Seminar 1. The subject of Lexicology. General characteristics of the English vocabulary*
I.
Consider your answers to the following:
A. The subject of Lexicology
1. What is lexicology? What does it study? 2. What are the external / internal structures of the word? 3. What is
the formal unity of a word? Why is it not correct to say that a word is indivisible? 4. Why the word blackboard
is a unity and the word-combination a black board is not? 5. What is the semantic unity of a word? Which
possesses semantic unity – a bluebell or a blue bell? 6. Give the definition to the word. 7. What are synchronic
and diachronic approaches to the vocabulary studies? 8. What are the differences between studying words
syntagmatically and paradigmatically?
B. General characteristics of the English vocabulary
1. What determines the choice of stylistically marked words in a particular situation? 2. In what situations are
informal words used? What are the main kinds of informal words? 3. What are the differences / common
features of colloquialisms and slang? 4. What are the main features of dialect words? 5. Where are formal
words used? 6. What are the principal characteristics of archaic words? 7. Characterize professional
terminology. 8. What is understood by the basic vocabulary? 9. Which classes of stylistically marked words
should be included in the students’ vocabularies in 1) junior and 2) senior school vocabularies?
II. Read and write out the informal words and word-groups. Explain why the author uses them
A. A young man, Freddie by name, had invited a pretty young girl April to a riverside picnic. April could not
come and sent her little sister to keep Freddie company. […] The only living thing for miles around appeared to
be an elderly horse which was taking a snack on the river-bank. In other words, if only April had been there and
the kid hadn't, they would have been alone together with no human eye to intrude upon their sacred solitude.
They could have read Tennyson to each other till they were blue in the face…[…]. They ate a bit.
"Had enough?" he asked.
"No," said the kid. "But there isn't any more."
"You seem to tuck away your food all right."
"The girls at school used to call me Teresa the Tapeworm," said the kid with a touch of pride.
It suddenly struck Freddie as a little odd that with July only half over this child should be at large. The summer
holidays, as he remembered it, always used to start round about the first of August.
"Why aren't you at school now?"
"I was bunked last month."
"Really?" said Freddie, interested. "They gave you the push, did they? What for?"
"Shooting pigs."
"Shooting pigs?"
"With a bow and arrow. One pig, that is to say. Percival. He belonged to Miss Maitland, the headmistress. Do
you ever pretend to be people in books?"
"Never. And don't stray from the point at issue. I want to get to the bottom of this thing about the pig."
"I'm not straying from the point at issue. I was playing William Tell."
"The old apple-knocker, you mean?"
"The man who shot an apple off his son's head. I tried to get one of the girls to put the apple on her head, but
she wouldn't, so I went down to the pigsty and put it on Percival's. And the silly goop shook it off and started to
eat it just as I was shooting, which spoiled my aim and I got him on the left ear. He was rather vexed about it.
So was Miss Maitland. Especially as I was supposed to be in disgrace at the time, because I had set the
dormitory on fire the night before."
Freddie blinked a bit.
"You set the dormitory on fire?"
"Yes."
"Any special reason, or just a passing whim?"
*
Задания №№ II А-В заимствованы из книги: Г.Б. Антрушина, О.В. Афанасьева, Н.Н. Морозова. Лексикология английского
языка: Учебное пособие для студентов. – 3-е изд. – М.: Дрофа, 2001. – 288 с. Задания III и IV заимствованы из книги: Н.В.
Малышева. Лексикология английского языка. – Комсомольск-на-Амуре, 2014.
1
"I was playing Florence Nightingale."
"Florence Nightingale?"
"The Lady with the Lamp. I dropped the lamp."
"Tell me," said Freddie. "This Miss Maitland of yours. What colour is her hair?"
"Grey."
"I thought as much." (From Young Men in Spats by P. G. Wodehouse)
B. A Yankee passenger in an English train was entertaining his fellow passengers with tall stories and
remarked: "We can start with a twenty-story apartment house this month, and have it finished by next." This
was too much for the burly Yorkshireman, who sat next to him. "Man, that's nowt", he said. "I've seen 'em in
Yorkshire when I've been going to work just laying the foundation stone and when I've been coming home at
neet they've been putting the folk out for back rent.
C.
John: You look pale. How come?
Bill: Oh, you know what, days ago the Harry Potter movie was hitting the big screen. It was really a flick, but I
had to stay home cos I came down with a cold. Then, I bought an Ali-express shirt the other day, but I think I
got ripped off cos it was all scratched up. That sucked. I feel like such an airhead…I’m a total loser. That's
why I get all bent out of shape.
John: Buddy, you are all wet over the perspective of being an idiot. It’s gonna be all right. Since these classes
are a waste of life, let’s play hooky and then find a nearby action in this area. So your idea?
Bill: I….I…
John: Eh? What's up? Out with it!
Bill: Okay, you’re my intimate I’m telling you specifically. You know what…I bombed my English final the
last semester and you’re the very ace at taking tests, my parents are always giving me a hard time, comparing
me to you… blowing my cool. That’s like bugging me all the time…I am freaking out. To me, home is an
armpit to stay in.
John: My bad, man… but you need to chill out on that… You’ve been beat. Take a good rest.
III. From the list given, pick out the archaic words and comment on their usage and meaning
Do, dost, does, you, thee, ye, thou, horse, though, albeit, also, eke, spring, vernal, said, quoth, told, maiden, girl,
haply, perhaps, ere, before.
IV. Find the meanings of the following historisms and archaisms. Provide examples of your own
Steed (n), woe (n), hark (v), betwixt (prep), cove (n), damsel (n), fluey (adj), bodice (n), wassail (n), batteringram (n), eye-service, flesh-quake, merry-go-round, betimes (adv).
V. Make up lists from the italicized words classifying them into: A. learned: 1) officialese, 2) literary; B.
terms
1. Dental calculus, or mineralized plaque, represents a record of ancient biomolecules and food residues.
Recently, ancient metagenomics made it possible to unlock the wealth of dietary information of dental calculus
to reconstruct oral microbiomes and lifestyle of humans from the past.
2. When his teammate hit a fly ball into the outfield, he ran from first base all the way to home plate for a home
run.
3. By parity was meant that in the elected leadership of the party there whereto be at least as many women as
men, no matter what the proportions were in the membership at large.
4. The vital competences in academic disciplines consist in understanding. By understanding, I mean the way
in which students apprehend and discern phenomena related to the subject, rather than what they know about
them or how they can manipulate them. Many students can juggle formulae and reproduce memorized textbook
knowledge while not understanding their subjects in a way that is helpful for solving real problems.
5. One promising strategy for promoting online active learning is the fully flipped online classroom pedagogical
approach, hereafter referred to as the online flipped classroom approach.
VI. Read the joke. Look up the italicized words in the dictionary and prove them to be professional
terms. What is the basis of the humour based in the joke?
A sailor was called into the witness-box to give evidence.
2
“Well, sir,” said the lawyer, “do you know the plaintiff and defendant?”
“I don't know the drift of them words,” answered the sailor.
"What! Not know the meaning of “plaintiff” and “defendant?” continued the lawyer. “A pretty fellow you to
come here as a witness! Can you tell me where on board the ship the man struck the other?”
“Abaft the binnacle,” said the sailor.
“Abaft the binnacle?” said the lawyer. “What do you mean by that?”
“A pretty fellow you,” responded the sailor, “to come here as a lawyer, and don't know what “abaft the
binnacle” means!”
Seminar 2. Etymological characteristic of the English vocabulary*
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. Why does English vocabulary contain so many words of foreign origin? 2. What is the difference between
the source of borrowing and the origin of borrowing? 3. What is the earliest group of English borrowings? 4.
What are Celtic borrowings? 5. Which words were introduced into English vocabulary during the period of
Christianization? 6. What is characteristic of Scandinavian borrowing? 7. When and under which circumstances
did England become a bi-lingual country? What imprint features were left in English vocabulary by this period?
8. What are the characteristic features of words borrowed into English during the Renaissance? 9. What suffixes
and prefixes can help you to recognize words of Latin and French origin? 10. What is the native element of
English vocabulary? 11. What are phonetic loans, translation loans, and semantic loans? 12. What is phonetic,
grammatical, and semantic assimilation of borrowings? 13. What is the difference between completely and
partially assimilated borrowings?
II. Subdivide the following words of native origin into: a) Indo-European b) Germanic c) English Proper:
sister, brother, room, land, cow, moon, sea, red, spring, three, I lady, always, goose, bear, fox, lord, tree, nose,
birch, grey, old, glad, daisy, heart, hand, night, to eat, to see, to make, ship, girl
III . Explain the etymology of the italicized words
1. I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse (Charles V).
2. I don’t like plain land. Sea is my element.
3. There was a young fellow of Lyme,
Who lived with three wives at a time.
When asked, “Why the third?”
He said, “One’s absurd,
And bigamy, sir, is a crime”.
4. The “discovery” of Alaska in 1741 was a natural consequence of Russia’s eastward march toward the Pacific
Ocean. A rush of hunters and traders (promyshlenniki) from Siberia to the Aleutian Islands began when the
survivors of the 2nd Bering expedition brought back with them fifteen hundred sea otter pelts, which they sold at
the Chinese trading post ear Lake Baikal for nearly one thousand rubles each.
5. Believe it or not, “grammar” comes from the same word that “glamour” comes from. In the 1700s,
“grammar” meant “enchantment”, “magic” (among other things). A sloppy speaker here, a sloppy speaker
there, the R became an L. Voilà! A new word is born: “glamour”.
6. When Thomas Jefferson returned from Naples to America with four crates of “maccarony”, he never guessed
that one day his countrymen would be eating more than 150 types of pasta.
IV. Find examples of Latin borrowings
1. Where is the paper from your school that you brought yesterday? 2. In the kitchen, the family set to meal of
cold potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, cold bacon, ham, crabs, cheese, butter, cherry-tarts, bread, and a good cup of
tea. 4. On the morning of burial an archbishop, a bishop and a monsignor concelebrated a Mass of the
Resurrection. A full choir intoned responses to prayers. 5. Wine or Beer? Armed with some 3rd grade math and
a list of conversions, one can easily determine calories in both. 6. Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun who lived
*
Задание VII заимствовано из книги: Н.В. Малышева. Лексикология английского языка. – Комсомольск-на-Амуре, 2014.
3
and worked in the city of Calcutta, India. 7. In the street, surprisingly empty for the high noon, he leapt over a
wall and made his run. 8. My daughter likes her pillow more than anything in the world.
