Pavlk2017EnglishLexicologyI-1

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Massive snow drifts measuring five feet high have been causing traffic chaos for drivers in Cumbria as the north of England cold snap continues. Mechanical diggers were drafted in to carve out a path on the A686 between Alston and Penrith after recent snow left roads impassable.

The Met Office said that although snow last fell in Cumbria on Saturday night, freezing fog and temperatures dipping as low as minus two had not given the snow chance to melt. A Met Office spokesman said: “Satellite images show the snow is still lingering because the air temperature has been so cold, with the

Pennines and the higher ground in the Lake District particularly affected.”

Forecasters say freezing fog patches will continue tomorrow in the north of England and Scotland, making driving potentially hazardous. Elsewhere, the southern part of the UK is set to enjoy occasional sunny spells, although it will be windy in coastal areas.

This weekend brought the coldest night of autumn so far after thermometers plunged to -9.8C as Loch Glascarnoch, in the Scottish highlands.

Experts agree earlier indications this winter may be mild were “off base” and are now warning of a cold season ahead.

Irony

Sometimes, words may acquire new meaning due to irony / aɪrənɪ/ (antiphrasis). It refers to using words and phrases with an implication opposite to their usual meaning, so there is a discrepancy between the expected (original) meaning and the intended (new, shifted) meaning. Such words and phrases thus usually acquire humorous or mildly sarcastic tones, e.g. I feel a lot better now (meaning: a lot worse), You’re as subtle as a flying brick (meaning: not subtle at all), etc.

Hyperbole and Understatement

Hyperbole /haɪ pɜ:bəlɪ/ is an exaggerated statement (or overstatement) which should not be taken (too) literally, e.g. to weigh a ton (to be very heavy), this will take me forever (this will take me a long time), etc. An understatement is a statement that makes something seem less important, impressive, serious, etc. than it really is, e.g. it’s a bit cold today (describing freezing weather), tipsy (describing someone completely drunk), etc. Litotes /laɪ təʊti:z/, / laɪtə(ʊ)ti:z / is a special kind of understatement in which we express something by means of the negation of its contrary, e.g. not bad (good), not unlike sb (like sb), etc.

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Euphemism and Dysphemism

The term euphemism / ju:fəmɪzm/ refers to a substitution of an expression which is taboo, negative, or too direct by an expression that is mild, comforting, or evasive to avoid shocking or upsetting someone, e.g. pass away (instead of die), an affair (instead of sexual relationship), etc. Dysphemism / dɪsfəmɪzm/, on the other hand, refers to the use of a negative or disparaging expression to describe something or someone, e.g. grub (instead of food), paws (instead of hands), etc.

EXERCISES

6 Underline instances of irony in the following sentences. Explain them.

(a)The instructions were as clear as mud.

(b)"Wow, look at this mess! You could win an award for cleanliness!"

(c)His pick-up lines are as smooth as sandpaper.

(d)Oh great! Now you have broken my new camera.”

(e)She was about as friendly as a coiled rattlesnake.

(f)It’s so delightful to be home with a sick child twice in one week.

(g)This chair is as comfortable as sitting on nails.

(h)"Sorry I’m late." "No problem, it’s not like we do anything important in this class anyway."

(i)Brilliant! I’ve been fired.

(j)Swell! Now you’ve broken my watch. Thank you so much!

(k)Don’t you just love those long depressing rainy afternoons?

(The Internet)

7 Look at these four gag cartoons. Identify ironic statements.

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(The Internet)

8 Find all cases of hyperbole and understatement in the following sentences.

(a)Sally was a tad annoyed when her brother sneaked a peak at her secret diary.

(b)I’m so hungry I could eat a cow!

(c)“Oh, I’ve been known to bang out a chord or two,” said the renowned concert pianist.

(d)The package took forever to arrive in the mail.

(e)Every word Laurie says is a lie, including “a” and “the.”

(f)You must admit, Ken isn’t the most talented singer in the world.

(g)I’ve wanted to go to France since the beginning of time.

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(h)Lizzy was somewhat pleased when she aced the calculus final.

(i)Herbert doesn’t actually brush his teeth; he just waves a toothbrush near his mouth.

(j)I have a million things to do today.

(k)Hitler was not a nice person.

(l)It was windy in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina.

(m)The whole world was staring at me.

(n)Bill Gates is financially secure.

(o)You snore louder than a freight train.

(p)An atomic blast is a bit noisy.

