Lexicology Seminar Farka

The difference between British English and American English

1. Why different?
A. Colonial Period
-Colonists from England -> Atlantic seaboard
-1607 : The first permanent English settlement on the mainland.
-4 great periods of European immigration
1) Britain 17th century established the form of language
2) Ireland, Germany, Spain, France, Northern Europe
3) South Europe, Slavic countries
4) Africans (slave trades), Mexico, Puerto Rico
B. National Period
-War of Independence (18th century)
-> Economical, political and linguistic independence
-National consciousness, national identity
-Proposal for an American Academy
-Noah Webster : The American Spelling Book, American Dictionary of
the English lang.
C. International Period
-Influence : BE < AE
-More speakers : BE < AE
Characteristics of AE
1. A high degree of uniformity
*BE has lots of dialects with significant difference
2. A number of old uses which have died out in England (gotten, mad, fall)
-Differences dont mean they are mutually unintelligible
-AE tends to be shorter
-AE has dominant influence on BE
Differences
A. Grammar & Usage
1. Regular & Irregular verbs
quit quitted quitted
(BE)
quit quit quit
(AE)
fit fitted fitted
(BE)
fit fit fit
(AE)
2. Use of Past Simple and Present Perfect (just, alredy, yet)
Ive alreday had breakfast
(BE)
I already had breakfast
(AE)
Have you finished it yet? (BE)
Did you finish it yet?
(AE)
Hes already left
(BE)
He already left
(AE)
3. Auxiliaries and Modal Verbs
(BE) I shall

(AE)

I will

you will
he/she will
we shall
you will
they will

you will
he/she will
we will
you will
they will

(BE) Verbs of perception is used with can, could

(AE) No modals needed for verbs of perception
4. Position of Adverbs
John has probably arrived (Normal)
John probably has arrived (Emphatic)
John probably has arrived (Normal)
5. Real as intensifier
It is really fast
It is real fast

(BE)
(BE)
(AE)

(BE)
(AE)

6. Prepositions and time expressions

They live in the same street
They live on the same street
The boss wants to talk to you
The boss wants to talk with you
The office is closed at the weekend
The office is closed on the weekend
They arrived at ten past two
They arrived at ten after two
Its twenty to twelve
Its twenty until/til/before twelve
You did well in the exam
(BE)
You did well on the exam
(AE)
7. Negation with lets
Lets not have a break (formal)
Dont lets have a break (informal)
Lets dont have a break
(AE)

(BE)
(AE)
(BE)
(AE)
(BE)
(AE)
(BE)
(AE)
(BE)
(AE)

(BE)
(BE, AE)

B. Pronunciation
-Pronounced dialectal differences marking the popular speech of
different parts of England. 0 No comparable differences in the USA
1. ask-words [a:] verses [ ]
ask, class, past, answer, dance, fast, path, grass

2. The treatment of the r

car, hard, part, park versus carry, red
No r pronunciation in BE

3. Stress pattern of polysyllabic

secretary
BE [
dictionary BE [
commentaryBE [

words (-ary, -ory, -ative)

] / AE [
]
] / AE [
]
] / AE [
]

4. miscellaneous
leisure
occurence
tomato
schedule
thorough

] / AE [
] / AE [
] / AE [
] / AE [
] / AE [

BE [
BE [
BE [
BE [
BE [

]
]
]
]
]

C. Spelling
Introduction : early 18th century English spelling was not
standardised.
BE spelling Samuel Johnsons A dictionary of the English
language. (1755)
AE Noah Websters American Dictionary of the English
Language (1828)
Differences
1. The color / colour group (AE / BE)
humor / humour
favor / favour
honor / honour
flavor / flavour
neighbor / neighbour
vigor / vigour
*error error
mirror mirror
actor actor
author author
*BE : humour - > humorist (latin suffix)
*contour contour
2. The center / centre group (AE / BE)
theater / theatre
liter / litre
meter / metre
*writer writer
teacher teacher
bigger bigger
3. The relise / realize group (AE / BE)
*capsize capsize
organize organize
seize seize
*surprise surpirse
advise advise
advertise advertise
4. The analyze / analyse group (AE / BE)
paralyze paralyse