V. How can some of the Scandinavian borrowings be identified?
1. Judging by some recent fashion photos, skirts and loose blouses are going to be popular with both men and
women this season. 2. The sparrows chirp outside the window every morning. 3. Usually the sky was overcast,
but that particular morning it happened to be clear blue. 4. Her husband accidentally hurt his leg with a knife. 5.
A new technique, skate skiing, was experimented with early in the 20th century, but was not widely adopted
until the 1980s. 6. George Michael died of natural causes with a weakened heart and fatty liver, a coroner said.
7. Can you hear my calling? You are under my skin. 8. The proverb runs, you can’t have your cake and eat it. 9.
Let’s take the bull by the horns and show our skills.
VI. Explain the etymology of the following words and identify the degree of their assimilation
alarm
frankfurter
pioneer
banana
geisha
potato
barricade
giraffe
prima donna
café
glasnost
quartz
cannibal
guitar
rajah
caravan
hamburger
ruble
cargo
harem
sauerkraut
ciao
icon
sketch
cliché
judo
sputnik
cocoa
ketchup
tomato
coffee
motto
tornado
cruise
noodle
tsunami
czar
opera
violin
datum
perestroika
vodka
delicatessen
phenomenon
yacht
VII. Compare the correlated words m English and in Russian. Explain why they are called translator's
false friends. Give the Russian equivalents of the English loan words, and the English equivalents of the
Russian words
a) Active - given to action; working, effective, practical, diligent. Актив - группа наиболее деятельных лиц
в каком-то коллективе; чьи-то успехи, достижения, преимущества.
b) Актуальный - важный, существенный для настоящего момента; злободневный, насущный,
современный. Actual - existing in fact: real, present, current.
c) Accurate - careful, precise. Аккуратный - склонный к чистоте и порядку; исполнительный,
пунктуальный.
d) Angina - pain in chest caused a heart disease. Ангина - острое инфекционное заболевание, воспаление
глотки.
е) Invalid - not valid, esp. having no legal force. Инвалид - человек, утративший трудоспособность
вследствие ранения, увечья, болезни или старости.
f) Receipt - fact or action of receiving or being received into person’s hands or possession; amount of money,
etc. received. Репепт - письменное предписание врача в аптеку
g) Solid - of stable shape, not liquid or fluid, having some rigidity (solid food); of solid substance throughout,
not hollow, without internal cavities. Солидный - прочный, надежный, основательный; заслуживающий
доверия, с установившейся репутацией, авторитетом.
4
Seminar 3/1. Word-Building (How English words are made) *
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. What are the productive ways of word-building in English? 2. What is derivation? 3. Characterize native and
borrowed affixes. When is a foreign affix regarded borrowed? 4. What are productive affixes? What is the
difference between frequency and productivity of affixes? 5. Give examples showing that affixes have
meanings. 6. What is conversion? Prove that the words a finger and to finger (to touch with fingers) are two
words and not the one word finger used either as a noun or as a verb. 7. What features of modern English have
enabled the high productivity of conversion? 8. Which categories of parts of speech are especially affected by
conversion? 9. Name typical semantic relations between nouns and converted from these nouns verbs.
II. The italicized words below are formed by derivation. Write them out in two columns: A. words
formed with the help of productive affixes. B. -//- of non-productive affixes
1. Naturally, I love peace and hate war; I see nothing admirable in the ruthless career of Napoleon, save its
finish.
2. The chef advised us to place the cake in a preheated oven to be cooked properly.
3. A vampire bat came in for the night covered in fresh blood and parked himself on the ceiling of the cave to
get sleep. Shortly afterwards, all the other bats smelled the blood and started disturb him about where precisely
he got it. He told them to let him get some sleep, but they persisted until he gave in. "Okay, follow me" he said
and flapped out of the cave with hundreds of bats behind him. Down through a sleepy valley they went, across a
river and into a forest of trees. Finally he slowed down and all the other bats excitedly milled around him.
"Now, do you see that giant oak over there?" he asked. "Yes, yes, yes!" all the other bats screamed in a thrilling
frenzy. "Good" said the first bat, "because I didn't!"
4. Mother: "Why are you home from school so early?" Son: "I was the only one who could answer a question."
Mother: "Oh, really? What was the question?" Son: "Who threw the eraser at the school director?"
5. The patient shook his doctor's hand in gratitude and said, "Since we are the best of friends, I would not insult
you by offering payment. But to fasten our brotherhood, I would like you to know that I have mentioned you in
my will." "That is very kind of you," said the doctor, "Can I see that prescription I just gave you? I'd like to
make a little change..."
6. Her new boss is rather unapproachable.
7. Mongolian warlord and dictator Genghis Khan, was also a womanizer of his time. Though he is remembered
today for conquering a people and founding an empire, his private conquests were no less devastating. The
tyrant’s fondness for females has led Russian researchers to predict he has 16 million male descendants living
today.
8. For some public figures, being ungoogleable is an unfortunate state of affairs. For others, the ignorance of
Google's algorithms is bliss.
III. Explain the etymology and productivity of the affixes given below: -ness, -ous,- ly,- y, -ish, -tion, -ed, en, -ness, -or,- er, -hood, -less, -ate, -ing, -al, -ful, un-, re-, im- (in-), dis-, over-, ab-.
IV. Deduce the meanings of the following derivations from the meanings of their constituents. What are
the meanings of the affixes in these words? reddish (adj.); irregular (adj.); illegal (adj).; reuse ( v.);
Mondayish ( adj.); disrespectable ( adj.); inexpensive (adj).; unladylike (adj.); disorganize (v.); renew ( v.);
eatable (adj.); overreact ( v.); disinfection ( n.); snobbish (adj.); sandy (adj).; breakable ( adj.)
V. Add the negative prefix un- /in- /ir - /il- /im- to the given words
1. ability
18. mistakable
2. able
19. modest
3. adequate
20. mortal
4. assuming
21. natural
5. aware
22. pleasant
*
Задания V, VI и Х заимствованы из книги: Н.В. Малышева. Лексикология английского языка. – Комсомольск-на-Амуре,
2014.
5
6. certain
7. conscious
8. decent
9. desirable
10. doubted
11. eatable
12. edible
13. efficient
14. fortunate
15. gratitude
16. justice
17. mentionable
23. professional
24. regular
25. relevant
26. sensible
27. sensitive
28. significant
29. suspected
30. thankful
31. valuable
32. visible
33. voluntary
34. willing
VI. Translate the Russian units into English. Pay attention to the formation of different in meaning
adjectives by means of adding different suffixes to the same root
1. contempt: презренный трус – презрительный взгляд.
2. culture: культурная жизнь – культурный человек;
3. delight: восхищенные зрители – восхитительный вид;
4. economy: экономический кризис – экономные расходы;
5. exhaust: изнурительная работа – исчерпывающий ответ;
6. history: историческая победа – исторический фильм;
7. honour: почетный гражданин – почетная обязанность;
8. respect: почтительное молчание – почтенный человек;
9. skill: квалифицированный рабочий – опытный, искусный хирург;
10. touch: трогательные слова – обидчивый человек.
VII. Fill in the correct word. Use the suffixes -y, -like, -en, or no suffix
DUST
______ particles floated in the sunlight. John cycled along the ______ road.
Some people would like to get rid of ______ jackets – those glossy outer covers of hardcover books. The
curtains had faded to a ______pink. The desk was covered with fine ______ particles.
GOLD
He took his ______ watch out of his waistcoat pocket and snapped it open. Businesses have a ______
opportunity to expand into new markets. She won a ______ medal at the last Olympics. A lot of people say she
was nothing but a ______ digger. Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess with ______ hair.
WOOD
Solid ______ furniture is sturdy and durable. The entrance to the tunnel was a low ______ door. The garden
was overgrown with ______ plants such as hawthorn. He was a carpenter, and spent his spare time carving
small ______ toys for his children. They lived in a remote house set high on a ______ hillside. This sort of
open ______ shed keeps wood dry and easy to access.
WOOL
She has recently bought three ______ blankets. He had grey, ______ hair. ______ mammoths are extinct
relatives of today’s elephants. Despite previous injections of capital, the American ______ industry exhibited
signs of instability. You should challenge any vague and ________ arguments.
VIII. Find cases of conversion in the following sentences
1. The professor was eyeing the class expectantly. 2. Please, don’t toy with my feelings, I’ve got a fragile heart
at the moment.3. An aggressive student battled his way to the cafeteria ignoring the queue. 4. I’ll appreciate if
you water the plants while we’re away 5. Will you back me if I put the question at the Board of directors? 6.
“To milk the bull” is an old-fashioned idiom meaning “to engage in an activity or enterprise that has no chance
of succeeding” 7. It’s impossible to speed on the road to Yalta because of huge jams. 8. I’ve had my ups and
downs but in general life has been good to me. 9. My roommate keeps hogging the bathroom every morning
6
when everyone is in hurry; otherwise she’s a nice companion. 10. I'm very busy but I'll try to sandwich that job
in between visitors. 11. My cousin is a high-school dropout. 12. Let’s wait until the crowd thins out.
IX. One of the italicized words below was made from the other by conversion. What semantic
correlations exist between them?
1. In Turkmenistan, getting the date right was a tricky business. Instead of April there was Gurbansoltan – the
name given by the country's late dictator Niyazov, who decided to name the month after his mother. 2. The dog
seized his hand in his teeth. The clerk handed me the key. 3. A small hairy object sprang from a basket and
stood in the middle of the room. There are some inconveniences about rooming with him. 4. Email me one day,
will you. All of my emails are showing “unchecked” in the subject line. What is the problem and how do I fix
it? 5. Use small nails and nail the picture on the wall. 6. Voldemort’s appearance became more snake-like, and
his face became more serpentine. It’s all OK now, but soon you’ll have to face your parents. 7. Too many
cooks spoil the broth. She cooks the meals in his house. 8. Wolf never wars against wolf. No wonder you have
intestinal distress if you wolf your food like this. 9. Don’t forget to microwave the pizza. My microwave broke
down this weekend. 10. Let the sleeping dog lie. It looks like he came here to dog everyone. 11. I can’t explain
why she didn’t friend me. A friend in need is a friend indeed. 12. A tutor who tooted a flute tried to tutor two
tutors to toot.
