly marked case (with the notable
exception of the pronouns). English borrowed approximately two thousand lexical items from Old Norse, including
anger, bag, both, hit, law, leg, same, skill, sky, take, and many others, possibly even including the pronoun they.
The introduction of Christianity late in the 6th century encouraged the addition of over 400 Latin loan words, such
as priest, paper, and school, and fewer Greek loan words).The Old English period formally ended some time after the
Norman conquest (starting in 1066 AD), when the language was influenced to an even greater extent by the Normans, who
spoke a French dialect called Old Norman. The use of Anglo-Saxon to describe a merging of Anglian and Saxon languages
and cultures is a relatively modern development.

Middle English from late 11th to late 15th century For centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the
Norman kings and high-ranking nobles spoke one of the French that we call Anglo-Norman, a variety of Old Norman
used in England and to some extent elsewhere in the British Isles during the Anglo-Norman period and originating from a
northern dialect. Merchants and lower-ranked nobles were often bilingual in Anglo-Norman and English, but English
continued to be the language of the common people. Middle English was influenced by both Anglo-Norman and, later,
Anglo-French. Even after the decline of Norman-French, standard French retained the status of a formal or prestige
language, and had a significant influence on the language, which is visible in Modern English today. French-derived words
have more formal connotations even today. For example, most modern English speakers consider a "cordial reception" (from
French) to be more formal than a "hearty welcome" (from Germanic). Another example is the rare construction of the words
for animals being separate from the words for their meat, e.g., beef and pork (from the French buf and porc) being the
products of "cows" and "pigs" animals with Germanic names.
English was also influenced by the Celtic languages it was displacing, especially the Brittonic substrate, most
notably with the introduction of the continuous aspect (to be doing or to have been doing), which is a feature found in many
modern languages but developed earlier and more thoroughly in English.
While the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle continued until 1154, most other literature from this period was in Old Norman or
Latin. A large number of Norman words were taken into Old English, with many doubling for Old English words. The
Norman influence is the hallmark symbol of the linguistic shifts in English over the period of time following the invasion,
producing what is now referred to as Middle English.
English literature reappeared after 1200, when a changing political climate and the decline in Anglo-Norman made it
more respectable. The Provisions of Oxford, released in 1258, was the first English government document to be published
in the English language after the Norman Conquest. In 1362, Edward III became the first king to address Parliament in
English. By the end of the century, even the royal court had switched to English. Anglo-Norman remained in use in limited
circles somewhat longer, but it had ceased to be a living language.
Geoffrey Chaucer is the most famous writer from the Middle English period, and The Canterbury Tales is his bestknown work. Although the spelling of Chaucer's English varies from that of Modern English, his works can be read with
minimal assistance.
The English language changed enormously during the Middle English period, both in grammar and in vocabulary.
While Old English is a heavily inflected language, an overall diminishing of grammatical endings occurred in Middle
English. Approximately 10,000 French (and Norman) loan words entered Middle English, particularly terms associated
with government, church, law, the military, fashion, and food.
Early Modern English from the late 15th to the late 17th century

The English language underwent extensive sound changes during 1400s, while its spelling conventions remained
rather constant. Modern English is often dated from the Great Vowel Shift, which took place mainly during the 15th century.
English was further transformed by the spread of a standardized London-based dialect in government and administration
and by the standardising effect of printing. Consequent to the push toward standardization, the language acquired selfconscious terms such as "accent" and "dialect". By the time of William Shakespeare (mid 16th - early 17th century), the
language had become clearly recognizable as Modern English.
Increased literacy and travel have facilitated the adoption of many foreign words, especially borrowings from Latin
and Greek since the Renaissance. As there are many words from different languages and English spelling is variable, the risk
of mispronunciation is high, but remnants of the older forms remain in a few regional dialects, most notably in the West
Country. During the period, loan words were borrowed from Italian, German, and Yiddish. British acceptance of and
resistance to Americanisms began during this period.
Modern English from the late 17th century to the present
Early Modern English and Late Modern English vary essentially in vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more
words, arising from the Industrial Revolution and the technology that created a need for new words as well as international
development of the language. The British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the Earth's surface, and the English
language adopted foreign words from many countries. British English and American English, the two major varieties of the
language, are spoken by 400 million persons.

