Contents Unit 1 An Invitation to Lexicology 1 Text A What Is Lexicology 2 Text B The Secrets of a Word 9 Text C The Synonyms of Word 10 Text D Morphology 11 Unit 2 Historical Development of English Vocabulary 14 Text A English Vocabulary A Historical Perspective 15 Text B The Growth of Present-Day English Vocabulary 23 Text C A Brief History of English 25 Unit 3 Foreign Elements of English Vocabulary 28 Text A The Sources of English Vocabulary 29 Text B Latin and Greek Borrowings 35 Text C French Borrowings 36 Text D Borrowings from Other Languages 38 Unit 4 Classification of English Vocabulary 40 Text A Content Words and Function Words 41 Text B Stylistic Classification of the English Vocabulary 42 Text C Colloquialism in Literature 49 Text D The Importance of Function Words 51 Unit 5 Morphological Structure of English Vocabulary 53 Text A Morphemes 54 Text B Latin and Greek Roots and Affixes in English Vocabulary 62 Text C Roots and Stems 66 Unit 6 Major Word Formations in English 68 Text A English Compound 69 Text B Derived Words 77 Text C Conversion 79 Text D Deriving Nouns from Verbs Names for People 83 Unit 7 Minor Word Formations in English 87 Text A Minor Process of Word Formation 88 Text B Acronymy 95 Text C Reduplication 96 Text D Eponyms 97 Unit 8 Word Meaning and Motivation 99 Text A Word Meaning in the English Language 100 Text B Motivation of Words 102 Text C Aspects of Meaning 107 Text D Onomatopoeia 108 Unit 9 Sense Relations Between Words 111 Text A Synonymy 112 Text B Antonymy 113 Text C Hyponymy 118 Text D Oxymoron 120 Unit 10 Polysemy and Homonymy 124 Text A Polysemy and Homonymy 125 Text B Lexical Relations Hyponymy and Homonymy 132 Text C Fun with Homonyms 134 Unit 11 Semantic Changes 137 Text A Semantic Changes and the Causes 138 Text B Semantic Shift 145 Text C The History of Semantic Change 146 Text D Metaphor and Metonymy 147 Unit 12 Figurative Use of Words 151 Text A What Is Figurative Speech 152 Text B Literal and Figurative Language 153 Text C Synecdoche and Metonymy 158 Text D Taboos and Euphemisms 159 Unit 13 Meaning and Context 162 Text A Context as the Key to Unlocking Word Meaning 163 Text B Ambiguity 171 Text C Context and Context of Situation? 174 Text D Decoding Meaning Through Context 175 Unit 14 English Idioms 179 Text A English Idioms—Cream of the Language 180 Text B Major Sources of English Idioms 182 Text C Animals and English Idioms 187 Text D Food and English Idioms 190 Unit 15 English Vocabulary and Greek Mythology 193 Text A English Words of Greek Mythological Origins 194 Text B The English Word Roots and Mythology 200 Text C Words in Astronomy of Greek Mythological Origins 202 Text D The Adventures of Odysseus 204