1. Comment on the use of syntactical stylistic devices in the following fragment. .................................... 2
2. Using examples from the text speak on the correlation of the phoneme and its allophones. Give
examples of the principle and subsidiary allophones of the phoneme. ..................................................... 3
3. Find examples of compound words in the text and comment on their formation. ............................... 4
5. Find examples of similes and comment on their use. ............................................................................. 6
6. Using examples from the text speak on the distinctive and non-distinctive features of the phoneme.
Demonstrate the ability of the phoneme to differentiate the meaning. ................................................... 7
7. Find and characterize synonyms and antonyms in the following fragment. .......................................... 8
8. Point out substantivized adjectives and comment on their grammatical peculiarities. ......................... 9
9. Find examples of epithets and comment on their use. ........................................................................ 10
10. Use examples from the text to demonstrate that intonation can perform the distinctive and
organizing functions. ................................................................................................................................. 11
11. Speak on the major types of modern English word-building and illustrate them with examples from
the text. ..................................................................................................................................................... 13
12. Comment on the italicized composite sentences. Specify the type of clausal connection. ............... 14
13. Find examples of metaphors and characterize them.......................................................................... 15
14. Which intonational styles could be used for oral presentation of this text? Comment on the
extralinguistic factors which determine the prosodic features of the text. ............................................. 16
15. Find in the text the examples of onomatopoeia and comment on them. .......................................... 17
16. Identify the italicized ING-forms and comment on their syntactical functions. ................................. 17
17. Speak on the functions of euphemisms and illustrate them with the examples from the text. ........ 18
18. Comment on the role of intonation in structuring the information content of the text. Use examples
from the text to prove that the shift of the nuclear tone can affect the information focus. ................... 19
19. Find the terms in the text. What sphere do they belong to? Comment on their characteristics. ...... 20
20. Comment on the meaning of italicized modal verbs and the form of the infinitive used with them.20
1. Comment on the use of syntactical stylistic devices in the following
fragment.
1
Кузина: parallel construction, repetition, climax-anticlimax, asyndeton-polysyndeton (пунктуация и
службные слова), detached construction (отдельное предложение), parenthesis (выделение
запятыми-уточнение), inversion, rhetorical question, litotes (It was not useless), antithesis (young-old),
ellipsis (неполные предл), aposiopesis (недоговаривание).
Syntactical SD/
Inner Classification
1.PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION
(partial/complete)
CHIASMUS (=reversed parallel
construction)
2.REPETITION
palilogia
conduplication
anaphora
epistrophe
anadiplosis(=catching repetition)
epanalepsis
3.CLIMAX
ANTICLIMAX
4.ASYNDETON
POLYSYNDETON
5.DETACHED CONSTRUCTION
PARENTHESIS
STYLISTIC INVERSION
6.RHETORICAL QUESTION
7.LITOTES
8.ANTITHESIS
9.ELLIPSIS
APOSIOPESIS
Example(s)
*He knowingly led and we blindly followed.
*He knowingly led and we followed blindly.
*Words, words, words.
*And the world said, “Disarm, disclose, or face serious consequence,’ –
and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that
Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world.’
*We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we
shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall never surrender.
*There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no
Northern problem. There is only an American problem.
*Having power makes totalitarian leadership isolated; isolation breeds
insecurity; insecurity breeds suspicion and fear; suspicion and fear breed
violence.
*The king is dead, long live the king.
*He wanted to do good for a person, a country, a continent.
*He wanted to do good for a continent, a country, a person.
*Soames turned away; he has an utter disinclination for talk.
*The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the
advantage over him in only one respect (Dickens)
*I have to ask you for money. Daily.
*Billy-Bob, a great singer, was not a great dancer.
*Talent Mr. Micawber has; capital Mr. Micawber has not. (Dickens)
*With fingers weary and worn …
*Can a man think out his life, or must he just tag along?
*It was not useless. (= It was useful.)
*She was no country cousin. She had style.
*Listen, young men, to an old man to whom old men were glad to listen
when he was young.
