1.What is polysemy?Having multiple meanings that are related.2.What are the two different ways of organising polysemous words? Explain them1)The diachronic approach begins with the primary meaning and then arrangethe other meanings (derived meanings) in the order in which theydeveloped.2)The synchronic approach begins with the most popular meaning (centralmeaning) and then arrange the other meanings (marginal meanings) inorder of popularity.3.What are the two different ways in which polysemy develops? Explain them1)Radiation. Secondary meanings are independent from one another and arederived directly from the primary meaning.2)Concatenation. Secondary meanings are connected and derive from primarymeaning through successive shifts of meaning from one secondary meaningto another.4.What is homonymy?Homonyms are works different in meaning but either identical both in sound or spelling or identical only in sound or spelling.5.Give an example of a perfect homonym, a homophone and a homograph1)perfect homonym 同音同形date日期/date红枣2)homophone 同音异形Knew/new, meet/meat3)homograph 异音同形record(v.)/record(n.)6.Give an example of the rhetorical use of homonymyHi Jack (你好杰克)– hijack(打劫)7.What is the difference between polysemy and homonymy? Give an example toillustrate the difference1)Polysemy is about connection of meanings. Book can mean a book as in “Iread a book”, and “I book a hotel room”. The second meaning is related tothe first one because in the past hotel staff will write the customers’information on a book when reserving a room.2)homonymy is about form. Lie can mean not being honest or being in ahorizontal position. These two meanings have the same form but noconnection.8.Classify the following pairs of antonyms into complementaries (binaries),contraries (gradable) or converses (relational). Explain why1)Good/bad, contraries2)odd/even, complementaries3)above/below, converses4)clean/dirty, contraries5)remember/forget, complementaries?6)old/young, contraries7)before/after, converses9.What is hyponymy? Give an exampleThe meaning of a more specific word is included in that of a more general word.例Flower is the superordinate term, rose is the subordinate term.10.What is synonymy?Synonyms are words different in sound and spelling but nearly or exactly alike in essential meaning.11.What is the difference between absolute and near (relative) synonyms?1)Absolute synonyms – interchangeable in every way2)Near synonyms – similar in denotation but have different shades of meaningor different degrees of a given quality.12.What are some of the reasons why synonyms exist?1)Borrowing from other languages2)Dialects and regional English3)Figurative and euphemistic use of words4)Coincidence with idiomatic expressions13.What are some of the factors that discriminate between relative synonyms? Useexamples1)Range of meaning. “timid” is more extensive because it can be used todescribe the state of mind at a time and the disposition, but “timorous” onlydescribe the disposition.2)Degree of intensity. A “wealthy” person has much more money than a“rich” person.3)Differences in stylistic features. “ask” is used commonly and tend to becolloquial. “question” is more formal.14.(The development of English) What was the language spoken in the British Islesbefore English? How was English introduced?Celtic. Germanic tribe invaded and settled after Roman. They brought their own culture. It was called Anglo-saxon (the name of two tribes) and also called old English.15.What are the three phases of the English language and what were their timeperiods? What events marked the transition of one phase to another?a)Old English (450 - 1150) ——Norman conquest from France in 1066, butthe real development of middle English started in the 12th century becausethe ruling class spoke Anglo French and the peasants spoke Anglo-Saxon soit took quite a long time for them to intermix.b)Middle English (1150 - 1500) ——during Renaissance there was anexplosion of information and knowledge about Ancient Greece and Roman.People stated to read so ideas spread. Greek and Latin words startedentering English. Besides, printing was invented, more can read and writebooks.c)Modern English (1500 – present)16.Over its history, English has evolved from a highly inflected language to a nearlynon-inflected language. What is the difference? Give an example of inflection in EnglishInflection means to modify a word to indicate grammatical relations. A lot of words in a highly inflected language have ending or form changes in order toshow its grammatical function. But a weakly inflected language has fewerchanges. As English developed, it has changed from a highly infected language toa weekly one.17.What are the most important languages that English has borrowed from? Why?1)French – Norman conquest2)Latin – Renaissance, a lot of Latin book were translated into English3)Scandinavia – Vikings (9 century) influenced old English18.What is the difference between a Content Word and a Functional word? Give anexample of each.•Content words are those are about something. 例nation, earth. •Functional words are those used to express relations. 例the, and.19.Explain two properties of Basic words and give examples1)Productivity. Basic words are very productive because thet are mostly rootwords or monosyllabic words. They can be used alone and are often used toform now words with other roots and affixes. 例foot-football-footprint2)Many basic words take part in a number of set expressions. 例heart- byheart –from the bottom of one’s heart- lose heart20.What is a denizen word? Give an exampleDenizens are words that were borrowed a long time ago, they look and sound like a native word.例‘pork’ from the French ‘porc’21.What is an alien word? Give an exampleAliens are borrowed words which have kept their original pronunciation andspelling.例café , fiancée22.What is a translation loan? Give an exampleTranslation loans are words and expressions formed from existing material in the English language but tranlate the meaning or the sound from anotherlanguage.例‘black humour’ from the French ‘humour noir’例‘tea’ from the Chinese23.What is a semantic loan? Give an exampleSemantic loans are where a word already exists in native English but borrows a new meaning from another language.例‘dumb’ has come to mean ‘stupid’ because of the German word ‘dumm’24.(The structure of Words) What is a morpheme?A morpheme is the minimal meaningful unit of language.25.What is the difference between a morpheme and a morph?•Morpheme is about meaning.