Vocabulary

to bake – печь

crusts – корки хлеба

Darter – зд. «доченька»

‘em - them

ain’t – don’t

to spin (spun, уст. span; spun) – прясть

ha’ spun five skeins («have spun five skeins») – спряла пять мотков пряжи

a gatless girl («gutless girl») – зд. устар. «слабая, безвольная девушка»

a spinning-wheel – прялка

flax – кудель пряжи

impet – зд. устар. «бесенок»

Tasks

1. Read the text and find out figures of speech.

2. What are the stylistic roles of figures of speech used in the text?

Dialect Words

The dialect words show the social standing of the speaker. On special significance for English literature is the so-called Cockney – the dialect of the uneducated people in London. The characteristic features of the Cockney speaking are as follows:

Phonetic features. a) the diphthong [ei] is replaced by [ai] (to sy, to py, instead of “to say”, “to pay”, [au] is replaced by monophthong [a:] (nah then instead of “now then”);

5. words like “manners”, “thank you” are pronounced as menners, thenk you;

6. the suffix “-ing” is pronounced as [n]: sittin’, standin’¹

Lexical features: use of idioms (my plates are killing me – больно мне надо, turn up – важничать, open your mince-pies – откройся, up the frog and toad – спешить), abbreviations (veg stands for “vegetables”, ma stands for «mother» and pa – for “father”).

Bill Cole talks about when he was young

I was born in 1919, er .. May 7th, 1919. I was the eldest of four. I had one brother and two sisters – just the youngest sister is still alive. I’m a true Cockney. We lived in the East End of London. We had two rooms above a fish and chip shop. Number 18 India Street it was, next to the river. The rooms always smelt of fish. We didn’t have much money, but we ate well – not only fish and chips. Dad worked in the fruit and vegetable market at Covent Garden. He used to bring home all kinds of fruit and veg. Ma was a cleaner, and she worked in the offices and hospitals.

Dad used to start work at four o’clock in the morning and, from when I was seven, it was my job, before school, to run to the market with his breakfast. I used to love doing that.

Best of all were the days when he said: “Don’t go to school today, son. Stay with me. You’ll learn more about life here. But don’t tell your Ma!"

He was right – the noise, the men and the women shouting and laughing, the color, the smells it was wonderful. At lunch time we got pies and peas twice for sixpence. I can still taste that pies and peas – best taste in the world!

Then Dad died when I was twelve. I had to help Ma look after the little ones. So I left school and started to work full-time in the market. I did it for ten years. After that I was a taxi-driver. It’s been a good life.

(taken from “Headway Pre-Intermediate)

Vocabulary

Cockney – название, данное тому, кто родился поблизости от центра Лондона под звуки колокола из Bow Church.

Fish and chips – кафе, где можно купить «еду с собой» (дешевая еда, состоящая из рыбы и жареного картофеля, завернутого в газету). Сейчас в этих заведениях можно купить жареную курицу, гамбургеры и рыбу.

Sixpence – устаревшая монета, равноценная 2.5 шиллингам

Pie and peas twice – два приема пищи, состоящие из пирога с начинкой из мяса с горохом

Tasks

1. Listen, read the text and observe the dialectal peculiarities.

2. Analyze the stylistic distinctive features of this text.