Description
English Vocabulary: The Basics offers a clear, non-jargonistic introduction to English vocabulary, the way linguists classify and explain it, and the place of vocabulary in our overall picture of the language, and in society. Introducing a range of terminology for discussing vocabulary, the reader is provided with a coherent, structured description of what we know about words and their meanings.
Key features of this book include:
• Analysis of historical roots of present-day words
• Coverage of the differences between speech and writing and between formality and informality
• Understanding of the social implications of choices that readers make to use standard or non-standard (e.g., regional/dialect) vocabulary
• A focus on British English with reference to a wide range of varieties of English that include North American English, Irish English, Indian English, Malaysian English, Nigerian English and Caribbean English.
Featuring a glossary of key terms, cartoons and illustrations, further reading, reflection points, interesting "factoids" and examples from corpora from around the world, this book is an engaging and thought-provoking read for anyone with an interest in English vocabulary.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO THE READER
1 A WORD OR TWO ABOUT WORDS
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ‘VOCABULARY’?
THE ‘ENGLISH’ IN ENGLISH VOCABULARY
AT LEAST WE KNOW WHAT WORDS ARE … DON’T WE?
SPACED OUT
EYES AND EARS
IT JUST FEELS RIGHT
I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN
MORPHEMES
TAKING WORDS TO PIECES
GRAMMAR AND LEXIS
WORDS STICK TOGETHER
COMPOUNDS
MULTI-WORD UNITS
IDIOMS
COLLOCATION
RECIPES FOR NEW WORDS
WORDS COME AND GO
NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN
HALF AND HALF
KEEP IT SHORT
LENDING AND BORROWING
CORPORA: LETTING THE DATA SPEAK
USING A CORPUS
CORPUS EXAMPLE (1): HARD-WORKING WORDS
CORPUS EXAMPLE (2): SPEAKING VERSUS WRITING
SUMMING UP
FURTHER READING
2 WHERE DO ENGLISH WORDS COME FROM?
THE DIM AND DISTANT PAST
THE BEGINNING OF ENGLISH
ANGLO-SAXONS
BEGINNING TO LOOK FAMILIAR: CHRONICLES AND MONSTERS
MORE INCOMERS
VIKINGS
A BIG CHANGE: THE NORMANS ARRIVE
PUTTING IT IN BLACK AND WHITE
TELLING TALES
PIERS PLOWMAN
INTO THE MODERN ERA
LANGUAGE ABOUT LANGUAGE
AN EXPANDING VOCABULARY
CIRCLING THE WORLD
A SETTLED LANGUAGE
SPELLING IT OUT
NEW WORLDS, NEW CULTURES
NEW TECHNOLOGIES, NEW ENGLISHES
FURTHER READING
3 WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
FROM FORM TO MEANING
WORDING THE WORLD
MAKING SENSE OF THE LEXICON
SAME OR DIFFERENT?
SYNONYMY
LOOKS THE SAME, SOUNDS THE SAME BUT …
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
CLASSIFYING THE WORLD
THE UPSIDE-DOWN TREE
SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING
FUZZY BORDERS AND STEREOTYPES
AN ARM AND A LEG: PARTS AND WHOLES
MAKING SENSE IN THE REAL WORLD
TAKING MEANING TO PIECES
PLUSES AND MINUSES TO EVERYTHING
WORDS, THE MIND AND THE WORLD
PRAGMATICS: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
FURTHER READING
4 BEATING ABOUT THE BUSH: FIGURATIVE MEANING
JUST IMAGINE
ATOMS OR MOLECULES?
BITE-SIZED CHUNKS
ROOM FOR MANOUEVRE
AS CLEAR AS MUD: IDIOMS
DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN?
IN A NUTSHELL
IDIOM-PRONE
LOOK AT IT THIS WAY
METAPHORS
PROVERBS AND METAPHORS
TROPES GALORE
HERE COMES THE ARMY: METONYMY
NO EXAGGERATION: HYPERBOLE
A NOT UNINTERESTING TROPE: UNDERSTATEMENT
EUPHEMISMS
SUMMARY
FURTHER READING
5 BEAR THIS IN MIND: THE MENTAL LEXICON
A REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT
HOW DID IT ALL GET THERE? ACQUIRING VOCABULARY
DESIGNING A HUMAN
ONE WORD AT A TIME
TELEGRAMS FROM A CHILD
MORE THAN ONE WAY OF SAYING THINGS
SPELL IT OUT
WHERE ARE ALL THOSE WORDS?
MIND AND BRAIN: THE MENTAL LEXICON
HOW DOES IT WORK?
FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY JACK ROBINSON
WHAT COMES INTO YOUR HEAD?
JUST A SLIP OF THE TONGUE?
IN TWO MINDS AGAIN
CONCLUSION
FURTHER READING
6 VOCABULARY IN ACTION
WORDS OUT THERE
LANGUAGE SNAPSHOTS
HARD WORDS
NOT IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN
LETTING THE MACHINE DECIDE: CORPORA
QUIZZING THE DATA
EXCHANGING A FEW WORDS
LET’S NOT GO INTO DETAIL
SO, CONSEQUENTLY …
WINDOWS ON CULTURE
WORDS ON THE MOVE
NAUGHTY BUT NICE
A NOTICEABLE UPTICK
SHOWING YOUR AGE
MAPPING ENGLISH VOCABULARY
VARIETIES
DIFFERENT VOICES: DIALECTS AND SOCIOLECTS
SPECIAL VOCABULARIES
WORDS AND THE IMAGINATION
FLOUTING CONVENTIONS
OLD WORDS, NEW MEANINGS
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
HAVING A LAUGH
EDUCATION AND LEARNING
GROWING UP WITH WORDS
SECOND LANGUAGE VOCABULARY
THE END OF THE BEGINNING
FURTHER READING
GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS
REFERENCES
INDEX
