Федеральное агентство по образованию

ГОУ ВПО
Нижегородский государственный педагогический университет

Терминологический справочник
по лексикологии английского языка
Учебно-методические материалы для студентов III курса,
Специальность «Иностранный язык»

Нижний Новгород
2006
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Печатается по решению редакционно-издательского совета
Нижегородского государственного педагогического университета

Терминологический справочник по лексикологии английского языка:

Учебно-методические материалы для студентов III курса, специальность
«Иностранный язык». – Нижний Новгород: НГПУ, 2006. –

Предлагаемые учебно-методические материалы включают в себя основные

понятия и термины, изучаемые во всех разделах лексикологии, и примеры к
большинству из них. Материалы предназначены для обеспечения руководства
самостоятельной и аудиторной деятельностью студентов, направленной на
овладение лексикологического глоссария и расширение их лингвистической
эрудиции.

Составитель: Ю.А. Гаврикова, ст. преподаватель

Рецензент: А.Ю. Трусова, канд. филол. наук, доцент

Ответственный за выпуск: Е.Ю. Илалтдинова, канд. пед. наук,

зав. каф. ин. яз. ППФ
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Foreword
Every science has its own technical vocabulary that constitutes the greatest
part of language vocabulary. The technical terms used by the linguists arise in the
course of their work and are easily understood by those who approach the subject
sympathetically. It should not be forgotten that most of the terms which the non-
linguist employs to talk about language (“word”, “syllable”, “letter”, “phrase”,
“sentence”, noun”, “verb”, etc.) originated as technical terms of traditional
grammar and are no longer “abstract” in their reference than the more recent
creations of linguists.
The development of the special terminology represents an essential part of
research work and is of paramount importance, because it can either help or hinder
progress. The aim of this booklet is to help students in learning this difficult part of
the vocabulary.
This glossary may be an orientation scheme for memorizing the material that
is necessary to understand and master. Besides it must be used for planning
comprehensive utterances, with which students review the topics at the seminars
and the exam. The booklet helps students to widen their scope of linguistic
knowledge, develop their scientific erudition. Using this glossary with given
examples, students have at their disposal systematic thematically conditioned
material for independent and collective work.
The booklet is based on the course of lectures in English lexicology delivered
by the author at the Nizhny Novgorod Pedagogical University and intended for the
students of English at Pedagogical Universities taking the course of English
lexicology and fully meets the requirements of the programme in the subject. It
includes linguistic technical terms, systemized in basic topics of Lexicology and
illustrative examples to the majority of them, which serve for better comprehension.
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Terms to the topic “Lexicology as a Branch of Linguistics”
Lexicology — (Gr. lexis — “word”, logos — “learning”) — the part of linguistics
dealing with the vocabulary of a language in the totality (совокупности) and
complexity of cooperation (interaction) of its constituting elements, which can be
called lexical units.
Paradigmatic linguistic relationships — relationships which develop between
homogeneous lexical units, possessing a definite general sign and joined by
oppositional relationships.
Syntagmatic linguistic relationships — 1) relationships which are based on the
linear character of speech, i.e. on the influence of context; 2) relationships in linear
combinations of lexical units; 3) relationships of elements, lining up in a definite
succession one after another in the course of speech.
Sociolinguistics — branch of linguistics that studies the causation between
language and the life of the speaking community.
Diachronic (historical) approach — the approach which investigates linguistic
and extralinguistic forces modifying the structure, meaning and usage of the words,
i.e. the evolution of the vocabulary (the origin of the words, their change and
development).
Synchronic (descriptive) approach — the approach which investigates the
present status of the English vocabulary. It deals with the vocabulary of a given
language at a given stage of its development.
Word — 1) the fundamental structurally-semantic unit of the language, that serves
to name objects, phenomena, their properties, relationships of the reality and that
possesses the totality of phonological, grammatical, semantical characteristics
specific to a language (a dialectical unity of form and content).