5. The edema / oedema group (greek orgine) (AE / BE)

diarrhoea diarrhea
manoeuvre maneuver
6. The anesthesia / anaesthesia group (AE / BE)
archeology archaeologyencyclopedia encyclopaedia
7. The fulfill / fulfill group (AE / BE)
enroll / enrol
wilful / willful
skilful / skillful
*fulfillment / fulfilment
8. The defense / defence group (AE / BE)
9. miscellaneous
AE
judgment
mom
check
jewellery
program
gray

BE
judgement
mum
cheque

AE
BE
draft
draught
pajamas
pyjamas
jewelry

programme skeptic
grey
plow

sceptic
plough

Couclusion
-Where differences exist very often AE tends to be shorter
-A spelling in Britain seems to be acceptable in America, than
vice versa.
D. Vocabulary
-The greatest and the earliest differences, changes.
-Innovations, new words anad borrowings from other cultures.
-Approximately 4000 words and expressions in common use in
Britain today either
dont exist or are used differently in the US.
AE
apartment

BE
flat

AE
bureau

BE
chest of

drawers
cookie/cracker

biscuit

pants

trousers
chips

crisps

subway

jelly
railroad

jam

eraser
french fries
yard
elevator
truck
windshield

rubber
chips
garden
lift
lorry
windscreen

tube,

underground
fire department
railway
corn

fire brigade

maize
store
shop
trash, garbage
rubbish
baggage
luggage
line
queue
vacation
holiday
sidewalk
pavement

gas, gasoline
mail, mailman

patrol
front desk
post, postman

reception

AE or BE? Provide its AE/BE correspondent

1. I see a car coming (AE) / I can see a car coming (BE)
2. different from / to (BE) / different from / than (AE)
3. tire (AE) / tyre (BE)
4. catalogue (BE) / catalog (AE)
5. nappy (BE) / diaper (AE)
6. CV (BE) / resume (AE)
7. Hes just gone home. (BE) / He just went home. (AE)
8. trunk (AE) / boot (BE)
9. aluminium (BE) / aluminum (AE)
10. How many people were in the course? (AE) / - on the
course? (BE)
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.

Youll have to do it again. (BE) / - do it over/again. (AE)

center (AE) / centre (BE)
zed (BE) / zee (AE)
ground floor (BE) / first floor (AE)
get got got (BE) / get got gotten (AE)
Enrolll in a course (AE) / Enrol on a course (BE)

Word Formation Processes

Means of Enriching the vocabulary
A. Internal
-Predominantly morphological
major : affixiation, composition, conversion
minor : abbreviation, clipping, portmanteaux
change of morphological accent, reduplication
-Predominantly semantic
polysemy, change of meaning
B. External
-borrowings
Affixiation -General characteristics : process of forming new words by adding
affixes to stems.
Affix a morpheme attached to a stem to form a new word
The position of the affix
1. Before the stem prefix
2. After the stem suffix
Affixes bound morphemes / forms
I. Suffixiation (morphological criterion)
Nominal suffixes Suffixes denoting the doer of the action
-er, -or, -ar, -ist / adviser, advisor, registrar, scientist,
dramatist
Feminine suffixes
-ess, -ine / duchess, heroine
Suffixes denoting nationality

