What is vocabulary? There exist many casual and self-sustaining definitions, such as “all the words in a language taken together constitute what is known as its vocabulary” (Josef Stalin), “All the words used in a book are called vocabulary”, or in general, “Vocabulary is a generic term for words”, and so on and so forth. Such interpretations are common in literature and they are justified in certain contexts, because vocabulary is indeed a collective concept referring to words and it is used to denote the sum total of words. However, those definitions are not so exact and correct from the point of view of linguistic studies, against the requirements for scientific terminology in lexicology. To correctly define vocabulary, we need to start from the properties of vocabulary.
Although the remarks by Stalin are not without shortcomings, they put forward some basic properties and functions of vocabulary.
We should note that what can serve as building materials of language abounds and what matters is what they construct, within what range and under what conditions. For example, phones, which serve to form phonemes, are only building materials for syllables; and semantic morphemes are just building materials for words and so on. As for vocabulary, it is building materials for sentences. In other words, vocabulary serves to form utterances for communication. Therefore it is the function and property of vocabulary to serve as sentence-making materials. In accordance with such a conclusion, we should acknowledge that all language elements with this function and property belong to vocabulary. For example, although they themselves are composed of words, idioms and formulaic expressions are building blocks for sentences and possess the same property and function as words. Therefore, such elements should not and cannot be excluded from vocabulary. In conclusion, we hold that vocabulary is the aggregate of all the words and all the fixed structures equivalent to words in one language. In other words, vocabulary in a language consists of two fundamental components – all the words and all the fixed structures equivalent to words in that language.
As was noted above, vocabulary consists of two fundamental components: words and fixed structures equivalent to words in function. Therefore we will discuss and analyze the two related but distinctive components respectively in this section.
All the words in one language constitute the aggregate of words of the language concerned, which can be divided into two parts: basic vocabulary and common vocabulary.
Basic vocabulary, which is a principal and indispensable part of vocabulary, is the aggregate of all the basic words in a language. Basic vocabulary and syntax together shape the foundation of a language. Logically if the basic vocabulary of a language changes completely or vanishes altogether, it will mean that the relevant language is no longer in existence.
The words in basic vocabulary are called basic words, which denote the most necessary objects and concepts in everyday life of human beings so they are extremely closely related to the life of people and they are the lexical components which people from all walks of life can hardly do without. Language learning begins from acquiring basic words, for they express the names of the objects and actions which people need most. Therefore without basic words, it is impossible for a person to communicate.
