Chapter 11.1 What Is a WordBefore we attempt （尝试）any detailed discussion（具体讨论）, it is necessary to （有必要做什么）clarify（阐明澄清）some basic concepts（基本概念）concerning words and vocabulary. The term word（词语word）is an elusive（难以捉摸）notion（概念）, which demands（需要）careful consideration（关注）at the outset（开始）. The relation between sound and meaning,声音和意义之间的关系between sound and form, 声音和形式之间关系and between words and vocabulary 词语和词汇之间的关系requires （需要）some discussion as well（同样）. In addition, we shall consider（注意）a few commonly recognized criteria（共同规则，标准）for vocabulary classification（词汇分类）and study （研究）each class（每类）of words to some extent （一定程度上）in this chapter.（并且在本章一定程度上研究每类词语）1.1What is a word?This question has occupied(占据) the attention of linguists（语言学家）for ages. Although numerous（众多的，许多的）definitions （定义）have been suggested, none of them seem to be perfect. Scholars（学者）still do not agree on the definition of the word. When we talk about a word, we tend to（有...倾向用视觉角度去考虑）think in visual terms. In this line（在这个角度）a word can be defined as a meaningful group of letters printed or written horizontally across a piece of paper. As defined in terms of spoken language, a word is viewed as a sound or combination（集合体）of sounds which are made voluntarily with human vocal equipment （由一个人的发音器官自由的发出的）. According to semanticists （语义学者）, a word is a unit of meaning（一个词是一个意义单位）. Grammarians（语法学家）, however, insist that a word be a free form（自由形式）that can function（作用）in a sentence, etc. To sum up, the definition of a word comprises the following points:1)a minimal free form of a language;一个最小的自由形态2)A sound unity;一个发音的集合体3)A unit of meaning；一个意义单位4)A form that can function alone in a sentence.能独自影响句子的形式。

Therefore, we can say that ‘a word is a minimal free form of a language that has a given sound and meaning and syntactic function’. （词语是语言最小的自由形式，拥有固定的声音和意义以及句法作用）Words can be simple and complex（单词或者合成词）, yet all must comply with these criteria.标准Man and five are simple, but they each have sound, meaning and syntactic function句法意义, andeach can be used alone in a sentence. Naturally they are words. There are words which are complex such as （mis for tune 不幸）and （man age ment）. Both are polysyllabic多音节的words and can function as ‘subject主语’, ‘object宾语’ and ‘predictive预示性词语’in a sentence. Though misfortune can be further divided as（进一步分成）mis- and fortune, the former 前者cannot stand alone as a word. Similarly, management can be broken down as 可以分成manage and -ment, the latter后者cannot be used freely, either. Blackmail can be separated into可以分成black and mail, and both can work as independent units in a sentence, the meaning of each, however, is by no means绝不是the combination of the two两个部分的组合. Black is a color(colour), opposite to ‘white’, and mail denotes指‘something sent by post邮局’, yet然而when they are put together, the combined form （组合形式）means ‘compel, compulsion,强迫to make payment or action in a return for concealment of discreditable secrets etc.（利用不光彩的秘密要人送钱或行动作为答复）’ Hence （因此，从此，以后）blackmail is a different word(COD).1.2 Sound and MeaningA word is a symbol that stands for(代表) something else in the world世界上其他的事物. Each of the world’s cultures has come toagree that certain sounds will represent certain persons, things, places, properties特性, processes过程and activities行动outside the language system. This symbolic connection联系is almost always arbitrary（随意的主观的）, and there is ‘no logical relationship between the sound which stands for a thing or an idea and the actual thing and idea itself（在代表事物和思想的声音和实际的事物和思想之间没有法定关系）’ (Lodwing and Barrett 1973).A dog is called a dog not because the sound and the three letters that make up the word just automatically suggest the animal in question. It is only symbolic. The relationship between them is conventional because people of the same speech community have agreed to refer to the animal with this cluster of sounds. In different languages the same concept can be represented by different sounds. Woman, for example, becomes ‘Frau’ in German, ‘femme’ in French and ‘funu’ in Chinese. On the other hand, the same sound is used to mean meet, meat, mete. Knight and night骑士, though denothing entirely完全的different things, yet have the same sound.1.3 Sound and FormIt is generally agreed that通常认为the written form of a natural language 自然语言的书写形式is the written record of the oral form口语形式的书写记录. Naturally the written form should agreewith the oral form.自然书写形式In other words, the sound should be similar to the form发音和形式相一致. This is fairly true of English in its earliest stage i.e. （也就是）Old English. The speech of the time was represented very much more faithfully in writing than it is today. With the development of the language, more and more differences occur发生出现存在between the two. The internal reason（内因）for this is that the English alphabet was adopted（被收入）from the Romans, which does not have a separate letter单独的to represent each sound in the language so that some letters must do double duty or work together in combination.Another reason is that the pronunciation has changed more rapidly 迅速的立即的than spelling over the years, and in some cases the two have drawn far apart. During the last five hundred years, though the sounds of speech have changed considerably非常地，很，颇, there have been no corresponding相应的changes of spelling.A third reason is that some of the differences were created by the early scribes抄写员. In the early days the spelling differences did not matter very much as people were not so used to seeing words in print, and the spelling was not fixed as不像如今这么固定it istoday. As a result, no one was quite sure how some English words should be spelled. Sometimes, people deliberately 故意的changed spelling of words either或者to make a line even or for easier recognition. Before the printing press 印刷术was brought to 被传到England, everything was written by hand. Those scribes, who made a living 生存by writing for other people often worked in haste 匆忙to meet the needs of 应付the King, Church主教, and merchants商人. One problem was that several letters 字母written with short 简短vertical垂直的strokes 画笔such as i,u,v,m,w and n looked all alike. Consequently, 因此their handwriting caused misunderstanding. To solve the problem in prat, they changed the letter u to o when it came before m, n, or v.（把mnv之前的u改成o）This is how sum, cum, wuman, wunder, munk came to be written as some, come, woman, wonder, monk. At some point, too, the scribes seem to have decided that no English word should end in u or v. Thus, in time, an e was added to such words as live, have, due, and true but not pronounced(Deighton 1979).In the late 1500, printing became well established变得很普遍. It helped to freeze the spelling of words固定单词的瓶邪, The standardization标准化makes spelling sacred不容改变. Dictionaries did their share in stopping spelling changes. 字典在拼写终结中得到好处Meanwhile, sounds continued to change asusual, thus bringing more differences.Finally comes the borrowing借词来了, which is an important channel of 重要途径enriching the English vocabulary. When English borrowed words from other languages, it borrowed spelling as well. The early borrowings were assimilated通化and the later ones, however, do not conform 顺从to the rules of English pronunciation and spelling, e.g. Stimulus(L), denouement(F), fiesta(Sp), eureka(Gr),and kimono(Jap).The written form of English is, therefore, an imperfect repreesentation of the spoken form. From time to time in history,历史上一次又一次some British and American scholars have made efforts 尝试努力to reform 改革the English spelling, but with little success不成功. In spite of the differences尽管差别, at least eighty percent of the English words fit consistent一致spelling patterns. And even those spellings that appear to be irregular不规则may have more regularity and usefulness用处than we realize. In such words as hymn赞歌, condemn谴责, bomb炸弹, for example, the last letter of each is silent. But when these words are extended into longer ones, the silent letters become audible听得见的: hymnal赞美诗的, condemnation and bombard. This is a general rule.这是规律。