English Words - Sebelas Maret University

English Words

¡®The air is always thick with our verbal emissions. There are so many things we want to tell the world.

Some of them are important, some of them are not. But we talk anyway. A life without words would be a

horrendous privation.¡¯

(from the Introduction)

Words and language, keys to human identity, are fascinating subjects. The aim of this book is to arouse

curiosity about English words and about the nature of language in general, especially among students who

are not intending to specialise in linguistics.

The book covers a wide range of topics, including the structure of words, the meaning of words, how

their spelling relates to pronunciation, how new words are manufactured or imported from other languages,

and how the meaning of words changes with the passage of time. It also investigates how the mind deals

with words by highlighting the amazing intellectual feat performed routinely when the right word is

retrieved from the mental dictionary during conversation. Words of all sorts are examined¡ªfrom great

poetry, nonsense verse and journalism to advertising. It is demonstrated that in their very different ways

they are all worthy of serious study.

This textbook is an accessible descriptive introduction, suitable for students of English language and

communication, showing how the nature of words can be illuminated by insights from a broad range of areas

of linguistics and related subjects.

Francis Katamba is Lecturer in Linguistics at Lancaster University. His publications include

Morphology (1993) and Introduction to Phonology (1989).

English Words

Francis Katamba

London and New York

First published 1994

by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.

¡°To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge¡¯s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to

eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.¡±

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

? 1994 Francis Katamba

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.

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

Katamba, Francis

English words/Francis Katamba

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. English language¡ªLexicology. I. Title

PE1571.K38 1994

423 .028¨Cdc20 93¨C33393

ISBN 0-203-20528-6 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-20531-6 (Adobe eReader Format)

ISBN 0-415-10467-X (hbk)

ISBN 0-415-10468-8 (pbk)

To

Janet,

Francis and Helen

 ................
................

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