*Better to reign in hell that to serve in heaven. (Milton)
*His forehead was narrow, his face wide, his nose large. (Dickens)
*She is a good girl, but …
Lexical stylistic devices: onomatopoeia (sound-imitation), alliteration, rhyme, metaphor, irony, zeugma,
epithet, oxymoron, antonomasia (speaking name), simile, periphrasis, euphemism (завуалиров.),
hyperbole – meiosis (understatement), allusions
2. Using examples from the text speak on the correlation of the phoneme and
its allophones. Give examples of the principle and subsidiary
2
allophones of the phoneme.
A phoneme is a basic unit of a language's phonology, which is combined with other phonemes to
form meaningful units such as words or morphemes. The phoneme is a minimal linguistic unit
which can’t be divided lineally into smaller units, it’s potentially connected with meaning and is
realized in speech in its allophones.
Each language has its own peculiar system of phonemes. And each phoneme exists in its allophones.
We can call a phoneme an abstract unit. We can’t pronounce a phoneme. If we pronounce it – it
becomes an allophone. In phonology, an allophone (/ˈæləfoʊn/; from the Greek: ἄλλος, állos,
"other" and φωνή, phōnē, "voice, sound") is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds (or
phones) used to pronounce a single phoneme.[1] There are as many allophones of a certain phoneme
as the number of its positions in speech. (Ex. [ι] ) The famous English phonetician Daniel Jones
named phonemes together with their allophones a family. (Ex.[w] – 1.[w] (wıt∫), 2.[w ], [kw ], [sw ]
F.e: kwik, swim) The allophones are often called the members of the family. Every sound has its
own family. The relations between a phoneme and its allophones are that of the whole and its parts.
Kinds and types of allophones
There are different kinds of allophones. For native speaker of English a certain set of allophones is
common. They should correspond to the proper literary pronunciation (public school pronunciation
England or the pronunciation of educated people in southern England). These allophones are called
obligatory. Among obligatory allophones there are different classes.
The 1st class – primary or principal allophones. A principal allophone exists in the position of the
least influence of neighbouring sounds. All the other types of allophones are called the subsidiary
allophones.
The 2nd type is called combinatorial allophones. These are the allophones which depend upon the
neighbouring speech sounds. (Ex. [s w], slip, swim) – is combinatorial allophone. A very good
example of combinatorial allophones is system of vowels. (Все гласные в английском языке
зависят от соседних согласных)
The 3rd class is positional allophones. They appear as a result of the different positions in a word
(initial or final). Sometimes we have progressive influence (препоследний влияет на
последний)(Ex. [ tr i]) and regressive influence (последний влияет на предпоследний).
Regressive influence is more often, because of a human nature.
The 4th kind of individual realizations is the so-called a defective speech, which is the result of an
incorrect speech bringing-up. The third case of the specific realization of the phoneme is “free
variation”: it means that a phoneme has differentiate being in one of the same position of the word.
The 5th kind of phonetic realization is called a facultative variant of the phoneme. It’s an additional
phoneme, which is usually not registered in the phonemic system of the language.
The 6th kind is called an unstable phonetic realization.F.e.: шкап/шкаф, калоши/галоши.
3. Find examples of compound words in the text and comment on their
3
formation.
In English, words, particularly adjectives and nouns, are combined into compound structures in a variety
of ways. And once they are formed, they sometimes metamorphose over time. A common pattern is that two
words — fire fly, say — will be joined by a hyphen for a time — fire-fly — and then be joined into one word
— firefly. In this respect, a language like German, in which words are happily and immediately linked one to
the other, might seem to have an advantage. There is only one sure way to know how to spell compounds in
English: use an authoritative dictionary.
There are three forms of compound words:
the closed form, in which the words are melded together, such as firefly, secondhand, softball,
childlike, crosstown, redhead, keyboard, makeup, notebook;
the hyphenated form, such as daughter-in-law, master-at-arms, over-the-counter, six-pack, six-yearold, mass-produced;
and the open form, such as post office, real estate, middle class, full moon, half sister, attorney
general.
4
4. Speak on
the various means of expressing possessive relations. Say in which
case they are interchangeable.
the possessive pattern ('s) is generally used when indicate a relation of ownership or association with a
person, rather than a thing.
