English lexicology

hritik

Lexicology

The study of words themselves and their associated word classes they can be categorised into.

Multi-word lexemes

Consist of a group of words that, by themselves, do not separately convey the meaning of the whole group.

Content words

Nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs.

Nouns

Things, concepts, ideas, or groups.

Concrete noun

A thing.

Abstract noun

An idea.

Proper noun

An individual.

Collective noun

A group.

Verbs

Show actions or states of being.

Regular/irregular verbs

To do with conjugation.

Stative verbs

To do with a state, condition, or perception.

Dynamic verbs

To do with an action with meaning.

Main/auxiliary verbs

To do with the words for the action and the words for clarifying its properties.

Modal verbs

Possibility, ability, necessity, permission.

Adjectives

Add detail to nouns.

Attributive adjectives

Positioned prior to the noun it is describing, and provides a description of it.

Predicative adjectives

Positioned after the noun it is describing, and provides a description of it.

Comparative adjectives

Formed using bound morphemes such as 'er' - compares two nouns with respect to a specific attribute.

Superlative adjectives

Describes a noun as at the extreme end of a spectrum.

Adverbs

Modify verbs, but also adjectives and other words.

Circumstantial adverbs

Describe manner, time, frequency, place, degree.

Function words

Have a grammatical function, but do not sustain a meaning on their own.

Prepositions

Provide an indication of place, time, and manner.

Determiners

Often before nouns, cannot stand alone.

Articles (determiners)

Definite (unique/specific) and indefinite (one of many/general).

Possessives (determiners)

Indicate belonging to an entity.

Quantifiers (determiners)

Indicate the number of entities.

Demonstrative (determiners)

Show the location or approximate position of someone or something (this cat, that laptop, under there)

Pronouns

Substitute for nouns or noun phrases.

Personal pronouns

Replaces the name of a person/group being addressed.

Possessive pronouns

Indicate belonging (mine, yours).

Demonstrative pronouns

This, these, that.

Reflexive pronouns

Used to describe an entity acting on itself

Interjection

Conveys emotion (i.e BEANS!).

Conjunctions

Link two or more clauses together to form more complicated sentence structures.

Coordinating conjunctions

Link two independent clauses (FANBOYS).

Subordinating conjunctions

Join an independent and a dependent clause.

Neologisms

Newly formed lexemes or expressions.

Borrowings

Lexemes stolen from foreign languages.

Commonisation

When a lexeme is converted into one with a broader meaning (often proper nouns to common nouns i.e trademark generalisation).

Nominalisation

When a verb or phrase is turned into a noun (to assasinate --> assasination).

Obsolescence

Lexemes that are no longer used at all.

Archaism

Lexemes that were once in common use but have fallen out of speech. Can be used in specific contexts.

Simple patterning

Related to how different classes represent similar ideas - in this case the word is repeated with little alteration apart from grammatical indicators (Walk, walks, walked).

Complex patterning

More changes are made to a single word and these changed version are repeated (advice, advise, advisory).