Latin 29%, French 29%, Germanic 26%, Greek 6%, Others 10%

It is certainly true that all languages are mixtures to a greater or lesser extent. Comparing English to German and
French, however, we can conclude that the present-day English vocabulary is unique in this aspect." (Lipka 1992, 8)
Examples of Old English words
A abide, above, alive, apple, awake, axe
B back, bath, bed, bird, blood, body, brother
C can, carve, chicken, child, clean, cold, cup
D daughter, dead, deer, door, drink, dusk
E each, ear, elbow, end, evening, evil, eye
F fair, fall, feather, find, fish, fox, friend
G game, gate, god, gold, good, ground, green
H hammer, harbour, hand, high, honey, house, husband
I ice, if, in, island, it, itch
K keen, keep, kind, king, kiss, knife, knot
L ladle, land, laugh, lip, listen, long, love
M make, man, marsh, meadow, milk, moon, mouth

N nail, name, needle, nest, night, now, nut

O oak, of, on, old, open, orchard, owl
P path, pin, pipe, plant, plough, poppy, pretty
Q queen, quick
R rag, rain, rat, read, ride, right, rock
S say, see, send, shadow, sheep, sister, sword
T take, thank, thimble, thirst, thumb, today, tomorrow
U udder, under, up, us
V vat
W wag, wake, walk, west, winter, woman, wrong
Y yard, yarn, yawn, year, yes, yolk, you, young

Loan words
A loanword (or loan word) is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language.
Some researchers also use the term lexical borrowing.

Donor language terms generally enter a recipient language as a

technical term (terminus technicus) in connection with exposure to foreign culture. The specific reference point may be to the
foreign culture itself or to a field of activity where the foreign culture has a dominant role.
Examples of loanwords from a dominant field of activity:
Arts - Most of the technical vocabulary referring to classical music (e.g. concerto, allegro, tempo, aria, opera, soprano) is
borrowed from Italian and likewise in ballet from French .
Religion - religions may carry with them a large number of technical terms from the language of the originating culture. For
eg: Business - English exports English terms to other languages in business and technology (examples le meeting to French).
Science (Latin) - medicine (itself a Latin loanword) uses a large vocabulary of Latin terms (sternum, appendix), as a result of
medieval advances in medical science being conducted in Latin - even if some of the earliest Latin medical texts were
translations from Greek and Arabic. Philosophy - many technical terms, including the term philosophy itself, derive from
Greek dominance in philosophy, mathematics, linguistics, economic theory and political theory in Roman times. Examples
include democracy, theory and so on.
Borrowing from French occured in two phases:
1st phase: 1066-1250. About 900 words were borrowed during this phase, with most of them showing the effects of AngloNorman phonology. Examples from this source are:

Social: baron, noble, dame, servant, messenger, feast, minstrel, juggler, largess.
Literary: story, rime, lay, douzepers.
Church: The largest number of words were borrowed for use in religious services since the French-speaking Normans took
control of the church in England.
2nd phase: 1250-1400. The heaviest borrowing from French occurred in this period because after about 1250 there were more
French speakers who began speaking English--remember the loss of Normandy in 1204.
The words borrowed during this phase are found in many areas, like for example:
Government and Administrative: govern, government, administer, crown, state, empire, royal, majesty, treaty, statute,
parliament, tax, rebel, traitor, treason, exile, chancellor, treasurer, major, noble, peer, prince, princess, duke, squire, page
(but not king, queen, lord, lady, earl), peasant, slave, servant, vassal.
Ecclesiastical: religion, theology, sermon, confession, clergy, clergy, cardinal, friar, crucifix, miter, censer lectern, abbey,
convent, creator, savior, virgin, faith, heresy, schism, solemn, divine, devout, preach, pray, adore, confess.
Law: justice, equity, plaintiff, judge, advacate, attorney, petition, inquest, felon, evidence, sue, accuse arrest, blame, libel,
slander, felony, adultery, property, estate, heir, executor.
Military--Army and Navy: (Much of the fighting during this time was done in France. Many now-obsolete words for pieces
of armor, etc., were borrowed at this time.) army, navy, peace, enemy, arms, battle, spy, combat, siege, defence, ambush,
soldier, guard, mail, buckler, banner, lance, besiege, defend, array.
Clothing: habit, gown, robe, garment, attire, cape, coat, collar, petticoat, train, lace, embroidery, pleat, buckle, button, tassel,
plume, satin, taffeta, fur, sable, blue, brown, vermilion, russet, tawny, jewel, ornament, broach, ivory, turquoise, topaz,
garnet, ruby, pearl, diamond.
Food: feast, repast, collation, mess, appetite, tart, sole, perch, sturgeon, sardine, venison, beef, veal, mutton, port, bacon,
toast, cream, sugar, salad, raisin, jelly, spice, clove, thyme.
Social: curtain, couch, lamp, wardrobe, screen, closet, leisure, dance, carol, lute, melody.
Hunting: rein, curry, trot, stable, harness, mastiff, spaniel, stallion, pheasant, quail, heron, joust, tournament, pavilion.
Art, Learning, Medicine: painting, sculpture, music, beauty, color, image, cathedral, palace, mansion, chamber, ceiling,
porch, column, poet, prose, romance, paper, pen, volume, chapter, study, logic, geometry, grammar, noun, gender, physician,
malady, pain, gout, plague, pulse, remedy, poison.