X. Explain the semantic correlation between the following pairs of words
shelter – to shelter, a park – to park, an elbow – to elbow, a bottle – to bottle, a fiddle – to fiddle, a trap – to
trap, a fish – to fish, a head – to head, a nurse – to nurse, a closet-to closet, Google-to google, to catch – a catch,
to rub – a rub, to say – a say, to drive – a drive, to find – a find, to run – a run, to ride – a ride, a star – to star, a
picture – to picture, a colour – to colour, blush – to blush, a pocket – to pocket, a fool – to fool, a breakfast – to
breakfast, a house – to house, a monkey – to monkey, a slice – to slice, an age – to age, a touch – to touch, a
finger – to finger, empty (adj.) – to empty, poor (adj.) – the poor (n.), pale (adj.) – to pale, dry (adj.) – to dry, a
nurse – to nurse, a dress – to dress.
XI. A. Convert the following verbs into nouns. Use them in the sentences below.
know eat
make feel
take
keep catch go
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
"Do you want it back?" "No it’s yours, for keeps."
Can I have a _______ on your new bike?
He’s old enough now to earn his _______ and stop living off his parents.
I doubt if he’ll listen to advice from me, but I’ll give it a _______.
People in the _______ say that interest rates will have to rise again soon.
She has a real _______ for language.
7. There were plenty of _______s, but the bar soon ran out of drink.
8. They ate the packet of biscuits all in one _______.
9. She loved the _______ of silk against her skin.
10. This deal looks too good to be true – there must be a _______ somewhere.
11. We had to do six _______s for this particular scene.
12. What _______ is your car?
13. Hey! Nice _______ !
B. Convert the following nouns into verbs. Use them in the sentences below.
doctor
pencil
floor duck elbow chair air
1.
2.
3.
4.
A hearing has been pencilled in for September 17.
_________ your head or you’ll bang it on the doorframe.
He _________ed his way through the crowd.
I hung the blankets on the clothesline to _________ them out.
5. He was _________ed by the first punch.
6. Would you like to _________ tomorrow’s meeting?
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7. You should have your cat _________ed.
8. I found her name _________ed inside the back cover of the book.
XII. Find linguistic phenomena in the quotations.
1. There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do (Bill Watterson). 2. Those who attempt the
absurd will accomplish the impossible (Albert Einstein). 3. In my day, we didn't have self-esteem, we had selfrespect, and no more of it than we had earned (Jane Haddam). 4. The reason why worry kills more people than
work is that more people worry than work (Robert Frost). 5. Better to write for yourself and have no public,
than to write for the public and have no self (Cyril Connolly).
Seminar 3/2 Word-Building (How English words are made) *
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. What is composition? Which words are made by this type of word-building? 2. Into what groups/subgroups
can compounds be subdivided structurally? 3.What are the relationships between the meaning of a compound
word and the meanings of its constituent parts? Point out the principal cases. What are idiomatic and nonidiomatic compounds? 5. What are the criteria for distinguishing between a compound and a wordcombination? 6. What are the underlined elements in the words given below? What makes them different from
affixes? from stems? Statesman, waterproof, cat-like, trustworthy. 7. What are the two types of making
shortenings? What is a blending? Explain the stylistic characteristic of shortened words. 8. Speak of minor
processes of word-building (onomatopoeia, reduplication, back-formation).
II. Find compounds in the following sentences /extracts and write them out in three columns: A. Neutral
compounds. B. Morphological compounds. C. Syntactic compounds
1. With a joint statement and hopes of joint custody, could this mark the end of the Brangelina feud?
2. The word metrosexual is used for a man who dedicates a great deal of time and money to his appearance.
3. The toyshop opened at the corner of West Broadway in 1980, and has endured as the neighbourhood
gentrified and its customers changed from blue-collar worker to bankers.
4. The book is a real page-turner from start to finish. This gripping non-fiction work traces the history of
women movement in twentieth-century America. Another new novel is so frequently laugh-out-loud funny that
you might not want to read it in public!
5. The only thing that they can't copy is the actual trademark label.
6. Forget it, this girl’s not an easy pickup.
7. The third-grade teachers met with the parents.
8. Both full- and part-time employees will get raises this year.
9. Natural, real-world English grammar and vocabulary help students to succeed in social, professional and
academic settings.
10. She was annoyed at the thought she couldn’t allow herself a two-week holiday in Turkey.
11.On the dining-room table he found a note from his absent-minded wife: “I have gone out. You’ll find the
key under the doormat”.
12. As a freelance writer, I depend for my living on easy relations with magazines.
13. In England, during the season sunbathers can be found nesting in the most unlikely places – rooftops and
roadside verges, car parks and churchyards – wherever the sun touches they can be found, eyes closed, head
tilted back at the sky. Could it be that strong sunlight triggers a primeval instinct to lie down naked in herd and
feign death? Does the sun still hold some influence over us as an ancient, half-forgotten totem? Burning the
body to the colour of a half-waxed floor is a disease that affects only parts of the world. As someone observed,
sunbathing is not a universal fashion and in places where the sun sizzles with a monotonous regularity only mad
dogs and Englishmen choose to punish themselves in the heat.
*
Заданиe IX заимствованo из книги: Г.Б. Антрушина, О.В. Афанасьева, Н.Н. Морозова. Лексикология английского языка:
Учебное пособие для студентов. – 3-е изд. – М.: Дрофа, 2001. – 288 с. Задания Х, XI и XII заимствованы из книги: Н.В.
Малышева. Лексикология английского языка. – Комсомольск-на-Амуре, 2014.
8
14. You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of the English language in which you fill in the form by filling it
out. What is more? There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads are meat. English was invented by people, not computers, and it
reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, is not a race at all!).
15. Real-life supergran: approaching 100 years of age, a Canadian woman is high-jumping and sprinting her
way to the winner’s podium.
16. I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. (Doulas Adams)
III. Identify the neutral compounds and write them out in 3 columns: A. simple. B. derived C.
contracted
an air-conditioned bus; a glass-walled room; to fight against H-bomb; a loud revolvershot; a high-pitched voice;
a heavy topcoat; a car’s windshield; a snow-white wedding dress; an all-wheel drive jeep; thousands of goldseekers; a big hunting-knife; a foodaholic roommate
IV. Arrange the compounds below into two groups: a. Idiomatic. B. Non-idiomatic. Say whether the
semantic change within idiomatic compounds is partial or total
Light-hearted, butterfly, cabman, medium-sized, blackberry, bluebell, good-for-nothing, highway, dragon-fly,
looking-glass, greengrocer, blue stocking, gooseberry, earthquake, lazy-bones, laid-back
V. Identify the compounds in the word-groups below. Comment on their structure and semantics
a heavy snowfall, an automobile sale, corn-coloured scarf, Afro-American New Yorkers, a broad-shouldered
macho, a matter-of-fact manner, a fur-lined boot, to pick forget-me-nots and lilies-of-the-valley, a smart T-shirt,
awe-inspiring music, environmentally-friendly house
VI. Say whether the following lexical units are word-groups or compounds
Railway platform, snowman, light dress, traffic light, railway station, landing field, film star, white man,
hungry dog, medical man, landing plane, top hat, distant star, small house, green light, little black dress, black
skirt, medical student, hot dog, blue dress, U-shaped trap
VII. Complete the compound adjectives in these sentences
1. She wears glasses because she’s very short-sighted.
2. How can he afford to buy himself a __________-new car?
3. They specialize in reselling second-__________ equipment.
4. The college is also considering issuing passes to all full- _________ students.
5. What is the most __________-effective way of reducing carbon dioxide emissions?
6. We should not be quite so narrow-__________, blinkered and xenophobic about the rest of the world.
7. He’s very __________-looking but not very bright.
8. Being a kind-__________woman, she felt sorry for the poor child.
9. He is a __________-famous scientist.
10. The film had a __________-provoking message.
11. The waitress came round with a tray of delicious, __________-watering cream cakes.
12. The court’s decision will have far-__________ implications for the health industry.
13. It’s a well-__________ fact that smoking can cause lung cancer.
14. I’d love an __________-cold beer.
15. Snakes and lizards are cold-__________ animals.
VIII. Find shortenings and specify the method of their formation
1. Doc, I got bad eyes. 2. I feel OK. 3.Two planes collided in the mid-air. 4. It's an app that lets you track a
phone if it's lost. 5. The abbreviation BFF stands for best friends forever and is used to state how close you are
to another individual. 6. I guess I have to reply him "LOL."
IX. By what type of word-building the italicized words in the extracts were made?
9
1. It is all terribly hush-hush, which is why I beg you not to say anything to anyone! If you do, it would be a
disastrophy!
2. With my cat starting meowing sharp at six every morning, I don’t need an alarm-clock.
3. The private media are free to broadcast any programmes they wish, provided they observe certain legal guidelines.
4. Her ex lived downstairs which her new hubby didn’t welcome.
5. Pots were boiling and bubbling on huge stoves, and kettles were hissing, and pans were sizzling, and strange
iron machines were clanking and spluttering.
6. This a fantastic webinar to join.
7. A popular neologism chilax it is a slang term used when someone is stressed and encouraging those people to
chill and relax simultaneously.
8. The Great American Staycation: How to Make a Vacation at Home Fun for the Whole Family.
9. If you have a sore throat, try gargling with some salt water.
10. Which word is the only adjective: grumpy, clip-clop or whisk?
11. A kidult is an adult who participates in youth culture and activities traditionally intended for children.
12. I found out she was a mail-order bride... like those Russian Natashas, gold-diggers.
13. Many social welfare schemes of the government are a WOMBAT.
14. The frenemies continued to stare at each other at the lunch table, both refusing to give up their scowling
glare.
15. Back in 2009, very OMG, NSFW, disturbing-as-hell pictures from Thailand were circulated online.
16. Cowboys certainly didn’t spend a lot of time shooting each other. In the ten years that Dodge City was the
biggest, rowdiest cow-town in the world, only 34 people were buried in the infamous Boot Hill Cemetry, and
amost all of them had died of natural causes. Incidents like the shoot-out at the OK Corral or the murder of
Wild Bill Hickok became famous because they were unusual. Those who were shot seldom got up again.
Scarcely a western movie has been made in which at least one character hasn’t taken a bullet in the thigh or
shoulder but shrugged it off with a manly wince and continued firing. As one observer put out: “One would
think that the human shoulder was made of some self-healing material, rather like a puncture-proof tireӠ.