-an, -ian, -ese, -ard / Korean, American, Japanese, Spaniard

Diminutive suffixes
-y, -ie, -et, -ette / daddy, auntie, kitchenette, lionet
Abstract noun-forming suffixes
-ism, icism, -hood, -dom, -ment, -ness, -ship
racism, asceticism, brotherhood, freedom, movement, harness
completeness, friendship
Adjectival suffixes
-ish, -able, -ible, -ic, -ical, -ous, -ious, -some, -ly, -ful, -less
childish, capable, edible, economic, economical, outrageous
delicious, troublesome, slightly, mouthful, fearless
Verbal suffixes
-ise, -ize, -ate, -fy, -ify, -en
summarise, symbolize, facilitate, identify, blacken, widen,
flatten
Adverbial suffixes
-ly, -wise, -ward(s) / clearly, likewise, towards, northward(s)
Numeral suffixes
-teen, -ty, -th, -fold / thirteen, thirty, fourth, fourfold
II Prefixiation (semantic criterion)
Negative prefixes
de-, dis-, in-, im-, ir-, il-, mis-, un-, counter-, anti-, nondefrost, dishonest, infinite, immature, irregular, illegal,
misbehave
unhappy, counterargument, anticlockwise, nonstop
Iterative prefix
re- / revaluate
Spatial and directional prefixes
in-, out-, over-, under-, up-, down-, foreinput, output, overview, undercover, upside, downside,
forehead
Temporal prefixes
ante-, fore-, afore-, post-, pre-, exante meridiem, foreword, afore-mentioned, post meridiem,
pre-war, ex-wife
Numeral prefixes
bi-, tri-, multi-, mono-, tetra-, penta
bilingual, triangle, multilingual, monogamy, tetrapod,
pentagon
Summary
-Similarities & Differences between suffixes and prefixes
A. Similarities bound morphemes / forms
B. Differences
Position of insertion
- Classification according to different criteria

- Change VS does not change the morphological class

(exists excep.)
loud(adj) aloud(adv)
able(adj) enable(v)
- Specialized VS not specialized to certain
morphosyntactic category
- Spelling (spelled solid vs hyphenated)

Hopelessly hope (stem) / less (adjectival suffix) / ly (adverbial

suffix)
Impossibility im (negative prefix) / possible (s.) / ity (noun of state,
quality suffix)
Overpayment over (spatial&d. prefix) / pay (s.) / ment (abstract
noun forming suffix)
Simplification simple (s.) /fy (verbal suffix) / ation (abstract noun
forming suffix)
non-smoking, insane, asymmetry, misbehaviour, unlike, disloyal,
illiterate
impersonal, inexperienced, abnormal, discussion, announcement,
accuracy
boredom, anxiety, refusal, certainty, necessity, seriousness, length,
dismissal
strength, rarity, denial, wisdom, depth, freezer, discovery, addition,
poverty
reliability, excessiveness, cancellation, hanger, unexpected,
unpredictable
unrecognizable
Word Formation Prossesses (for ed, -ing hyphen*)
Composition
major internal means of enriching the vocabulary
-new words are formed by gramatically and semantically combining
two or more
stems that already exist as free forms in the language.
Face+book = Facebook
General Characteristics
Gramatically combining two or more stems
-The integrity of the compound
(gramatically combining two or more stems)
specific order/arrangement
no other element can be inserted
no intensification/modification
morpho-synthetically it functions as one single word
-the structural cohesion of the compound
(semantically combining two or more stems)
denotes one single notion
semantically it functions as one single word

Classification
-semantic point of view
endocentric (bedroom=room, goldfish=fish)
exocentric (hot-dog / dog)
-the degree of fusion
idiomatic : windbag
non-idiomatic : apple tree
Spelling
-spelled solid (blackboard, airplane)
-with hyphen (test-drive, good-looking, red-haired)
-without a hyphen (washing machine)
Stress
-one primary/high stress(black board)
-exceptions : compound adjectives (easy-going)
Typology
I-juxtaposed compounds (tablecloth, honeymoon)
II-compounds with a linking element (speedometer)
III-compounds linked by prepositional/conjunctional stems (point of view,
bread and butter)
IV-compound derivatives (honeymooner)
Classification (morphological criterion)
Compound nouns
-noun+noun (Facebook, textbook, raincoat)
-adjective+noun(highway, greenhouse)
-verb+noun/verb/adjective(pickpocket, park-and-drive, drawback)
Compound adjectives
-duty-free, good-looking, easy-going
Compound pronouns
-everybody, somebody
Compound numerals
-twenty-four, nineteen ninety-three, two-thrids
Compound verbs
-babysit, backcomb, broadcast
Compound adverbs
-henceforth
Compound prepositino
-in spite of, in the middle of
Typology Exercise (juxtaposed, with linked by linking element, preposition,
derivatives)