Common words and expressions include nouns--age, air, city,

cheer, honor, joy; adjectives--chaste, courageous, coy, cruel, poor, nice, pure; verbs--advance, advise, carry, cry,
desire; phrases--draw near, make believe, hand to hand, by heart, without fail (These are loan-translations).
English and French words were retained with a differentiation in meaning:
hearty cordial
ox beef
sheep mutton
swine pork
calf veal
house - mansion
LECTURE 4
THE LINGUISTIC SIGN
Models of the sign
1 binary model of sign Saussures approach
2 semiotic triangle - Ogden/Richards
3 Organon Model - Buhlers
These concepts have been integrated into linguistics under linguistic pragmatics.
A model of the sign does not encompass only extra-linguistic reality, but also speaker, hearer and the functions of language.
1 Saussures Approach
Ferninand Saussure (1965) was the first scholar to consider language as a structured system
of signs. From this basic assumption he derived several further axioms. His binary model of sign is very important in
linguistic theory.
Binary model is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set
off against one another. It is the contrast between two mutually exclusive terms, such as on and off, up and down, left and
right. Binary opposition is an important concept of structuralism, which sees such distinctions as fundamental to all
language and thought. In Saussures view language is a system of signs. Sign and system are mutually conditioning, since a
sign only derives its values from within the system on the basis of its relation to other sign.
For him the linguistic sign has two sides: a given notion (concept) that is associated in the brain;
a certain phonic image (acoustic image )
Saussure stresses that the linguistic sign is a mental unit and does not link a thing and a name, but a concept and a phonic
image. This image is for him nothing material, physical, but a mental impression of a sound.
The concept and acoustic image are later replaced by him by the terms signifie (notion) significant (phonic image)
These terms have been internationally accepted as technical terms due to their precision and unambiguousness.

Saussure postulates two principles: the arbitrariness of a sign; the linear character of the significant.
1) The arbitrariness: the relation between the two sides of the linguistic sign is fundamentally arbitrary, non-motivated
and conventional. There is no necessary connection between the signifie and the significant. Even onomatopoeic words (like
and interjections (like ouch), are for him basically not motivated and are acquired conventions of a specific language system.
2) The linear character: the principle is based on the fact that one cannot produce several sounds simultaneously.
cuckoo)

For Saussure the linguistic sign is binary or bilateral since it consists of two parts. Its meaning is defined as a concept and
therefore a psychological or mental entity. He uses a binary model. In this binary model the extralinguistic object denoted
by the linguistic sign is not included.
2 Ogden/Richards Semiotic Triangle

They expanded Saussures binary model of the sign into the semiotic

triangle. The model of the linguistic sign represented in a modified form:

Thought or Reference
Symbolizes
Refers to
Symbol (word)
(thing) Referent
There is no direct relationship between the word or symbol and the extralinguistic thing or referent denoted by it. This
is symbolized by the broken line connecting the two. The relationship between the two is indirect and mediated by a concept of

thought, which Ogden/Richards also label reference. Since in this scheme a psychological or mental entity, namely
thought, plays a role, we have a mentalistic model.
3 Buhlers Organon Model
Buhler (1934) proposed his model of the sign that is named Buhlers Organon Model.

Explanation of the diagram:

Language is an organon i.e. a tool for its users.
-The sign in the centre links a sender (a speaker) with the hearer. The connecting lines between the sign and the
three elements symbolize the tree most important functions of the complex sign, i.e. language: expression, representation
and appeal.