(q)That joke is so old that I was riding a dinosaur the first time I heard it.

(The Internet)

9 Form hyperboles (acceptable conventional phrases) from the following statements.

(a)He is very stupid.

(b)I’ve known him for a very long time.

(c)It rained heavily.

(d)They are rich.

(e)I don’t feel well.

(f)She is rather old.

(g)My suitcase is very heavy.

(h)I really want to meet this girl.

(i)These shoes hurt.

(j)My dad knows a lot about computers.

(k)He will be very angry when he finds out I crashed his car.

10 Underline euphemisms and dysphemisms in the following sentences. Replace them by their neutral equivalents.

(a)My old car’s finally bitten the dust.

(b)She’s gained a few extra pounds.

(c)He eats like a horse and yet he’s as thin as a rake.

(d)I’m actually between jobs right now, how about you?

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(e)Hey Jill, see you’re still burning up those cancer sticks.

(f)He’s a little thin on top these days, isn’t he?

(g)The Oaks Correctional Facility is comprised of eleven main buildings containing approximately 262,673 square feet of floor space.

(h)They gave him the sack for being late.

(i)She was a woman of ample proportions.

(j)In loving memory of my dear husband, who departed this life on 5 May, 2008.

(k)You don’t believe all that crap, do you?

(l)Hitting any non-military targets would risk collateral damage.

(m)To keep the company alive, half the workforce is being made redundant.

(n)She must be on the game, all right.

(o)What a load of bull!

(p)On the floor above the loony bin, nobody quite knew what took place.

(q)He came home after three months at college looking terribly scrawny.

(r)These drooling mutts get into all sorts of trouble during their free time on the streets.

(OALD, CALD, LDCE, The Internet)

 Chapter 7 – Further reading:

Cruse 2000: chapters 2.4.1 – 2.4.3, 5.1.2, 3.4.1, 11.3, and 11.4 Finegan 2008: chapter 6

Geeraerts 2010: chapters 5.2.1 – 5.2.3 Ginzburg, et al. 1979: chapters 2.5 and 2.6 Griffiths 2006: chapters 1.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and 6 Jackson 1988: chapters 4, 6, and 7

Jackson and Zé Amvela 2007: chapter 5.5.1

Kreidler 1998: chapters 2.4, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.7, and 3.8 Kvetko 2009: chapters 5.1 and 5.3

Lančarič 2016: chapters 4.1.1, 4.1.2, and 4.2 Leech 1981: chapters 2 and 6

Radden and Dirven 2007: chapter 1.3 Yule 2010: chapter 9

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Answer key

1 The definition of lexicology

2 (a) O, (b) O, (c) S, (d) O, (e) O, (f) S, (g) S, (h) S, (i) O, (j) S

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What’s up?, How’s it going?, How are you?, Never better., Not too bad., I’m fine, thank you., Good to see you again., I haven’t seen you for ages., Long time no see., It’s been a while., What have you been up to lately?, So how’s your work going?, How’s business?, It looks like rain., You wanna grab a bite?, Good thing I took my umbrella., It’s been great to see you again., Say hello to your wife/husband for me., Lets catch up again sometime.

2.1 Types of words

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(a) /bɪ kɒz/, /bəkəz/, (b) /ru:t/, /raʊt/, (c) / feb(rʊə)rɪ/, / febjʊerɪ/, (d) / ɒfn/, / ɒftən/, (e) / hæv/, /(hə)v/, (f) / ɪʃu:/, / ɪʃju:/, / ɪsju:/, (g) /ə ɡen/, /ə ɡeɪn/, (h) / kɒmbæt/, / kʌmbæt/, (i) /ɪn lɑ:dʒ/, /en lɑ:dʒ/, (j) / ænd/, /(ə)n(d)/, (k) /fɔ:ls/, /fɒls/, (l) / ɒv/, /ə(v)/

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5

(a) past + passive voice, past + active voice, present perfect + active voice = different, (b) past perfect, simple past = different, (c) present perfect, present perfect = same, (d) noun + plural, noun + singular, verb = different

2.2 Main features of lexemes

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(a) little, dog, learners, importance; (b) woof-woof; (c) importancy, brillig, slithy, toves, gimble, wabe; (d) chiff-chiff

