LEXIS: THE LINGUISTICS AND BUILDER.

SOCIAL BRIDGE

BY

DAVID ENYIDA

MARCH, 2013

Abstract
Language is a code system that belongs to a particular speech community or society and it possesses the shared key that unlocks the system. This study attempts to investigate the behavioural patterns of the English language lexical system. This study employs simple analytical methods: analyzing

the linguistic layers of English language with main emphasis on the lexical layer and syntactical layer as support layer. The analysis believes that the lexical layer of the language is so fundamental to language that if it withdraws its services from the linguistic pool, language will collapse. It further shows that this layer above all is dynamic. And its dynamism reflects the dynamic nature inherent in the society and basically the bridge between the other linguistic layers as well as the chasm-filler in the larger committee of languages. Introduction English language like any other language is a code system which can only be understood by anyone who keys into its code and is able to decode or unlock any of the layers or all the layers involved. The linguistic layers of any language are phonetic, morphemic, lexical, syntactic, semantic and idiom/cultural. All the layers must combine and communication which is the goal of all languages. However, the layer that enthralls me most is the lexical layer. Lexis refers to words; the words of a language. Ballard (2001:15) terms it, the building blocks of a language. These are simple, compound and complex words. This further shows the relationships inherent in the society. Since language mirrors its particular society, it highlights the intricate compositions as patterned by the complexity of society. No society is simple probably the reason its language is both simple and complex. Of all the layers of language, the lexical layer is most interesting because it has the potentials of changing its shape at will thereby altering the position of the semantic layer. be understood to convey meaning in

Furthermore, this layer is also the link between the phonetic and morphemic layers on one side and syntactic and semantic on the other. This means that if lexical layer withdraws its contribution to the language, the linguistic system will collapse. It is the lexical layers that harbour the phonetic properties and it is words, in fact the combination and stacking up of words in the right orders (linguistic construction) that builds or makes the syntactic layer to thrive. Ballard (2001:15) defines 2

word as typically minimal free standing unit which cannot be interrupted. Linguistic construction like this one below has a lot to speak for the lexical layer. David enjoys detective novels. A casual look at the group of words shows that it is on the syntactic platform of the language. It is made up of four words belonging to different classes and occupying their natural spaces in the sentence. This shows that without the words the language is doomed. Words in any language are dynamic and not static in nature. It grows and expands with time employing the word-processing techniques. Group of Words Words are naturally classified into functional and content groups. Functional Group: The membership of this group is limited in number. They are so small that they could be counted with ease. They cannot be expanded nor have they independent meanings on their own. The more frequent they occur in a sentence the less meaningful the sentence or discourse is. They are only meaningful in the content in which they occur. This group includes classes like preposition, articles, determiners, conjunctions, exclamations and interjections as well as some pronouns. Prepositions like; by, on, at, in, etc Articles such as, the, a Determiners, such as the, a, some Conjunctions like, and, but, etc Exclamation/interjections like O! Oh! Agh!

Content Group The members of this group have or convey meaning on their own. The membership of this group is limitless. Due to the dynamism of words in actual contexts they grow everyday. For instance, whenever there is a technological breakthrough, of necessity, it generates a new word. Examples of this is X ray. Xraying, xrayed, zerox etc, these are words that arose out of the invention or manufacture of tools or equipments and with time come to be adopted into English language as content or lexical words. Examples of content or lexical words are those that belong to noun, adjective, adverb and verb classes. Noun, Warriner (1986:4) defines as, a word used to name a person, place, thing or ideas. This definition alone may be misleading to neophytes users of the language. Nouns can also be 3

identified in the sentence by words that precede it which are known as noun markers such as a, the, some, those, etc. Nouns can be broken down into proper nouns and common nouns, countable nouns and uncountable nouns Proper Noun: These are the names of persons, like David, Enyida, places like Abuja, Nigeria, etc. Common Nouns: common nouns name class of things, such as city, meat, orange, salt, sand, milk, people, etc Countable Nouns: these refer to nouns that can be touched and counted, such as, fish car, books, etc. Uncountable Nouns: This refers to common nouns that cannot be counted individually such as, water, sand salt, etc. Abstract Nouns: these are nouns that express ideas, concepts or qualities, as beauty, knowledge, business, etc. One of the sterling qualities of the content or lexical words is that they have the ability to metamorphose or transform from one class or part to another by employing the acceptable mobility method. This is where the native speaker of any language tinkers with words. Content words can move from noun class to verb, adjective and adverb class with ease.

