Lecture 10

ENGLISH VOCABULARY AS A SYSTEM

1. Different types of non-semantic grouping:

Morphological grouping of words;

Lexico-Grammatical groups;

- Thematic groups.

2. Semantic classification of words.

3. Hyponymic relations.

4. Vocabulary in the process of time.

Different types of non-semantic grouping

Each language has a very extensive vocabulary. The question arises whether any word-stock is composed of several independent units or it should be regarded as a certain structured system which is formed by different independent subsystems. Within the inner structure of the vocabulary various types of non-semantic grouping were made.

The simplest one is the alphabetical organization of written words, as represented in most dictionaries. The second type of non-semantic grouping is based on the words which are arranged according to the similarity of their ends. Such dictionaries may be used by poets when they compose rhymed verses or by teachers in order to make up lists of words with similar suffixes. The third type is based on the length of written words. The number of letters they contain is taken into consideration. This type is useful for automatic reading of messages and correction of mistakes. The next type of non-semantic grouping is based on the number of syllables which may be proved useful for linguistic theory. Finally, a very important type of word grouping is based on the statistical analysis of their frequency. It carried out for practical purposes of lexicography, language teaching, etc.

Morphological grouping of words

According to the morphological structure English words are divided into four groups. They are: root (rrorpheme) words, derivatives, compound words, compound derivatives.

Another type of traditional lexicological grouping is known as word families (all the words are grouped according to the root morpheme), e.g. eat, eatable, eaten, eater, eating; catch, catching, catchment, catchpenny, catch-phrase, catchword, catchy, etc. Similar grouping according to a common suffix or prefix are also possible, e.g. handsome, tiresome, troublesome, winsome, etc. »

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