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(a) foot and leg vs noha – greater abstraction in S; (b) hand and arm vs ruka – greater abstraction in S; (c) finger, fingers+thumb, toes vs prst(y), palec – greater abstraction in S; (d) power vs sila and elektrická energia – greater abstraction in E; (e) many and much vs veľa – greater abstraction in S; (f) spill vs vysypať and rozliať – greater abstraction in E; (g) cut vs strihať, rezať, krájať, zredukovať, etc. – greater abstraction in E; (h) make and do vs robiť – greater abstraction in S, make vs urobiť, upiecť, stihnúť, donútiť, etc. – greater abstraction in E; (i) lend and borrow vs požičať – greater abstraction in S; (j) spend vs minúť and stráviť – greater abstraction in E; (k) teacher vs učiteľ and učiteľka – greater abstraction in E; (l) car vs auto and vozeň – greater abstraction in E; (m) cousin vs bratranec and sesternica – greater abstraction in E; (n) marry vs vydať sa, oženiť sa and zobrať sa – greater abstraction in E; (o) between and among vs medzi – greater abstraction in S; (p) eat vs jesť and pap(k)ať – greater abstraction in E

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(a) sitting room (to sit) – obývačka (to live), (b) headphones (sth that produces sound and is placed on the head) – slúchadlá (sth used for listening/hearing), (c) half past four – pol piatej (half of five), (d) tax return (to return, to hand in) – daňové priznanie (to admit, to reveal), (e) upside down (the top side is moved down ↓) – hore nohami (the feet are moved up ↑), (f) bedside table (a stand by the bed) – nočný stolík (a night stand), (g) timetable (a table with times) – rozvrh (sth that has been cast/thrown), (h) soup plate – hlboký tanier (a deep plate),

(i) (i) coniferous tree (a tree with cones) – ihličnatý strom (a tree with needles), (j) deciduous tree (shedding leaves) – listnatý strom (having leaves)

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cock/rooster – to crow, cock-a-doodle-doo; dog – to bark, woof-woof, bow-wow; cat – to miaow/meow, to mew, miaow/meow; cow – to moo, to low, moo; pig – to squeal, to grunt, grunt, oink-oink, donkey – to brey, hee-haw, eeyore; sheep – to bleat, baa baa; goat – to bleat, meh meh; frog – to croak, ribbit; pigeon – to coo, coo coo

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Morphological motivation Semantic motivation

Has the secret of etern-al youth been found? Research-er(s) pin-pointchemic-al they say ‘has the potent-ial to post-poneag-ing’

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Research-er(s) have ident-ifi(ed) a key factor in the ag-ing process they say could one day lead to longer lives. In a new study on mice and round-worm(s), research-er(s) found that adding a chemic-al known as co-enzyme NAD+ post-pon(ed) physic-al aging and extended the subjects’ lives.

‘Our new study shows an age-depend-ent decrease in the level of NAD+, and this decrease is far greater for organ-ism(s) with early ag-ing and a lack of DNA repairs,’ says Profess-or Vilhelm Bohr, from the Center for Health-yAg-ing and the Nation-al Institute of Health.

The effects have not yet been investigated in humans, but research-er(s) say similar results are expected to be seen. This is based on the universal nature of the cell repair mechanisms, which are found in all living organisms. The findings uncover a major player in the aging process, which in many ways remains a mystery.

Accord-ing to the research-er(s), this new under-stand-ing could be a step toward the goal of life extens-ion and the post-pon-ing of physic-alag-ing, with potent-ial to one day prevent neuro-de-generat-ive diseases in humans.

3.1 Morphemes and their types

1

ADMIT

(adv) admittedly /əd mɪt/; (adj) admissible /əd mɪs/; (n) admission /əd mɪʃ/

ELECTRIC

(n) electricity /ɪ lek trɪs/; (n) electrician /ɪ lek trɪʃ/

DESCRIBE

(n) description /dɪ skrɪp/, (adj) indescribable /dɪ skraɪb/

2

Blunder as BBC Breakfast shows escaped gorilla instead of Nicola Sturgeon

There was a slightly awkward moment on BBC Breakfast this morning when footage of the gorilla that escaped at London Zoo was shown during a segment on Nicola Sturgeon. “We’re going to be joined by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon,” explained Munchetty as Kumbuka the gorilla popped up on screen. Her co-presenter Charlie Stayt then apologise d for the error: “I’m sorry we’ve … err… very clearly run the wrong pictures over that particular sequence. My apologies there.

“The story we will be talking about later, as you’ve probably guessed from the pictures, is about the escaped gorilla at London Zoo.

