本书是高等学校英语专业教材；是大学英语课课教师和非英语专业的本科生、研究生、英语自学者等学习英语词汇学理论，理解、运用、掌握英语词汇，扩大英语词汇量，提高英语语言实践能力的参考书。

本书共八章，以现代语言学理论作指导，以英语词汇为研究对象，着重论述英语词汇的来源、发展、现状及其研究方法；分析英语词的结构、类型、意义、理据、相互关系、语义的变化方式、过程及用法；研究英语和美国英语的差异；还对英语习语的特点、分类、语义以及英语词内的发展和使用都作了较详尽的阐述，并提供了大量的例证。

Chapter 1 Language，Linguistics and Lexicology

 1-1-1 Introductory Remarks

 1-1-2 A Definition of Language

 1-1-3 Language，Society and Thought

 1-2-1 A Definition of Li.nguistics

 1-2-2 The Scope of Linguistics

 1-3-1 What Is Lexicology？

 1-3-2 Aims and Significance of the Course of. English Lexicology

 1-3-3 The Connection of Lexicology with Other Branches of Linguistics

 1-3-4 Two Approaches to the Study of English Lexicology

Chapter 2 The Sources of the English Vocabulary

 2-1-1 What is Etymology？

 2-1-2 The English People and the English Language

 2-1-3 The Position and Character of the English Language in the Indo-European Family

 2-1-4 The Divisions of the History Of the English Language

 2-1-5 Some Characteristics of Old English

 2-1-6 Some Characteristics of Middle English

 2-1-7 Some Characteristics of Modern English

 2-1-8 Etymological Twins in English

 2-1-9 Some Combining Forms Used in Modem English

 2-2-1 Words of Native Origin

 2-2-2 Borrowed Words in the English Vocabulary

 2-3-1 The Foreign Elements in the English Vocabulary

 2-3-2 The Scandinavian Element in the English Vocabulary

 2-3-3 The French Element in the English Vocabulary

 2-3-4 The Latin Element in the English Vocabulary

 2-3-5 The Greek Element in the English Vocabulary

 2-3-6 The Influence of the Classical Elements upon the English Vocabulary

 2-3-7 Other Foreign Elements in the English Vocabulary

 2-3-8 The Interrelation Between the Native and Foreign Elements in the English Vocabulary

 2-3-9 The Linguistic and Historical Origins of Some Common English Words

Chapter 3 Word Meaning and Semantic Relations

 3-1-1 Some General Remarks on Semantics and Meaning

 3-1-2 The Relationship Between Meaning and the Object

 3-2-1 What Is a Word？

 3-2-2 Meaning and Motivation

 3-3-1 Classifications of Words

 3-3-2 Main Types of Word Meaning

 3-3-3 Word Meaning and Context

 3-4-1 Synonyms

 3-4-2 Antonyms

 3-4-3 Polysemy and Homonymy

 3-4-4 Hyponymy

Chapter 4 The Changing English Vocabulary

 4-1-1 The Constant Change in Language and the Continuous Appearance of Neologisms

 4-1-2 The Definition of Neologisms or New Words

 4-1-3 The Rate of Changes of the English Vocabulary

 4-1-4 The Sources of New Words

 4-1-5 The Formation of Neologisms

 4-2-1 Archaisms

 4-3-1Changes in Meaning

 4-3-2 Four Tendencies in Semantic Changes

 4-3-3 Semantic Changes from the Literal Use of Words to Their Figurative Use

Chapter 5 Word-formation in English

 5-1-1 Introduction

 5-1-2 Morphological Structure of Words

 5-1-3 Two Types of Morphemes

 5-1-4 Three Types of Words

 5-1-5 Root，Base，Stem

 5-2-1 The Main Processes of English Word-formation

 5-2-2 The Minor Processes of English Word-formation

Chapter 6 English Idioms

 6-1-1 Introduction

 6-1-2 The Definition of Idioms

 6-1-3 The Significance of Studying English Idioms

 6-1-4 The Features of English Idioms

 6-1-5 English Idioms in Different Styles

 6-1-6 The Difference Between Idiomatic and Free Phrases

 6-2-1 Classifications of English Idioms

 6-2-2 Some Useful Language Areas of Idioms

Chapter 7 English Collocations

 7-1-1 Introduction

 7-1-2 What Is a Collocation？

 7-1-3 The Importance of Learning English Collocations

 7-2-1 The Classification of English Collocations

 7-2-2 Register Used in English Collocations

 7-3-1 Some Commonest Words Used in English Collocations.

 7-4-1 Different Subjects of English Collocations

 7-4-2 Families

 7-4-3 Houses，Flats and Rooms

 7-4-4 Food and Drink

 7-4-5 Study and Learning

 7-4-6 Fitness and Illness

 7-4-7 Job and Work

 7-4-8 Computers

 7-4-9 Sport

 7-4-10 Time

Chapter 8 British and American English

 8-1-1 English as a Language of Worldwide Use

 8-1-2 British and American English

 8-1-3 The Historical Background of American English

 8-2-1 Differences between British English and American English

 8-2-2 Differences in Individual Sounds

 8-2-3 Differences in Stress

 8-2-4 Differences in Spelling

 8-2-5 Differences in Vocabulary

 8-2-6 Differences in Grammar

 8-3-1 A Comparison Between Webster's Pronunciation Symbols (WPS) and International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

 8-3-2 British and American English in the Future

Chapter 9 English Dictionaries and How to Use Them

 9-1-1 What Is a Dictionary？

 9-1-2 Characteristics of Dictionaries

 9-2-1 Types of Dictionaries

 9-2-2 Monolingual，Bilingual and Mulfilingual Dictionaries

 9-2-3 General and Special Dictionaries

 9-2-4 Pocket，Medium-sized and Unabridged Dictionaries

 9-2-5 Synchronic and Diachronic Dictionaries

 9-2-6 Encyclopedias and Encyclopedic Dictionaries

 9-2-7 The Printed and Electronic Dictionaries

 9-3-1 The History of English Dictionaries

 9-3-2 A Brief Introduction of Five Newest English Dictionaries

 9-3-3 Five Periods in the History of English Dictionaries

 9-4-1 How to Use English Dictionaries

Appendix 1

 An English-Chinese List of Technical Terms of

 Lexicology Used in This Book

Appendix 2

 The Review of a Newest Book

Bibliography