Притяжательный падеж в английском языке образуется путем добавления 's к существительным в
единственном числе и к тем, множественное число которых образуется не по правилу.
the Kate's book - Катина книга
the children's toys - игрушки детей
Во множественном числе к существительным, образованным по правилу, добавляется только
апостроф.
the dancers' show - выступление танцоров
the girls' bows - банты девочек
В притяжательном падеже у существительного могут быть такие значения:
принадлежность предмета (в широком смысле)
Mike's mistake - ошибка Миши
описание предмета
soldiers' uniform - солдатская форма
В притяжательном падеже не употребляются существительные, которые обозначают неодушевленные
предметы и отвлеченные понятия. Вместо этого используется оборот с предлогом of
the leg of a table - ножка стола
the call of nature - зов природы
Использование фразы, включающей два стоящих друг за другом существительных
Когда и то, чему что-то принадлежит и предмет владения представлены конкретными объектами,
принадлежность может быть показана путем постановки существительного, называющего
«владельца», перед существительным, называющим предмет, которым владеют.
Например: the car radio
автомобильное радио
the tree leaf
лист дерева
5
5. Find examples of similes and comment on their use.
A figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase
introduced by like or as.
SD based on the intensification of a certain feature of a thing or phenomenon; it is an imaginative
comparison of two unlike objects belonging to two classes. It is not to be mixed with an ordinary
comparison: The boy seems to be as clever as his mother.
The simile-forming elements are:
“the characterized” (object, LIKE
“the characterizing”
state, action, manner)
AS
SUCH AS
“the characterized” (object, SEEM
“the characterizing”
state, action, manner)
APPEAR
RESEMBLE
Example: She was very pink,
“the characterized” (object, (“the characterizing”)-like
very Dresden-chinastate, action, manner)
(as a semi-suffix)
shepherdess-like.
(Examples) Ignorance is like a delicate fruit: touch it, and the bloom is gone (O.Wilde) [genuine E.]
-“So what is your method?” –“Simple as socks. Never robe a bank if you ever got caught for
anything. Do it alone and don’t tell a soul.”(J. Steinbeck) [trite E.]
Other examples of trite (and thus, dictionary-registered) similes: sly as a fox, busy as a bee,
industrious as an ant, to be led like a sheep, to swim like a duck, to work like a horse, etc.
The ball appeared to be a slow spinning planet looming forward the Earth. [disguised E.]
(Functions) 1. To characterize an object in a new and unexpected light by imposing a feature of
another object on it; 2. To convey the author’s subjective evaluative attitude to it
6
6. Using examples from the text speak on the distinctive and non-distinctive
features of the phoneme. Demonstrate the ability of the phoneme to
differentiate the meaning.
Phonetic features and natural classes
In 2.3 it is mentioned that segments are units of phonetic transcription. When we describe each
segment in terms of places of articulation, manners of articulation, voicing, position of the tongue,
height of the tongue, lip-rounding and tensity, etc., we actually analyze speech sounds into their
composing elements, or phonetic features. [ ] possesses the features [+voiced] [+velar] [+stop].
There are other segments that possess one of the three features, but none that possesses all three. [ ]
has the features [+high] [+back] [+round] [+tense], [ ] is [-tense] although it shares the rest.
Classes of sounds that share a feature or features are called natural classes. The set [ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] belong to the class [+voiced], while [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] voiceless. The feature [+high] specifies the
class of vowels [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ], and the features [-high] [-low] define the class [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]. The
feature[+front] specifies [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ], and the features [-front] [-back] define [ ] [ ] [ ]. The
feature [+round] is shared by [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ].
Distinctive features and non-distinctive features
In Chapter 2, we discussed phonetic features and natural classes. We know that features
distinguish sounds. In this chapter we have shown that phonemes distinguish meaning, but that
allophones do not. It is then natural and logical that features that distinguish phonemes and those
that distinguish allophones are different in value. Features that distinguish meaning are called
distinctive features, and features that do not, non-distinctive features. In sip and zip, the two words
are both distinguished by /s/ and /z/. The two sounds are both alveolar fricatives. The feature that
makes the two distinctive is voicing. In final analysis, the two words are distinguished by one
feature only.
Distinctive features in one language may be non-distinctive in another. For example, aspiration is
a distinctive feature in Thai, as shown in the minimal pair [paa] and [phaa] mentioned in 3.3.4. In
English aspiration is non-distinctive. It is a feature that distinguishes allophones, [ph] and [p], [th]
and [t], [kh] and [k]. Non-distinctive features are predictable. They are rule-governed in speech.
