Lexicology

Affixation/Derivation

Forming word by adding affixes

Un+happy=unhappy; hope+ful=hopeful

Compounding

Joining 2 or more roots to make one word

Toothbrush, sunflower, hard-working

Conversion

Changes part of speech without any change in form

email(n) → to email (v)

Back Formation

Creating a new word by removing smth

editor→ edit; hamburger→ burger

Blending

Merging parts of two words

brunch, smog, motel

Reduplication

Repeating part or all of a word

Bye-bye, boo-boo, hocus-pocus

Coinage

Inventing entirely new words

google, aspirin, holiday, chillax

eponyms

words derived from people’s names:

fahrenheit, atlas, diesel

Abbreviations

Shortened forms

NASA, FBI, laser, radar

Semasiology

starts with a word and asks “what does it mean?”

Onomasiology

Starts with a concept and asks “what words express this concept?”

Denotation

Direct, literal meaning of a word (its dictionary sense)

Connotation

The ideas, emotions, or associations a word suggests

Homonymy

Words that happen to share same spelling or sound, but have unrelated meanings

bat (animal) vs bat (baseball)

Polysemy

One word with multiple related meanings.

HEAD: skull; leader; foothill’s summit

Broadening

Meaning becomes more GENERAL

Mete was food, now meat=flesh

Narrowing

Meaning becomes more SPECIFIC

hound once meant any dog, now specific breed

Amelioration

Meaning becomes more POSITIVE

Pejoration

Meaning becomes more NEGATIVE

Metaphorical shift

A concrete sense extends to an abstract one

bright(shining)→intelligent

Metonymy

Word comes to be used for something closely related

“crown” for monarchy, “Hollywood”for film industry

Euphemism

Taboo replacement; word changed to avoid offense

privy → toilet; cripple→ handicap

Semantic bleaching

Word loses intensity or specificity over time

becomes weaker or more general: (woke)

Connotational synonyms

Synonyms differ in connotation: slim (pos) vs skinny (neg)

Gradable synonyms

Synonyms that exist on a scale or continuum of meaning. They differ in intensity or degree

warm, hot, boiling/ good, great, excellent

Gradable antonyms

Opposites on a spectrum

Hot-cold, old-young

Complementary antonyms

Opps. that have no middle ground

alive-dead; true-false

Reversives

Actions and processes that undo each other. Not dependent on eah other in a relationship.

Enter-exit; tie-untie; rise-fall, build-destroy

Converse antonyms

Describe reciprocal relationships: the same situation from different perspectives. If one term applies to person A, the other applies to person B

buy-sell, lend-borrow, parent-child, employer-employee

Hyponymy

A more specific term under a broader category

FLOWER (hypernym): Daisy, Rose, Daffodil (co-hymponyms)

Meronymy

Meronym is part of a HOMONYM

Parts that share the same whole

Wheel is a MERONYM of car

Car is the HOLONYM of wheel

CAR: wheels, door, engine

Wheel is not a Kind of car, it is a Part of a car

Collocations

Typical word pairings that frequently occur together

heavy rain, commit a crime, make a decision

Pure/opaque idioms

Meaning is hard to guess from the words: spill the beans

Figurative idioms

You can often guess the meaning bc it uses image/metaphor: break the ice

Restricted collocations

Words are often used together, but might still make some sense alone: make a decision, heavy rain

Open collocations

Word that can be freely combined: eat lunch, big house

Similes

Comparisons using “like” or “as”, highlighting similarity

brave as a lion, cold like ice

Proverb

Traditional saying with advice or truth: the early bird catches the worm

Saying

A short, common expression: better late than never

Binominals

Pairs of words joined with “and/or” in fixed order: “black and white”; give and take