•Morph is about shape and sound.Morphemes are abstract, and are realized in speech by morphs.26.What is the difference between a bound morpheme and a free morpheme? Givean example of each kind of morpheme1)Morphemes which cannot occur as separate words are bound. 例dis-,mis-.2)Morphemes which are independent of other morphemes are free. 例man,dog.27.What is the difference between a derivational morpheme and an inflectionalmorpheme? Give an example of each kind of morpheme1)Derivational morphemes can derive new words. 例football, slowly2)Inflectional morphemes don’t create new words and just indicate syntacticrelationships. 例-ed, -ing, -er, -est, -s28.What is the difference between a content morpheme and a grammaticalmorpheme? Give an example of each kind of morpheme1)Content morphemes have content and can be used to derive new words. =derivational morphemes.2)Grammatical morphemes are grammatical markers, including Inflectionalmorphemes & free morphemes. 例while, where, they29.What is an affix?An affix is a form that are attached to words to modify meaning or function. 30.What is the difference between a derivational and an inflectional affix? Give anexample of each1)Inflectional affix do not create new words, and indicate syntacticrelationships between words. 例–ed, talked2)Derivational affix derive new words. 例–less, careless. non-, non-smoker.31.What is a root? Give an exampleA root is a word element that contains the main component of meaning in aword. It is that part of a word that remains when all affixes have been removed.例:internationalists → nation Impracticality → pratice32.What is a stem? Give an exampleA stem is that part of the word form that remains when all inflectional affixeshave been removed.例:internationalists → nationalistsUndesirables → desirable33.What is a base? Give an exampleA base is a form to which affixes of any kind can be added.例:possible, understand34.(Word Formation)What is blending?the combination of parts of two words or a word plus a part of another word.35.Give an example of blending and explain how the word has been formedSmog=smoke+fog36.What is clipping?a part of the original word is removed.37.Give an example of clipping and explain how the word has been formedExam-examination38.What is acronymy?new words are formed by joining the initial letters of composite names or phrases39.Give an example of an initialism and explain how the word is formedInitialism ——pronounced letter by letter. 例:BBC,CCTV40.Give an example of a true acronym and explain how the word is formedTrue acronym ——pronounced as a normal word. 例:NATO, AIDS41.What is the commonization of a proper name? Give an exampleWords come from proper names. 例“rugby” from “Rugby School”, where itwas first played.42.What are the three most productive ways of forming new words in the Englishlanguage?Affixation, compounding, conversion.43.What is affixation? Give an exampleThe formation of new words by adding word-forming or derivational affixes to bases.44.What is compounding? Give an exampleThe forming of new words by joining two or more bases. 例hot dog, blueprint 45.Give an example of the use of a conversion prefix (a prefix that you add tosomething that changes word class) and explain the shift in word classCage (n.) uncage(v.)46.Give an example of the use of a noun suffix ( a suffix that you add to somethingto produce a noun) and explain the shift in word classDance(v.) dancer(n.)47.Give an example of the use of an adjective suffix and explain the shift in wordclassChild(n.) childish(adj.)48.Give an example of the use of a verb suffix and explain the shift in word classShort(adj.) shorten(v.)49.What differences typically exist between a compound and its matching freephrase? Give an example1)Phonological features. In compounds the word stress usually occur on thefirst constituent whereas in free phrases this generally falls on the second.例fat head复合词fat head短语2)Semantic features. A compound expresses a single idea. 例hot dog3)Grammatical features. A compound tends to behave as single grammaticalunits such as a verb, noun, or adjective. 例’bad-mouth’ used as a verb50.(Meanings)What is a ‘referent’?The object or idea to which a word or phrase refers. It is arbitrary andconventional.51.What is a ‘concept’?Concept is the totality of real world knowledge about an item.52.What is the relation between ‘word’, ‘concept’ and ‘referent’?A word symbolizes a concept, a concept refers to a referent, a word stands for areferent. 【Words are connected to their referent via a concept.】53.What is ‘sense’?The realization of a concept by a definite language system.54.How would you describe the difference between a word whose meaning ismotivated and a word whose meaning is unmotivated?See if there is connection between linguistic symbol and its meaning.55.What is onomatopoeic motivation? Give an example and explain its motivationSome words are created by imitating the natural sounds. 例ha ha56.What is morphological motivation? Give an example and explain its motivationCompounds and derived words are multi-morphemic and the meanings of many of them are the meanings of the morphemes combined. 例airmail, hopeful 57.What is semantic motivation? Give an example and explain its motivationThe meaning is based on an association with the conceptual meaning of a word.例the mouth of the river.58.How would you describe the difference between conceptual meaning andassociative meaning?•Conceptual meaning is meaning as it is given in the dictionary and forms the core of word meaning. The same word generally has the same conceptual meaning to all the speakers in the same speech community •Associative meaning is secondary meaning supplemental to conceptual meaning. It can be influenced by a range of factors including culture, education, religion, experience, geographical region and so on 59.What is connotative meaning? Give an exampleassociations that a word has that is suggested by its conceptual meaning例mother- love, care, forgiving60.What is stylistic meaning? Give an examplestylistic properties that make them appropriate for different styles.例child is formal, kid is informal. Father is formal, papa is informal.61.What is affective meaning? Give an example of pejorative and appreciativemeaningthe speaker’s attitude towards the person o r thing in question例the country is backward. (pejorative) the country is developing.(appreciative) 62.What is collocative meaning? Give an exampleassociations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment’例tremble with fear; quiver with excitement.。