Terms to the topic “Lexicography”

Lexicography — a branch of applied linguistics, which studies dictionary-
compiling.
 5
Linguistic dictionary — a word-book the subject-matter of which is lexical units
and their linguistic properties (pronunciation, meaning, peculiarities of use, etc.)
Encyclopaedic dictionary — a thing-book that gives information about the
extralinguistic world; it deals with facts and concepts (objects, phenomena), their
relations to other objects and phenomena.
General dictionary — a dictionary which contains lexical units in ordinary use
with this or that proportion of items from various spheres of life.
Special-purpose dictionary (restricted) — a dictionary the aim of which is to
cover only a certain specific part of the vocabulary: spelling dictionaries,
pronouncing dictionaries, dictionaries of new words (neologisms), dictionaries of
obsolete words, dictionaries of slang, dictionaries of names, dictionaries of
abbreviation, etc.
Explanatory dictionary — a dictionary which provides information on all aspects
of the lexical units entered: graphical, phonetical, grammatical, semantic, stylistic,
etymological, etc.
Translation dictionary — a word-book containing vocabulary items in one
language and their equivalents in another language.
Unilingual dictionary — a word-book containing vocabulary items and their
equivalents in one language.
Glossaries—a unilingual dictionary which registers and explains technical terms
for various branches of knowledge, art and trade (medical, linguistic, technical,
economical, terms, etc.)
Concordance — a dictionary which records the complete vocabulary of some
author in alphabetical order.
Thesaurus (pl. thesauruses or thesauri) — a word-book which supplies the word
or words by which a given concept may be expressed. Sometimes the grouping is
in parallel columns with the opposite notions.
Learner’s dictionary — a dictionary which is specially compiled to meet the
demands of the learners for whom the studied language is not their mother tongue.
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Terms to the topic “Etymology of the English Language”
Etymology — the branch of linguistics that studies the origin and development of
the words.
Native word — a word which belongs to the original English stock, as known
from the earliest available manuscripts of the Old English period.
Native words of the Indo-European stock — native words which have cognates
in the vocabularies of different Indo-European languages:
“mother”, its cognates: Rus мать, Sp Madre, L mater, Gk Moder
“night”, its cognates: Rus ночь, ноктюрн, L nox, Gk nuks, Lith naktis
Native words of the Common Germanic stock — native words which have
cognates in German, Gothic, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Dutch, but not in
French, Russian, Latin):
“hand”, its cognates: Ger Hand, Goth handus, Icel họnd, Swed hand,
Dan hånd
The English proper element — specifically English words which have no
cognates in other languages whereas for native words of Indo-European and
Common Germanic stocks such cognates may be found:
lady, lord, boy, girl, woman, daisy
Borrowing / borrowed word (phrase) / loan word — a word taken from another
language & modified in phonemic shape, spelling, paradigm or meaning according
to the standards of a target language (English).
Source of borrowing — the language, from which the loan word was taken into
the target language (English):
plate < Fr plate < L plata < Gk platys
Origin of borrowing — the language, to which the word may be traced:
paine < Fr peine < L poena < Gk poine
Translation loans — words and expressions formed from the material already
existing in the British language, but according to patterns taken from another
language, by way of literal morpheme-for-morpheme translation:
self-portrait < Selbstbildnis (Germ)
 7
time-spirit < Zeitgeist (Germ)
a slip of the tongue < Lapsus Lingue (Lat)
Semantic loan — the development in an English word of a new meaning due to
the influence of a related word in another language:
bread — OE “piece” by association with “braud” (Scand) → “хлеб”
Assimilation of a loan word—a partial or total conformation to the phonetical,
graphical and morphological standards of the receiving (target) language and its
semantic system.
Phonetic assimilation — such a kind of assimilation when foreign sounds
(unknown, strange for the English ear) of a borrowed word are substituted by
native sounds.
Grammatical assimilation — such a kind of assimilation when a word taken from