The articulatory features which do not serve to distinguish meaning are called non-distinctive,
irrelevant or redundant. For example, it is impossible to oppose an aspirated [ph] to a non-aspirated
one in the same phonetic context to distinguish meaning.
We know that anyone who studies a foreign language makes mistakes in the articulation of sounds.
L.V. Shcherba classifies the pronunciation errors as phonological and phonetic. If an allophone is
replaced by an allophone of a different phoneme the mistake is called phonological (results in
misunderstanding). If an allophone of the phoneme is replaced by another allophone of the same
phoneme the mistake is called phonetic (usually considered an accent).
7
7. Find and characterize synonyms and antonyms in the following fragment.
Synonyms – are two or more words belonging to the same part of speech and possessing one or
more identical or nearly identical denotational meanings, interchangeable in some context.
Look – to stare, to gaze, to glance, to peep.
Pretty – good – looking, handsome, beautiful.
Each group comprises a dominant element.
Synonymic dominant – is the most general term of its kind potentially containing the specific
features rendered by all the other members of the group.
Types of synonyms:





Ideographic – synonyms which differ in the denotational component of meaning i.e.
between which a semantic difference is statable.
Stylistic – which differ in the connotational component of meaning, i.e. all kinds of
emotional, expressive and evaluative overtones.
Absolute – which can each other in any given context, without the slightest alteration in
denotative or emotional meaning and connotations.
Contextual – are synonyms which are similar in meaning only under some specific
distributional conditions.
Dominant – the notion common to all synonyms of the group without contributing any
additional information as to the manner, intensy, duration or any attending feature of the
referent.
The sources of synonyms: borrowings, shift of meaning, dialectical words, compounds,
shortenings, conversion, euphemisms.
Antonyms – words of the same category of parts of speech which have contrasting meanings such
as hat – cold, light – dark, happiness – sorrow.
Morphological classification:


Root words form absolute antonyms.(write – wrong).
The presence of negative affixes creates – derivational antonyms(happy – unhappy).
8
8. Point out substantivized adjectives and comment on their grammatical
peculiarities.
Sometimes adjectives become substantivized. In this case they have the functions of nouns in the
sentence and are always preceded by the definite article. They can be partially substantivized (i.e.
acquiring only some of the morphological characteristics of nouns) or fully substantivized (i.e. can
be used with all articles). Substantivized adjectives may have two meanings:
1) They may indicate a class of persons in a general sense (e.g. the poor = poor people, the
dead = dead people, etc.) Such adjectives are plural in meaning and take a plural verb. The old
receive pensions.
If we wish to denote a single person we must add a noun.The old man receives a pension.
If we wish to refer to a particular group of persons (not the whole class), it is also necessary to add a
noun. The young are usually intolerant. The young men are fishing.
Some adjectives denoting nationalities (e.g. English, French, Dutch) are used in the same way.
The English are great lovers of tea. There were a few English people among the tourists.
2) Substantivized adjectives may also indicate an abstract notion. Then they are singular in meaning
and take a singular verb. The good in him overweighs the bad. My mother never lost her taste for
extravagant.
9
9. Find examples of epithets and comment on their use.
A rhetorical term for an adjective (or adjective phrase) used to characterize a person or thing. Adjective:
epithetic.
A Homeric epithet (also known as fixed or epic) is a formulaic phrase (often a compound adjective) used
habitually to characterize a person or thing (for example, "blood-red sky" and "wine-dark sea").
EPITHETS
(Definition) SD based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word/phrase. It is
important to distinguish between a regular collocation (with a logical attribute) and an instance of epithet:
“pale complexion” – “heart-burning smile”.
(Examples) (2 semantic types; 5 structural types)
Her breath purred gently and I could see the archaic smile on her mouth. (J. Steinbeck) [simple E.]
There wasn’t much trade – a few bottle-of-milk and loaf-of-bread kids. (J. Steinbeck) [compound
E./unassociated
I can see both of us: a nervous, frightened Lieutenant Hawley and the petal-cheeked, sweet-smelling darling
of a girl. (J. Steinbeck) [reversed E./associated E.]
My father was a gentle, well-informed, ill-advised, sometimes brilliant fool. (J. Steinbeck) [chain E.]
