- •Theme 1: Lexicology as a Branch of Linguistics. The Word as the Basic Unit of Lexicology
- •Theme 2: English Etymology
- •Comment on the terms:
- •Theme 3: Word-building in Modern English
- •Comment on the terms:
- •Theme 4: Lexical Meaning as a Linguistic Category. Development of Meaning
- •Comment on the terms:
- •Explain the basis for the following jokes:
- •3. Specify lexical and grammatical meaning of the following words:
- •4.Identify the denotative and connotative elements of the meanings in the following pairs of words:
- •5.Define the type of transference which has taken place:
- •6.Trace the process of narrowing of meaning in the words:
- •Theme 5: Semantic Relations of Words and Structure of the English Lexicon
- •Comment on the terms:
- •2.Write out from a dictionary all the meanings of the following words. Comment on the semantic structure of the words:
- •3.Single out the denotative and connotative components of meaning of the synonyms in the following examples:
- •Theme 6: English Phraseology
- •1.Comment on the terms:
- •6. Give Russian equivalents of the phraseological units. Memorize them
- •8.Complete the following sentences, using the phraseological units given in the list below. Translate them into Russian.
- •10.Choose the idiom. Choose the word or phrase which best completes each sentence.
- •11.Complete the paired phraseological units in the sentences below.
- •Theme 7: Stylistic classification of English Vocabulary
- •1.Comment on the terms:
- •7.The italicized words and word-groups in the following extracts belong to informal style. Describe the stylistic peculiarities of each extract in general. Look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary:
- •8.Compose the following brief situations. Your language and style should suit both the subject and the situation:
- •Theme 8: American English
- •1.Comment on the terms:
- •2.Find:
- •3.Explain the differences in the meanings of the following words in American and British English:
- •4.Identify the etymology of the following words:
- •5.Say which of the two words is American and which is British. Translate the sentences into Russian:
- •6.Translate into English giving two variants – British and American:
- •7. Translate the following sentences:
Theme 6: English Phraseology
1.Comment on the terms:
phraseological unit, semantic criterion, structural criterion, thematic/ etymological classification, phraseological combinations, unities, fusions, Smirnitsky’s classification, contextual analysis, Koonin’s classification.
2.Translate the following false idioms:
To see eye to eye with, to lead by the nose, wind in the head, to stretch one’s legs, to throw dust in smb’s eyes, to stew in one’s own juice, to put/ throw salt on smb’s tail, more dead than alive, to pin back smb’s ears, to pull the devil by the tail, a heart of oak, to pass the time of the day, to make good time, backward(s) and forward(s), to be in the dark, to be in the black.
3.Consult the dictionary and state the meaning and origin of the following phraseological units. Translate them into Russian.
Cut the Gordian knot, shed crocodile tears, Hercules' labour, Solomon's judgement, the sword of Damocles, cross the Rubicon, Juda's kiss, the massacre of the innocents, thirty pieces of silver, Achilles’ heel.
4.Explain the meaning of the following phraseological units. Use them in sentences of your own.
The apple of discord, a dog in the manger, grass widow, talk through one's hat, pull somebody's leg, in the twinkling of an eye, between two fires, at the top of the ladder, snake in the grass, hot head, blue stocking, beat about the bush, back the wrong horse, play first (second) fiddle.
5.Complete the following similes, using words from the list below. Translate them into Russian.
As merry (lively) as... as large as… as drunk as…
As fit as... as like as… as black as…
As clear as... as mad as… as bold as…
As busy as... as neat as… as ugly as…
As dead as... as old as… as true as…
As fat as... as pale as… as cold as…
As innocent as... as slippery as… as plain as…
As sure as...
(a babe unborn, day, fiddle, cricket, door-nail, steel, a bee, butter, eggs is eggs, an eel, a ghost, a new pin, two peas, the hills, a March hare, a lord, a crow, brass, life, sin, two and two make four)
6. Give Russian equivalents of the phraseological units. Memorize them
and use them in speech.
1. It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back. 2. Can the leopard change his spots? 3. To have (to put) all one's eggs in one basket. 4. There is no use crying over spilt milk. 5. To set one's heart upon something. 6. To set the Thames on fire. 7. When the cat's away, the mice will play. 8. To cut one's coat according to one's cloth. 9. To eat humble pie. 10. To let the grass grow under one’s feet (to let no grass grow under one's feet). 11. To give somebody a piece of one's mind. 12, A stitch in time saves nine. 13. Tell it to the marines! 14. A skeleton in the cupboard. 15. To have a finger in the pie. 14. To skate (to be) on thin ice. 17. To spare the rod and spoil the child. 18. To build castles in the air. 19. To take the bull by the horns. 20. To let the cat out of the bag. 21. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 22. Birds of a feather flock together. 23. Where there is a will, there is a way. 24. To be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth. 25. To be in the same boat (box). 26. The pot calls the kettle black. 27. Let us return to our muttons. 28. To let off steam. 29. To put two and two together. 30. To make a clean breast of.
7.Give the English equivalents for the following Russian proverbs:
Нет худа без добра. В гостях хорошо, а дома лучше. С глаз долой, из сердца вон. Дуракам закон не писан. Он пороху не выдумает. Слезами горю не поможешь. Поспешишь – людей насмешишь. Взялся за гуж, не говори, что не дюж. Видеть (смотреть) сквозь розовые очки (видеть все в розовом свете). Читать между строк. Хвататься за соломинку. Привычка - вторая натура. Платить той же монетой. Вставлять палки в колеса. Играть с огнем. Речь - серебро, молчание - золото. Между двух огней. 10. Положить конец чему-либо. Игра не стоит свеч. Между молотом и наковальней.. Не все то золото, что блестит. Лучше поздно, чем никогда. В гостях хорошо, но дома лучше. Пан или пропал. Попасть пальцем в небо. 19. Называть вещи своими именами. Нет дыма без огня.