another language loses its previous grammatical categories and paradigms and gets
new ones in accordance with grammatical norms of the target language (English).
Semantic assimilation — such a kind of assimilation when a borrowed word
undergoes adjustment to the system of meanings of the target language (English).
Completely assimilated loan words — loan words which follow all
morphological, phonetical, orthographical standards of the receiving language
(English).
Partially assimilated loan words — loan words which retain features of any
linguistic standard (spelling or morphology, or pronunciation, or denotation) that is
not typical of the receiving language (English).
Loan word not assimilated semantically — words that denote objects, notions
specific to the country from which they are taken:
sheik (Arab), toreador (Sp), Koran (Arab), pelmeni (Rus), sari (Hindi)
Loan words not assimilated grammatically — words that retain their original
grammatical forms:
phenomenon — phenomena (Gk), sanatorium — sanatoria (Lat)
crisis — crises (Gk)
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Loan words not assimilated phonetically — words that retain their original
peculiarities in stress or sounds, or combination of sounds, or in the whole pattern
of the word’s phonetic make-up which are not standard for the receiving language
(English):
machine, valise, prestige, memoir, opera, incognito, tobacco
Loan words not assimilated graphically — words that retain their original
peculiarities in spelling.
borrowings can be partly assimilated graphically, e.g. in Greek borrowings «y» can be spelled
in the middle of the word (symbol, synonym), “ph” denotes the sound [f] (phoneme, morpheme),
“ch” denotes the sound [k] (chemistry, chaos), “ps” denotes the sound [s] (psychology).
Latin borrowings retain their polysyllabic structure, have double consonants, as a rule, the
final consonant of the prefix is assimilated with the initial consonant of the stem, (accompany,
affirmative).
French borrowings which came into English after 1650 retain their spelling, e.g. consonants
“p”, “t”, “s” are not pronounced at the end of the word (buffet, coup, debris). Specifically French
combination of letters “eau” [ou] can be found in the borrowings: beau, chateau, troussaeu. Some
of digraphs retain their French pronunciation: “ch” is pronounced as [ʃ], e.g. chic, parachute,
“qu” is pronounced as [k] e.g. bouquet, “ou” is pronounced as [u:], e.g. rouge; some letters retain
their French pronunciation, e.g. “i” is pronounced as [i:], e,g, chic, machine; “g” is pronounced
as [ʒ], e.g. rouge.
Modern German borrowings also have some peculiarities in their spelling: common nouns are
spelled with a capital letter e.g. Autobahn, Lebensraum; some vowels and digraphs retain their
German pronunciation, e.g. “a” is pronounced as [a:] (Dictat), “u” is pronounced as [u:]
(Kuchen), “au” is pronounced as [au] (Hausfrau), “ei” is pronounced as [ai] (Reich); some
consonants are also pronounced in the German way, e.g. “s” before a vowel is pronounced as [z]
(Sitskrieg), “v” is pronounced as [f] (Volkswagen), “w” is pronounced as [v] , “ch” is
pronounced as [h] (Kuchen).
Barbarism / unassimilated word — a borrowing that is not assimilated in any
way and possesses the correspondent English equivalent:
ciao (It), addio (It), Führer (Germ), Wehrmacht (Germ), Vita brevis est (Lat)
bons vivant [bo:η vivaη](Fr)
Gallicism — an unassimilated French word or phrase:
cherchez la femme (Fr), coup d’etat (Fr), eau-de-Cologne (Fr)
Etymological hybrid — a word different elements of which are of different
origin:
shortage (Eng.stem + Fr. suf.), recently (Lat. stem + Eng. suf.),
dukedom (Fr. stem + Eng. suf.), overtake(Eng. stem + Sc. suf.)
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Etymological doublet — two or more (triplet) words of the same language
derived from the same basic word by different ways and differing to a certain
degree in form, meaning and current usage:
major — mayor, suit — suite, artist — artiste, catch — chase
Folk Etymology — such a kind of assimilation when people connect the borrowed
words which are difficult for understanding with the words, resembling them in
sound:
rosemary, primrose, sparrow-grass, periwig
International words — words of identical origin that occur in several languages
as a result of simultaneous or successive borrowings from one ultimate source:
capitalism, cybernetics, microscope, philosophy, operation, character