X. The verbs below are built by onomatopoeia. Match them with the nouns
schoolchildren, a bad-tempered person /dog, a bored child,
crackles, tinkles, clanks, whistles,
the bell on a cat’s collar, a fire, chocolate foil wrapper, a church bell, a
giggle, growls, clangs, wheezes,
pupil who doesn’t know the answer, a steam train, a prisoner’s chain,
wriggles, creaks, mumbles,
someone with asthma, and old wooden chair
rustles
XI. Write the words denoting sounds produced by the animals enumerated below
The cat, the sparrow, the dog, the cricket, the cow, the pig, the ox, the bee, the cock, the duck, the frog, the
snake, the sheep, the goose, the crow, the horse, the hen.
XII. Translate the following into English, using sound-imitative words
A. шипеть, жужжать, квакать, щебетать, грохотать, стонать, визжать, мяукать, хихикать, ржать, блеять,
мычать, баюкать, лаять, чирикать, скрежетать, звенеть, тарахтеть;
B. бах, трах, хлоп;
C. шорох, топот, рокот, грохот, вой, рев, визг, рычание.
XIII. Translate the given units into Russian. Comment on their formation
Tit-for-tat, bigwig, hodge-podge, helter-skelter, jingle-jangle, downtown, pot-shot, slop-shop, tidbit, walkietalkie, ragtag, topsy-turvy, roll-call, hob-nob, tol-lol, flim-flam, trim tram, ping-pong, dingle-dangle, knickknack, hubble- bubble, Humpty-Dumpty.
XIV. Write the clipped forms of the following words. Helicopter, comfortable, business, alligator, graduate,
professor, mosquito, market, combination, advertisement, cigarette, university
†
Фрагмент из книги: Bill Bryson. Made in America. Black Swan Publ., 2016
10
XV. Fill in the first or the second component of the following reduplicatives. Explain their meaning.
1. Stop shilly-shallying and make a decision now!
2. He enjoys the ________-burly of political debate.
3. The candidate gave a few unsatisfactory wishy-________ answers.
4. I expect he’s out with his ________-farty friends.
5. Have you tried this ice cream? It’s the bee’s ________, it really is.
6. Going to night school might improve your chances of getting out of that ________drum job.
7. She has these itsy-________ little hands and feet.
8. He found himself drawn, _________-nilly, into the argument.
9. They said, ‘Come in, sit down, blah, ________, ________, sign here’.
10. Many of the country’s top scientists have joined the brain ________ to the US.
11. Why is there such ________-mugger about the scheme?
12. Woof! ________!’ he barked.
13. I had a fender-________this morning, so I’ve got to go to the auto shop.
14. The hotel was in a lovely location, but the facilities were only ________-so.
Seminar 4. Meaning. Semantic structure of a word. Polysemy. Componential analysis
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. What is understood by semantics? 2. Explain the term “polysemy”. Provide your own examples. 3. What are
the two levels of analysis in investigating the semantic structure of a word? 4. What types of semantic
components can be distinguished within the meaning of a word? 5. What is one of the most promising methods
for investigating the semantic structure of a word? What is understood by collocability (combinability)? 6. How
can one distinguish between the different meanings of a word and the different variations of combinability?
II. Define the meanings of the words in the sentences
1. On coming home, he fell flat upon his bed and almost immediately fell asleep.
2. a) There were security bars on the window, but they were old and broken. b) He kept going to the same bar.
c) The bar has the potential to play a fundamental role in safeguarding human rights.
3. a) “There’s been an accident”, they said,
Your servant’s cut in half; he’s dead”.
“Indeed!” said Mr. Johnes, “and please
Send me the half that’s got my keys” (by Harry Graham)
b) I hated my piano classes and weekly interrogations of the type “How many flats are there in the key of A
major?
c) The authority of his voice set the key for the newspaper report next morning.
4. a) You’d better watch your mouth when speaking to this guy! Let sleeping dogs lie. b) In 1604, at the mouth
of the taiga river Ushaika the fortress of Tomsk was founded.
5. a) … and now I understand, you’ve come to shake my hand. b) The long hand of the clock is called the
minute hand, the short hand is called the hour hand.
6. a) He shook his head and arms as if attacked by mosquitoes or bees. b) He possessed more power than many
heads of the state.
III. Explain the different meanings and different usages
smart, adj. smart clothes, a smart answer, a smart house, a smart garden, a smart blow, a smart punishment
stubborn, adj. a stubborn child, a stubborn look, a stubborn horse, a stubborn resistance, a stubborn fighting, a
stubborn cough
sound, adj a sound engineer, a sound tennis-player, sound views, sound advice, sound criticism, a sound
whipping
root, n. edible roots, the root of the tooth, the root of the matter, the root of all evil
perform, v. to perform one’s duty, to perform an operation, to perform a dance, to perform a play
kick, v. to kick the ball, to kick the dog, to kick off one’s shoes, to kick smb downstairs
IV. Explain the basis for the following jokes
11
1. WRITTEN ON A LOOKING-GLASS
I change, and so do women too;
Bur I reflect, which women never do.
2. I really wanted a camouflage shirt, but I couldn't find one.
3. Wife: “Did you put the dog out, dear?”
Sarcastic Husband: “No. Was it on fire?”
4. ”Some girls think I’m handsome, and some girls think I’m horrible. What do you think, Mary?” – “A bit
of both, pretty ugly”.
5. “Why are ghosts bad at telling lies?” - “Because you can always see through them”.
6. “Have you noticed any change in me?”- “No! Why?”- “I’ve just swallowed some coins accidentally”.
7. “You have to be rich to play golf.”- “Then why are there so many poor players?”
8. While repairing his television Mr. Smith touched a live electric wire. When he recovered, he described it
as a shocking experience.
9. A new servant maid named Maria,
Had trouble in lightning the fire.
The wood being green,
She used gasoline…
Her position by now is quite higher!
10. Proctor (angry): So, you confess that this unfortunate Freshman was carried to this frog pond and
drenched. Now, what part did you take in this disgraceful affair?
Sophomore (meekly): The right leg, sir.
V. Choose any polysemantic word and illustrate its meanings with examples of your own
VI. Write simple definitions to illustrate as many meanings as possible for the words: face, heart, nose,
smart, to lose. After that, consult the dictionary
Seminar 5. Development of New Meanings
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. What causes the development of new meanings? Give examples. 2. What is the basis of development or
change of meaning? Explain what we mean by the term transference. 3. What types of transference can you
name? 4. What is meant by widening and the narrowing of meaning? 5. Give examples of the degradation and
elevation of meaning.
II. Explain the semantic processes by which the italicized words acquired their meanings
1.”Bureau”, a desk, was borrowed from French in the 17th century. In Modern French (and English) it means
not only desk but also the office itself and the authority exercised by the office. The desk was called so because
bureau, a thick coarse cloth of a brown russet.
2. Formally barn meant “a storehouse for barley”; today it has widened to mean “any kind of storehouse” for
animals or equipment as well as any kind of grain.
3. An Earl of Spencer made a short overcoat fashionable for some time. An Earl of Sandwich invented a form
of light refreshment which enabled him to take a meal without leaving the card-table. Hence we have such
words as spencer and sandwich in English.
4. A common name for trousers is jeans. In the singular jean is also a term for durable cotton which is short for
“jean fustian” (first appeared in the 16th century). Fustian (a Latin borrowing) is a cotton fabric, and jean is the
modern spelling of Gene (Middle English), the early name of the Italian city Genoa, where it was made.
5. Before the Internet, there were the mythical trolls, supernatural creatures of Scandinavian folklore, whose
race was thought to have carried massive stones into the countryside (actually the result of glaciers). They
were stupid, large, brutish, hairy, long-nosed, and bug-eyed, and may also have multiple heads or horns. They
loved eating people, especially small children, and farmers’ sheep. Now Troll is an individual who
posts inflammatory, rude, and obnoxious comments to an online community.
6. The earliest meaning of English bully was “sweetheart.” The word was probably borrowed from Dutch boel
(“lover”). Later bully was used for anyone who seemed a good fellow, then for a reckless and brave person.
12
Today, a bully is one whose claims to strength and courage are based on the intimidation of weaker people, a
young hoodlum revelling in making peoples’ lives a misery during school years.
7. In former times, transatlantic crossing was a risky business of more than two months’ time. In such
circumstances food rotted and water grew brackish. “What with the heat and dampness, even the biscuit was so
full of worms that, God help me, I saw many wait until nightfall to eat the porridge made of it so as not to see
the worms”, wrote one dismayed mariner. Personal hygiene became an impossibility. Lice grew “so thick that
they could be scraped off the body”. Occasionally circumstances would be so dire that sailors would refuse to
put the sea and would strike or lower the sails to show their defiance, which explains why workers today who
withhold their labour are said to be on strike.
8. Although the early technological developments were almost exclusively German, it was the French who
became the first manufacturers of cars giving us many of the words associated with motoring – ‘garage’,
‘chauffeur’, ‘carburetor’, ‘coupé’, ‘limousine’ and of course ‘automobile’ itself. Chauffeur was the term for a
ship’s stocker and as such was applied to drivers of cars. Limousine was originally a heave shepherd’s cloak
from the Limousin region of France. The first chauffeurs, forced to sit in the open air, adopted this coat and
gradually the word transferred itself from the driver to the vehicle. By 1902 it was the part of English language.
9. The Indians’ tribes most important gift to the early colonists – apart from not wiping them out – was corn. In
America, corn began as wild grass in central Mexico, and converting this grass into the plump and nutritious
food we know today was possibly the greatest of all precolonial achievements. By 1620, corn was wellestablished crop throughout the New World. To the original colonists, “corn” signified any common grain, as it
still does in Britain; so they adopted the Spanish name “maize”. Since maize was practically the only type of
grain there was, corn gradually started to signify it alone. Corn has been domesticated for so long – some seven
thousand years – that it is now totally dependent on humankind for its continued existence.
10. Blue stocking, for a woman of pedantry and attendant lofty mien, comes from the Blue Stocking Society, a
name derisively applied to a group of London intellectuals in 1750. Although the congregation was mostly
female, the inspiration for the pejorative name appears to have been a male member, a Benjamin Stillingfleet,
who wore blue worsted stockings instead of the customary black silk hose, a mode of dress so novel as to be
considered both comical and slightly risky. Why certain jokes are called blue is another mystery, but it may be
connected to the 18th century slang use of “blue” meaning to “blush”.