-The linguistic sign is an expression of the sender who uses it, i.e. the speaker in the spoken and the writer

in the written medium. At the same time it serves for the representation of objects, states of affairs, and relations, i.e. the
extralinguistic referents.
-The linguistic sign and language in general have the function of appeal to the addressee, i.e. the hearer or reader.
The Prototype Theory
Concerned with the culture dependent categorization of reality, of the extralinguistic world.
Labov (1978) conducted an experiment of cup, bowl, glass and other containers.
The results were that the object most likely to be called bottle the prototypical bottle was defined as a glass object with a narrow
opening and a neck one-third the width of the bottle.

Language (the lexicon of each natural language) means for interpreting our environment, for classifying or categorizing
our experience. The concept of prototype makes it possible to distinguish between
1) the central or typical example of a category (e.g. house, dog, fish)
2) the periphery of the category where a decision on membership is not so easy, and only a few conditions, properties or
criteria are present.
Denotation and Connotation --a subclass of associative meaning
--denotative meaning refers to the relation between a linguistic sign and its denotatum, and connotations are additional
properties of a lexeme.
--commonly understood cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to the word's or
phrase's explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation; connotations = additional properties of a lexeme.

Markedness Marking or markedness is derived from phonology where the marked item of a pair of phonemes is
distinguished by a specific feature. In analogy to this we can say that horse, home and throw are unmarked, while the other
lexemes are marked in one or another.
The unmarked lexemes are neutral and not restricted to specific context in their use.
Example: dog unmarked;
bitch marked
Is that dog a dog or a bitch?
Neutral lexemes make up the vast mass of common vocabulary.
Dictionaries use different labeling systems, depending on whether they have the foreign learner in mind or an educated
native speaker.

Lecture 5
Morpheme, Word, Lexeme
Word: = a lexical sign not as simple as it seems at first sight. not every linguistics sign is a word
There is an approach in American linguistics that divides words into the smallest segments structuralism
Structuralism = the analysis focuses not on the use of language rather on the underlying system of language
= examines how the elements of language relate to each other in the present, synchronically rather than diachronically.
The distinguished linguist was Saussure. Saussure argued that linguistic signs were composed of two parts:
-a "signifier" (the "sound pattern" of a word, either in mental projection or in actual, physical realization as part of
a speech act)
-a "signified" (the concept or meaning of the word)
A structural "idealism" is a class of linguistic units (lexemes, morphemes or even constructions) that are possible in a
certain position in a given linguistic environment (such as a given sentence), which is called the "syntagm".
Classification of morphemes
Structuralism: the procedure: segmentation and classification
linguistic utterances are segmented (broken) into possible constituents
phones = the smallest unit on the level of sound
morphs = the smallest unit on the level of form
Morphs that can be defined as a class of variants are named allomorphs.
Applied method of segmentation and classification
Example: word farmers
farm
er
free
bound
lexical
lexical
morpheme
morpheme
Example:
buy
- er
free
bound
lexical
lexical
morpheme
morpheme

s
bound
grammatical
morpheme
-s
bound
grammatical
morpheme

Conclusion: there are several linguistic signs in one word: several elements (items) in particular sequence (arrangement)