“We will be speaking to one of the gorilla keepers from the zoo. That’s coming up a little later on.”

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(a) counter- F, (b) dis- B, -able B, (c) under- F, (d) de- B, -ize B, (e) super- F, -ic B, (f) -ment B, (g) -wise F, (h) -or B, (i) pre- B, -ic B, (j) -ness B, (k) -man F, (l) -like F, (m) -al B, -ly B,

(n) -im B

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(a) hotshot(s) S, (b) misjudge S, (c) goldfish S, (d) unfairly D, (e) breath-taking D, (f) parental S, (g) ex-girlfriend(s) C, (h) chewing-gum S, (i) unproductive D, (j) city-dweller D, (k) unmanageable D, (l) rock-hard S, (m) handbag S, (n) bedtime S, (o) singer-songwriter CD, (p) gate-crasher D, (q) unkind S, (r) fox-hunting D, (s) boot-licker D, (t) pricey S, (u) two-year- old S, (v) unbelievable D

4.1 Affixation

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COUNT: miscounted, discount, non-count USE: abused, misused, unused, disused FLAMMABLE: (in)flammable, non-flammable

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(a) unbutton, (b) disobey, (c) ensure, (d) dislike, (e) unload, (f) endanger, (g) uncork, (h) enslave, (i) discourage, (j) dishonour, (k) redirect, (l) entitle, (m) unleash, (n) miscalculate, (o) enrich, (p) undress, (q) entangle, (r) untangle/disentangle

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(a) Ricky, Rickie, Richie, (b) eaglet (a young eagle), (c) bullock (a young castrated bull), (d) auntie, (e) rosy (pink, good), rosette, (f) dearie, darling, (g) birdie, (h) ducky (honey, dear), duckling (a young duck), (i) fatty (a fat person), fatso (a fat person), (j) cutie (a cute person),

(k) combi/kombi (a car), combo (combination), (l) bookie (a bookmaker), booklet, (m) hireling, (n) piggy (a child’s word for a pig), piglet (a small pig), (o) sapling (a young tree),

(p) goodie/goody (something tasteful/sweet; a good guy in a film), (q) kiddie (a child), kiddo (a child), (r) goalie (a goalkeeper), (s) diskette (a floppy disk), (t) eyelet (a hole surrounded by a metal ring), (u) sickie (a day you stay at home because you are sick), sicko (a psychopath, sociopath), (v) kitchenette, (w) hilly (having a lot of hills), hillock (a small hill), (x) rivulet (a small stream), (y) goosy / ɡu:sɪ/ (nervous, with goose bumps), gosling / ɡɒzlɪŋ/ (a young

goose) (z) cheapo (cheap and of poor quality).

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Oxonian /ɒk səʊnɪən/, Cantabrigian / kæntə brɪdʒɪən/, Mancunian /mæn kju:nɪən/, Liverpudlian / lɪvə p dlɪən/, Brightonian /braɪ təʊnɪən/, Bristolian /brɪs təʊlɪən/, Glaswegian /ɡlɑ:z wi:dʒ(ə)n/, Edinburger / edɪnbɜ:ɡə/, New Yorker / nju: jɔ:kə/, Washingtonian / wɒʃɪŋ təʊnɪən/, Philadelphian / fɪlə delfɪən/, Dallasite / dæləsaɪt/, Chicagoan /ʃɪ kɑ:ɡəʊən/, Las Vegan / læs veɪɡən/, Angeleno / ændʒə li:nəʊ/ or Los Angelean / lɒs ændʒə li:ən/, San Franciscan / sæn fræn sɪskən/, Denverite / denvəraɪt/, Montrealer / mɒntrɪ ɔ:lə/, Ottawan / ɒtəwən/, Canberran / kænb(ə)rən/, Sydneysider / sɪdnɪsaɪdə/, Melburnian /mel bɜ:nɪən/, Muscovite / m skəvaɪt/, Roman / rəʊmən/, Parisian /pə rɪzɪən/, Bratislavan / brætɪ slɑ:vən/, Praguer / prɑ:ɡə/, Budapester / bju:də pestə/, Viennese / vi:ə ni:z/ or Wiener / wi:nə/, Varsovian /vɑ: səʊvɪən/.

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DUST: dust particles, dusty road, dust jackets, dusty pink, dust-like particles GOLD: gold watch, golden opportunity, gold medal, gold digger, golden hair