11. P.T. Barnum, the circus impresario, in 1884 bought an elephant called Jumbo in London Zoo. Barnum’s
handbills depicted Jumbo as absolutely enormous – one showed a coach and horses racing through his legs,
with plenty of clearance. Thanks to Barnum’s tireless promotion, the word jumbo became associated with
largeness, and before long people were buying jumbo cigars, jumbo suitcases, jumbo portions of fod and
eventually travelling on jumbo jets.
12. Though the computer is a comparatively recent entrant into daily life, some of the terminology associated
with it goes back half a century or so. Computer bugs date from the 1945, when a huge US navy computer
broke down. Its operators searched in mystification for a cause until they found a moth crushed between the
contact points of an electric relay switch. After that whenever a computer was down, it was said to need
debugging‡.
III. Analyze the process of development of new meanings in the italicized words
1. I envy people who can wear the same size jeans they did twenty years ago. 2. My mum reads Pushkin at any
time when she encounters difficulties. 3. We need to combat inflation somehow. 4. I wish I could see a few new
faces around here. 5. The book travelled from hand to hand. 6. We can’t be together any longer. Look, how far
we’ve come! We’ll just have to go our separate ways. We can’t turn back now…7. I’m in the dog’s house with
my wife since I’ve forgotten our anniversary.
IV. Identify the cases of widening (generalization) and narrowing (specialization) of meaning
1. Through the haze I had a vague vision of Holmes in his dressing-gown coiled up in an armchair with his
black clay pipe between his lips. 2. A bird in the hand is worth two birds in the bush. 3. Home is the girl’s
prison and the woman’s workhouse. 4. A good surgeon must have an eagle’s eye, a lion’s heart, and a lady’s
hand. 5. Only a few minutes to go and you’ll see the best cabaret in Paris!
‡
Фрагменты 7-12 заимствованы из книги: Bill Bryson. Made in America. Black Swan Publ., 2016
13
V. Comment on the history of the italicized words. Do their meanings have evaluative connotations?
1. Parade marshals were stationed at various points along the route to ensure that everything went smoothly. 2.
Paul McCartney was the first Beatle to be knighted in 1997. 3. “Please, brothers and sisters, let’s make an effort
not to gossip. Gossiping is a worse plague than COVID,” the Pope Francis said during his weekly address from
a window above St. Peter’s Square.4. Oscar winner Jared Leto returns as iconic DC villain The Joker for Zack
Snyder's 'Justice League'. 5. Some historians say that the Colosseum could hold up to 80,000 people enjoying
the sight of violent deaths on the arena, a crowd comparable to the present day Superbowl or World Cup
Final. 6. This politician is known to be a cunning, old fox. 7. To be brutally honest, I’m not fond of her cooking
exotic dishes. 8. There’s a gang of car thieves hiding in the old warehouse across the street. 9. The soldiers did
not bother to moderate their coarse humour in her presence. 10. To hear her talk, one would think her husband
is a cabinet minister! 11. Many people have to curb their enthusiasm in brutal 2020.
VI. Explain the logical associations and types of transference in the groups of meaning for the same
words.
The wing of a bird /the wing of a building; the eye of a man /the eye of a needle; the heart of a man/ the heart
of the matter; the bridge across the river/ the bridge of the nose; the tongue of a person /the tongue of a bell; the
tooth of a boy /the tooth of a comb; green grass / green years; black shoes / black despair; nickel (metal) / a
nickel (coin); glass / a glass; copper (metal) / a copper (coin); Ford (proper name) /a Ford (car); Damascus
(town in Syria) / damask; Kashmir (town in India) /cashmere.
VII. Write an essay on the development of the meanings of three of the words. Explain shifts of meaning.
Use The Shorter Oxford Dictionary/The Merriam-Webster Book of Word Histories
fee, cattle, school, pupil, nice, pen, coquette, biscuit, apron, merry, silly, doom, duke, pretty, Yankee.
VIII. Write an essay on the following. A reviewer discussing the 1978 edition of the ‘Pocket Oxford
Dictionary’ announced that his ‘only sadness is that the current editor seems prepared to bow to every
slaphappy and slipshod change of meaning’. The author of a book published in 1979 compared a word which
changes its meaning to ‘a piece of wreckage with a ship’s name on it floating away from a sunken hulk’: the
book was entitled ‘Decadence’.
IX. Identify all metaphorical words and phrases in the following comic strip. Explain their meaning in
simple non-metaphorical English
Seminar 6. Criteria of Synonymy
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. Why synonyms are one of the language’s most important expressive means? Provide examples. 2. The
meanings of two synonyms may be sometimes opposed to each other. Why are they still regarded as synonyms?
3. How are synonyms traditionally defined? On what criterion is this definition based? 4. How can synonyms
be defined in terms of componential analysis? On what criterion is this definition based? 5. Why is the
definition of synonyms based on the criterion of interchangeability open to question? 6. What is the modern
approach to classifying synonyms?
II. Write synonyms out in groups and explain the difference
14
1. a) Let’s chat a bit to kill time before the train. b) Let’s go somewhere private so we can talk. c) Her daughter
spoke English, German, Italian and Turkish. d) Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson once said, “When you look
at life retrospectively, you rarely regret anything that you did, but you might regret things that you didn’t do.”
e) I think I must tell him everything. f) Let us cease this talk of skull crushing and converse upon more pleasant
subjects.
2. a) Seeing the spider Ron shuddered from head to foot. b) Hermione was shivering with cold. c) It still rained,
but it wasn’t cold that made her hands tremble as she left the car. d) She stood on shaking knees.
3. a) From her glance I momentarily recognized that she hated me more than ever. b) Before leaving the flat,
she cast a quick look in the mirror. c) Praying people often direct their gaze to the sky. d) Let me have just one
peep in the answer sheet!
4. a) Prove to me that you are cool – walk across my swimming pool! b) She didn’t say anything about
wondering around last night. c) They liked strolling along the sea before sleep. d) Nikita was sauntering along
the Gurzuf promenade as if he hadn't a care for the world.
5. a) He meditated long and hard before announcing his decision. b) It was difficult to select a college so I
decided to reflect about which school would be my best option c) The more he thought of it the less he liked the
idea. d) Mendeleev shut himself away in this room, brooding over the elements.
6. a) She was painfully thin. b) Her mum is still slender and stylish. c) Slim ankles and lean upper thighs gave
her the look of a model.
7. a) Very fat lady: “I’d like to see a dress that fits me”. – Shop assistant: “So would I!” b) She came like a ship
at full sail, tall and stout. c) She was twenty-seven perhaps, plump, and in a coarse fashion pretty. d) He was
person of perhaps forty, red-faced, cheerful, thick.
8. a) At that time, Veronica was quite a strange creature. To say the least. b) I thought it was odd that Eugene
Vinny should ask my little beauty to dance.
9) a) I’m glad to see you, Mr. Smith. b) Jesus, I am overjoyed to meet you face to face You've been getting
quite a name all around the place.
III. Carry out definitional and transformational analysis. Define the types of connotations
1. old – elderly – aged - ancient
2. to create – to manufacture – to produce
3. to break – to shatter – to smash
4. to cry – to sob – to weep
5. to shout - to yell - to roar
6. angry – furious - enraged
7. fear – terror - horror
8. to like - to admire - to worship
9. smell – scent – odour – aroma
10. weak – feeble – frail – fragile
11. big – large –– great
12. pain – ache – pang – twinge
13. dim – dusky – obscure
14. clever – smart– brainy
15. joke – jest – witticism – gag – wisecrack;
16. friend – crony – buddy – companion;
17. stubborn – mulish – obstinate;
18. abridge – shorten – epitomize;
19. lament – mourn – deplore – grieve for.
IV. Say why the following synonyms are not interchangeable
1. a) Even though I was surprised by my boss’s stern glare, I tried to avoid it and continue working. b) The
Greek myth runs that Narcissus gazed at his own reflection in the water until fell in love with it and died.
2. a) Although Sheila had a lot of worries, she refused to spend her free time brooding about her troubles. b)
Before choosing a vacation spot, the family decided to reflect upon their choices.
15
3. a) The bully shocked everyone when he began to sob in front of his parents. b) I don’t expect you to weep
over our old flat when we’re going to live in a penthouse!
4. a) Women often want to go shopping since spending money on clothes is so much fun. b) After many years
of war, people on both sides longed for peace.
5. a) The preoccupied girl never noticed the boy behind the gate or the way he loved to stare at her lovely blond
locks. b) I should be able to peep around the corner without being seen in our game of hide-and-seek.
6. a) Footprints in the snow puzzled the hunters who mistakenly assumed they were alone in the forest. b) Sam
would have been just surprised with a guilty verdict, but he was completely astonished that the guilty verdict
came with a life sentence.
7. a) I walked around the downtown with a red sock on one foot and the other foot bare, creating a funny
spectacle. b) Lily liked going to the nudist beach where no one wore swimsuits, and everyone was happy naked.
8. The difference between a scent and a stench is that a scent smells pleasant while a stench is disgusting.
Seminar 7. The Dominant Synonymy. Euphemism. Antonyms*
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. What is the dominant synonym, and what are its characteristic features? 2. Can the dominant synonym be
substituted for other members of a synonymic group? Is the criterion of interchangeability applicable in this
case? 3. What are euphemisms? What are their main types? What function do they perform in speech? 4. Show
that euphemisms are a subtype of synonyms. Which type of connotations is characteristic to them? 5.Which
words are usually classified as antonyms? 6. To which part of speech do most antonyms belong? Why?
II. Find the dominant synonym in the following groups
1.to glimmer – to glisten – to blaze – to shine – to sparkle – to flash – to gleam
2. to glare – to gaze – to stare – to peep – to peer – to glance – to look
3. to astound – to surprise – to amaze – to puzzle – to astonish
4. strange – quaint – odd – queer
5. to saunter – to stroll – to wander – to walk – to roam
6. scent – perfume – smell – odour – aroma
7. to brood – to reflect – to meditate – to think
8. to fabricate – to manufacture – to produce – to create – to make
9. furious – enraged – angry
10. to sob – to weep – to cry
11. backstabber – traitor – Judas
12. reactionary – inflexible - fanatic – die-hard
13. hard-core – obstinate – dedicated – rigid
14. easy-going – laid-back – relaxed
III. Give as many synonyms as you can and explain their difference; single out the dominant synonyms
fellows, fight, to reply, little, to want, to yell, man, old, assistance, to say, to answer, baby, to be delighted, to
start, to glare, to make, to long, to talk, to die, to cry
IV. Find the dominant synonyms for the italicized words. Are they interchangeable? What is lost if we
make the substitution?
