A Semantic Analysis of the Learning of English Vocabulary

综述●专著●2013军道2嘴侯与马D叫U YU XIE]A Semantic Analysis of the Learning of English V ocabulary方达(池州学院安徽池州247100)Abstract : Semantics is the study of the communication of linguistie meaning, the scope of which including vocabulary, syntax, in-tonation, discourse and so on. Among those vocabulary is one of the most important and fundamental factors of semantics.As a result, the learning of vocabulary is always the main point of English learning, with learmers' master degree of vocabulary asthe key factor which influences the improvement of their ability to use language. Then the exploration of how to ffciently remember thevocabulary as well as accurately put them to use is the focal point for learners to devote their mind to. Therefore the application of se-mantic theories on English learning is of some practical value.Key words :semantics; English learning; vocabulary中图分类号:G648文献标识码:B文章编号:1672 - 1578(2013)11 -0008 -021. Introduction" learn"; then we come to example 3, in which the verb " hear"The basis of English learning is the accumulation of vocabu-should be replaced by " hearing" , for the " to" in this phrase is a .lary, without which it is impossible for one to learn English well.preposition rather than an infinitive marker.However, vocabulary is an impediment on the way of EnglishIn addition， English learners sometimes apply grammarlearming. At present, most English learners in our country chose rules and semantic features mechanically. For example, theythe traditional mechanical method to learn English vocabulary ，may use " attend an experiment" according to " attend a meet-that is, put emphasis on pronunciation, spelling and meaning of ing" . However, the appropriate statement should be " take partwords. Instead of yielding twice the result with half the efort,in an experiment.this mechanical method often results in forgetting and confusion.B. Limitation in Understanding PolysemiesIn other words，this method is no longer able to satisfy the Eng-Polysemy is a term used in semantic analysis to refer to alish learners and a more scientific and practical method is in lexical item which has more than one meaning and such a word isneed.called polysemic word. In fact， the commoner the word, theIt is well known that semantics is the study of the meaningmore meanings it has acquired, for the ability of one word to de-of linguistic units, words and sentences in particular. In recentnote several senses is one of the basic characteristics of humanyears, it is found that application of semantic theories on vocabu-speech.lary learning will improve their learning eficiency, and then pro-Although there are lots of polysemic words，English learnersmote their ability to use language as well. This paper mainly in-seem to catch lttle about that. Since they often do not compre-troduces problems existed in English vocabulary learning and se-hend the words thoroughly, they cannot give the exact meaningsmantic theories applied to it as well as their effects.when the same word collocated with different words. For exam-2. Problems Existed in English Vocabulary Learningple, its well known that "a blind person" means " a person whA. Collocation Errorsis not able to see", but what about " blind alley" and " blindAs far back as 1957,J R. Fith has come up with the con-date"? Does the word " blind" still mean " be not able to see"cept of words collocation. According to him, collocation referred .That will be quite unacceptable. In fact, " blind alley" meansto the most common and typical circumstances of a word. Howev-a way of doing something that seems useful at first, but does noter, Chomsky , along with his transformational - generative gram-produce useful results， like following a path that suddenlymar, suggested that words collocation depended on grammaticalstops" ; while " blind date" attain the meaning " a meeting|rules and semantic features. Halliday once pointed out that itween two people who have not meet each other before, and thewould be best to explain many language errors in the respect of meeting is usually organized by their friends, because they wantcollocation. As English learners often only put their emphasis onthem to develop a romantic relationship.pronunciation, spelling and Chinese meaning, letting the collo-C. Inappropriate Usages Caused by Mother Tonguecation of words in the context be neglected, thus the underlyingIt is believed that the mother tongue plays an inseparablemeaning of words could not be achieved. Then collocation errors role in English learning and the learners cant afford to ignore it.as follows will occur.Corder ( 1981: 24) once suggested that, to some extent, dis-(1) The scientist get great achievement on that project.course of second language learners would carry some syntactic(2) Students can learn more knowledge through college ed-features of their mother tongue. Moreover, due to differences beucation. .tween-n thought and custom, com-(3) I am looking forward to hear from you soon.mon中国煤化工he diten For euppep'The above examples show us several common collocation er-TYHC N M H Gk to see yesterday. (" see"ors English learners often come across. ”get great achieve-should be changed into " read" )ment" should be changed into " make great achievement" in ex-(5) I received the phone of my byfriend. ( " received"ample 1; as for example 2, several verbs , such as " acquire", "should be replaced by " answered" )gain" and " obtain" can be collocated with " knowledge" , exceptThe two examples above adopt Chinese usage direcly, with--8-D叫U YU XIE读与与2013年第22期综述●专著out taking English conventions into consideration, which we callSemantic fields is a new concept in semantics, which is notChinglish. These sentences seem to be correct in respect of included in traditional semantics. Some words form lexical setsgrammar and meaning, but in balance they are inappropriate usa-because of semantic relation. In other words, as long as oneges of words.word in the lexical set is remembered, the words remained in it3. Semantic Theories Applied on Vocabulary Learningwill be easily attained. And the semantic scope thus formediSemantics is generally defined as the study of inherent or in- called semantic fields. Thus we can learn words in different se-trinsic meaning, and the meaning is in isolation from the con-mantic fields.text. The major semantic relationships between words are synony-For instance, when words used to describe medical scenesmy, hyponymy and antonymy.are in need, words like " twist", " strain", " injure", " hurt"A. Synonymyand " wound" related to harm of body; like " shoulder "Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of mean-wrist", " knee" and " ankle" concerned external organs andng. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms. Eng-stomach"，" liver"，" lung" and " heart " related to internal or-lish is rich in synonyms.gans would cross to learners mind. Besides, a series of expres-Writing will be boring if the writer repeatedly using onesions concerned one's out of sorts such as " having rings in theword instead of choosing synonyms with diverse forms. For exam-ears ", " feel under the weather "，" have a cold", " got a feverple, we would rather choose " The meeting proves to be signif-"，" have the ankle twisted" and " high blood pressure" wouldcant" than "The meeting is important"，though the later is of no be learnt at the same time. This method is beneficial for learnerserror grammatically or syntactically. In fact, the two sentencesto learn words in categorations instead of remembering them oneexpress the same meaning, demonstrating various levels of learn-by one in mind.ers. We could choose " important, significant, vital, crucial" tc4. Conclusionrefer to the similar meaning. Therefore, in the learning of Eng-Instead of interpret ting the words inflexibly, English vocab-lish vocabulary , avoiding words reduplication in writing by enlar-ulary learning governed by semantic theories is an integratedging learners ”vocabulary should be stressed to make their expres- learmning process which helps learners to comprehend，remember ,sions more exact and vivid.master and finally make use of the words. Since it's also anOn the other hand, semantic differences between words in i-creasing process，learners should make full use of semantic theo-dentical spelling should be taken into consideration. For exam-ries to comprehend those words appropriately and use them flexi-ple, " efctive" means " producing the result that is wanted orbly.intended" ; while " ffcient" bears the meaning " doing sth wellThis paper analyzes several problems learners will comeand thoroughly with no waste of time, money, or energy", it canacross in learning English vocabulary and lists some semanticbe applied on both human and objects. As a result, the later istheories to guide the learning, which will not only enlarge learn-more appropriate for the sentence "He is a_ manager.ers'vocabulary quickly but also contribute to the theory of EnglishB. Hyponymyvocabulary learming. In other words, it is of practical value toHyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more gen-some extent.eral, more inclusive word and a more specific word. The wordReferenceswhich is more general in meaning is called the superordinate,[1]伍谦光.语义学导论[M].长沙:湖南教育出版and the more specific words are called its hyponyms. Hyponymy社,1995.is a relation of inclusion; in terms of meaning, the superordinate[2]唐代兴。语义场导论[M].成都:四川大学出版includes all its byponyms.社,1998.According to hyponymy, words can be integrated under the3] 汪榕培.英语词汇学研究[M].上海:上海外语教育出donination of a common notion, which is of significance on the版社,2000. .learning of English vocabulary. For instance, hyponyms such as[4] 罗思明,李建军.词语搭配浅论[J].安徽技术师范学" mathematics , physics , chemistry , biology, geology" can be de-院学报,2001,( 1) .rived when their superordinate " subjects" is learned. Similarly,[5] 戴炜栋,何兆熊.新编简明英语语言学教程[M].上海:hyponyms such as " car , bus , van, lry , motoreycle" will be de-上海外语教育出版社，2002, 72 - 76.rived by the superordinate " vehicle". By this means, learners6] 陈翊.学生作文中的常见搭配错误浅析[J].湘潭师范will not only be able to grasp new words and review words learn-学院学报,2006,( 7) : 144 - 146.ed before，but also realize the hyponymy between those words.[7] 张明超.语义学与英语词汇教学[J].科技信息,2008,C. Antonymy(13):196-197.The term antonymy is used for oppositeness of meaning,[8]_ 李经宁浅谈语义学角度的词汇教学[J].广西轻工words that are opposite in meaning are antonyms, which inclu-中国煤化工87.ding gradable antonyms，complementary antonyms and relational[9]CNMHG°司汇教学[J].内江科技，antonyms. The utilization of antonymy is an effective means irFTHEnglish vocabulary learning， for its more easily to comprehend[10] 贺娟，熊永红.基于语义学的大学英语词汇教学探究some words by their antonyms.[J]. 黑龙江教育学院学报, 2012, (10) : 154 - 155D. Semantic Fields-9-