英语泛读教程三.docx
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英语泛读教程三.docx
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英语泛读教程三
InventedWords
ScholarsguessthatEnglishhasabout600000words,butthereareprobablymore.Newwordscontinuetocomeintothelanguageatsucharatethatnodictionarycouldpossiblykeepupwiththem.TheoldwordswhichwereborncenturiesagointheAnglo-Saxon,GermanicandFrenchlanguagesmakeupfourfifthsoftheEnglishlanguage.Theotheronefifthismadeuppartlyofborrowedwordsandpartlyofthreeotherkindsofwords:
wordsfromthenamesofpeoplesandplaces;imitativewords;andinventedwords.
Ampere,voltandwattareallunitsofelectricity,andtheyarenamedforthemenwhodiscoveredthem;AndreM.Ampere,aFrenchphysicist;AlessandroVolta,anItalianphysicist;andJamesWatt,aScottishengineerandinventor.Nowadayswealldrinkpasteurizedmilk,thatis,milkwhichiscleanandpurified.PasteurizedgetsitsnamefromLouisPasteur,aFrenchdoctorwhoinventedtheprocessforpurifyingmilk.TherearemanywordslikethisintheEnglishlanguage.
Imitativewordsarewordsthatsoundlikethethingoractiontheystandfor.Herearesomeexamples:
buzz
click
bang
mumble
chirp
bawl
crash
clap
mutter
giggle
hum
gulp
Thereisnoneedtosayanythingelseaboutthesewords,fortheyspeakforthemselves.Youcanprobablythinkofmanymore.
Thentherearetheinventedwords.English-speakingpeoplehavealwaysmadeupwordsasitsuitedthem,andtheycontinuetodosoeveryday.Onekindofinventedwordisonewhichismadeupoftwootherwords.Dictionariescallthiskindofwordacompound.Ifyouput"play"and"thing"together,yougetthecompound,"plaything."Howmanycanyouaddtothislist?
raincoat
milkshake
upstairs
standstill
headlight
shutout
sailboat
downstairs
income
headline
Aswellasputtingtwowholewordstogether,wealsoaddpartsofwordscalledprefixesandsuffixestothewholewords.MostprefixesandsuffixescomefromLatinorGreek,andeachhasaspecialmeaningofitsown.Whenweaddaprefixbeforeawordorasuffixattheendofit,wechangeitsmeaning.Forexample,theprefixre-means"again."Ifweaddre-to"do"or"paint",wegettwonewwordsmeaning"doagain"and"paintagain."Un-means"theoppositeof"or"not."Byaddingun-to"happy"or"kind",weget"unhappy"or"unkind",meaning"nothappy"and"notkind."Thesuffix-nessmeans"theconditionof.""Happiness"and"kindness"aretheconditionsofbeinghappyandkind.Itiseasytoseethemeaningsofunhappinessandunkindness.Thewordtowhichweattachtheprefixesandsuffixesiscalledtherootword.Inawordlikeunkindnesstherootwordiskind.
Somewords,likeastronaut,aremadeupentirelyofGreekorLatinprefixesandsuffixes.Astro-isaGreekprefixmeaning"havingtodowiththestars";naut-means"havingtodowithsailing."So,anastronautisa"star-sailor."Otherwordscanberootwords,prefixesorsuffixes,dependingonwheretheycomeintheword.Remember,theprefixcomesfirst,therootwordsecond,andthesuffixlast.Asanexample,let'staketheword"graph"andbuildseveraldifferentinventedwordswithitbyaddingprefixesandsuffixestoitorusingitasaprefixorsuffix.Graphbyitselfmeansanythingwhichisshowntousinpicturesorwriting.Forinstance,yourteachermightwanttokeeptrackofyourreadingprogressbydrawingagraphofyourreadingtestscores,orabusinessmanmightdrawgraphswhichshowtheupsanddownsofhiscompany'ssalesrecords.Now,byaddingtheprefixesandsuffixeslistedbelowtograph,wecanmakeseveralnewwords.Noticethatgraphispartofalongersuffixaswellasasuffixbyitself.
Prefixes
Suffixes
auto-
self
-graphy
studyof;artof
bio-
life
-graph
somethingwritten
phono-
sound
-ic
similarto;like
photo-
light
-ology
studyof
tele-
distant
-phone
sound
Herearesomewordsmadewith"graph".
autograph-signature;aperson'snamewritteninhisorherhandwriting
biography-storyofaperson'slife
autobiography-studyofaperson'slifewrittenbyhimselforherself
graphology-studyofhandwriting
telegraph-distantwriting
phonograph-writingorapictureinsound
photograph-writingorapictureinlight
photography-artoftakingpictures
graphic-clearlywrittenordrawn
Youmayhavenoticedthatyoucanmakeevenotherwordsusingsomeoftheseprefixesandsuffixeswithoutgraph."Biology"isthestudyoflife.Whatdoyouthinkisthemeaningof"biologic"?
Iftheprefixanti-means"against,"whatdoes"antibiotic"reallymean?
TherearehundredsofLatinandGreekprefixesintheEnglishlanguage,andthepossibilitiesforinventingnewwordsareendless.Everyday,aswemakenewdiscoveriesinscienceandtechnology,weinventnewwordstodescribethem.ManyofthesenewwordsarecombinationsofrootwordsandprefixesandsuffixeswhichhavealreadyexistedinEnglishforcenturies.