1. We gave only a glance up the road to the Tung-Shao pass before returning to our car.
2. She was astonished at his uncovered stupidity.
3. We loved to wander through the ancient streets of Rome and take pictures of whatever caught our fancy.
4. If you have a desire to create things with your hands, than woodworking may be for you.
5. I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m pressed for time.
6. Many teenagers today view the CD as an ancient item.
7. Apple and Blue are odd names for children, but that didn’t stop celebrities from using these unusual
monikers.
*
Задание VII заимствовано из книги: Н.В. Малышева. Лексикология английского языка. – Комсомольск-на-Амуре, 2014.
16
8. Since the sixty question final exam must be finished within two hours, Ana knew she can only deliberate
each question for two minutes.
V. Find the euphemisms for the words die, drunk, prison, mad, liar, devil, lavatory, eat, pregnant, stupid
VI. In the text below find euphemisms for the word “toilet”
Taking a leak in Bangkok not such a strain these days
When I was first in Bangkok in the early 1970s, the only decent city toilets were in the few first class hotels
that were around at the time. And it may seem strange now, but there weren’t many such hotels.
Once while walking along Sathon, I felt ominous rumblings in the stomach. There was little option but to
hail a taxi, which whisked me down to the Oriental Hotel, where I made it to their posh restroom just in time.
The uniformed doorman even saluted me, which was a nice touch considering the purpose of the visit. It’s not
every day you take a taxi just to find a toilet — and be saluted in the process.
It’s not just Bangkok. Around the world, most cities seem to suffer from a shortage of toilets.
The last time I was in London, I traipsed about for age looking for what they still call the ‘‘gents’’ and then
finding them exasperatingly out of order.
The pubs usually saved the day, although I did enjoy one stopover in Harrods and was most impressed by
their toilet with the marble floor and mahogany fittings. Fortunately the wife found Harrods too expensive,
otherwise it could have become a very costly pee.
Even the Rolling Stones were caught short in London, which goes to show that it does not matter how
famous you are, you cannot defy the call of nature. In 1965, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones were all
arrested for taking a leak against a garage wall in East Ham, after the owner refused to let them use the toilet.
Alas, the magistrate was not impressed by their combined weak bladder defence and fined them all a fiver.
Another tale of bursting bladders in London was featured in the 1972 film The Adventures of Barry McKenzie,
featuring a scene in which the earthy Australian played by Barry Crocker is trying to find a toilet, or a
‘‘dunny’’, as he called it.
He asks an English passer-by who can’t understand what he is talking about. The Aussie says something
like: ‘‘Now listen, mate, I need to splash the boots. You know, strain the potatoes, water the horse. You know,
drain the dragon. Syphon the python ... ’’ and so it goes on. These Aussies certainly have a way with words.
According to an important survey, 21% of Britons think in the toilet, another 20% read in it, 6% sing in it
and 4% do the crossword. Other startling information is that only 51% call the smallest room in the house the
toilet. Another 29% prefer to call it the loo, 8% the bathroom and 5% the lav. Cockneys still may refer to the
khazi, while Geordies prefer netty. For some reason my grandmother always referred to it as the privy.
What the remaining percentage call it is best left to the realm of the imagination.
Not long ago there was an article in an English newspaper about the lack of toilets in Paris. The paper came
up with the splendid headline ‘‘To loos la trek’’. It reminded me of a news story that appeared in The Times in
London some years ago. Speaking on the necessity to charge entrance fees for art exhibitions in London, a
British cabinet minister was quoted in the paper as saying: ‘‘You expect to pay for going to the loo.’’ The next
day the reporter who had phoned in the story was spotted explaining angrily to a sub-editor who took his call,
about the existence of the Louvre museum in Paris.
The aforementioned story is a reminder that for newspapers, garbled telephone conversations with reporters
can be a minefield. Some years ago, the New York Times had to explain that the opening sentence on the
previous day’s report should have read ‘‘Attorney Marcia Robinson Levy’’ and not ‘‘a tiny Marcia Robinson’’.
A dodgy telephone line prompted the following apology in another US paper: It was incorrectly reported
that ‘‘today is T-shirt Appreciation Day’’. In fact it is actually ‘‘Teacher Appreciation Day’’.
The telephone was again blamed for the following correction in a provincial US paper: ‘‘The sermon at the
Presbyterian Church will be ‘There Are No Sects in Heaven’. The subject was incorrectly printed in yesterday’s
edition as ‘There is No Sex in Heaven’.’’
(by R. Crutchley. Bangkok Post, 26 Feb. 2014)
VII. Find antonyms for the words given below
Good (adj.); deep (adj.); narrow (adj.); clever (adj.); young (adj.); to love, to reject, to give, strong (adj.); to
laugh, joy (n.); evil (n.); slowly (adv.); black (adj.); sad (adj.); to die, to open, clean (adj.); darkness (n.); big
(adj.)
17
VIII. Interpret linguistic phenomena in the quotations
1. Anybody can become angry – that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and
at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody's power and is
not easy (Aristotle).
2. It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend (William Blake).
3. There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything
is a miracle (Albert Einstein).
4. Truth is stranger than fiction (Lord Byron).
5. The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved – loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in
spite of ourselves (Victor Hugo).
6. He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire (Sir Winston Churchill).
7. I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody (Bill Cosby).
8. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty (Sir
Winston Churchill).
9. I have made this (letter) longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter (Blaise Pascal).
Seminar 8. Homonyms
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. What are homonyms? 2. What are the traditional types of homonyms? Provide examples. 3. What are the
main sources of homonyms? 4. Why does split polysemy stand apart from other sources of homonyms? 5. What
are full and partial homonyms?
II. How would you pronounce each of the italicized words in the sentences below?
1. The girl I live with knows a good pub with live music.
2. The main house houses a collection of rare stamps.
3. They bathed the children after they had bathed in the sea.
4. You sow the seeds while I feed the sow.
5. The violinist in the bow tie took a bow.
6. He’s the lead singer in the group “Lead Zeppelin”.
7. What a row from the last house in the row!
8. Does he still suffer from his war wound?
9. I wound the rope against the tree to strengthen it against the gale.
II.
Write the word in phonetic script in the correct spelling for the context
1. Watching sport on TV is such a [weist] of time.
2. There is a hole in the [soul] of my shoe.
3. The eldest son of the monarch is the [eə] to the throne.
4. You are not [əlaud] to talk during the test.
5. Let’s [præktis] our swimming together this evening?
6. He’s going [Ɵru:] a rather difficult [feiz] at the moment.
7. Don’t throw away that orange [pi:l]. I need it for a recipe.
IV. Find the homonyms and classify them into homonyms proper, homographs and homophones
1. “Mine is along and a sad tale!” said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing. “It is a long tail, certainly”,
said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse’s tail; “but why do you call it sad?”
2. Bandage was wound around the wound.
3. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
4. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
5. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
6. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
7. They were too close to the door to close it, so it was not close in the room.
8. Upon seeing the tear in the painting, I shed a tear.
9. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. The experiment is rather serious.
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10. a. In the drinking well, which the plumber built her,
Aunt Eliza fell – we must buy a filter.
b. If I ever cursed my old black mom and wished she were in hell,
I’m sorry for this evil wish , and now I wish her well.
11. a. God in his wisdom made a fly, and then forgot to tell us why.
b. I wish I could fly.
12. a. A diner while dining at Crewe
Found a rather large mouse in his stew.
Said the waiter, “Don’t shout
And wave it about,
Or the rest will be wanting one, too”
b. Panic disorder might feel as if one panic attack is rolling into the next, like waves.
13. a. U.S. airplane engineer Edward Murphy formulated the law which stated “If something bad can happen, it
will”.
b. My will is not written yet – I seem to owe nothing of interest for my descendants.
V. On what linguistic phenomena are the jokes based? What causes the misunderstanding?
1. Owen Moore has run away, owing more than he could pay.
2. The Present, the Past and the Future went into the bar. It was tense.
3. Officer: Don’t you see that sign “Fine for parking”? Driver: Yes, officer, I see and agree with it.
4. How do you say, "Run away, small jumping insect that lives on a dog!"? - "Flee, flea!"
5. If they are not here, where are they? - They're there!
6. What did the teacher say to Orville when his letters slanted too much to the left? - "Write right, Wright!"
(Orville Wright, the inventor of airplane)
7. I’d love to come from a place with a name like Punxsutawney. My home town, Reading, doesn’t quite have
that exotic ring to it. Even so, people still pronounce it wrong. By American standards, Punxsutawney is not
a particularly unusual name. In the US there are all sorts of peculiar town names, and yes, there’s even a
place called Peculiar in Missouri. There are also admittedly plenty of normal names, such as Normal in
Illinois. Some places sound too good to be true, like the Kentucky village of Lovely. There are places which
seem to go out of their way to confuse, such as a small town in Colorado called No Name and the town of
Nowhere in Arizona, not to be confused with a nearby settlement called Nothing. Just imagine if you were
stopped by traffic cops and told them that’s where you came from. One suspects it wouldn’t be long before
the handcuffs came out. But my favourite American name place remains the town of Boring in Oregon.
How about that for a conversation opener? (by R. Crutchley. Bangkok Post, 2 Feb. 2014)
8. I was sitting in a bar one day and two really large women came in, talking in an interesting accent. So I said,
“Cool accent, are you two ladies from Ireland?” One of them snarled at me, “It’s Wales, dumbo!” So I
corrected myself, “Oh, right, so are you two whales from Ireland?” That’s about as far as I remember.
VI. a. Find the homonyms proper for the following words and give definitions:
1. band – a company of musicians.
2. seal – a warm-blooded, fish-eating sea animal.
3. ear – the grain-bearing spike of a cereal plant.
4. corn – a hard, horny thickening of the skin, esp. on foot.
5. fall – the act of falling, dropping or coming down.
6. to hail – to greet, salute, shout an expression of welcome.
7. draw – something that attracts attention.
b. Find the homophones to the following words and give definitions:
heir, dye, tale, sea, week, peace, sun, meat, steel, knight, sum, coarse, write, sight, hare.
c. Find the homographs to the following words and give definitions:
1. to bow – to bend the head or body
2. wind – air in motion
3. to tear – to pull apart by force
19
4. to desert – to go away from a person or place.
5. row – a number of persons or things in a line.
VII. Classify the italicized homonyms according to modern classification system
1. a) He should give the ball in your honour as the bride. b) Rugby ball is not a ball, but ellipse.