But now in galoshes and thick socks I put the first scars on the brilliantly glittering newness. (J. Steinbeck)
[two-step]
(Functions) 1. to show the author’s attitude to the described phenomena (=to give an individual perception
and evaluation)
1
0
10. Use examples from the text to demonstrate that intonation can perform the
distinctive and organizing functions.
In linguistics, intonation is variation of spoken pitch that is not used to distinguish words; instead it is
used for a range of functions such as indicating the attitudes and emotions of the speaker, signalling the
difference between statements and questions, and between different types of question, focusing
attention on important elements of the spoken message and also helping to regulate conversational
interaction. It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation in some languages does distinguish words,
either lexically or grammatically.
Functions of intonation:

attitudinal function (for expressing emotions and attitudes)
example: a fall from a high pitch on the 'mor' syllable of "good morning" suggests more excitement than
a fall from a low pitch

grammatical function (to identify grammatical structure)
example: it is claimed that in English a falling pitch movement is associated with statements, but a rising
pitch turns a statement into a yes–no question, as in He's going ↗home?. This use of intonation is more
typical of American English than of British. It is claimed that some languages, like Chickasaw and
Kalaallisut, have the opposite pattern from English: rising for statements and falling with questions.

focusing (to show what information in the utterance is new and what is already known)
example: in English I saw a ↘man in the garden answers "Whom did you see?" or "What happened?",
while I ↘saw a man in the garden answers "Did you hear a man in the garden?"

discourse function (to show how clauses and sentences go together in spoken discourse)
example: subordinate clauses often have lower pitch, faster tempo and narrower pitch range than their
main clause,[6] as in the case of the material in brackets in "The Red Planet [as it's known] is fourth
from the sun"

psychological function (to organize speech into units that are easy to perceive, memorize and
perform)
example: the utterance "You can have it in red blue green yellow or ↘black" is more difficult to
understand and remember than the same utterance divided into tone units as in "You can have it in
↗red | ↗blue | ↗green | ↗yellow | or ↘black"

indexical function (to act as a marker of personal or social identity)
example: group membership can be indicated by the use of intonation patterns adopted specifically by
that group, such as street vendors or preachers. The so-called high rising terminal, where a statement
ends with a high rising pitch movement, is said to be typical of younger speakers of English, and possibly
1
1
to be more widely found among young female speakers.
1
2
11. Speak on the major types of modern English word-building and illustrate
them with examples from the text.
Word-building is one of the main ways of enriching vocabulary. There are four main ways of word-building
in modern English: affixation, composition, conversion, abbreviation. There are also secondary ways of
word-building: sound interchange, stress interchange, sound imitation, blends, and back formation.
1. Affixation (prefix/suffix) : -er, - ing, - man, - ness, -ship, - dom, -ment, - al, -ity, re-, dis-;
2. Conversed/zero derivation – переход слова из одной части речи в другую.
Examples: A monkey – TO monkey
AN ape – TO ape
3. Shortening/Clipping/Contraction: prof – professor, bus – omnibus, burger – hamburger
4. Abbreviation – is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of
a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase. For example, the word abbreviation can
itself be represented by the abbreviation abbr.,abbrv. or abbrev
5. Acronymy – is an abbreviation formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These
components may be individual letters (as in laser) or parts of words (as in Beneluxand Ameslan): FBI
– Federal Bureau of Investigations
6. Back-formation/disaffixation – word-formation by removing a real or imaginative affix fron in other
word in the language: to resurrect – resurrection< to edit – editor
7. Sound interchange/Stress shift: to speak-speech, blood-bleed, conduct-to conduct
8. Blending – word-formation by taking 2 parts of the already existing words, usually (but not
exclusively) the first part of one word and the final part of the other word: brunch = breakfast +
lunch, blook = book + blog, infotainment
9. Composition/Compound words (stem + connecting element) – combination of 2 or more existing
words/lexical stems to create a word: office spouse, chain-smoke, downstairs, anything
1
3
12. Comment on the italicized composite sentences. Specify the type of
clausal connection.
A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a verb. A clause that can function as a sentence on its
own is called an independent clause: e.g., My sister eats a lot of ice cream.
