自考《英语词汇学》学习资料.doc

Chapter one The definition of Word: (the two often quoted definitions from Bloomfield and an outstanding French linguist, Antoine Meillet. ) Bloomfield: “some linguistic forms, which we call bound forms are never used as sentences. A word then, is a free form which does not consist entirely of (two or more) lesser free forms. In belief, a word is a minimum free form.” Antoine Meillet: “A word is defined by the association of a given sense with a given group of sounds capable of a given grammatical use.” In brief, a word may be defined as a fundamental unit of speech and a minimum free form; with a unity of sound and meaning (both lexical and grammatical meaning) capable of performing a given syntactic function. .[sin?t?ktik]?句法的which were chiefly Anglo-Saxon with a small mixture of Old Norse words. Long before the invasion of England, Anglos-Saxon borrowed a considerable number of Latiin words and then continued to adopt words during the Old English period, especially after the introduction of Christianity into Britain in 579. Middle English(1100-1500) ME The transitional period from Old English to Modern English is known as Middle English, which is characterized by the strong influence of French following the Norman Conquest in 1066. Since the French-speaking Normans were the ruling class, French was used for all state affairs and for most social and cultural matters; but the masses continued to speak English. Only toward the 15th century did English become once more the language of the whole country. Modern English(1500- the present) The English language from 1500 to the present is called Modern English. In the early stage of Modern English (1500-1700) the Renaissance [ri?n?sns]? brought great changes to the vocabulary. The renewed study of Greek in the Renaissance not only led to the borrowing of Greek words indirectly through the medium of Latin, but also led to the introduction of some Greek words directly into the English vocabulary. From the 16th centur