精选优质文档-----倾情为你奉上名词解释1 The definition of a word(词的定义）In brief, a word may be defined as a fundamental unit of speech and minimum free form; with a unity of sound and meaning (both lexical and grammatical meaning), capable of performing a given syntactic function. The definition of a wordTo sum up, the definition of a word comprises the following pointsA minimal free form of a languageA sound unityA unit of meaningA form that can function alone in a sentence2 Vocabulary（词汇的含义）Broadly speaking, all the words in a language together constitute what is known as vocabulary. The term vocabulary usually refers to a complete inventory of the words in a language. But it may also refer to the words and phrases used in the variants of a language, such as dialect, register, terminology, etc. There is a total English vocabulary of more than 1 million.3 What is lexicology?（什么是词汇学）Lexicology is a branch of linguistics concerned with the study of the vocabulary of a given language. It deals with words, their origin, development, structure, formation, meaning and usage.4 The definition of a morpheme（词素的含义）The morpheme(词素) is the smallest meaningful linguistic unit of language, not divisible or analyzable into smaller forms. A word is the smallest unit of a language that stands alone to communicate meaning. Structurally, however, a word is not the smallest unit because many words can be separated into smaller meaningful units. Words are composed of morphemes. What is usually considered a single word in English may be composed of one or more morphemes:Major process:The definition of prefixation（前缀法的定义）Prefixation is the formation of new words by adding prefixes to stems. Prefixes do not generally change the word-class of the stem but only modify its meaning. However, there is an insignificant number of class-changing prefixesNon-class-changing prefixes: natural-unnatural, like-dislike, fair-unfair Class-changing prefixes: force-enforce, danger-endanger, form-deform, little-belittle, war-postwar, college-intercollege The definition of suffixation（后缀法的定义）Suffixation is the formation of new words by adding suffixes to stems. Unlike prefixes which primarily change the meaning of the stem, suffixes have only a small semantic role, their primary function being to change the grammatical function of stems. In other words, they mainly change the word class. However, they may also add attached meaning to the stem.The classification of suffixes（后缀的分类）Since suffixes mainly change the word class, we shall group suffixes on a grammatical basis into1) noun suffixes 2) adjective suffixes3) adverb suffixes4) verb suffixesThe definition of conversion（转换法的定义）Conversion is a word-formation whereby a word of a certain word-class is shifted into a word of another without the addition of an affix. It is also called zero derivation(零位派生).Major types of conversion（转换法的主要类型）Noun-verb conversionVerb-noun conversionAdjective-noun conversionThe definition of compounding（复合法的定义）Composition or compounding is a word-formation process consisting of joining two or more bases to form a new unit, a compound word. It is a common device which has been productive at every period of the English language. Today the largest number of new words are formed by compounding. Forms of compounds（复合法的形式）Solid: bedtime, honeymoonHyphenated: above-mentioned, town-planningOpen: reading material, hot lineTypes of compounds（复合法的类别）Noun compoundsAdjective compoundsVerb compounds Minor process:The definition of blending（拼缀法）Blending（拼缀法）is a process of word-formation in which a new word is formed by combining parts of two words. The result of such a process is called a blend or telescopic word or portmanteau word. Blending is thus a process of both compounding and abbreviation. Structurally blends may be divided into four types (see page 45-46).Examplesnewscast (news＋broadcast) brunch (breakfast＋lunch) smog (smoke＋fog) talkathon (talk＋marathon) slimnastics (slim＋gymnastics) videophone ( video ＋telephone)The definition of backformation（逆生法）Back-formation（逆成法） is a process of word-formation by which a word is created by the deletion of a supposed suffix. It is also known as a reverse derivation. Examplesedit from editorautomate from automationenthuse from enthusiasmgloom from gloomydonate from donationbrainwash from brainwashingsleep-walk from sleep-walkingMotivation（理据）Motivation deals with the connection between name (word-symbol) and its sense (meaning). It is the relationship between the word structure and its meaning.Types of motivationOnomatopoeic motivation/phonetic motivation(拟声理据）Morphological motivation（形态理据）Semantic motivation（语义理据）Etymological motivationOnomatopoeic motivation（拟声理据） means defining the principle of motivation by sound. Words motivated phonetically are called onomatopoeic words。