English Vocabulary: The Basics

199 Pages·2022·7.312 MB·English

by  Michael McCarthy

ENGLISH VOCABULARY
THE BASICS
English Vocabulary: The Basics ofers a clear, non-jargonistic intro-
duction to English vocabulary, the way linguists classify and explain
it, and the place of vocabulary in our overall picture of the language,
and in society. Introducing a range of terminology for discussing
vocabulary, the reader is provided with a coherent, structured
description of what we know about words and their meanings.
Key features of this book include:
• Analysis of historical roots of present-day words
• Coverage of the diferences between speech and writing and
between formality and informality
• Understanding of the social implications of choices that readers
make to use standard or non-standard (e.g., regional/dialect)
vocabulary
• A focus on British English with reference to a wide range of
varieties of English that include North American English, Irish
English, Indian English, Malaysian English, Nigerian English
and Caribbean English.
Featuring a glossary of key terms, cartoons and illustrations,
further reading, refection points, interesting “factoids” and exam-
ples from corpora from around the world, this book is an engaging
and thought-provoking read for anyone with an interest in English
vocabulary.
Michael McCarthy  is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics,
University of Nottingham, and Adjunct Professor of Applied Linguis-
tics, University of Limerick. He has (co-)authored and edited 58
books and was co-founder (with Ronald Carter) of the CANCODE
spoken English corpus. He has lectured in 46 countries and has been
involved in language teaching and applied linguistics for 57 years.
The Basics
The Basics is a highly successful series of accessible guidebooks
which provide an overview of the fundamental principles of a sub-
ject area in a jargon-free and undaunting format.
Intended for students approaching a subject for the frst time, the
books both introduce the essentials of a subject and provide an ideal
springboard for further study. With over 50 titles spanning subjects
from artifcial intelligence (AI) to women’s studies, The Basics are an
ideal starting point for students seeking to understand a subject area.
Each text comes with recommendations for further study and grad-
ually introduces the complexities and nuances within a subject.
SUSTAINABILITY (SECOND EDITION)
PETER JACQUES
TRANSLATION
JULIANE HOUSE
TRANSNATIONAL LITERATURE
PAUL JAY
TOWN PLANNING
TONY HALL
WOMEN’S STUDIES (SECOND EDITION)
BONNIE G. SMITH
WORLD PREHISTORY
BRIAN M. FAGAN AND NADIA DURRANI
INFORMATION SCIENCE
JUDITH PINTAR AND DAVID HOPPING
For more information about this series, please visit: www.r outledge.
com/The-Basics/book-series/B
ENGLISH VOCABULARY
THE BASICS
Michael McCarthy
Cover image: Getty Images |CactuSoup
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Michael McCarthy
The right of Michael McCarthy to be identifed as author of this work has been asserted
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McCarthy, Michael, 1947– author.
Title: English vocabulary: the basics / Michael McCarthy.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2023. |
Series: The basics |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Summary: “English Vocabulary: The Basics offers a clear, non-jargonistic introduction to
English vocabulary, the way linguists classify and explain it, and the place of vocabulary
in our overall picture of the language, and in society. Introducing a range of terminology
for discussing vocabulary, the reader is provided with a coherent, structured description
of what we know about words and their meanings”—Provided by publisher.
Identifers: LCCN 2022025666 (print) | LCCN 2022025667 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032256962 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032256979 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003284611 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Vocabulary.
Classifcation: LCC PE1449 .M276 2023 (print) |
LCC PE1449 (ebook) | DDC 428.1—dc23/eng/20220602
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022025666
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022025667
ISBN: 978-1-032-25696-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-25697-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-28461-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003284611
Typeset in Bembo
by codeMantra
To the memory of John Sinclair, erstwhile colleague
and mentor

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction to the Reader 1
1 A Word or Two about Words 2
What Do We Mean By ‘Vocabulary’? 2
The ‘English’ in English Vocabulary 3
At Least We Know What Words Are … Don’t We? 4
Spaced Out 4
Eyes and Ears 5
It Just Feels Right 5
I See What You Mean 6
Morphemes 6
Taking Words to Pieces 8
Grammar and Lexis 9
Words Stick Together 10
Compounds 10
Multi-Word Units 13
Idioms 16
Collocation 17
Recipes for New Words 18
Words Come and Go 18
Nothing New Under the Sun 19
Half and Half 19
Keep It Short 20
Lending and Borrowing 21
viii
Contents
Corpora: Letting the Data Speak 23
Using a Corpus 23
Corpus Example (1): Hard-Working Words 24
Corpus Example (2): Speaking Versus Writing 25
Summing up 28
2 Where Do English Words Come From? 30
The Dim and Distant Past 30
The Beginning of English 31
Anglo-saxons 31
Beginning to Look Familiar: Chronicles and Monsters 34
More Incomers 35
Vikings 35
A Big Change: the normans Arrive 36
Putting It in Black and White 38
Telling Tales 38
Piers Plowman 40
Into the Modern Era 42
Language about Language 42
An expanding Vocabulary 44
Circling the World 45
A Settled Language 47
spelling It out 47
new Worlds, new Cultures 48
new technologies, new englishes 49
3 What Does It All Mean? 53
From Form to Meaning 53
Wording the World 53
Making Sense of the Lexicon 56
Same or Different? 58
synonymy 58
Looks the same, sounds the same, But … 60
something Different 62
Classifying the World 64
the Upside-Down tree 64
scientifcally speaking 65
Fuzzy Borders and stereotypes 66
ix
CONTENTS
An Arm and a Leg: Parts and Wholes 68
Making Sense in the Real World 69
Taking Meaning to Pieces 71
Pluses and Minuses to Everything 71
Words, the Mind, and the World 75
Pragmatics: What Do You Mean? 76
4 Beating about the Bush: Figurative Meaning 78
Just Imagine 78
Atoms or Molecules? 79
Bite-Sized Chunks 81
Room for Manoeuvre 83
As Clear as Mud: Idioms 85
Do You See What I Mean? 86
In a Nutshell 88
Idiom-Prone 89
Look at It This Way 92
Metaphors 92
Proverbs and Metaphors 94
Tropes Galore 95
Here Comes the Army: Metonymy 95
No Exaggeration: Hyperbole 99
A Not Uninteresting Trope: Understatement 101
Euphemisms 103
Summary 104
5 Bear This in Mind: The Mental Lexicon 106
A Remarkable Achievement 106
How Did It All Get There? Acquiring Vocabulary 107
Designing a Human 107
One Word at a Time 108
Telegrams from a Child 112
More Than One Way of Saying Things 113
Spell It Out 114
Where Are All Those Words? 115
Mind and Brain: The Mental Lexicon 115
How Does It Work? 117
Faster Than You Can Say Jack Robinson 119