Overview

How do we find the right word for the job? Where does that word come from? Why do we spell it like that? And how do we know what it means? Words are all around us - we use them every day to communicate our joys, fears, hopes, opinions, wishes and demands - but we don't often think about them too deeply. In this highly accessible introduction to English words, the reader will discover what the study of words can tell them about the extraordinary richness and complexity of our daily vocabulary and about the nature of language in general. Assuming no prior knowledge of linguistics, the book covers a wide range of topics, including the structure of words, the meaning of words, how their spelling relates to pronunciation, how new words are manufactured or imported from other languages, and how the meaning of words changes with the passage of time. It also investigates how the mind deals with words by highlighting the amazing intellectual feat performed routinely when the right word is retrieved from the mental dictionary. This revised and expanded second edition brings the study of words right up to date with coverage of text messaging and email and includes new material on psycholinguistics and word meaning. With lively examples from a range of sources - encompassing poetry, jokes, journalism, advertising and clich?s - and including practical exercises and a fully comprehensive glossary, English Words is an entertaining introduction to the study of words and will be of interest to anyone who uses them.

Full Product Details

Author:   Francis Katamba
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Edition:   2nd edition
Dimensions:   Width: 13.80cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.440kg
ISBN:  

9780415298933

ISBN 10:   0415298938
Pages:   352
Publication Date:   09 December 2004
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Preface to the first edition. Preface to the second edition. Abbreviations. Key to symbols used. Section I: The nature and internal structure of words 1. Introduction 1.1 Why study words? 1.2 Overview of coming chapters 2. What is a word? 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Words are like liquorice allsorts 2.2.1 Word-forms 2.2.2 Words as vocabulary items 2.2.3 Grammatical words 2.3 Summary Exercises. 3. Close encounters of a morphemic kind 3.1 The quest for verbal atoms 3.2 Close morphological encounters: zooming in on morphemes 3.3 Morphemes and their disguises 3.3.1 Allomorphs: morph families 3.3.2 Contrast 3.3.3 The right mask 3.3.3.1 Phonologically conditioned allomorphs 3.3.3.2. Phonology in the back seat: lexical and grammatical conditioning 3.3.3.3 Madness without method: suppletion 3.4 Freedom and bondage 3.5 Sound symbolism: phonaesthemes and onomatopoeia 3.7 Summary Exercises. 4. Building words 4.1 Words and jigsaws 4.2 Know the pieces of the jigsaw 4.2.1 Roots are the core 4.2.2 Affixes are for appending 4.3 The main types of word-building: inflection and derivation 4.4 Derivation: fabricating words 4.4.1 Affixation: prefixes and suffixes 4.4.2 Conversion 4.4.3 Compound parade 4.4.4 Wishy-washy and razzle-dazzle words 4.5 Listing and institutionalisation 4.6 Keeping tabs on idioms 4.7 Clitics Exercises. Section 2: Words in a wider context 5. A lexicon with layers 5.1 The nature of the lexicon 5.2 Morphological information in the lexicon 5.3 Syntactic information in the lexicon 5.4 Does it ring true? (phonological information) 5.5 Rendezvous with lexical phonology and morphology 5.5.1 Neutral and non-neutral affixes 5.5.2 The lexicon is like a layered cake 5.6 Productivity, the time-warp and cranberries 5.7 Peeping beyond the lexicon 5.8 Base driven stratification 5.9 Summary Exercises. 6. Word meaning 6.1 Introducing meaning 6.2 Word-meaning 6.3 Sense and componential analysis 6.4 Semantic relations 6.4.1 Hyponymy 6.4.2 Synonymy 6.4.3 Antonymy 6.4.4 Homophones and homonyms 6.4.5 Polysemy 6.5 Semantic fields 6.6 Semantic prototypes : the birdiness rankings 6.7 Beyond the lexicon 6.8 Summary Exercises. Section 3: A changing expanding lexicon 7. A lexical mosaic: sources of English vocabulary 7.1 The nature of borrowing 7.1.1 Direct and indirect borrowing 7.1.2 Loanwords and loanshifts 7.1.3 Likely loans 7.1.4 Why borrow? 7.1.5 The grass is ever greener on the other side 7.1.6 Nativisation of loanwords 7.1.7 Effects of borrowing 7.2 Scandinavian loanwords 7.3 The French influence 7.3.1 The Norman French legacy 7.3.2 French words in modern English 7.4 Words from other modern European languages 7.5 Loanwords from non-European languages 7.6 The Germanic inheritance 7.7 Summary Exercises. 8. Words galore: innovation and change 8.1 A verbal bonanza 8.2 Jargon 8.3 Slang 8.4 Rhyming slang 8.5 Cliches and catch-phrases 8.6 A rose by any other name 8.6.1 Semantic widening 8.6.2 Semantic narrowing 8.6.3 Going up and down in the world 8.6.4 Loss account 8.6.5 Lexical revivals 8.7 Clipping 8.9 Fads and copycat formations 8.10 Back-formation 8.11 Blends 8.12 Geek-speak: internet slang and jargon 8.13 Euphemism 8.14 Summary Exercises. 9. Should English be spelt as she is spoke? 9.1 Writing systems 9.2 Is the English orthography mad? 9.2.1 The apparent madness in the English spelling system 9.2.2 There is a method in the madness: spelling rules and pronunciation 9.2.3 Is a for apple? Why vowel letters pinch like ill-fitting shoes 9.3 Morphological signposts in the spelling 9.4 Lexical signposting in the spelling 9.5 Spelling reform 9.6 Is speech degenerate writing? 9.7 Email and text messaging: imo email & txt r gr8 9.8 Summary Exercises. Section 4: Modelling the mental lexicon 10. Speech recognition 10.1 A mind full of words 10.1.1 Types of lexical information 10.1.2 The organisation of th

Reviews

Katamba brings words to life. So relaxed is his style that English Words often reads like a leisurely chat with an old friend. But don't be fooled...the data is used expertly to introduce a wide range of lexical issues and to provide deceptively sophisticated insights into morphology, semantics and phonology. <br>. <br>-Steven Jones, University of Manchester, UK <br> Anyone who has an interest in the systematic study of words will find this book entertaining and serious at the same time. In an age of the World Wide Web and mobile technologies, this revised edition rightly addresses the impact on the lexicon from electronic-mediated communication. The student of language will find the challenging exercises, the hyperlinks and the various well-chosen examples particularly stimulating for understanding the nature of language. <br>. <br>-Vincent Ooi, National University of Singapore <br>

Author Information

Francis Katamba is Professor of Linguistics at Lancaster University.

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