While an independent clause may stand as a sentence by itself, it may also be combined with other
independent clauses to form compound sentences. One way of connecting two independent clauses is by
using a comma and one of the seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, for, yet, and so. A good
way to remember these seven words is to use the word FANBOYS which contains one letter for each of the
seven conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. e.g., My sister likes ice cream, but she doesn't eat it
often.
A dependent clause cannot function as a sentence by itself because it begins with a subordinating word.
A dependent clause may be a noun-clause, usually introduced by that or what, a relative clause, beginning
with who, which, or that or, most often, an adverbial clause, introduced by an adverbial conjunction, such
as although, because, when, if, or even though:
e.g., because my sister likes ice cream
Because adverbial clauses are the most common, the rules explained in this handout will be for
punctuating independent clauses and adverbial dependent clauses. Adverbial clauses are just like adverbs-they answer the questions when, where, or why. Adverbial conjunctions introduce a condition, situation, or
explanation that relates a dependent clause to a main clause. An advervbial clause must be connected to
an independent clause: [DC]
[IC]
e.g., Because my sister likes ice cream, she eats a lot of it.
The composite sentence is a series of sentences spliced by the comma. Sentences can be spliced to become
a composite sentence only under four conditions:

when independent sentences relate as items of a list;

when a foreshortened sentence attaches to an independent sentence;

when a sentence attributes the statement of another;

when a direct-address noun (vocative noun) or sentence accompanies another sentence.
The chart uses the following symbols: IC = independent clause, DC = dependent clause, + = coordinating
conjunction, < = adverbial conjunction
CLAUSE-CONNECTING RULES
********************
*
1) IC. IC.
*
*
2) IC; ic.
*
*
3) IC, + ic.
*
*
4) IC < dc.
*
*
5) < DC, ic.
*
1
4
********************
13. Find examples of metaphors and characterize them.
A trope or figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually
have something in common. Adjective: metaphorical.
A metaphor expresses the unfamiliar (the tenor) in terms of the familiar (the vehicle). When Neil Young
sings, "Love is a rose," "rose" is the vehicle for "love," the tenor.
Metaphor – primary dictionary meaning + contextually imposed meaning are realized simultaneously.
Metaphor: personification – The ocean was breathing.
Synaesthesia: sweet smell. The banker’s voice became frosty.
1
5
14. Which intonational styles could be used for oral presentation of this text?
Comment on the extralinguistic factors which determine the prosodic
features of the text.
Intonational style – a system of interrelated intonational means which is used in a social sphere and serves a
definite aim of communication.
Stylistic use of intonation:
1) Informational - in press reporting, educational descriptive texts. May be represented in monologues,
dialogues, polylogues.
2) Academic (scientific)- style of lectures (conferences, seminars). It is determined by the purpose of
communication as the speaker*s aim is to attract the listener*s attention, to establish close contacts with
the audience and to direct the public attention to the message carried in the contents of the text.
3) Publicistic (oratorial)-this term serves for many kinds of oratorial activities (especially this style uses in
political speeches).
4) Declamatory (artistic)- this is the style of declamation. This is a highly emotional and expressive
intonational style that is why it needs special training. Attitudinal, volitional and intellectual functions of
intonation are of primary importance here and serve to appeal to the mind, will and feelings of the listener.
5) Conversational (familiar) - this kind of English is a means for everyday communication, heard in natural
conversational interaction between speakers. This style occurs mainly in informal external and internal
relationships in speech of relatives, friends…
The linguistic contexts include accent, pronunciation, even idiosyncratic voice mannerisms.
The extra-linguistic contexts are aspects of communication used in addition to speech: facial expression,
posture, loudness of voice, for example.
In linguistics, prosody (pronounced /ˈprɒsədi/ PROSS-ə-dee, from Greek προσῳδία, prosōidía, [prosɔːdía],
"song sung to music; pronunciation of syllable") is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody
may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of
the utterance (statement, question, or command); the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast,
and focus; or other elements of language that may not be encoded by grammar or by choice of vocabulary.
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15. Find in the text the examples of onomatopoeia and comment on them.
Onomatopoeia = sound-imitation
Example: hiss, bowwow, murmur, bump, grumble, sizzle
16. Identify the italicized ING-forms and comment on their syntactical
functions.