Difficulties:
For example: words like took and run segmentation is not possible
some linguists introduced the term of a replacive allomorph
There is another method of morphological description in inflecting languages:
Inflection is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, mood, voice,
aspect, person, number, gender and case. There are two terms:
conjugation = the inflection of verbs
declension = the inflection of nouns, adjectives and pronouns
Inflection uses affixes. Infelectional languages: Latin, Russian, etc.
Tree different definitions of morpheme: 1 the smallest meaningful linguistic unit,
2 consists of a class of variants, the allomorphs, which are phonologically or morphologically conditioned,
3 an abstract unit of the system of a language (plural morphemes; past tense morphemes)
hit zero morpheme, symbolized by
took replacive morpheme /u/ /ei/
The elements found by segmentation and classified al allomorphs may be divided into two classes:
1 lexical morphemes
2 grammatical morphemes
Lexical morphemes are those that having meaning by themselves (more accurately, that are morphemes that have sense).
Grammatical morphemes specify a relationship between other morphemes.
Nouns, verbs, adjectives ({boy}, {buy}, {big}) are typical lexical morphemes.
Prepositions, articles, conjunctions ({of}, {the}, {but}) are grammatical morphemes.
Lexical morphemes Denote (particular) extralinguistic objects and states of affairs: e.g. actions, events, situations, relations
open class; a large group of words; new words are accepted;
carry the content of the sentence
combinations=new lexemes
grammatical morphemes denote (general) grammatical functions: plural, tense syntactic relations (gender, number);
closed class; guides to the structure of a sentence; new words are rarely invented; a small number of words
combinations=word forms
Morphemes divided according to different criteria:
I Stand alone or dependently: 1 free - alone and independently 2 bound morphemes only in conjunction with others
II Position:
1 added in front prefix
2 added behind suffix
III How many times occur:
1 unique morpheme 2 blocked morpheme
I Alone or dependently - Free morphemes are those that can stand alone as words. They may be lexical morphemes
({serve}, {press}), or grammatical morphemes ({at}, {and}).
Bound morphemes can occur only in combinationthey are parts of a word. They may be:
- lexical morphemes (such as -clude as in include, exclude, preclude)
- grammatical morphemes (such as -s plural as in boys, girls, and cats).
II Position: - 1 added to the front of a word prefix
2 added to the end of a word - suffix
III How many times occur: - 1 unique morpheme
2 blocked morpheme

1 Lexical morphemes (semantic)

(open class)
1.1 free
roots/stems
table
write
(un-)

1.2 bound
1.2.1 prefixes 1.2.2 suffixes
(re-)
(-ish)
(dis-)
(-ly)
(-ment)

1.2.3 blocked = (unique)

(Fri)day
(cran)berry

w o r d - f o r m a t i o n
Examples:
- 1.2.1 prefixes: unclean;
- 1.2.2 suffixes: greenish, writer, Wednesday, raspberry, etc.
- compounding: green-house, writing-table, policewoman
1.2.3. Blocked morpheme = unique morpeheme = cranberry morpheme
a morpheme that has no currently used meaning or grammatical function but which still serves to distinguish one word
from another. Example:
2 grammatical morphemes

cran- in cranberry
(functional)

mul- in mulberry

2.1 freefunction words (the) (and) (to)

2.2 bound (inflections) (-s) (e.g. plural); (-ed) (e.g. past); (-ing) (e.g. progressive)
Syntax = the combination of free grammatical and lexical morphemes
Morphology = studies inflection combination of lexical and grammatical morphemes.
Word can be used in three different senses:
word1 = phonological/orthographic (dies,/died) = word form
- consists of a sequence of sounds, syllables or letters
- belongs to the same abstract unit
word2 = abstract unit (die, man) = lexeme
- technical term
word3 = grammatical (come, 1. present 2. past participle) = word
- represented in different grammatical words
We are going to use:
lexeme = unit of the lexicon
word-formation = variant of the lexeme
word = in general sense

LECTURE 6
MONOSEMY AND POLYSEMY
Monosemy is a word of Greek origin, consists of: mono = one + semy = sign
monosemy = has only one meaning / the property of having only one meaning
Definition of monosemy: The definitions of monosemy are not easy to use
- monosemous words might be defined as those words with only one "simple definition in the dictionary
lexical elements must be "monoreferential
- "consisting of a single meaning"
Considering the characteristics of terms every term should be monosemic.
This happens only with the new terms that are not altered by other meanings or connotations
Monosemic words are much easier to translate. Examples: sun = sunce
turbine blade = lopatica turbine
Some, if not all, monosemous words are polysemous: every time a form is used in a discourse, it corresponds to a meaning
which is "new", since the situational context must necessarily be different for each occurrence.
Example: -bull is defined as "uncastrated male of ox or of any bovine animal;
-"male Hereford", "male Friesian" and to all the other varieties of domestic cattle: it clearly has "different" interpretations.
Yet surely in that "bovine" sense bull should not be considered polysemous.
Lexemes like ice and cold are a different case; they have at least two meanings:
1) "concrete"
2) "abstract" (figurative, metonymical, or metaphorical).
When used together produce enygma. This means that monosemy and polysemy share a certain "elasticity" of reference,
and, potentially, of sense. The limits of monosemy: most of the words that are non-ambiguous are technical or scientific.
Polysemy
from Greek word polysmos, poly- = many + sma = sign
Polysemy is treated together with homonymy in the writings of many modern logicians, linguistic philosophers or
semanticists under the single heading of "lexical ambiguity".
A lexical element is said to be "ambiguous" when its form can be interpreted in different ways. On the other hand, a nonambiguous word has only one interpretation.
Definition of polysemy: = a single word form is associated with several different meanings (e.g., run a mile, run a shop,
run late, run on gasoline, and so on), proliferates in natural languages.
Polysemy raises challenging issues for theories of lexical semantics and pragmatics.
Central questions are the representation of polysemous senses in long-term memory: how hearers pick out the contextually
appropriate sense of a polysemous word, the novel sense arises in the course of communication.
Without polysemy, language could not cope with the diversity and the variability of the notions to be expressed.
If every single "referent" had a different name, the lexical code would impose an extraordinary burden on the memory of the
language user. Polysemy allows to increase the number of named concepts without enlarging a lexicon or terminology.
There are indirect tests based on semantic relations between words. They include the:
1) "synonymy test": a word is ambiguous if it admits different synonyms in different contexts;
2) the "antonymy test": a word is ambiguous if it admits different antonyms in different contexts;
3) the "derivation test": a word is ambiguous if it can be linked with more than one group of derived words.
Terminology will only consider the specialised meanings, so there will be a difference in the treatment of polysemic and
homonym terms.
- In a lexicographic work (a general dictionary) all the meanings of a word are included.
- In a terminology (a dictionary specialised in the lexicon of a subject) only the meaning or meanings related to the
subject are included, omitting the rest of meanings.

