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TYPOLOGY OF LEXICAL SYSTEMS

TYPOLOGY OF LEXICAL SYSTEMS. OUTLINE 1.Language and culture -Linguistic determinism -Linguistic relativity 2.Typological classification of words 3.Semasiological

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TYPOLOGY OF LEXICAL SYSTEMS

OUTLINE

1. Language and culture - Linguistic determinism- Linguistic relativity

2. Typological classification of words

3. Semasiological and onomosiological approaches to the contrastive study of lexical units

Cognitive triangle

symboldenotatumreferent

concept

Does Our Language Determine Our Culture?

William von Humboldt

Sapir and Whorf :

Language controls a person’s thinking processes in some way.

aput 'snow on the ground', gana 'falling snow', piqsirpoq 'drifting snow', qimuqsuq 'a snow drift'.

How many colours can you see?

English Italian Rumanian Estonian Japanese Ukrainian

hand mano minǎ käsi te ruka

arm braccio brat, käsi(vars) ude

foot piede picior jalg ashi noga

leg gamba

finger dito deget sõrm yubi palec’

toe varvas

Different nations seem not only to see but also to hear the world differently

U. тук-тукE. rat-a-ratJap. don-don

U. ква-кваE. croak- croakJap. kero-keroFrench coa-coa

The concept that language limits perception has become known as

the “Whorfian Hypothesis”

or as

“linguistic determinism”.

The ideas of linguistic determinism in the XX c.

In 1980

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson

published

Metaphors We Live By

Our conceptual system plays a central role in defining our everyday realities:

how we get around in the world and how we relate to other people.

Language controls thought .

Metaphors determine the way English speakers see the world

TimeI spent time on that project. I invested time on that project. I saved time on that project

“Time is a valuable Commodity”

The concept of argument in English

ArgumentI shot down their arguments. I blew them out of the water with my

points. I overcame each of their points. I won. I beat them (down)

Argument is War

Howard Rheingold’s 1988 book

They have a Word for it The words of a language constrain how

people perceive the world.ho’oponopono means

“practice in which two people who have a disagreement are put in a room/hut until they agree”

change the English speaking thought

processes.

Other views

1986 Eugene A. Nida:

For the most part, language follows society rather than determining it.

Hypothesis of

“linguistic relativity” :

“Language reflects the culture of its speakers rather than determining it. Language is an important index of cultural values, but does not necessarily constrain a speaker from seeing the world in another way.”

1997 A. Wierzbicka:

Every language has certain key words that reflect the core values of a given culture.

Key terms

shy

American versus Finnish

being socially handicapped versus

being reserved, observant, respectful of others’ privacy

friend

Are there any universal features in the lexical systems?

Are there concepts that have word nominations in all languages of the

world?

Conceptual primitives

Anna Wierzbicka:

Conceptual primitives belong to the universal "alphabet of human thoughts"

Universal semantic primitives

Substantives: I, YOU, SOMEONE (PERSON), SOMETHING (THING), PEOPLE, BODY

Determiners: THIS, THE SAME, OTHER Quantifiers: ONE, TWO, SOME, ALL, MANY(MUCH) Attributes: GOOD, BAD, BIG, SMALL Mental predicates: THINK, KNOW, WANT, FEEL, SEE,

HEAR Existence and possession: THERE IS, HAVE Life and death: LIVE(ALIVE), DIE Time: WHEN(TIME), NOW, AFTER, BEFORE, A LONG

TIME, A SHORT Space: WHERE(PLACE), HERE, UNDER, ABOVE,

TOUCH (CONTACT) Etc.

Typological classification of words

Universal layer water, sky, ocean, day; brow, nose, live, eat, sleep; speak,

mother, brother Specific-national (realia) layer

терем, цимбали, гетьман, козак, писанка, вишиванка, рушник

public school, Chapel, Boxing Day, Black Friday beefeater

International layer genuine internationalisms computer, blue tooth loan internationalisms article - стаття

Universal layer. Different connotations.

Denotative (nominative) meaning white – the colour of milk, salt or snow (COD) black- the dark color of coal or night (Oxford)

Connotative meaning

white lie, white dove

black soul, black market, blackmail

Cf. in Chinese white man, white glance black man

International layer. Cultural Differences in International Words

False cognates

‘actual’

come from Latin ‘actualis’

1. real actual costs

2. (rare) important

‘актуальний’

English-Ukrainian False cognates

data? replica ? billet? accurate? intelligence? aspirant? сlay? fabric? complexion? conservatory?

дата? репліка? білет? акуратний? інтелігентність? аспірант? клей? фабрика? комплекція? консерваторія?

Semi-False cognates

director

1. директор

2. режисер

3. диригент

4. духівник Mercury

1. Планета Меркурій

2. р

директор

1. директор

Меркурій

1.Планета Меркурій

Words may be compared from their semasiological side and from their

onomasiological side.

Comparing words from the semasiological sideTypes of motivationSemantic structure of words

Motivation of words

Motivation is relationship between form

and meaning of the word.

friend friend-ship

Words may be non-motivated and motivated

E - 1/14 U - 1/6

phonetic morphological semantichiss wisdom face (of the stone)

1,4% 88% 10%

0,8% 91% 7,4%

Semantic structure of wordsin E and Ucoatпіджак, пальто, хутро, оперення, шар,оболонка, обшивка, покривати шаром

пливти‘float’ ‘swim’ ‘sail’

Comparison of language units from the onomasiological side

Types of nomination are the same in the contrasted languages: Simple words Derivative words Compound words Phrases Clauses Sentences

Comparing language units from the onomasiological side in E and U

Onomasiological structure may coincide:

rewrite - переписати cal-breaker - вугледробарка to make a decision - прийняти рішення

or may not coincide:ski - кататися на лижахfall in love - закохатисяmerry-go-round - карусель

Differences in Word Collocations

heavy traffic heavy-handed heavy-headed to make friends to make captain

(to achieve the rank)

інтенсивний рух неспритний

тупоголовыйподружитисястати капітаном

(дослужитися до капітана)

Analyse the onomasiological structure

food processor - кухонний комбайн brown cap - підберезовик user-friendly - легкий (зручний) в

роботіenergy-efficient - економічнийmisuse -sibling -mistrial -

HOME ASSIGNMENT

I.Korunets. Contrastive typology of the

English and Ukrainian Languages. Typology of the lexical systems

p. 118 -120, 141 – 146, 165 - 172

p. 175-177 Ex-s. 6, 7, 8, 9