#1 – Use the -ING form of verbs in continuous tenses
Continuous tenses are when an action is in progress, for example:
Present continuous:
Past continuous:
I’m studying English.
When I came home last night, you were already
She’s watching TV.
sleeping.
We’re having lunch at the moment.
I found $10 on the street while I was jogging in
Present perfect continuous:
the park.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this decision.
Future continuous:
He’s been working here since 1995.
Sorry, I can’t meet with you tomorrow afternoon.
They’ve been waiting for you for an hour.
I’ll be taking my friend to the airport.
#2 – Use the -ING form when the verb is the subject of the sentence
Skiing is my favorite winter sport.
Eating vegetables is good for your health.
Living in an English-speaking country helps you improve your English fast.
#3 – Use the -ING form after prepositions
I improved my English by practicing every day.
We left the party after saying goodbye to everyone.
Exception: Never use the -ING form after “to”:
I need to practice my English more.
#4 – Use the -ING form after these verbs in English
Here are some common verbs in English that are followed by -ing.
Admit - The politician admitted stealing millions of dollars.
Avoid - You should avoid eating after 10 PM.
consider - Have you considered buying a laptop computer?
In Latin and English grammar, the gerund is a non-finite verb form that can function as a noun. The English
gerund ends in -ing (as in I enjoy playing basketball); the same verb form also serves as the English present
participle (which has an adjectival or adverbial function), and as a pure verbal noun. The gerund is the form
that names the action of the verb (for instance, playing is the action of "to play"). In some cases a noun
ending in -ing sometimes serves as a gerund (as in I like building / I like building things, I like painting /I like
painting pictures, and I like writing / I like writing novels), while at other times serving as a non-gerund
indicating the product resulting from an action (as in I work in that building, That is a good painting, and Her
writing is good). The latter case can often be distinguished by the presence of a determiner before the
noun, such as that, a, or her in these examples.
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17. Speak on the functions of euphemisms and illustrate them with the
examples from the text.
A euphemism is a generally innocuous word or expression used in place of one that may be found offensive
or suggest something unpleasant.[1] Some euphemisms are intended to amuse; while others use bland,
inoffensive, and often misleading terms for things the user wishes to dissimulate or downplay. Euphemisms
are used for dissimulation, to refer totaboo topics (such as disability, sex, excretion, and death) in a polite
way, and to mask profanity.[2] The opposite of euphemism roughly equates to dysphemism.
Euphemisms may be used to avoid words considered rude, while still conveying their meaning; words may
be replaced by similar-sounding words, gentler words, or placeholders. Some euphemisms have become
accepted in certain societies for uncomfortable information; for example, in many English speaking
countries, a doctor is likely to say "the patient passed away" rather than "the patient died". A second
example relating uncomfortable information and concealing some degree of truth would be "we put the
dog to sleep" rather than "we killed the dog". Euphemisms can be used to downplay or conceal unpalatable
facts, such as "collateral damage" for "civilian casualties" in a military context, or "redacted" for "censored".
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18. Comment on the role of intonation in structuring the information content
of the text. Use examples from the text to prove that the shift of the
nuclear tone can affect the information focus.
When we speak, we have equal control of the main four suprasegmental features: loudness, speed, voice
quality and pitch. Their variations constitute the unique intonation pattern of a speaker's utterance. There
were several attempts to give a description of the intonational contour of an utterance, even in the earliest
works on English phonetics in the terms of the direction and register of the tonal movement at the
beginning of the contour (high key or low key) and at the end of it (primary 'forms' or 'inflections'; of
intonation: level, rising, falling).
R. Kingdon (1958) suggests a division of the intonational contour into five parts: prehead (initial
unstressed syllables), head (the first stressed syllable), body (all the stressed and the unstressed syllables in
the scale preceding the nucleus), nucleus (the most prominently stressed syllable) and tail (the final
unstressed syllables following the nucleus). For example:
But
1
'what are you
2
'going to
\do
about it?
3
4
5
(1— prehead, 2 — head, 3 — body, 4 — nucleus, 5 — tail). The first three segments (1,2,3) constitute the
prenuclear pattern of the intonation contour. The fifth segment (5) is the postnuclear part of it. The nuclear
part (4) is of primary importance. It is compulsory for every intonation group, while the rest of the segments
are optional.