Polysemous meaning of a word brings us to the phenomena of homonyms

If you hear (or read) two words that sound (or are written) the same but are not identical in meaning, you need to decide if
its really two words (homonyms) or if it is one word used in two different ways (polysemy).
Homonyms
Two terms are homonyms when their etymology is different although their form is the same both
homonym terms represent different concepts.
Homonyms can be:
- homophones (same pronunciation) - homographs (same spelling).
Examples:
Homophones and homographs at the same time:
Bark - bark1: the characteristic short loud cry of a dog (from old English beorcan)
- bark2: the tough largely corky exterior covering of a woody root or stem (from old Norse borkr)
Stalk - stalk1= the main stem of an herbaceous plant often with its dependent parts (from middle English stalken)
- stalk2: to hunt stealthily (from old English bestealcian)
Left - left1: opposite of right
- left2: Past Tense of leave.
Bow: to bend the head, body, or knee in greeting reverence, respect, or submission (from old English bgan).
- bow1: a weapon for shooting arrows (from old English boga).
- bow2: the forward part of a chip (from middle English bowe).
Homophones and heterographs: to, too, two; there, their, theyre
Homograps and heterophones: desert (dz:t): to withdraw from or leave usually without intent to return
desert (dezt): arid land with usually sparse vegetation
A word with meanings in the standard register and in a specialised field reactor:
- standard register: one that reacts. - chemical industry: a vat for industrial chemical reaction - energy industry: a devise for
the controlled release of nuclear energy.
Only if the word is used with the two last meanings it will be considered as a term, and it will be included in the chemical or
nuclear energy terminology respectively.
A word with meanings in several subjects ray:

- geometry: any of a group of lines diverging from a common

centre.

- zoology: one of the bony rods that extend and support the membrane in the fin of a fish.
A word with several meanings in a subject: arm.
- anatomy: a human upper limb,
- anatomy: the part of the human upper limb from the shoulder to the elbow.
Man 1. the human species (i.e., man vs. animal) 2. males of the human species (i.e., man vs. woman)
3. adult males of the human species (i.e., man vs. boy)
This example shows the specific polysemy where the same word is used at different levels: example 1 contains 2, and 2
contains 3.
Bank 1) a financial institution 2) the building where a financial institution offers services
3) a synonym for 'rely upon' (e.g. "I'm your friend, you can bank on me").
It is different, but related, as it derives from the theme of security initiated by 1.
Book -a bound collection of pages; -a text reproduced and distributed (thus, someone who has read the same text on a
computer has read the same book as someone who had the actual paper volume)
-to make an action or event a matter of record (e.g. "Unable to book a hotel room, a man sneaked into a nearby private
residence where police arrested him and later booked him for unlawful entry.")
Crane -a bird;
-a type of construction equipment; -to strain out one's neck
Wood -a piece of a tree; -a geographical area with many trees