2. a) In Thailand, traffic keeps to the left. b) He left the sentence unfinished.
3. a) I wish you could stop lying. b)The mouse was lying as it had fallen in the crystal clear liquid.
4. a) Turn off the light, it’s a bright day. b) Living in Siberia, the girl adored light summer dresses and hated
heavy winter coats.
5. a) Do you need a page to fetch a drink every time you’re thirsty? b) Open your books at page 3856 and check
the answer for 2x2.
6. a) His voice rose for the first time. b) I’ll send you roses, one rose for each year of your life.
7. a) The pain was more than he could bear. b) Catch the bear before you sell the skin.
8. a) To can means to put up in airtight tins or jars for preservation. b) A man can die but once.
VIII. Explain how the following italicized words became homonyms
1. a) King Arthur was very fond of the knight. b) I was tossing and turning all night, I was too excited.
2. a) The tiger did not spring, and so I’m still alive. b) In spring, love seems to fill the air.
3. a) She wished she had not left her fan at home. b) I think it’s not wise being a football fan.
4. a) See you later. b) The museum of the ancient Hersones by the Black Sea sea invites those interested in
history to a fantastic night performance.
5. a) I loved football matches of the last season. b) Don’t touch matches!
6. a) Ads are everywhere around the world now. b) He adds milk to his coffee.
7. a) Your work is interesting, but I think you work too much.
Seminar 9. Phraseology: Word-Groups with Transferred Meanings*
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. Why is it important to use idioms with care? 2. What are the two major criteria for distinguishing between
phraseological units and free word-groups? 3. How could you explain the term “grammatical invariability” of
phraseological units? 4. How do proverbs differ from phraseological units?
II. State which of the italicized units are phraseologisms and which are free word-combinations. Give
proof of your choice.
1. Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, involves analyzing a child's life to bring to light possible contributing causes
of the present depression. Bring this letter to light, will you – here, under the lamp; I can’t see well in the dark.
2. Apricot trees in her garden will soon come to fruition. When will our hard work come to fruition?
3. Our own discovery of Turkey has always been off the beaten tracks; that is why we’re in love with this
country. Her reading preferences seem to be off the beaten track.
4. To my mind, it’s the second most beautiful sight in the world. So you're telling me you have the gift
of second sight?
5. We went to great lengths to ensure that our book was historically accurate. We went to great length into the
woods only to learn that we completely lost our way.
6. If you meant to draw Red Riding Hood’s hat, probably you had to paint it red, not blue. Why don't we go
out, paint the town red?
7. Can I help you with another piece of cake? She thought the test was a piece of cake, but she was wrong.
8. If you want to warm your hands, you can add fuel to the fire. Stop your remarks, they are meant to add fuel
to the fire.
9. Draw a line under the last exercise, this way you’ll remember where you finished. Let’s draw a line under
the past!
10. Some of her comments were quite below the belt. In box, fighters are not allowed to hit each other below
the belt.
*
Задание III заимствовано из книги: Н.В. Малышева. Лексикология английского языка. – Комсомольск-на-Амуре, 2014.
20
11. Millions of Hindu pilgrims took the plunge into sacred rivers at the world’s largest religious gathering
yesterday, led by ash-smeared holy men and accompanied by religious chanting. If she is going to take the
plunge, it is now or never; she deserves a better match.
III. Analyze the meaning of the given phraseological units and classify them into native and borrowed.
State the sources of their origin
1. to hang up one’s boots - to retire;
2. to bury the hatchet - to come to friendly or peaceful terms with somebody else, usually in arguments,
disagreements;
3. a sacred cow - somebody/something that is greatly respected and revered, esp. by a particular nation or
group, so that attack or criticism is not tolerated;
4. a whipping boy - a person who is blamed or punished for the faults or incompetence of others;
5. an ugly duckling - a plain child born less attractive than his brothers and sisters who later surpasses them,
growing into a beautiful person;
6. the law of the jungle - self-preservation, the survival of the strongest, or more unscrupulous;
7. an apple of discord - somebody or something that is a cause of dispute, argument or rivalry;
8. to hide one’s head in the sand - willfully to close one’s eyes to danger, to refuse to face reality;
9. a blue stocking - an intellectual or literary woman;
10. the hot seat - the position of a person who carries full responsibility for something, including facing
criticism or being answerable for decisions or actions;
11. a drop in the ocean - something of inconsiderable value, importance, esp. as compared with something
larger in total;
12. pig in the middle - a person, or a group in a helpless position between two other people or groups;
13. blue blood - a person of noble birth;
14. to die with one's boots on - to die while still at work;
15. to fiddle while Rome burns - behave frivolously in a situation that calls for concern or collective action;
16. penny wise and pound foolish - careful and economical in small matters while being wasteful or extravagant
in large ones;
17. the iron curtain - the notional barrier between people, nations, countries, etc. leading to the political,
economical, etc. isolation;
18. the Russian soul - a vague, unfulfilled yearning for a better, spiritual life which would bring consolation and
relief to the suffering masses;
19. to run the gauntlet - to submit to a punishing ordeal;
20. the Trojan horse - a person or thing intended to undermine or secretly overthrow an enemy or opponent;
21. forbidden fruit - a source of pleasure that involves breaking a rule or doing something that you are
not supposed to do;
22. get down to brass tacks - to start to discuss or consider the most important details or facts about something.
IV. Substitute the italicized words with phraseological units:
a. with noun “heart”
1. He is not a man who shows his feelings openly. 2. She may seem cold but she has true, kind feelings. 3. I
learned that piece of poetry by memory. 4. When I think about my exam tomorrow I become desperate.
b. with names of colours
5. I’m feeling rather miserable today. 6. A thing like that happens very rarely. 7. You can talk till you are tired
of it but I won’t believe you. 8. The news was a great shock to me. It came quite unexpectedly. 9. You can
never believe what he says, he will swear anything if it suits his purpose.
V. Explain whether the semantic changes in the following phraseological units are complete or partial.
Paraphrase them
A wolf in a sheep’s clothing; to fly into a temper; to stick to one’s word; bosom friend; small talk; to cast pearls
before swine; to beat about the bush; to add fuel to the fire; to fall ill; to fall in love; to sail under false colours;
to be at sea; the saddest two words a party animal ever says are ‘What party?’
VI. Read the following proverbs, give their Russian equivalents / explain their meanings
21
1. A bargain is a bargain. 2. Don’t judge a book by its cover. 3. All is fish that comes to the net 4. You must
spoil before you spin. 5. A new broom sweeps clean. 6. Don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs. 7. Where
there’s smoke, there’s fire. 8. Where there’s will, there’s way. 9. Easy come, easy go. 10. The pot calls the
kettle black. 11. You never miss the water till the well runs dry. 12. Birds of a feather flock together. 13. A bird
in the hand is worth two in the bush. 14. Beggars cannot be choosers. 15. The grass is always greener on the
other side of the fence. 16. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. 17. Strike while the iron is hot. 18. Speak of the
devil and he’s sure to come. 19. Out of sight, out of mind. 20. (It’s) better (to be) safe than sorry. 21. Still
waters run deep. 22. Curiosity killed the cat. 23. The early bird catches the warm. 24. Don’t count your
chickens before they hatch. 25. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Seminar 10. Phraseology: Principles of Classification*
I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. What is the basis of the traditional and the oldest principle for classifying phraseological units? 2. What other
criteria can be used for such a classification? 3. Do you agree that in idioms the original associations are partly
or wholly lost? Are we entirely free from the picture built up by the current meanings of the individual words in
idioms? Provide examples. 4. What are the plus and minus sides of the thematic principle of classification? 5.
Explain the semantic principle of classification. 6. What is the basis of the structural principle of classification?
II. Read the text and write out phraseological combinations, phraseological unities and phraseological
fusions.
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Classify the following idioms / phraseological units according to Vinogradov’s classification
system
To keep your head is to remain calm, but to lose it is to panic and do something foolish. If something is
above or over your head, it is too difficult for you to understand. An egg-head is intellectual, and someone who
has his head screwed on, is very sensible.
If you split hairs, you are very pedantic, but if you don’t turn a hair you are very calm.
To pay through the nose is to pay a very high price for something, but if you turn up your nose at
something you despise it.
If you are all ears, you listen very carefully, and if you keep your ear to the ground, you listen and
watch out for signs of future events.
To see eye to eye with someone is to agree with them, and if you don’t bat an eyelid, you show no
surprise or excitement.
If you are down on the mouth, you’re rather depressed.
A stiff upper lip is the traditional British quality of not showing any emotions in times of trouble.
To have your tongue in your cheek is to say one thing and mean something else.
To have a sweet tooth is to have a taste for sweet food, and to do something by the skin of your teeth is
just manage to do it.
III.
*
Задания заимствованы из книги: Г.Б. Антрушина, О.В. Афанасьева, Н.Н. Морозова. Лексикология английского языка:
Учебное пособие для студентов. – 3-е изд. – М.: Дрофа, 2001. – 288 с.
22
To stick your neck out is to do something risky or dangerous, and to keep someone at arm’s length is to
avoid getting too friendly with them.
To be highhanded is to behave in a superior fashion, but to lend someone a hand is to help them.
If you have a finger in every pie, you are involved in many different projects, and if you have green
fingers, you are very good at gardening. To be all fingers and thumbs is to be very clumsy, and to be under
someone’s thumb is to be under their influence.
If you pull someone’s leg, you tease them, and if you haven’t a leg to stand on, you have no reason or
justification for what you do.
To put your foot down is to insist on something and to fall on your feet is to be very fortunate. To find
your feet is to become used to a new situation, but to get cold feet is to become frightened or nervous about
something. If you put your foot in it, you say or do something to upset or annoy someone else, and if you tread
on someone’s toes you do the same without meaning it.
IV. Decide on what principles the idioms are selected
If you feel under the weather, you don’t feel very well, and if you make heavy weather of something,
you make it more difficult than it needs to be. Someone with a sunny disposition is always cheerful and happy,
but a person with his head in the clouds does not pay much attention to what is going on around him.
To have a place in the sun is to enjoy a favourable position, and to go everywhere under the sun is to
travel all over the world. Someone who is under a cloud is in disgrace or under suspicion, and a person who is
snowed under with work is overwhelmed with it.
When you break the ice, you get to know someone better, but if you cut no ice with someone, you have
no effect on them. To keep something on ice or in cold storage is to reserve it for the future, and to skate on thin
ice is to be in a dangerous or risky situation.
