English Words: A Linguistic Introduction (The Language Library)

✍ Scribed by Heidi Harley

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 322
• Series: The Language Library
• Edition: Revised
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Where do new words come from? How are words put together? How do we assign meaning to words? These are among the most compelling questions for students of language and linguistics. English Words is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the study of English words from a theoretically informed linguistic perspective. Assuming little or no background in linguistics, Harley approaches the study of words from several directions, including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, historical linguistics and psycholinguistics. Using examples pulled from history, from Scrabble, and even the funny pages, this book is sure to make word study a breeze for students and instructors alike.English Words: A Linguistic Introduction gives students a command of the basic theory in each area, skill in analyzing and understanding English words, and the foundation needed for more advanced study in linguistic theory or lexicology.

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgments......Page 12
IPA Transcription Key......Page 14
1.1 Explaining Word in Words......Page 20
1.2 Language Is a Secret Decoder Ring......Page 23
1.3 Wordhood: The Whole Kit and Caboodle......Page 26
1.4 Two Kinds of Words......Page 30
1.5 The Anatomy of a Listeme......Page 31
1.6 What Don’t You Have to Learn When You’re Learning a Word?......Page 33
Appendix: Basic Grammatical Terms......Page 35
Study Problems......Page 37
Further Reading......Page 39
2.1 English Spelling and English Pronunciation......Page 40
2.2 The Voice Box......Page 44
2.3 The Building Blocks of Words I: Consonants in the IPA......Page 46
2.4 Building Blocks II: Vowels and the IPA......Page 55
2.5 Families of Sounds and Grimm’s Law: A Case in Point......Page 64
Study Problems......Page 70
Further Reading......Page 72
3.1 Guessing at Words: The Scrabble Problem......Page 73
3.2 Building Blocks III: The Syllable......Page 77
3.3 Phonotactic Restrictions on English Syllables......Page 80
3.4 From a Stream of Sound into Words: Speech Perception......Page 90
3.5 Syllables, Rhythm, and Stress......Page 94
3.6 Using Stress to Parse the Speech Stream into Words......Page 97
3.7 Misparsing the Speech Stream, Mondegreens, and Allophones......Page 99
3.8 Allophony......Page 102
3.9 What We Know about Phonological Words......Page 103
Study Problems......Page 104
Notes......Page 108
4.1 Getting New Listemes......Page 109
4.2 When Do We Have a New Word?......Page 110
4.3 New Words by “Mistake”: Back-Formations and Folk Etymologies......Page 111
4.4 New Words by Economizing: Clippings......Page 114
4.5 Extreme Economizing: Acronyms and Abbreviations......Page 115
4.6 Building New Words by Putting Listemes Together: Affixation and Compounding......Page 117
4.7 Compounding Clips and Mixing It up: Blends......Page 120
4.8 New Listemes via Meaning Change......Page 121
4.9 But Are These Words Really New?......Page 125
4.10 What Makes a New Word Stick?......Page 126
Study Problems......Page 128
Further Reading......Page 129
5.1 Listemes......Page 130
5.2 Making up Words......Page 131
5.3 Affixal Syntax: Who’s My Neighbor? Part I......Page 143
5.4 Affixal Phonology: Who’s My Neighbor? Part II......Page 146
5.5 Allomorphy......Page 149
5.6 Closed-Class and Open-Class Morphemes: Reprise......Page 155
Study Problems......Page 157
Notes......Page 161
6 Morphological Idiosyncrasies......Page 163
6.1 Different Listemes, Same Meaning: Irregular Suffixes......Page 164
6.2 Root Irregulars......Page 172
6.3 Linguistic Paleontology: Fossils of Older Forms......Page 174
6.4 Why Some but Not Others?......Page 183
6.5 How Do Kids Figure It Out?......Page 185
6.6 Representing Complex Suffixal Restrictions......Page 187
6.7 Keeping Irregulars: Semantic Clues to Morphological Classes......Page 189
6.8 Really Irregular: Suppletive Forms......Page 192
6.9 Losing Irregulars: Producing Words on the Fly......Page 194
6.10 Productivity, Blocking, and Bushisms......Page 196
Study Problems......Page 199
Further Reading......Page 202
Notes......Page 203
7 Lexical Semantics: The Structure of Meaning, the Meaning of Structure......Page 204
7.1 Function Meaning vs. Content Meaning......Page 205
7.2 Entailment......Page 208
7.3 Function Words and their Meanings......Page 209
7.4 Content Words and their Meanings......Page 216
7.5 Relationships and Argument Structure: Meaning and Grammar......Page 223
7.6 Argument Structure......Page 225
7.7 Derivational Morphology and Argument Structure......Page 228
7.8 Subtleties of Argument Structure......Page 229
7.9 Function vs. Content Meanings: The Showdown......Page 231
7.10 How Do We Learn All That?......Page 233
Study Problems......Page 234
Further Reading......Page 235
Notes......Page 236
8.1 How Do Children Learn the Meanings of Words?......Page 237
8.2 Learning Words for Middle-Sized Observables......Page 241
8.4 Morphological and Syntactic Clues......Page 245
8.5 Learning Words for Non-Observables......Page 247
8.6 Syntactic Frames, Semantic Roles, and Event Structure......Page 248
8.7 Agent–Patient Protoroles......Page 250
8.8 Functional Listemes Interacting with Content Listemes......Page 251
8.9 Simple Co-Occurrence? Or Actual Composition?......Page 252
Study Problems......Page 255
Further Reading......Page 256
Notes......Page 257
9.1 Linguistic Change, and Lots of It......Page 258
9.3 A Brief History of England, as Relevant to the English Vocabulary......Page 268
9.4 55 BC to 600 AD: How the English Came to England......Page 269
9.5 600–900 AD: The English and the Vikings......Page 272
9.6 1066–1200: Norman Rule......Page 274
9.7 1200–1450: Anglicization of the Normans......Page 275
9.8 1450–1600: The English Renaissance......Page 278
9.9 1600–1750: Restoration, Expansion......Page 281
9.10 1750–Modern Day......Page 282
9.11 The Rise of Prescriptivism: How to Really Speak Good......Page 285
9.12 English Orthography: The Latin Alphabet, the Quill Pen, the Printing Press, and the Great Vowel Shift......Page 286
Study Problems......Page 295
Further Reading......Page 297
Notes......Page 298
Glossary......Page 300
Works Consulted......Page 309
Index......Page 310