Terms to the topic “Word-Structure”

Morpheme(Gr. morphe “form” + -eme) — the smallest meaningful unit of the
word.
Free morpheme — a morpheme that may stand alone without changing its
meaning and can form a word without adding other morphemes. It is homonymous
to a separate word:
Friend, heart, month, hand, eat, sleep, child, class
Bound morpheme — a morpheme that is always bound to some other morpheme
and can not stand alone (independently):
-ship, -y, -ly, -ful, -tion, -ess, -ish, -ify, un-, dis-, be-, in-(negative)
Derivational affix — an affix that serves to create new words (lexical units of
structural and semantic type, differing from the type represented in the form from
which a new word was produced (the underlying and the resultant forms):
-ize, -ling, -ness, -ist, -less, -er, en-, off-, post-
Functional affix — an affix that serves to convey grammatical meaning (creates
different forms of the same word):
-s, -‘s, -s’; -er, -est; -s, -ed, -ed, -ing
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Stem — the part of a word which remains unchanged throughout its paradigm and
to which grammatical inflections and affixes are added:
pretty- is the stem of the paradigm: pretty — prettier — (the) prettiest
Root — 1) the semantic nucleus of a word with which no grammatical properties
of the word are connected; 2) the ultimate constituent element which remains after
the removal of all functional and derivational affixes and does not admit any
further analysis. It is the common element of words within a word-family:
-free- is the root of: free, freely, freedom, freeborn, freelance, freehold,
freeman, freeloader, freestyle, free-floating,
Productive affix — an affix that takes part in deriving new words in this particular
period of language development:
After-, extra-, non-, re-, un-, out-, -er, -ing, -ish, -ful, -ism, -tion, -able
Nonproductive affix — an affix that does not take part in deriving new words in
this particular period of language development:
-hood, -th, -y, -ant, -an, -ian, -ence, -ine, be-, with-, de-, a-
Morphemic analysis — a kind of analysis which states the number of morphemes
and their types:
“undoubtedly” 4 morphemes: 1 root-morpheme, 3 affixational
morphemes → a derived word
Derivational analysis — a kind of analysis which deals with stems and determines
the degrees of derivation:
“undoubtedly” the derivative stem with 3 degrees of derivation
Immediate Constituents (IC) analysis — a kind of segmentation revealing not
the history of the word but its motivation. It shows not only the morphemic
constituents of the word but also the structural pattern on which it is built:
“undoubtedly” undoubted + ly (unexpectedly, unlimitedly, unaffectedly)
un + doubted (unexplored, unabated, unassisted)
doubt + ed (wanted, accepted, decided)
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Terms to the topic “Word-Building”
Affixation — one of the most productive types of word-building in Modern
English in which a new word is built by adding an affix or several affixes to a root-
morpheme.
Suffixation — such word-formation where a new word is coined by adding a
suffix to a root-morpheme (productive type):
logical, eatable, learning, goodness, organization, poetess, criticize
Prefixation — such word-formation where a new word is coined by adding a
prefix to a root-morpheme (productive type):
prewar, undergrowth, inability, distract, rewrite, transplant, misadventure
Composition — one of the most productive types of word-building in Modern
English in which a new word is produced by combining two or more stems.
Compound — a word coined by combining two or more stems.
Neutral compound — a compound that is formed by a mere juxtaposition of two
stems:
toothache, lipstick, dining-room, blue-eyed, car-driver, TV-set
Simple neutral compound — a compound that consists of simple affixless stems
joined by a mere juxtaposition:
necklace, bookworm, girl-friend, football, handkerchief
Derived / derivational compound — a neutral compound that has affixes in its
structure:
glass-walled, gold-seeker, red-haired, deep-chested, kind-hearted
Contracted compound — a neutral compound that has a shortened (contracted)
stem in its structure:
TV-program, V-day, H-bomb, T-shirt, U-shaped
Morphological compound — a compound in which two stems are combined by a
linking vowel or consonant:
Afro-American, Anglo-Saxon, craftsman, handiwork, sportsman
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Syntactic compound — a compound that is formed from segments of speech,
preserving in their structure numerous traces of syntagmatic relations typical of
speech: articles, prepositions, adverbs:
sister-in-law, sit-by-the-fire, free-for-all, such-and-such
Idiomatic compound — a compound in which the meaning of the whole is not a
mere sum of the meanings of its elements:
lady-killer, gooseberry, blackbird, tallboy, scarecrow
Non-idiomatic compound — a compound whose meaning can be described as
the sum of its constituent meanings:
reading-hall, air-conditioned, well-cut, green-coloured, birthday
Endocentric compound — a compound in which the constituent elements are
clearly the determinant and the determinatum:
looking-glass, sunray, passer-by, day-train, house-keeping
Exocentric compound — (opposed to endocentric ones) a compound in which its
determinatum lies outside; it is not expressed but implied and understood but not
formally expressed:
slowcoach, cut-throat, make-up, breakdown, pickpocket
Bahuvrihi — possessive exocentric formations in which a person / animal / thing
are metonymically named after some striking feature they possess, chiefly a
striking feature in their appearance:
lazybones, black-shirt, fathead, highbrow
Semi-affix — a considerably generalized semantically element of a word that
stands midway between a stem and an affix:
-man, -like, -worthy, -proof: seaman, businesslike, trustworthy, waterproof
Conversion — one of the productive ways of word-forming, in which a word of
one part of speech is formed from the form of another part of speech and the only
word-forming means are paradigm of the word and its valency with other words
(thanks to its valency with other words in the sentence, thanks to the context we
can see what part of speech the word belongs to).
rain v < rain n, park v < park n, jump n < jump v, wet v < wet adj
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Back-Formation — a process of word-building in which a new word is formed by
subtraction of an affix from the correlated noun through misinterpretation of their
structure (non-productive):
burgle < burglar, televise < television, intuit < intuition
Shortening / Contraction / Clipping — (more active than Back-Formation) the
process of subtraction in which a part of the original word is taken away, that leads
to appearance of such a word that by its form reflects the original base:
exam, cause, photo, pub, Maths, sub
Final clipping (apocope) — a kind of shortening where the final part of the word
is subtracted (clipped) and the beginning of the prototype is retained:
lab < laboratory, advert < advertisement, gym < gymnastics
Initial clipping (apheresis) — a kind of shortening where the initial part of a word
is clipped and the final part is retained:
story < history, fend < defend, phone < telephone
Medial clipping (syncope) — a kind of shortening where the middle part is
subtracted, the borders are retained:
hols < holidays, specs < spectacles, ma’am < madam
Border clipping — a kind of shortening where the borders are taken away, the
middle part is retained:
flu < influenza, fridge < refrigerator, tec < detective
Abbreviation — the process and the result of forming a word out of the initial
elements (letters, morphemes) of a word-combination:
U.N.O. < United Nations Organization, S.O.S. < Save Our Souls
Ellipsis — the omission of a word / words considered essential for grammatical
completeness but not for the conveyance of the intended lexical meaning:
sitdown < sitdown demonstration, bill < bill of exchange
complex type: ellipsis + clipping (apocope):
vac < vacuum cleaner, pop < popular music, prom < promenade concert
Blending — the process of word-building where a word is formed from the initial
part of one word and the final part of another word:
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publiciety < publicity + society, hideosities < hideous +monstrosity (-ies)
Sound Imitation (Onomatopoeia) — the formation of a word through the naming
of an action or thing by a more or less exact reproduction of a sound associated
with it:
babble, whisper, clink, splash, whine, rattle, bump, flash
Sound Interchange — (relatively non-productive) the formation of a new word
due to the alternation in the phonemic composition of the root:
lose — loss, advise — advice, live — life, delicacy — delicate
Distinctive Stress — (relatively non-productive) the formation of a new word due
to the alteration of the position of the stress:
record n — record v, torment n — torment v, increase n — increase v