In the intonation system elaborated by J. D. O'Connor and G. F. Arnold (1973) all the intonation patterns are
divided into ten tone-groups: according to the melodical patterns and the communicative meanings they
express. The first five of them are associated with a falling nuclear tone (Low Fall, High Fall, Rise Fall), the
rest of them are connected with a rising nuclear tone (Low Rise, High Rise, Fall-Rise Fall + Rise). The nuclear
tone configuration can be simple, complex, and compound. The pitch level of the tones can be either high
or low. The prenuclear pattern of the melodical contour (in the prehead and the head) can be also either
high or low in pitch; it is level, ascending, descending, or sliding in its configuration. The postnuclear pattern
of stressed or partially stressed syllables depends on the character of the preceding nuclear tone and it can
be level, falling, or rising. Every tone-group is characterized by certain types of the speaker's attitudinal
meanings in the main communicative types of sentences: statements, special questions, general questions,
commands, and interjections.
Other segments of the intonation contour (prenuclear segments — prehead and head, postnuclear
one — tail) also contribute into the communicative meanings of an utterance. Not only is the direction of
the tone, but also the register and the diapason of the melodical shift are crucially important. Besides the
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melodical component of intonation, the factor of stress, or prominence, rhythm and tempo of each
segment of the intonation group can be communicatively important1.
19. Find the terms in the text. What sphere do they belong to? Comment on
their characteristics.
20. Comment on the meaning of italicized modal verbs and the form of the
infinitive used with them.
A modal verb (also modal, modal auxiliary verb, modal auxiliary) is a type of auxiliary verb that is used to
indicate modality – that is, likelihood, ability, permission, and obligation.[1] Examples include the English
verbs can/could, may/might, must, will/would, and shall/should.
Modal verbs (can, could, must, should, ought to, had better, may, might, will, would, shall) are auxiliary
verbs that express ability, necessity, request, permission, advice, desire, probability, etc. Modal verbs
express the speaker's attitude to the action indicated by the main verb.
She can drive. (ability)
I must go. (strong necessity)
Grammatical peculiarities
Modal verbs are also called modal auxiliaries or modals. Modal verbs are sometimes called defective verbs,
because they do not have all the functions of main verbs or auxiliary verbs. They can't be used without a
main verb, can't form gerunds or participles, and do not have any endings to show person, number, or
tense. Modal verbs form questions without the help of the other auxiliary verbs. Some modal verbs are
rarely used in questions. Modal verbs also have quite a few peculiarities in the formation of tenses.
Formation of tenses
Modal verbs do not have the future tense form. The future is expressed by the present tense forms with the
help of the context and adverbs of time referring to the future. (With the exception of the modal verbs
WILL, WOULD, of course, which express the future.)
Can I go there tomorrow? – Yes, you can.
Only two modal verbs can form the past by changing their forms directly. They are CAN, COULD and WILL,
WOULD (only in some of their meanings).
She can sing very well. – She could sing very well when she was younger.
Forms of the infinitive
1
Антипова А.М. Система английской речевой интонации. М., 1979
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All modal verbs take the infinitive without the particle "to". (The modal verb OUGHT TO consists of two
parts: "ought" and "to".) There are several infinitive forms in English. Look at the infinitive forms of the verb
DO as an example.
to do – active infinitive / simple infinitive
to be doing – continuous infinitive
to have done – perfect infinitive
to have been doing – perfect continuous infinitive
to be done – passive infinitive
to have been done – perfect passive infinitive
The active infinitive / simple infinitive and the passive infinitive are the most common forms of the infinitive
used in speech and writing; the other forms are rarely used. (There are no equivalents for the other
infinitive forms in Russian, so their translation here is approximate.) But modal verbs use all infinitive forms
(without the particle "to") to form certain tenses and create meanings in their own peculiar way.
He must go. (must + simple infinitive)
He must be in the other room. (must + simple infinitive)
He must be sleeping. (must + continuous infinitive)
He must have gone home. (must + perfect infinitive)
He must have been sleeping. (must + perfect continuous infinitive)
It must be done quickly. (must + passive infinitive)
It must have been done already. (must + perfect passive infinitive)
Modal verbs form the present and the past with the help of the above-mentioned infinitive forms, and the
future is expressed by the present tense.
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