Презентация на тему Three Main Layers of the English Vocabulary

form the bulk of the English vocabulary. They are

used in both literary and colloquial language. Neutral words are the main source of synonymy and polysemy and are prolific in the production of new meanings. They are not stylistically marked whereas both literary and colloquial words have a special stylistic colouring (degree of emotiveness, sphere of application or degree of quality denoted,etc.).E.g. to talk- to converse-to chat. The lines of demarcation between common colloquial and neutral on the one hand, and common literary and neutral, on the other hand, are blurred. The process of interpenetration and interdependence of the stylistic strata becomes here most apparent, because the lower range of literary words and the upper range of the colloquial layer have a markedly obvious tendency to pass into the neutral layer. E.g. teenager and flapper are colloquial words passing into the neutral vocabulary. They are gradually loosing their non-standard character and becoming widely recognized.

various strata of a society);
-Poetic and highly literary words

(social connotation in respect of the accepted literary norm; communicative-functional connotation);
-Archaic words (temporal connotation);
-Barbarisms and foreign words (territorial connotation);
-Literary coinages (including nonce-words).

various strata of society);
-Jargonisms (social connotation in respect of

various strata of society);
-Professionalisms (social connotation in respect of various strata of society);
-Dialectal words (territorial connotation)
-Vulgar words (social connotation in respect of various strata of society);
-Colloquial coinages (word building)

level of the language can be considered as a

special resource of expressiveness. In modern English new words are coined by means of affixation, word compounding, contraction and conversion. However, only those means of word coinage which provide novelty + force have stylistic marking.
1) Affixation is still predominant in coining new words. Suffixes and prefixes of Latin or Greek origin (pro-, anti-, super-, quasi-, post-, ex-,) traditionally create coinages of literary-bookish character, e.g. anti-census campaign; the pro-choice vs pro-life debate permeates politics; quasimilitary, etc.

the colloquial speech. E.g., seedy, weepy, hairy, smelly, nervy;

bookie, yuppie, veggie; belly bomber; job-hopper, temp-worker, freelancer,etc.
Suffixes and prefixes borrowed from modern foreign languages create ironical or slighting connotations (German: -fest, űber-; French: -ville; Russian: -nik; Italian: -azzi, -ati, -ize).
E.g., refusenik, all-rightnik; dullville, dogville, disasterville; videorazzi, paperazzi,rumorazzi; soccerati, ligerati, illuminati; to picturize, to vacationize, to cityzenize; ubermodel, uberchief, etc.

traditional prefixes and suffixes may produce an effect of

surprise, irony and add an expressive-emotional colouring to a word.
E.g. unkissable, laughable, payable, certifiable; fatherless, childless, spineless, ageless, brainless, etc.
2) Word compounding let combine different parts of speech to form new compound words with stylistic marking.
E.g. brainwave, thinktank, blueblood Ivy Leaguer, to windowshop, to babysit, to blackmail, to pickpocket, to brainwash, to skyrocket, etc.

Clipping appeared in the colloquial speech, the most productive

way is back clipping, e.g. con ( confidence): con-man, con-game, to con; showbiz (show business); glam (glamorous); diff (difference); ad (advertisment),etc.
Fore-clipping: in-laws (mother- in-law, father-in-law), mum (chrysanthemum), etc.
Middle-clipping: flu (influenza), etc.
Blend: stagflation (stagnation+inflation), Amerind (American+Indian), spam (spiced+ham), etc.
Abbreviation: initialisms (HIV, FBI, DIY, FAQ, PhD) and achronyms (AIDS, NATO, UNICEF, OPEC).