Terms to the topic “Semantic Structure of a Word”

Referent — that part of reality, extralinguistic element, which is reflected in our
minds and viewed as the content regularly correlated with some word.
Denotatum — a mental image of properties and qualities of an object, reflected in
human consciousness.
Concept — (a category of human cognition) a generalized reverberation in the
human consciousness of the properties (the most common and typical features) of
the objective reality (objects, phenomena, relations between them) learned in the
process of the latter’s cognition.
Lexical meaning — the component of meaning expressing the content proper only
to the given word and distinguishing it from other words and recurrent in all its
forms and distributions:
glow, glowed, is glowing, have glowed, has been glowing, had glowed — to
shine with a soft light
Grammatical meaning — 1) the component of the meaning expressing the
general, uniting individual forms of different words in identical sets — variable,
adding the lexical meaning, complicating it; 2) the component of the meaning
recurrent in identical sets of individual forms of different words:
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cats, houses, penalties, talks, hats — the plural of nouns
nicer, bigger, wider, smarter, thicker — the comparative degree of
adjectives
Denotational meaning — 1) the component of meaning, which expresses the most
essential characteristics of the object to which the word refers; 2) that component
of the lexical meaning that makes communication possible. It expresses the
conceptional content of the word ;
cup — 1) container, 2) with a handle, 3) small, 4) round, 5) for a drink
Connotational meaning — 1) supplementary meaning, added to the word’s main
meaning and that serves to express all sorts of emotional, expressive, evaluative
overtones; 2) that component of the lexical meaning that expresses the emotive
attitude of the subject of the speech towards the denotatum:
shouter — an untalented singer whose vocal skills leave much to be desired
the informal stylistic connotation refers the word to colloquial sphere of
communication. Besides the word is used towards the singer whose vocal skills are
disapproved of, and thus arouses in the speaker’s mind negative emotions.
Emotive charge — one of the objective semantic features proper to words as
linguistic units that comprises the emotional and evaluative components. The
emotional component expresses different emotions: gladness, sorrow, grief,
admiration, tenderness — both positive and negative emotions. The evaluative
component expresses / conveys the speaker’s attitude towards the referent, labeling
it as good / bad: respect, scorn, irony, disrespect, loathing, hatred, disregard.
Emotive evaluation — an objective component of meaning common for all
members of the speaking community, which consists in the capacity to evoke and
express emotions:
milksop — a weak-willed person, without a character
the word bears the indication to the pejorative emotions aroused in the mind of the
speaker and hearer.
Logical evaluation — a kind of evaluation reflected in the denotation of the word
meaning. It is determined by the qualities of the object (phenomenon) actualized in
 16
the meaning of the word and depends on its conformity to the moral and ethical
norms of the society:
anarchist, coward, informer — negatively evaluated
good soul, beauty, brain (a clever man) — positively evaluated
Polysemy — diversity of meanings; the existence within one word of several
connected meanings as the result of the development and changes of its original
meaning.
Polysemantic word — a word that has more than one meaning.
Main / primary meaning — the direct meaning of a word, immediately referring
to objects, phenomena, actions and qualities in extralinguistic reality (referent) and
reflecting their general understanding by the speaker:
fire — 1) uncontrolled burning
2) controlled burning
3) equipment for heating
4) shooting with gun
5) strong feeling
meaning (1) — the primary meaning.
Secondary meaning — another meaning in a polysemantic word which is
determined by the context and is connected with the main meaning:
meanings (2) – (5) — secondary meanings.
Radiation — (one of the types of connections between lexico-semantic variants)
all the mean-s are connected directly / immediately with the direct meaning (the
meaning nominates the object without the help of context, in isolation) and are
motivated with it:
Honest — 1) fair, honourable
2) not telling a lie, frank, sincere
3) real, genuine, appropriate, unadulterated
4) chaste, virtuous
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(1)

