VII. In the following verse, find the words belonging to the poetic diction:

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellow'd to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

 

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impair'd the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o'er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

 

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent! (G.Byron)

VIII. From the following extract, pick out archaisms, give their modern English equivalents:

And thou art dead, as young and fair

As aught of mortal birth;

And form so soft, and charms so rare,

Too soon return'd to Earth!

Though Earth receiv'd them in her bed,

And o'er the spot the crowd may tread

In carelessness or mirth,

There is an eye which could not brook

A moment on that grave to look. (G. Byron)

IX. Pick out 20-25 literary learned words from the book on your home-reading. Seminar III Etymological Characteristics of Modern English Vocabulary

I. Words of native origin, their characteristic features.

II. Borrowed words. Latin, French, Scandinavian and other borrowings.

III. The influence of borrowed words on the English language.

IV. Assimilation of borrowed words.

V. Etymological doublets.

VI. International words.

Questions and Tasks

I. Consider your answers to the following:

1. What does etymology study?

2. Give definitions of a native word and a loan word.

3. What are characteristic features of English native words? What letter combinations usually signal native words?

4. What historical reasons account for a large number of borrowings in English?

5. Describe characteristic features of Latin borrowings, classify them by periods.

6. Describe characteristic features of French borrowings, classify them by thematic groups.

7. Describe characteristic features of Scandinavian borrowings.

8. Give examples of borrowings from other languages.

9. Speak on the influence of borrowed words upon the English language.

10. What is understood by the assimilation of borrowed words?

11. What factors determine the degree of assimilation of borrowed words?

12. What is the difference between “the source of borrowing’ and “the origin of borrowing”?

13. Speak on complete and partial assimilation (or absence of assimilation) in phonetic, grammatical and semantic aspects.

14. What are etymological doublets? Describe their types.

15. What are international words? In what sphere of communication do they frequently occur?

II. Look up the words listed below in an etymological dictionary. Classify them according to their origin:

Alcohol, amphora, anecdote, apparatchik, barbecue, caftan, canoe, chaos, chauffer, chimpanzee, chocolate, complex, cosmodrome, Cossack, deprecate, devil, dollar, film, finger, gorilla, guerrilla, hurricane, husband, jungle, karma, lilac, machine, mammoth, mazurka, nun, operetta, renovate, school, skipper, sugar, taboo, telegraph, tooth, trauma, tree, umbrella, vanilla, waltz, wigwam.

III. Look up the following words in an etymological dictionary. Trace the history of each word as completely as possible.

Example: costume - French < Italian < Latin ( < = “from”)

Cosmonaut, sherbet, kaput, camel, Negro, robot.

IV. For each marked root below, decide whether it originally comes from Greek or from Latin. Indicate which letters in the root provide the clue:

Cyclone, equal, euthanasia, ecology, kilometre, local, aerosol, metropolis, geology, arid, telegraph, visual, benefit, ferrous, annual, psychic, anesthesia, chaos, helicopter, pedestrian.

V. State the origin of the following loan words. Which of them have become anglicised and which are still felt as foreign?

Regime, pearl, adventure, shawl, eau-de-Cologne, monsieur, adieu, juvenile, album, autobiography, situation, generalise, justice.

VI. State the origin of the etymological doublets and comment on the difference in their meaning:

Artist – artiste, abbreviate – abridge; balm – balsam; canal – channel; cavalry – chivalry; cart – chart; corps – corpse; dike – ditch; fragile – frail; hospital – hostel, hotel; legal – loyal; liquor – liqueur; nay – no; of – off; salon – saloon; screw – shrew; screech – shriek; senior – sir; shade – shadow; suit – suite; wage – gage; whit – wight.

VII. Compare the meaning of the following Russian and English words:

Операция – operation, деликатный – delicate, характер - character, симпатизировать – sympathize, идея - idea, реализовать - realize, агент - agent, агитатор - agitator, кондуктор - conductor, магазин - magazine, лунатик - lunatic, субъект - subject, спекулировать - speculate, имитировать - imitate, иллюминировать - illuminate, иммунитет - immunity, инцидент - incident, объект - object, принципиальный - principal, проспект - prospect, комплекция - complexion, аккуратный - accurate.