Anglo-Saxon II
matter of fact-III
money-saving
oldfashioned
blood-curdling
old-fashioned

stay-at-home III theatregoer-IV

toothpick-I
lipstick-I
doll-faced-IV
bridesmaid-II
open-hearted
tight-fisted
red-handed

short-sighted
hard-boiled
narrow-minded

Classification of semantic point of view

lifeboat -> endocentric
boat life -> endocentric
-> exocentric
overcoat -> endocentric film star -> endocentric
exocentric
Classification of the degree of fusion
bottle-opener -> non-idiomatic
idiomatic
bluestocking -> idiomatic
idiomatic
sweetheart -> idiomatic

well-mannered

bluegrass
swansong ->

dog-eared ->
apple tree -> non-

Word Formation Process Conversion

*Spelling Recommendations
1. To avoid double / triple consonants / vowels
co-operation
re-evaluation
2. Antonymic pairs
yes-no answer
3. nonnon-smoker
4. adjectives (-ed, -ing)
5. exex- wife
6. linked / connected with and or to
bread-and-butter
7. self and all
self-editor all-inclusive self-esteem
8. phrasal nouns
passer-by
Conversion
-Major internal menas of enriching the vocabulary
-New words are created by changing the morpho-synthetic category and the
distribution of an already existing word without any formal change in it.
*No change in form, pronunciation and spelling.

1. Nouns obtained by conversion

-nouns converted from adjectives
rich -> the rich
beautiful -> the beautiful
-nouns converted from verbs
to desire -> the desire
to walk -> the walk
to want -> the
want
-nouns converted from adverbs
altogether (to be in the altogether)
-nouns converted from prepositions
the ins and outs
-nouns converted from interjections
life is a wow
2. Adjectives obtained by conversions
-adjectives converted from nouns
family duty
room upstairs
-adjectives converted from adverbs
back door

3. Verbs obtained by conversion

-verbs converted from nouns
to father, to nurse, to butter, to salt, to wolf, to elbow, to mop, to
knife, to hammer -verbs converted from adjectives
clean -> to clean dry -> to dry
narrow -> to narrow
-verbs converted from adverbs
up -> to up
forward -> to forward
-verbs converted from other parts of speech
to chirp
1. to up the prices / up (adv. -> v.)
2. This is a must / must (modal -> n.)
3. to down the coffee / down (adv. -> v.)
4. to have a say in the matter / say (v.->n.)
5. to second the proposal / second (numeral -> v)
6. the whys and wherefores / (adv. -> n.)
7. to wolf(down) the lunch / wolf (n. -> v.)
8. to stone the olives / stone (n. -> v.) *to take out the seed
9. to be in the altogether / altogether (adv. -> n.) *to be naked
10. life is a wow / wow (interjection -> n.)
Analyze word formation processes
1.bookseller
book + seller -> composition / sell + er (nominal suffixation)
2. cinema-actor
cinema + actor -> composition / act + or (nominal suffixation)

3. to honeymoon
honey + moon -> composition / conversion (n. -> v)
4. illegality
il (negative prefixation) + legal (stem) + ty (nonominal suffixation)
5. discouragement
dis (negative prefixation) + courage (stem) + ment (nominal suffixation)
6. doggy
dog (stem) + y (diminutive suffixation)
7. manifold
many (stem) + fold (numeral suffix) *NOT COMPOSITION
8. troublesome
trouble (stem) + some (adjectival suffix)
9. backward
back (stem) + ward (adverbial suffix)
10.decentralization
de (negative prefix) + center (stem) + al (adjectivial suffix)
+ ize (verbal suffix) + tion (nominal
suffix)