(2) (3) (4)

Concatenation — (one of the types of connections between lexico-semantic
variants) each following meaning is connected with the preceding one, not with the
primary meaning:
Hectic—1) usual, constantly repeated
2) consumptive, tubercular
3) with an unhealthy colour
4) hot, feverish, excited, anxious
(1) → (2) → (3) → (4)
The semantic structure — an organized set of recurrent variants and shades of
meaning a given sound complex can assume in different contexts, together with
their emotional colouring, stylistic peculiarities and other typical connotations if
any.
Seme — the elementary unit of sense that reflects the properties of the denotatum,
differentiated by the language:
slowcoach — someone who does things too slowly
semantic structure:
denotational semes — 1) human being
2) does things too slowly
3) negative logical evaluation: slowness is not regarded as a
virtue
4) expresses intensity: too slowly
connotational semes — 1) actualizes the stylistic reference of the word to
colloquial type of speech
2) reveals emotive attitude towards the object of speech —
pejorative emotive evaluation
Narrowing / Specialization of the meaning — 1) the restriction of the semantic
capacity of a word in the course of its historical development; 2) a result of
 18
semantic transference which consists in the development of a narrower range of
word-meaning; 3) a type of semantic change in the result of which a word, which
formerly represented a notion of a broader scope has come to render a notion of a
narrower scope:
to teach < OE “to show”, corn < OE any grain
to glide < OE to move gently and smoothly
Widening / Generalization of the meaning — 1) the expansion of polysemy in
the course of its historical development; 2) a result of semantic transference which
consists in the development of a wider range of word-meaning; 3) a type of
semantic change in the result of which the scope of the new notion is wider than
that of the original one. It may be connected with the higher order of abstraction
than, in the previous meaning:
chest < OE “coffin”, state < OE < “republican state”
to help < ME“ to treat (medically), heal”

