LECTURE 4STYLISTIC CLASSIFICATION OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY 1
Words in the English Language
It is not possible to provide the ______of words in a language.
Estimates suggest that there are from ______to over ______words in the English language (Kvetko, 2009, p.15).
“It has been estimated that the vocabulary of English includes roughly ______words (although most linguists would take that estimate with a chunk of salt, and some have said they wouldn't be surprised if it is off the mark by a quarter-million); that tally includes the myriad names of chemicals and other scientific entities. Many of these are so peripheral to common English use that they do not or are not likely to appear even in an unabridged dictionary” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
“Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (2008), together with its 1993 Addenda Section, includes some ______entries.The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, reports that it includes a similar number” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
“This suggests that there are, at the very least, a ______distinctEnglish words, excluding inflections, and words from technical and regionalvocabulary not covered by theOED, or words not yet added to the published dictionary, of which perhaps 20 per cent are no longer in current use. If distinct senses were counted, the total would probably approach ______” (
Words in English Dictionaries
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 6th Edition (2014): ______words, phrases and meanings
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 9th Edition (2015): over ______words, phrases and meanings.
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 4th Edition (2013): over ______words, phrases and meanings and examples
Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged (2014): over ______words, meanings and phrases.
DoesEnglishhave more wordsthanotherlanguages?
It is practically ______to answer this question
Nonetheless, it appears that English ______have more words than most languages.
2 reasons:
1. ______– Dutch, German, Norman French, Latin
2. ______– English accommodates new words
LongestEnglishWords
It is highly unlikely that you will ______these words
The longest words in Oxford Dictionaries are (
antidisestablishmentarianism - opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England - 28 letters
floccinaucinihilipilification - the estimation of something as worthless - 29 letters
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis - a supposed lung disease - 45 letters
The longest word to be found in Britain is the Welsh place name:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
For obvious reasons, it's usually abbreviated to Llanfair PG.
According to the 20-volume historicalOxford English Dictionaryincludes other very long words, most of which are ______. These include:
otorhinolaryngological- 22 letters
immunoelectrophoretically- 25 letters
psychophysicotherapeutics- 25 letters
thyroparathyroidectomized- 25 letters
pneumoencephalographically- 26 letters
radioimmunoelectrophoresis- 26 letters
psychoneuroendocrinological-27 letters
hepaticocholangiogastrostomy-28 letters
spectrophotofluorometrically-28 letters
pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism-30 letters
Stylistic Classification of the English language
There exist 3 layers:
1.
2.
3.
NeutralWords
Neutral layer forms the ______of the English vocabulary.
It is the source of ______and ______.
The meaning of neutral words is purely ______.
Neutral words cannot be regarded as having a special stylistic ______.
They are suitable for any communicative situation.
Examples: child, father, fellow, go away, continue, boy, girl, begin, start etc.
Neutral layer:
1.
2.
3.
4.
LiteraryWords
The literary layer involves groups accepted as ______of the English vocabulary.
It consists of:
______– they are primarily used in writing or polished speech.
They are either ______of neutral words (continue – proceed, answer – respond, child - infant) or popular terms of science (claustrophobia, ruminant).
______and ______express scientific and scholarly notions (vector, pachyderms).
______are represented by highly elevated vocabulary.
In 17th – 18th centuries they were commonly used in poetry as ______with neutral words.
In modern poetry, such words are ______.
Examples: clipian – to call, name, eftsona, - again, soon after
______[ɑːˈkeɪɪk] are old words and phrases which are practically (or completely) ______in the modern language.
There are 3 types of archaic words:
a) ______(old-fashioned words) – these words are rarely used (e.g.thy,thee, thou);
b) ______– these words are not used anymore (e.g.me thinks – it seems to me; nay - no);
c) ______- words are no longer recognizable in modern English (e. g. a losel–a lazy fellow; troth–faith).
Barbarisms and foreign words
Barbarisms are words of ______and these have not been entirely ______into English.
Examples: chic – stylish, bon mot - a clever witty saying etc.
Foreign words do ______to the English vocabulary and are often italicized in printed works to indicate either their ______or ______.
For example:
“They are all enrolled at one educational institution or another for the sake of thecarte d’etudiant” (Student’s card, allowing many concessions).
"It was a warship that sent out its benzina to catch us and look for guns.“ (motor boat)
Literary coinages and nonce words.
Literary coinages (neologisms) are either ______or ______for already established words.
Examples: oversharer, webinar, daycation, cyberstalker, Obamamania (completely new words);
sick (meaning good – the new meaning of an existing word)
Nonce-words are words coined to ______: to evaluate a thing or phenomenon (e. g. mileconsuming, the most bestest good, sevenish, at around 7).
List of Resources
Collins Dictionary online:
Crystal, D.The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Galperin, I. Stylistics. Moscow: Moscow “Higher School”, 1977.
Gondová, D. Taking First Steps in Teaching English: Teaching Systems. Žilina: EDIS, 2012.
Halliday, M. A. K. - Yallop, C. Lexicology. A Short Introduction. London: Continuum, 2007.
Hinkel, E. Effective Curriculum for Teaching L2 Writing: Principles and Techniques. New York: Routledge, 2015.
Jackson, H. – Amvela, E. Words, Meaning and Vocabulary. An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology. London: Continuum, 2001.
Kvetko, P. English Lexicology. Trnava: FFUCM, 2009.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 6th Edition. Pearson Longman, 2014.
Richards, J. – Schmidt, R. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Harlow: Pearson, 2010.
Macmillan Dictionary online:
Merriam Webster Dictionary online:
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.9th Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Oxford Dictionaries: available at
Štekauer, P. Rudiments of English Linguistcs.Prešov: Slovacontact, 2000.
Štekauer, P. Essentials of English Linguistcs.Košice: SLOVACONTACT PLUS, s. r. o., 2005.
Thornbury, S.How to Teach Vocabulary. Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2002.
Zykova, I. V. A Practical Course in English Lexicology. Moscow: Akademiya, 2008.