Change of Meaning A word loses its old meaning and comes to refer to
something different.
- The changes in meaning are gradual. Words are not changed
in a day or two.
1. Processes underlying change of meaning
1) Generalization of meaning
-butler the most important main servant
original meaning a servant responsible for only wine
celler
-bird all the birds
original meaning young birds
-inch a small quantitiy, distance
original meaning 2.54cm
-salary payment for working
original meaning money for Roman soldiers to buy
their swords
2) Specialization of meaning
-girl only female child
original meaning children of both sexes
-deer a specific kind of animal
original meaning any kind of wild animal
-corpse a dead body
original meaning simply body
3) Degradation of meaning
-silly foolish (negative)
original meaning happy, blessed (positive)
4) Elevation of meaning

-nice pleasant, good (positive)

original meaning ignorant (negative)
-fond interested in positive way
original meaning foolish
Process of specialization
original meaning
specialization
room
space, place
chamber
fowl
bird
birds for meat and eggs
starve
to die
to die of hunger
hospital
a large house
an institution for
patients
worm
long animals (snake, maggot)
worm
garage
place for storing anything
place for
car
Semantic Relations in the Lexicon
Synonymy General Characteristics
-two or more words havec the same general sense.
-but they (may) differ in collocation, distributional context,
idiomatic use.
cf. busy and occupied (This seat is occupied / This seat
is busy )
alone and lonely (She is alone(predicative), A
lonely girl(attributive))
-generally they belong to the same morphological class.
*sleeping (v) / asleep (a)
-simple words, collocations, phrases, idioms (to decide to
make ones mind)
1. Synonymy : Synonymic series
-synonymys arranged in synonymic series : synonymic dominant,
headword
e.g. to depart, to leave, to clear out, to quit, to retire
2. Synonymy Typology
1) perfect/strict/exact/absolute synonyms -> dont exist
2) ideographic synonyms : love(+) adore(+++++)
3) stylistic synonyms
neutral formal/informal (leave depart/ride off)
standard slang (money rhino)
non-technical/neutral technical
neutral euphemistic (unemployed in between jobs)
neutral poetic
BE AE (flat apartment)
3. Antonymy : General Characteristics
-two or more words have the opposite meaning.
-but they share a common compound of their senses (age -> young
old)

-generally they belong to the same morphological class.

*cf. sleeping(v) awake(a)
-simple words, collocations or idioms.
4. Antonymy : Typology
1) Gradable, non-binary (=more or less) long, short
2) non-gradable, binary (=either, or) deadd, alive
3) converses (relation antonymys) Husband and wife
-same relationship but the order is reversed.
Find synonymic dominant headword
1. to acquire, to obtain, to win, to get, to gain
2. to scorch, to singe, to smoulder, to burn
Find binary antonyms
absent present pass fail
vacant occupied love hate

tall short
true false

hot cold
on off

Find converses
below above
love hate
conceal reveal
buy sell
grandparent grandchild
give take
go come

Euphemisms
(Gr.) eu(good) + pheme (speech)
-to speak in a pleasant manner
-the substitution of some rough/harsh/impolite word by some other word
that is less explicit.
-the euphemistic vocabulary of a language is constantly enriched
The formation of euphemism
1) borrowings : naked -> in puris naturalibus (Latin)
2) different word formation process -> vampire (clipping) femme fatale
character
3) abbreviation : SNAFU (situation normal all fucked up), TARFU (things are
really fucked up)
Examples
innocent -> virgin
to be made redundant -> to fire
to feel under the weather -> to feel down, unwell
to burn the grass -> to urinate
to swing both ways -> attracted to both man and woman
to be lit up like a Christmas tree to be heavily drunk