Elevation / Ameliorationof the meaning — 1) a semantic shift undergone by

words due to their referents (persons, objects) coming up the social scale; 2) a type
of semantic change connected with the improvement of originally neutral or
negative connotational meaning of the words:
nice < OE “silly”, minister < ME “servant”
duke < ME ‘leader, commander”
Degradation / Pejoration of the meaning — 1) a semantic shift undergone by
words because of the derogatory and scornful attitude towards their referents,
lowering them in the social scale; 2) a type of semantic change connected with the
acquirement by a word of some derogatory meaning
caitiff < ME “captive”, “miserable”, villain < ME “farmhand”
Metaphor — a process of name transference from one object to another based on
association of resemblance, likelihood, similarity between the two objects:
tongues of flame (a part of a human body → a part of an object)
to catch an idea (space relations → mental activity)
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Metonymy — a process of name transference from one object to another based on
the association of contiguity, real connection between the two objects:
boycott (proper name → common name)
the hope of the family (abstract name → concrete name)
Synecdoche — a variety of metonymy which consists in using the name of a part
to denote the whole, the singular for the plural, or vice versa:
working hands (about people), nice heads (about people), crown (monarchy)
Synonyms — 1) words similar in general meaning but different in the shade of
meaning, phonetical shape, connotation and collocation; 2) words belonging to the
same part of speech and possessing one or more identical or nearly identical
denotational meanings, interchangeable in some contexts and differing in shades of
meaning, connotations and stylistic features.
Absolute synonyms — such synonyms which coincide in their shades of meaning
and in all their stylistic characteristics (very few in the language):
semasiology — semantics , fatherland — homeland
Ideographic synonyms — 1) such synonyms that differ in shades of meaning, i. e.
between which a semantic difference is stable; 2) such synonyms that express the
same idea but are not fully identical in their referential content:
to stroll — to stride — to trot — to pace — to swagger — to stagger — to
stumble (different ways and types of walking)
Stylistic synonyms — 1) such synonyms that, without explicitly displaying
semantic difference, are distinguished stylistically; 2) words which denote the
same thing, having the same denotational component, but are different in style:
father — daddy, enemy — foe, begin — commence
Synonymic dominant — (one of the words in the synonymic group, possessing
the meanings of other members) a word, that expresses the notion common to all
synonyms in the most general way, and both stylistically and emotionally neutral,
can stand for each member of the synonymic group:
to jump — to leap — to spring — to skip — to hop
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Euphemisms — words that replace unpleasant, offensive, harsh and disagreeable
lexical units for words of more or less pleasant or at least inoffensive connotation:
intoxicated (drunk), Old Nick (devil), to give up the ghost (to die)
Homonyms — words that are identical in sound and spelling, or at least, in one of
these aspects, but different in their meaning.
Homonyms proper — homonyms identical in pronunciation and spelling:
pupil I — a child who goes to school and has lessons
pupil II — the black round part in the middle of one’s eye
Homophones — words of the same sound but of different spelling and meaning;
scent n — cent n — sent v, air — heir, sole — soul, here — hear
Homographs — words having the same spelling but different in sound and
meaning:
wind [wind] — wind [waind], minute [´minit] — minute [mai´nju:t]
tear [tiə] — tear [tεə], row [rəu] — row [rau]
Convergent sound development — accidental coincidence in sound of two or
more words of different origin (in the course of their historical development they
become homonyms):
OE lufu n OE lufian v OE mete OE metan
love n,v meat [mi:t] meet [mi:t]
Divergent sense development — the breaking for some reason of the semantic
structure of the word into several parts in the result of which two or more
homonyms can originate (from different meanings of the same word — split of
polysemy):
OE cest
chest (large box) chest (part of human body)
Antonyms — 1) words of the same category of speech which have contrasting
meanings; 2) words belonging to the same oart of speech, identical in style,
associated and used together so that their denotative meanings render contrary or
contradictory notions:
rich — poor, to give — to take, clean — dirty, friend — enemy
 21
Contrary antonyms — words, referring to contrary notions, present extreme
members of a regulated multitude and express contrary contrast (X—(≠)isn’t X,
isn’t Y(≠)—Y):
young — not young / not old — old
Contradictory antonyms — words, referring to contradictory notions (X—isn’t
X), have no the middle, intermediate link:
married — single, true — false
Conversional antonyms — words, denoting the same situation, appear as
different names of one and the same action, relation etc., reverse from the point of
view of opposed participants of the situation ;
buy — sell, win — lose, build — ruin
Dissymmetrical antonyms — words, expressing the opposition of dissymmetrical
actions, characteristics X→←Y (vectorial opposition):
come — leave, up — down, North — South, East — West

Terms to the topic “Phraseology”