If something is in the wind, it is being secretly planned, and if you have the wind up, you became
frightened. To throw caution to the winds is to abandon it and act recklessly, but to see how the wind blows is to
find out how people are thinking before you act. If you take the wind out of someone’s sails, you gain the
advantage over him by saying or doing something first.
To save something for a rainy day is to put some money aside for when it is needed. To do something
come rain or shine is to do it whatever the circumstances. Finally, everyone knows that it never rains but it
pours, that problems and difficulties always come together. But every cloud has a silver lining – every
misfortune has a good side.
V. Complete the following sentences with the phraseological units in the list below
to take the rough with the smooth
between the devil and the deep sea
to take the plunge
in the same boat
to paddle one’s own canoe
to burn one’s boats
1. If I pay my rent, I won’t have any money to buy food. I’m _______________. 2. It’s no use grumbling about
your problems – we’re all _____________. 3. He’s sold his house and his business to go to Africa, so he’s
really _____________. 4. She prefers not to rely on anyone else, she likes to ___________. 5. They didn’t
know whether to get married or not, but they finally _____________. 6. You can’t expect everything to go right
all the time, you must learn to ____________.
VI. Complete the following sentences with the words from the list below
ice,
beetroot,
mule, feather,
sheet, toast, clockwork,
bee, rail, peacock.
1. She was so embarrassed that she went as red as a _____________. 2. I can carry the suitcase easily, it’s as
light as a ______________ 3.The room is as warm as _______________. 4 My sister does so many things that
she’s always as busy as a ______________. 5. He’s as proud as a _____________of his new car. 6.It’s as cold
as _______________in the room. 7. Once he’s made his mind, he’ll never change it, he’s as stubborn as a
__________. 8.She was so frightened that her face went as white as a ___________. 9. The postman always
calls at 8 o’clock, he’s as regular as ____________. 10. He’s as thin as a ______________.
Seminar 11. Do Americans speak English or American? *
*
Задания к семинару заимствованы из книги: Г.Б. Антрушина, О.В. Афанасьева, Н.Н. Морозова. Лексикология английского
языка: Учебное пособие для студентов. – 3-е изд. – М.: Дрофа, 2001. – 288 с.
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I. Consider your answers to the following:
1. In what different ways might the language spoken in the USA be viewed linguistically? 2. What are the
peculiarities of the American English vocabulary? 3. Does the vocabulary of the language spoken in the USA
supports the hypothesis about the “American language”? 4. What are the grammatical and phonetic peculiarities
of the American English? 5. What other regional varieties of English do you know?
II. Read the text and give more examples of the same group of Americanisms. What’s the name of this group?
Homely is a very good word to illustrate Anglo-American misunderstanding. At any rate, many funny stories
depend on it, like the one about the British lecturer visiting the United States; he faces his American audience
and very innocently tells them how nice it is to see so many homely faces out in the audience. Homely in
Britain means, of course, something rather pleasant, but in American English 'not very good looking'. This older
sense is preserved in some British dialects. (From A Common Language by A. H. Marckwardt and R. Quirk)
III. Read the text. What are the 3 possible ways of creating names for new species of plants/ animals/new
features of the landscape? Give more examples. What do we call this group of Americanisms?
Q: ... I think that this time we ought to give some attention to those parts of the language where the
differences in the vocabulary are much more noticeable.
M: Yes, we should. First, there are what we might call the 'realia' — the real things — the actual things
we refer to in the two varieties of the language. For example, the flora and fauna — that is to say the plants and
animals of England and of the United States are by no means the same, nor is the landscape, the topography.
Q: All this must have created a big problem for those early settlers, mustn't it?
M: It surely did. From the very moment they set foot on American soil, they had to supply names for
these new species of plants and animals, the new features of landscape that they encountered. At times they
made up new words such as mockingbird, rattlesnake, egg-plant. And then occasionally they used perfectly
familiar terms but to refer to different things. In the US, for example, the robin is a large bird, a type of thrush.
Q: Yes, whereas with us it is a tiny little red-breasted bird.
M: And a warbler, isn't it?
Q: Yes.
M: It sings. Corn is what you call maize. We never use it for grain in general, or for wheat in particular.
Q: Or oats. Well, wouldn't foreign borrowings also be important in a situation like this?
M: Oh, they were indeed. A good many words, for example, were adopted from the American Indian
languages — hickory, a kind of tree, squash, a vegetable; moccasin, a kind of footwear. We got caribou and
prairie from the early French settlers. The Spanish gave us canyon and bronco. (Ibid.)
IV. Read the passage. Draw up a list of terms for the University teaching staff in Great Britain and in the
USA. What are the corresponding Russian terms?
Q: But speaking of universities, we've also got a different set of labels for the teaching staff, haven't
we?
M: Yes, in the United States, for example, our full time faculty, which we call staff incidentally — is
arranged in a series of steps which goes from instructor through ranks of assistant professor, associate professor
to that of professor. But I wish you'd straighten me out on the English system. Don for example, is a completely
mysterious word and I'm never sure of the difference, say, between a lecturer and a reader.
Q: Well, readers say that lecturers should lecture and readers should read! But seriously, I think there's
more similarity here than one would imagine. Let me say, first of all, that this word don is a very informal word
and that it is common really only in Oxford and Cambridge. But corresponding to your instructor we've got the
rank of assistant lecturer, usually a beginner's post. The assistant lecturer who is successful is promoted, like
your instructor and he becomes a lecturer and this lecturer grade is the main teaching grade throughout the
university world. Above lecturer a man may be promoted to senior lecturer or reader, and both of these —
there's little difference between them — correspond closely to your associate professor. And then finally he
may get a chair, as we say — that is a professorship, or, as you would say, a full professorship. It's pretty much
a difference of labels rather than of organization, it seems to me. (Ibid.)
V. Give the British equivalents for the following:
apartment,
store, baggage,
truck,
elevator,
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candy,
corn, guess
VI. Identify the etymology of the words:
Ohio, ranch, squash, mosquito, banjo, toboggan, pickaninny, Mississippi, sombrero, prairie, wigwam.
VII. Translate the following words giving both the British and American variant:
каникулы, бензин, осень, консервная банка, радио, трамвай.
VIII. Find the words characteristic of Am.E. Are they: a) historical Americanisms; b) proper
Americanisms; c) American shortenings; d) American borrowings? Mind their spelling
1. As the elevator carried Brett downward, Hank Kreisel closed and locked the apartment door from inside. 2. A
raw fall wind swirled leaves and dust in small tornadoes and sent pedestrians scurrying for indoor warmth. 3.
Over amid the bungalows a repair crew was coping with a leaky water main. 4. We have also built, ourselves,
experimental trucks and cars which are electric powered. 5. In a plant bad news travelled like burning gasoline.
6. May Lou wasn't in; she had probably gone to a movie. 7. The bank was about equal in size to a
neighbourhood drugstore, brightly lighted and pleasantly designed. 8. Nolan Wainwright walked towards the
apartment building, a three-storey structure probably forty years old and showing signs of disrepair. He guessed
it contained two dozen or so apartments. Inside a vestibule Nolan Wainwright could see an array of mail boxes
and call buttons. 9. Barbara put a hand to her hair — chestnut brown and luxuriant, like her Polish Mother's; it
also grew annoyingly fast so she had to spend more time than she liked in beauty salons. 10. He hadn't had an
engineering degree to start, having been a high school dropout before World War II.
IX. Read the passage. Do you share the opinion about neutralizing the differences between the two forms
of English? If so, give your own examples to prove it
M: ... and finally I notice that although we used to think that baggage was somehow an American term
and luggage an English term, we have now come to adopt luggage much more, especially in connection with air
travel.
Q: Well, I think it is equally true that we in Britain have more and more to adopt the word baggage. I
have certainly noticed that on shipping lines, perhaps chiefly those that are connected with the American trade.
But this blending of our usage in connection with the luggage and baggage would seem to me to be rather
typical of this trend that we've got in the twentieth century towards neutralizing the differences between our two
forms of English. (From A Common Language by A. H. Marckwardt and R. Quirk)
X. Look through the list. What spelling norms are accepted in the USA and Great Britain?
1. favour — favor
honour — honor
colour — color
2. defence — defense
practice — practise
offence — offense
7. judgement — judgment
abridgement — abridgment
acknowledgement – acknowledgment
3. centre — center
metre — meter
fibre — fiber
4. marvellous — marvelous
woollen — woolen
jewellery — jewelry
5. to enfold — to infold
to encrust — to incrust
to empanel — to impanel
6. cheque — check
catalogue-catalog
programme — program
XI. Read the passage. Give more examples illustrating the grammar differences in Br.E. and Am.E.
Q: I thought Americans always said gotten when they used the verb get as a full verb. But you did say
I've got your point, didn't you?
M: Yes, I did. You know, it's a common English belief — almost a superstition — about American
usage, but it does turn out on examination, as many other things do, that we are closer together than appears on
the surface. Actually, we, Americans, use gotten only when our meaning is "to acquire" or "to obtain": We've
gotten a new car since you were here last. Now, when we use get to mean "possess" or "to be obliged to" we
have exactly the same forms as you do: I've got a pen in my pocket. I've got to write a letter. (Ibid.)
XII. Read the extract. What is a citizen of the USA called? Analyse the suggested variants of names from
the point of view of word-building
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It is embarrassing that the citizens of the United States do not have a satisfactory name. In the
Declaration of Independence the British colonists called their country the United States of America, thus
creating a difficulty. What should the inhabitant of a country with such a long name be called?
For more than 150 years those living in the country have searched in vain for a suitable name for
themselves. In 1803, a prominent American physician, Dr. Samuel Mitchill, suggested that the entire country
should be called Fredonia or Fredon. He had taken the English word freedom and the Latin colonies, and from
them coined Fredonia or Fredon. Dr. Mitchill thought that with this word as the name for the country as a
whole, the derivative Fredish would follow naturally, corresponding to British, etc. In the same way, he
thought, Frede, would be a good name for the inhabitant of Fredonia. But his fellow-citizens laughed at the
doctor's names.
Such citizen names as United Statesian, shortened to Unisian and United Statian were proposed but
quickly forgotten. No better success has greeted Usona (United States of North America) as a name for the
country and Usonian — for a citizen. Usage overwhelmingly favours American, as a name for an inhabitant of
the USA, though all Americans realize it covers far too much territory. (From American Words by M.
Mathews)
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