Noun Man

Verb Man

Adjective Manish

Adverb mannishly

Noun manliness

Verb: Warriner (14) says, verbs express action or otherwise helps in making a statement. The statements of verbs express actions or tell or express something about the subject. Examples of verbs are, shout, say, bring, deny, jump etc. Verbs too can be classified into auxiliary, modal and lexical. Lexical verbs are sometimes referred to as content or main verbs such as, say, dance, kill, import, etc. these can take other derivations to change or to express tense, e.g. kill. Kill/ed to express past tense

Verb Kill Import

present tense killing importing

past tense killed imported 4

Auxilliary Verb: This is defined as the helping verb. It assists the main or lexical verb so that their action would be properly expressed in terms of tenses. These are: can, could, may, might, will, would, have, had, shall, and should. Transitive Verb: A verb is transitive when the action it expresses is directed toward a person or thing named in the sentence e.g. she killed rats. The action of the verb killed is directed towards rats. The verb is transitive. Intransitive Verb: A verb is termed intransitive when it expresses action or helps the statement without reference to an object. Such as: The golden palm swayed. Adverb: An adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Adverbs qualify the meaning of the words they modify by telling how, when, where, or to what extent (Nutsukpo 1996:119). E.g.: loudly, softly, haltingly, quickly, smoothly, and gracefully. Adjective: this is a word used to modify a noun or a pronoun Harbrace (1983:46). An adjective normally qualifies the noun or pronoun it sets out to magnify. Such as: Blue Adj. ink, Noun, red car, strong man , Noun, ugly Adj. girl. Noun.

Adj. Noun , Adj.

And adjective can also tell how many or the number of a thing. For example: One cup, Adj. noun, five Adj. men, noun, several Oranges. Adj. Noun

Warriner (9) points out that an adjective may not always be placed next to the word it modifies. It may be separate from the word it modifies by other words. E .g. The sky is Noun dark.. Adj. clever Adj. (dark sky) Adj. (clever Adj. Noun man) Noun

The man was Noun

Forms of Word Words came in many forms such as simple, complex and compound words. Simple Words A word is termed simple when there is no affix attached to it. Words in this category occur as minimal free form Ballard (2001:13). This means a word in its isolation which can be complete utterance. Examples are, we, stop, no, yes, I, etc. these words cannot be broken down into smaller 5

meaningful words. An attempt to dissect them further will only reduce them into meaninglessness. Eg. Stop, if it is divided into two like this st/op. the word naturally loses its meaning. Compound Words These words occur when two or more simple words are stacked together without hyphen, to form a single word. Such words as carbooth, fingernail, fingerprint, wastebasket, eyeball, schoolbag, . It is apparent that these words are realized by grouping two or more simple words together as in eye + ball Simple word + simple word School + bag letter + headed + paper

Simple word + simple word simple word + simple = compound word. Undersize under + size, Complex Word Complex words can be subdivided into smaller units of meaning Ballard (47) for example printer Unfortunately Unsuccessfully print + er un + fortune + ate + ly, un +success +ful +ly understand under + stand

Conversion of Content Words Lexical items expand the frontiers of their meaning by the process of derivation and affixation processes which convert a word from their original class to another part of speech. Derivation can convert a verb to noun, adjective or adverb. Word formation can produce words from simple to compound and complex words. Ballard (2001:49) says, the beauty of this three-way distinction is that reflects the three basic structural possibilities of sentence genres which can also be simple, compound or complex. This goes a long way in demonstrating the genuine similarities and relationships between the lexical and the synthetic layers of the language. This also means that sentence derives its structure from the composition of its lexical components. For instance. 1) 2) 3) simple word compound word complex word sketch sketchnote = sketch+ note sketch = sketch + y

