Лексикология / Семинар 6 СГАУ

SEMINAR VI

Stylistic layers and regional varieties of the English vocabulary.

1. Formal vs informal vocabulary.

2. The main stylistic layers: terminology, bookish words, poetic words, slang, dialect words.

3. Basic vocabulary.

4. Regional varieties of English.

5. American English. Lexical divergents and analogues.

6. The vocabulary of the “Common Core”.

TASKS

1. Complete the following chart. Provide your own examples for each category.

Stylistic Stratification of the English Vocabulary

	I. a. b. c. d.	I. a. b. c. d.
	II. a. b. c.	II. a. b. c.
	III.	III.

2. Define the following terms. Think of the examples for each category of words.

COLLOQUIALISMS –

SLANG –

DIALECT –

OBSOLETE WORDS –

ARCHAISMS –

HISTORISMS –

TERMINOLOGY –

TERM -

3. Specify the basic peculiarities of terms.

• …

• …

• …

4. Name the characteristic features of Basic vocabulary.

• …

• …

• …

• …

5. Study the following words and their definitions. Say what peculiarities of these words make it possible to describe them as slang words.

bug – an apparatus for listening secretly to other people’s conversations;

chickenfeed – a small unimportant amount of money;

jawbreaker – 1) a word that is hard to pronounce; 2) AmE a hard round peace of candy;

stoned – under the influence of drugs or very drunk;

top dog/ AmE top banana – the person in the highest or most important position, especially after a struggle or effort. (19)

6. Read the following sentences paying attention to the words and word combinations in italics. Say whether these words are literary colloquial or low colloquial.

1. As soon as the doctor saw her, he shipped her off to hospital. 2. His girlfriend is bang-up¹ again. 3. Showing up drunk blew my rep with Linda’s parents. 4. My watch is bust, I must have it fixed. 5. You organize the drinks for the party and I’ll do the eats. 6. It was such a simple plan; how could you have screwed it up? 7. I don’t want to do anything with him. He’s such a wimp²! 8. She tried to hide her feelings, but the tears in her eyes were a dead giveaway. 9. Have you seen that macho-man³ demonstrating his muscles to the girls? 10. I’ve learned nothing from her. She is very cagey about her past life.

____________________

¹bang-up – pregnant; ² wimp – a weak or useless person (esp. a man); ³macho-man – a man who wants people to see that he is very strong and powerful

7. Study the advertisement below; find 1) colloquial words, 2) neutral words, 3) terms, 4) learned words.

For ITCHY, Flaky Scalp

Neutrogena created T/Gel Therapeutic Shampoo with an exclusive ingredient that’s clinically proven to keep working long after shampoo rinses off. T/Gel is guaranteed tough on scalp problems, yet gentle to your hair. And very pleasant to use. Dermatologists recommend it for effective treatment of seborrhea, psoriasis and severe dandruff.

(from People, May 4, 1992, vol. 37. – P.16)

8. Match the terms with their definitions.

American English (AE)	a. names of places, rivers, lakes, states, etc.
British English (BE)	b. word or set-expression peculiar to the English language as spoken in England
Local dialects	c. words identical in meaning but differing in sound form
Americanism	d. words identical in sound form but different in meaning
Briticism	e. words belonging to both British and American English
Toponyms	f. varieties of a language used as a means of oral communication and having no literary norm of their own
Lexical divergents	g. a word or set-expression peculiar to the English language as spoken in the USA
Lexical analogues	h. a regional variety of the English language spoken in the United States and having a literary norm of its own (Standard American)
Vocabulary of the “Common Core”	i. a regional variety of the English language spoken in Great Britain and having a literary norm of its own (Standard English)

9. Match the British words with their American counterparts.

1. bonnet	a) rare	9. maize	j) oven
2. wings	b) orchestra	10. fortnight	k) garbage collector
3. dustman	c) newsstand	11.public house	l) radio
4. cooker	d) tavern	12. waistcoat	m) hood
5. wireless	f) turn signal	13.underdone (meat)	n) dry goods store
6. kiosk	g) vest	14. draper’s	o) absorbent cotton
7. cotton wool	h) thumbtack	15. drawing pin	p) corn
8. indicator	i) two weeks	16. stalls	q) fenders

11. Study the Americanisms in the box. Find their British counterparts in the sentences below.

derby, garbage can, highway repairs, subway, undershirt, muffler, hardware store, dessert, hot water heater, roast, raincoat

1. He collected the old newspapers and put them in the dustbin.

2. John hung his waterproof on a hook in the kitchen.

3. Mrs. Pryce-Jones bought a frying pan at the ironmonger’s.

4. After dinner the sweet was served.

5. Colin chose the joint and two vegetables from the dishes on the menu.

6. To get to his job, Ronald had to take the bus and the underground.

7. It was a new car but something was wrong with the silencer.

8. The tightly furled umbrella and bowler hat made Ian look British.

9. Signs alerted Peter to the road works ahead.

10. Nora put a coin in the geyser and waited for the water to turn hot.

11. She disapproved when he came to the dinner table in his vest.

DO THE FOLLOWING EXERCISES FROM THE BOOK Антрушина Г.Б., Афанасьева О.В. Лексикология английского языка. М., Изд-во «Дрофа», 1999:

Chapters 1, 2, 14. Ex.2 p.22-23, 2(а) p.39-40, 4 p.42.

TOPICS FOR REPORTS

Professional terminology

RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS

1. Антрушина Г.Б., Афанасьева О.В. Лексикология английского языка. М., Изд-во «Дрофа», 1999

2. Гвишиани Н.Б. Современный английский язык. Лексикология. Москва., Изд-во Московского университета, 2000

3. Минаева Л.В. Лексикология и лексикография современного английского языка. М., Изд-во Ступени, 2003

4. Морозова А.Н., Мишина Ю.Е. Лексикология английского языка. Самара, Изд-во СГПУ, 2003

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