Questions and Tasks

1. Making use of the criteria for differentiation, state whether the following units represent compounds or word-phrases: sea-shore, green grass, child’s play, door-handle, pale blue, settled opinion, grass-green, outcome, call-girl, good to drink, way back, page three, page-turner, surgically clean, to sell for cash, as good as gold, hold-up, winding passage, standstill, speakeasy, newly-born, milk-white, fine month, twelvemonth, twelve months, knock-about, red-hot, red tulips, nearby, upbringing, good for nothing, do-gooder, upright.

Comment on the criteria or the criterion you have applied.

2. Identify the derivational type of the following compound words and write down their structural patterns: bedroom, hot-tempered, stone-cold, sunglasses, homesick, broad-minded, ready-made, skating-rink, first-rate, cold-blooded, water-proof, street-fighter, whereabouts, dirt-cheap, moreover, rainbow, sky-blue, straightforward, wrong-sided, earthquake, offspring, four-wheeler, house-keeper, deadline, life-sized.

3. Give your own examples of compounds built on the following derivational patterns: n+n, a+n, adv+n, prt+n, prt+v, num+n, v+v, n+a, a+a, n+(v+-en), adv+a, a+adv, v+n, v+(prt)+0, (num+n)+-er, (a+n)+-ed, (n+n)+-ed, (v+-en)+prt, (adv+v)+-ed. Say which of the patterns are productive and which are not and give your arguments.

4. Identify the derivational type of the following words: absentmindedness, lipstick, to babysit, early-riser, schoolmasterish, newcomer, four-wheeler, a breakdown, sunflower, music-lover, old worldish, first-nighter, headache, cinema-goer, honeymooner, grandfatherly, broadshouldered, a brainstorm, evildoer, to braindrain, weight-conscious, newlyweds.

5. Translate the following sentences into Russian. State the derivational type of the underlined words:

“There shall be no beggar-marriages in my family,” the father cried out.

Serious-faced James Howden entered the high-ceilinged, beige-carpeted Privy Council Chamber.

It was a lived-in, worked-in scholar’s cubicle. There were jammed bookshelves from floor to ceiling.

Judson’s head snapped up, his blue eyes hooding with suspicion. Donald had sounded almost schoolmasterish.

The BBC television comedy series “Yes, Minister” has proved to be more than a delight. It has also been an eye-opener.

This book is an absolute page-turner.

Unless you have a brainstorm, I don’t see how we are going to get out of this.

6. Define the type of relations between the constituents of the following compounds: earring, snow-white, colour-blind, frost-bitten, shop-owner, daylight, ice-breaker, holiday-maker, seasick, narrow-minded, finger-ring, life-sized, homemade, spring-cleaning, grass-green, sugar-free, schoolmaster, sunset, fair-haired, deck-chair, world-wide.

7. Say whether the following compounds are motivated, partially motivated or non-motivated (idiomatic): bathroom, housewife, bluebell, tallboy, sunshine, chatterbox, waterfall, lady-killer, horse-race, weekend, flower-bed, eye-opener, highlight, swimming-pool, landslide, page-turner, sun-blinds, brainwash, fortune-teller, dishwasher, good-looking, easy-going, lazybones, ladybird.

8. Read the following jokes and say how the humorous effect is achieved:

Patient. They say, doctor, you are a perfect lady-killer.

Doctor. Oh, no, no! I assure you, my dear madam, I make no difference between the sexes.

Customer. Is this lipstick waterproof and sunproof?

Shop assistant. Yes, madam. And it’s also kissproof.

A young girl. My room has looked crammed since I acquired a tallboy.

Her elderly neighbour. You should have found a shorter one, darling.