Affixation

This refers to the process by which morphemes are added to the base word, either in the words initial or final positions to form new words. This process can also translocate a word from one class to another as well as alter its original meaning. Let us consider this word. Fix which is the base of the word. Note that we can expand it both ways. In + fix af + fix = = infix affix fix + ation +al +ism.

fixationalism, =

Prefix: This refers to an affix which occurs at the words initial position such as the case of fix above. When it accepts af before fix it becomes affix. af is a prefix of the word. Another example is in norm. ab + norm + al it changes into abnormal Suffix: This refers to the process where a root word or base receives an affix at its final position. This is where the dexterity of a competent user of English language comes to prominence. base + d = based, base + ment = basement

base word suffix

base word +

suffix

base

ment = abasement.

prefix + root word Infix

suffix

This happens in a situation where an affix is inserted in the middle of the word. This affixation is not very common in English language. Yule (1996:69) observes that this type of affix is not normally found in English, but fairly common in some other languages. Infix as the term suggests is an affix which is incorporated inside another word. Some of the scanty examples are hallebloodyjah! Absogolddamlutely, unfuckingbelievable! While Ballard (2001:51) says a word like hoobloodyray this breaks the pattern and the flow of the word in question. This breaks the pattern and flow of the word. Major prefixes are stated below; Prefixes approximate meaning examples antiseptic, antisocial, anti-colonial destabilize, devaluation 7

Anti- ============ against De============ reverse

Dis Dis

========

reverse negative and positive

disconnect, dismount disapprove, disloyal

In/im/il/ir ======== opposite and negativeimpatient, illogical, interpersonal Inter Intra Suffixes Noun suffixes adjectives suffixes -aqe == dotage -a l === recital ence === permanence verb suffixes adverb suffixes -ate === nominate -free=== scotfree -ify ==== crucify -ly == sadly -fold== two-fold ========= between interpersonal, interplay

-able == eligible -en==== quicken -al /tal== practical

Other Methods of Word Fomation Language is a living phenomenon which grows with time. One layer that ensures the liveliness of a language is the lexical layer in hat it is able to manufacture new words which it feeds into the linguistic river to swell the lexical, syntactical, and semantic distributaries of the language. As Yule (64) rightly observes " rather than act as if the language is being debased, we might prefer to view the constant evolution of new terms and new uses of old terms as a reassuring sign of vitality and creativeness in the way a language is shaped by the needs of its user. Some of these ways are: coinage, borrowing, compounding, blending, clipping, back formation, conversion, Acronyms.

Coinage This refers to the invention of totally new terms or word. Yule (1996:64). shows that, the most typical sources of general terms (without initial capital letters) for any version of the product. Eg Xerox, nylon, zipper. Telephone which is verbalized to telephoning or telephoned

Compounding: As it is stated earlier, this simply means the process of joining one or two simple words together without a hyphen. Eg finger+ nail, note + book, etc.

Blending: Yule (66) that this process is realized by taking the first part of a word and joining it with last part of another word eg smoke and fog to produce smog. 8

Clipping: This simply refers to process of shortening of a word into shorter easier one. Eg advertise ad. Aeroplane plane.

Why the Lexical Linguistics Layer Fascinates me Borrowing; This is one of the most common sources of new words in English. It is a process simply labeled borrowing, Ndimele (1999:65) explains that the term simply means a process of taking words from one or more languages to fit into the vocabulary of another. For example alcohol == (Arabic), boss=== (Dutch), piano== (Italian), etc.

