Chapter 1.ppt

A General Survey of English Vocabulary Textbook: 张韵斐 主编《现代英语词汇学概论》(An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology )北京：北京师范大学出版社，2004. Reference books: 张维友 English Lexicology 北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1999. Matthews, P. H. Morphology (2nd Ed.). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 1991. Requirements: Preview and review Handouts (english-lexicology@163.com, password: 123456a) Assessment: Presentation (30%) Final closed-book examination (70%) English lexicology: English lexicology aims at investigating and studying the morphological structures of English words and word equivalents, their semantic structures, relations, historical development, formation and usages. Topics to be discussed in English lexicology: A General Survey of English Vocabulary Morphological Structure of English Words Word-formation Word Meaning and Semantic Features Polysemy and Homonymy Sense Relations Between Words Meaning and Context Changes in Word Meaning English Idioms American English English Dictionaries and How to Use Them A Historical Review of the English Vocabulary Old English (449—1100): Languages spoken in Britain: The Celtic: language of the Celts, the first people known to inhabit England, e.g. London, Themes, etc. Latin: In 55—54 B.C., the Latin-speaking Romans invaded the British Isles and were to occupy the land until about 410. At the end of the 6th century Roman missionaries came to spread Christianity, e.g. candle, priest, pope, temple, etc. Anglo-Saxon (Old English): language of the Germanic tribes, Angles, Saxon and Jutes, who invaded England in 450. Features of Old English: Old English contained some 50 to 60 thousand words. Old English was a mixture of Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse (the Scandinavian language in its very early stage, as a result of the Scandinavian conquest of England in the 9th century) and Latin. Old English was a highly inflected language. Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs had complex endings or vowel changes marking distinction of number