天 (tian, “sky”) 地 (di, “ground”) 山 (shan, “mountain”) 水 (shui, “water”) 人 (ren, “people”) 鸟 (niao, “bird”) 牛 (niu, “cow”) 羊 (yang, “sheep; goat”) 风 (feng, “wind”) 雨 (yu, “rain”) 阴 (yin, “cloudy”) 晴 (qing, “sunny”) 花 (hua, “flower”) 草 (cao, “grass”) 江 (jiang, “river”) 河 (he, “river”) 树木 (shumu, “trees”) 道路 (daolu, “road”) 天气 (tianqi, “weather”) 阳光 (yangguang, “sunshine”) 白云 (baiyun, “clouds”) 空气 (kongqi, “air”) 太阳 (taiyang, “sun”) 月亮 (yueliang, “moon”) 石头 (shitou, “stone”) 沙子 (shazi, “sand”)
爷爷 (yeye, “grandpa”) 奶奶 (nainai, “grandma”) 父亲 (fuqin, “father”) 母亲 (muqin, “mother”) 爸爸 (baba, “daddy”) 妈妈 (mama, “mom”) 姐姐 (jiejie, “elder sister”) 弟弟 (didi, “younger brother”) 叔叔 (shushu, “uncle; father’s younger brother”) 姑姑 (gugu; “aunt; father’s sister”) 舅舅 (jiujiu, “uncle; mother’s brother”) 姨妈 (yima, “aunt; mother’s sister”)
头 (tou, “head”) 手 (shou, “hand”) 嘴 (zui, “mouth”) 腿 (tui, “leg”) 脚 (jiao, “foot”) 心 (xin, “heart”) 肺 (fei, “lung”) 肝 (gan, “liver”) 眼 (yan, “eye”) 牙 (ya, “tooth”) 耳朵 (erduo, “ear”) 鼻子 (bizi, “nose”) 胳膊 (gebo, “arm”) 指头 (zhitou, “finger”) 头发 (toufa, “hair”)
书 (shu, “book”) 笔 (bi, “pen”) 纸 (zhi, “paper”) 墨 (mo, “ink”) 车 (che, “car”) 船 (chuan, “ship”) 布 (bu, “cloth”) 线 (xian, “thread”) 锅 (guo, “boiler”) 碗 (wan, “bowl”) 灯 (deng, “lamp”) 门 (men, “door”) 墙 (qiang, “wall”) 窗户 (chuanghu, “window”) 房子 (fangzi, “house”) 桌子 (zhuozi, “table”) 椅子 (yizi, “chair”) 刀子 (daozi, “knife”) 绳子 (shengzi, “rope”) 电话 (dianhua, “telephone”) 电视 (dianshi, “television”) 汽车 (qiche, “automobile”) 衣服 (yifu, “clothes”) 邮票 (youpiao, “stamp”) 学校 (xuexiao, “school”) 老师 (laoshi, “teacher”)
米 (mi, “rice”) 面 (mian, “flour”) 粮 (liang, “grain”) 油 (you, “oil”) 盐 (yan, “salt”) 菜 (cai, “vegetable”) 糕 (gao, “cake”) 饼 (bing, “pancake”) 鱼 (yu, “fish”) 肉 (rou, “meat”) 虾 (xia, “shrimp”) 饭 (fan, “food”) 粥 (zhou, “porridge”) 馒头 (mantou, “steamed buns”) 米饭 (mifan, “rice”) 面条 (miantiao, “noodles”) 饺子 (jiaozi, “dumplings”)
走 (zou, “walk”) 跳 (tiao, “jump”) 看 (kan, “look”) 想 (xiang, “think”) 生 (sheng, “alive”) 死 (si, “die”) 睡 (shui, “sleep”) 醒 (xing, “wake up”) 买 (mai, “buy”) 卖 (mai, “sell”) 来 (lai, “come”) 去 (qu, “go”) 学习 (xuexi, “study”) 工作 (gongzuo, “work”) 休息 (xiuxi, “rest”) 劳动 (laodong, “work”) 成功 (chenggong, “succeed”) 失败 (shibai, “fail”)
红 (hong, “red”) 白 (bai, “white”) 甜 (tian, “sweet”) 苦 (ku, “bitter”) 方 (fang, “square”) 圆 (yuan, “round”) 厚 (hou, “thick”) 薄 (bo, “thin”) 大 (da, “big”) 小 (xiao, “small”) 长 (chang, “long”) 短 (duan, “short”) 高 (gao, “high”) 低 (di, “low”) 深 (shen, “deep”) 浅 (qian, “shallow”) 多 (duo, “many”) 少 (shao, “little”) 美丽 (meili, “beautiful”) 漂亮 (piaoliang, “pretty”) 轻快 (qingkuai, “brisk”) 沉重 (chenzhong, “heavy”) 丰富 (fengfu, “rich”) 干净 (ganjing, “clean”) 团结 (tuanjie, “united”) 健康 (jiankang, “healthy”)
上 (shang, “up”) 下 (xia, “down”) 前 (qian, “front”) 后 (hou, “back”) 左 (zuo, “left”) 右 (you, “right”) 春 (chun, “spring”) 夏(xia, “summer”) 秋 (qiu, “autumn”) 冬 (dong, “winter”) 东 (dong, “east”) 西 (xi, “west”) 南 (nan, “south”) 北 (bei, “north”)
一 (yi, “one”) 二 (er, “two”) 三 (san, “three”) 四 (si, “four”) 十 (shi, “ten”) 百 (bai, “hundred”) 万 (wan, “ten thousand”) 你 (ni, “you”) 我 (wo, “I”) 他 (ta, “he”) 谁 (shui, “who”) 这 (zhe, “here”) 那 (na, “there”) 再 (zai, “again”)
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