The linguistic layer that fascinates me most is the lexical layer. Lexis refers to words; the words of a given language. Ballard (15) terms it, the building blocks of a language. These are simple, complex and compound words. This layer is also the link between the phonetic and morphemic layers on one hand and syntactic and semantic on the other. This means that if the lexical layer withdraws its basic contributions from the mains stream of language, the linguistic system will suffer drawback. It is the lexical layer that harbours the phonetic and morphemic properties. In fact, the combination and stacking up of words in the right orders (linguistic construction) builds or makes the syntactic layer to thrive. David enjoys detective novels. That car is beautiful. etc

A casual look at the group of words shows that it is on the syntactic platform of the language. It is made up of four (4) words belonging to different classes and occupying their natural spaces in the sentence. Without them in their rightful places the sentence will not convey any meaning and goal of such sentential utterance is defeated, if not doomed. Words in any language are dynamic and not static in nature. It grows and expands with time employing the word-processing techniques. This is perhaps one of the only layers that can easily borrow and gives out as well. This forges affinity, friendship and understanding in the committee of nationalities and languages. It is certain that there will be understanding and tolerance amongst people if they know that the words of their languages share very close affinity with each other. This tends to suggest that there must have been some close relationship somewhere and sometime in the past. This is because language is still one of best cordial relationship builders across geo-cultural chasms. In fact, it can be

plausibly argued that most of the remote causes of problems in the world today can be traced to misunderstanding in language in communication. COULD ENGLISH LANGUAGE POSSIBLY HAVE BORROWED FROM EKPEYE LANGUAGE? WHO BORROWED FROM WHO? WHY THIS RESEMBLANCE?

Ekpeye is the language spoken by a small ethnic nation in the Niger Delta region of Rivers State in Nigeria. The words below have always been spoken by this nation as early as the 17th century and it came into contact with the western slave dealers around late 17th and early 18th century. Consider the issue of very close semblance in lexical, phonic and semantic fronts in both English and Ekpeye languages on the words stated below. The words are: English Language Version 1. Make /meik/ Ekpeye Language Version

============================Meke /meikei/.

The word above is verb meaning, to do, to prepare, to create, to produce something etc. This is almost exactly the same in Ekpeye Language. The attendant correspondence in meaning as well as in sound pattern can only point strongly to a kind of relationship if not an outright borrowing of one from the other. The fundamental question here is who could have possibly borrowed from the other? The next semblance is on the word me. English Language Version ME Phonological Articulation /Mi/ /me:/ Ekpeye Language Version ME

Meaning: This is the first person pronoun. This is a pronoun of I that is used when the speaker or writer is the object of the verb. This is the meaning in Ekpeye Language. The difference is that the Ekpeye version of the expression does not have the corresponding I. I is subsumed into ME.

English Language Version you Phonological Articulation /ju:/

Ekpeye Language Version yo

/juo/ 10

This is the second person pronoun. It is used as the subject or object of the verb or after a preposition to refer to the person or people being spoken or written to. An understanding of these linguistic proximity such as above will no doubt engender deeper sociological understanding and tolerance between the people or the speakers of the languages. Furthermore, the inferiority complex that our native or local language are not good enough could be cured with the knowledge that English language could possibly have borrowed from our local languages since it has propensity for borrowing from other languages it comes in contact with.

Conclusion Words are grouped into simple, compound and complex in the same way that sentences are grouped. Ballard (49) says, the beauty of this three-way distinction is that it reflects the three basic structural possibilities of sentence genres which can also be simple, compound or complex. This goes a long way in demonstrating the genuine similarities and relationships between the lexical and the synthetic layers of the language. This also means that sentence derives its structure from the composition of words of Language. Language is a living phenomenon which grows with time. One layer that ensures the liveliness and agelessness of a language is the lexical layer in that it is able to manufacture new words which it feeds into the syntactical stream to swell the semantic components. Lastly, when one learns a new language, one starts with the lexical items before an attempt is made at the syntactical expression. Thus the above points demonstrate eloquently to the importance of the lexical layer to all linguistic systems. Works Cited

Ballard, K. The Frameworks of English. London, UK Palgrave 2006. Hodges, J. C etal Harbrace College Handbook. (11th ed) New York, USA. HBJ. 1986. Ndimele, .O. MORPHOLOGY & SYNTAX. Port Harcourt, Emhai Press.1999 Nutsukpo, A. Revision Exercises in English Grammar and Usage. Paragraphic. 1996. Warriner, J. E. Warriners English Grammar And Composition (4th ed) Orlando. USA. HBJ.1986 Yule, G. The Study of Language. Cambridge, Uk. CUP 1996 11 Port Harcourt.

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