Anotherkindofinventedwordisthenonsenseword.Somenonsensewordsareusedforawhilebyonlyafewpeopleandthendisappearcompletelyfromthelanguage,nevertobeusedagain.Others,whentheybecomepopularenoughandareusedoveraperiodoftime,becomeapermanentpartofthelanguage.Ifenoughpeopledecideandagreeonthemeaningofaninventedword,itisheretostay.Someexamplesofeverydaymodernwordswhichprobablybeganasnonsensewordscenturiesagoare:
bad,big,lad,lass,chat,jobandfun.Linguistsguessthatthesearenonsensewordsbecausetheyhavenotbeenabletotracethembacktoanyoftheancestorlanguages.Justwhoinventedthem,andwhenorwhereremainsapuzzle.Puzzleitselfisoneofthesemysterywords.Nooneknowswhereitcamefrom.
LewisCarroll,authorofAliceinWonderlandandThroughtheLookingGlass,wasagreatinventorofnonsensewords.Asamatteroffact,hecreatedawholelanguageofnonsense.MostofCarroll'snonsensewordsarenotusedinEnglish,exceptfor"chortle."Chortle,Carrolltellsus,isacrossbetweenachuckleandasnort.Thewordisformedbypackingtwodifferentmeaningstogetherinit.Thedictionarycallssuchwordsblends.Afairlyrecentblend,which,unfortunately,wehearalmosteveryday,is"smog,"acombinationofsmokeandfog.
Peopleinventnonsensewordsbycombiningcertainsoundsthatjustseemtofitthethingsoractionstheydescribe.Oftenwemakeupwordsforanythingwhichisbasicallyrathersilly.SpoofwasinventedbyanEnglishcomediansomefiftyyearsago.Itmeans"topokefunat."HornswogglewasusedagreatdealintheUnitedStatesduringthenineteenthcentury,anditmeans"tocheat."Ifadishonestpoliticianwantstohornswogglethetaxpayers,heinventsa"boondoggle,"whichisauseless,expensiveprojectwhichdoesnobodyanygood.Fairlyrecentlysomeoneinventedtheword"gobbledygook."Whenpeopletalkorwriteusinglong,fancywordsthatreallymeannothing,wecallitgobbledygook.Unfortunately,manypeopleusegobbledygookbecausetheywanttoseemmoreimportantthantheyare,orbecausetheydon'treallywantpeopletounderstandwhattheymeanorwhattheyaredoing.So,whenthedishonestpoliticianwantstohornswogglethepublicwithaboondoggle,heusuallyexplainsthingsingobbledygook.
WhenLewisCarrollwaswritinghisbooksthewordgobbledygookhadnotbeeninventedyet,butCarrollwouldhaveknownexactlywhatitmeant.Carrolllovedtospooforpokefunatpeoplewhousedfancy,important-soundingwordswhensimplelanguagewouldhavedonebetter.InonepartofThroughtheLookingGlass,AlicehasaconversationwithHumptyDumptyinwhichHumptyDumptyinsistswordscanmeanwhateverhewantsthemtomean.Aliceinsiststhatthisisimpossible.Ifeveryonedidthatnoonewouldunderstandanyoneelse.Theconversationgoeslikethis:
"But‘glory'doesn'tmean‘aniceknockdownargument',"Aliceobjected.
"WhenIuseaword,"HumptyDumptysaid,inratherascornfultone,"itmeansjustwhatIchooseittomean-neithermorenorless."
"Thequestionis,"saidAlice,"whetheryoucanmakewordsmeansomanydifferentthings."
"Thequestionis,"saidHumptyDumpty,"whichistobethemaster-that'sall."
Thequestionis,justasHumptyDumptysaid,whichistobemaster.ButHumptyDumptyusedwordsinanoddway,andthatmadehimamasterofgobbledygook,notamasteroflanguage.Amasteroflanguageknowswhatwordsreallymean,andwheretheycomefrom;knowswhentousebig,importantonesandwhentousetheshorter,equallyimportantsimpleones.WinstonChurchillwasagreatBritishprimeminister.Hewasalsoagreatwriter,trulyamasteroflanguage.Hesaidonce,"Shortwordsarebest,andoldwordswhentheyareshort,arebestofall."
1.Theotheronefifthismadeuppartlyofborrowedwordsandpartlyofthreeotherkindsofwords:
wordsfromthenamesofpeoplesandplaces;imitativewords;andinventedwords.(A)
(a)reproducingclosely(b)similar
(c)original(d)root
2.PasteurizedgetsitsnamefromLouisPasteur,aFrenchdoctorwhoinventedtheprocessforpurifyingmilk.(B)
(a)Distilled(b)Purified
(c)Processed(d)Invented
3.Somewords,likeastronaut,aremadeupentirelyofGreekorLatinprefixesandsuffixes.(C)
(a)oneengagedinthestudyofthestars
(b)oneengagedinthestudyoftheuniverse
(c)oneengagedinspaceflight
(d)ascientificobserverofthecelestialbodies
4.Iftheprefixanti-means"against,"whatdoesantibioticreallymean?
(A)
(a)antibacterial(b)health-protecting
(c)bacteria-producing(d)non-organic
5.Linguistsguessthatthesearenonsensewordsbecausetheyhavenotbeenabletotracethembackto
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