Phraseological unit — a word-groups consisting of two or more words integrated
as a unit with a specialized meaning of the whole (the meaning of each
components weakened or entirely lost):
to show the white feather — струсить
in the soup — в затруднительном положении
Semi-free word-group — a (non-phraseological) word-group which shares with
phraseological units their structural stability but lacks their semantic cohesion
(unity) and figurativeness:
to go to school, to go by bus, to commit suicide
V.V. Vinogradov’s classification
Phraseological fusion — a (the highest stage of blending together) semantically
indivisible unit, the meaning of which can not be directly derived from the
meanings of its components
to be in low water — на мели, близкий к разорению
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to drop a brick — допустить бестактность
Phraseological unitiy — a phraseological unit that possesses some degree of
motivation and its emotional quality is based on the metaphorical image created by
the whole. It may have synonymic substitution:
to catch at a straw — ухватиться за соломинку
to lose one’s heart to smb. — влюбиться
Phraseological combination — a phraseological unit that is not only motivated
but contains one component in its direct meaning, while the other is used
metaphorically:
to be a good hand at smth. — уметь что-либо делать
to give a smile — улыбаться
N.N. Amosova’s classification
Phraseme — a binary phraseological unit one component of which has a
phraseologically bound meaning and the other serves as the determining contextЖ
as cool as a cucumber — хладнокровный
the apple of one’s eye — зеница ока
Idiom — a totally non-motivated phraseological unit, the meaning of which is
created by the unit as a whole though every element keeps its usual valueЖ
lock, stock and barrel — со всеми потрохами
to split hairs — вдаваться в подробности
A.V. Koonin’s classification
Nominative phraseological unit — a phraseological unit, which fulfils a purely
nominative function in speech, denoting some extralinguistic element, referent
(object, phenomenon, process). It is made up to the pattern Adj+N or having a
predicative structure:
dark horse — тёмная лошадка
ships that pass in the night — мимолётные встречи
Communicative phraseological unit — a phraseological unit which fulfils a
communicative function in the process of communication (represented by proverbs
and sayings):
 23
There is no use crying over split milk. — Потерянного не воротишь.
Little things please little minds. — Малое довольствуется малым.
Nominative-communicative phraseological unit — a verbal word-group which
fulfils a nominative and a communicative functions simultaneously in speech and
which is transformed into a sentence when the verb is used in the Passive Voice:
to pay through the nose — платить бешенные деньги
to beat about the bush — ходить вокруг да около
Interjectional phraseological unit — a phraseological unit which fulfils the
function of interjections in speech (expresses emotions):
Queen Ann’s dead! — открыл Америку!
By George! — Клянусь!
Proverb — a short familiar epigrammatic saying, expressing popular wisdom, a
truth or a moral lesson in a concise and imaginative way
The game is not worth the candle. — Игра не стоит свеч.
A good beginning is half the battle. — Хорошее начало — залог успеха.
Familiar quotation — different from proverbs in the origin, as it comes from
literature but by and by it becomes part and parcel of the language, so that many
people using it do not even know that they are quoting:
Brevity is the soul of wit. — Краткость — сестра таланта.
ad hoc — специальный
Cliché — a stereotyped expression mechanically reproduced in speech, becoming
hackneyed and stale, and which has lost its original expressiveness:
the acid test — серьёзное испытание
the irony of fate — ирония судьбы

Terms to the topic “Development of the English Vocabulary”

Obsolete word — a word that drops out of the language:
to vend — продавать, main — море, океан, hallowed — святой
Archaism — a word which is no longer used in everyday speech and which has
been ousted by its synonym:
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steed — horse, slay — kill, perchance — perhaps
Historism — a word the denotatum of which is outdated and no longer used:
archer — лучник , baldric — перевязь для меча
Neologism — a word or a word combination that appears or is specially coined to
name a new object or express a new concept:
telemonitory unit — a telemonitory system for treating patience at a distance
sky-jacker — a person who steals airplanes
Occasional word — (an individual innovation) a word coined and used only for
this particular occasion on the level of living speech. It can not be considered a
permanent member of the word-stock:
parkscape — парковый пейзаж
multi-corruptionist — мульти-коррупционер

Terms to the topic “Regional Varieties of the English Language”

Standard English — the form of English which is current and literary,
substantially uniform and recognized as acceptable wherever English is spoken or
understood.
Local dialect — a variety of the English language peculiar to some district and
having no normalized literary form, e.g. Cockney.
Variant — a regional variety possessing a literary form.
American English — a regional variety of the English language that has a literary
normalized form called Standard American.
Americanism — a word or set-expression peculiar to the English language as
spoken in the USA:
Prairie — a treeless plain, store — shop
Backwoods — an area that is far away from any town
Historical Americanism — a word that came to America with the first English
immigrants and still retains its old meaning whereas in British English its meaning
has changed:
Fall — autumn, guess — think, lunch — meal at any time
 25
Proper Americanism — a specifically American word formed to name the objects
either new and strange for the first immigrants (the oldest of proper Americanisms)
or called differently in the USA and UK (later proper Americanism) ;
coyote, hickory, jazz, banjo, movies
Toponym — a word used to name a town, river, state and the like and that has
traces of the earlier inhabitants of the land in question (Indian tribes):
Arkansas, Connecticut, Michigan, Mohawk
Canadianism — a specifically Canadian word which is adopted into the English
language through its Canadian variant:
shack — a hut, to fathom out — to explain
Australianism — a specifically Australian word which is adopted into the English
language through its Australian variant:
kangaroo, dingo, Paratta, Wooloomooloo

CONTENTS
Terms to the topic “Lexicology as a Branch of Linguistics” 4
Terms to the topic “Lexicography” 4
Terms to the topic “Etymology of the English Language” 6
Terms to the topic “Word-Structure” 9
Terms to the topic “Word-Building” 11
Terms to the topic “Semantic Structure of a Word” 14
Terms to the topic “Phraseology” 21
Terms to the topic “Development of the English Vocabulary” 23
Terms to the topic “Regional Varieties of the English Language” 24
 26

Терминологический справочник по лексикологии английского языка

Учебно-методические материалы для студентов III курса, специальность
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Автор-составитель Гаврикова Юлия Александровна

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