Лексикология английского языка. Practice Makes Perfect. Учебное пособие

E.Try to get part time work as a waiter or waitress. You will learn several invaluable things: how to deal with drunks, the secret of the professional kitchen and how to behave in restaurants.

F.If, at the age of seventeen, you have a little monkey tattooed on your belly, stop to consider that, by the time you are thirty-one and nine months pregnant, the little monkey will have stretched to look like King Kong.

G.What are my own plans for the millennium night? The true answer is that I have none. I may make the ultimate sacrifice and babysit the grandchildren. We could have a midnight winter picnic, with fireworks and joke about their parents. We’d then drive home to eggs and bacon, and the first buttered toast of a new dawn.

25.Classify the following words according to the sphere of human activity they represent. What type of borrowings are these?

Gravity, business, cricket, computer, credit, bonus, marathon, video, bank, ballet, tennis, sputnik, comics, terrorism, technology, appetite, golf, cigarettes, coffee, debate, session, energy, media, Internet, player, stylist, film, designer, beret, engineer, critic, parmesan, bracelet, culture, comedy, sport, democracy, seminar, medicine, exam, boutique.

26.Read the following text. Copy out the international words. What sphere of human activity do they belong to?

Inventor Thomas Midgley was born in 1889 in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in mechanical engineering.

‘Knock’ was a destructive phenomenon that occurred in internal combustion engines, a phenomenon that became worse at high enginecompression ratios. Midgley discovered that knock was the result of a fuel failure, not an engine failure.

A trial-and-error search began to find a fuel additive to reduce the temperature and pressure within the cylinder to suppress the knock.

32.What is the difference between the words in the following pairs? Analyze the examples and prove that etymological and stylistic characteristics of words are closely interrelated

House –abode, help – servant, worker – laborer, baby – infant, childish – infantile, home – domestic, youth – juvenile, to forgive – to pardon, to ask – to implore, to admit – to confess, to leave – to abandon.

33.Read the following text. State some tendencies typical of Late Modern English. Give your own examples to illustrate theoretical points

The principal distinction between early and late modern English is vocabulary. Pronunciation, grammar, and spelling are largely the same. Late Modern English has many new words. These words are the results of two historical factors. The first is the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the technological society. This necessitated new words for things and ideas that had not previously existed. The second was the British Empire. At its height, Britain ruled one quarter of the earth’s surface. And English adopted many words and made them its own.

The industrial and scientific revolutions created a need for neologisms to describe the new creations and discoveries. For this, English relied heavily on Latin and Greek. Words like oxygen, protein, nuclear, vaccine did not exist in the classical languages, but they were created from Latin and Greek roots. Neologisms were not exclusively created from classical roots, though; English roots were used for such terms as horsepower, airplane, typewriter. The burst of neologisms continues today, most visible in the field of electronics and computers.

Also, the rise of the British Empire and the growth of global trade served not only to introduce English to the world, but to introduce foreign words into English. Virtually every language on Earth has contributed to the development of English.

But the most significant linguistic consequence of the British Empire was the creation and spread of American English.

Finally, the 20th century saw two world wars, and the military influence on the language during the latter half of the century was great. Before the Great War, military service for English-speaking persons was rare; both Britain and the United States maintained small, volunteer militaries. Military slang existed, but with the exception of nautical terms, rarely influenced Standard English. Military slang entered the language like never before. Blockbuster, camouflage, radar, roadblock, spearhead are all military terms that made their way into Standard English (Dave Wilton).

Word-Building in English

Affixation

1.Analyze the following words from the point of view of their morphemic structure. Speak about different types of morphemes in English

Anti-reactionary, illegal, carefully, geologist, inspector, military, readership, television, government, total.

2.Analyze the pairs of words and say whether the affixes in them function as word-building morphemes or functional (inflectional) morphemes

Alarm – alarmist, arrange – arrangement, bitter – bitterness, book – books, buy –buys, divide – subdivide, flower – flowers, house – houses, ideal – idealism, novel – novelist, old – older, ox – oxen, push – pushed, symbol – symbolize, wife – wives.

3.Many English words are derived from Latin or Greek roots. Analyze the roots and their meanings. Give your own examples with the same roots

Latin Roots

4.One and the same notion (concept) can be expressed by means of different roots in English. The first and the most recognizable root is usually of native origin; it belongs to the basic word stock. The other two come from Latin and Greek. Analyze the examples. Give your own words with the roots; explain their meanings as it is shown in the exercise

5.Derive nouns from the following verbs and put them into the table. Say a few words about the productivity and etymology of the affixes

Add, admire, announce, approve, arrange, astonish, develop, embarrass, educate, form, organize, permit, pronunciation, tax, vary.

6.Derive adjectives or participles from the following verbs and nouns and put them into the table. Explain the etymology, meaning and productivity of the suffixes

Power, bore, continue, cure, admire, hope (n.), satisfy, excite, suspect, avoid, desire, glory, vice, distress, embarrass, respectful, doubt (n.), virtue, prefer, compare, vary, respect, exhaust, care.

7.Fill in the gaps with a suitable word. Explain the difference in meaning

a) delighted– delightful

When they knew they had won, they were absolutely __. Thank you for such a __ evening. I know Dad will be __if you send him a letter.

b) Economic – economical

The __ crisis was caused by the increase in the population. The presentation deals with the __ development of the region. The synonym to the word ‘thrifty’ is __. What is the most __ way of heating the house?

c) exhausting-exhaustive

She made a __ study of the subject. Most students find this test __, but few find it to be impossible. I’ve nothing to add, the report is __. The trip turned out to be __.

8.Speak about etymology and productivity of the affixes given below. Give your own examples with the affixes

-dom, -ship, -th, -ful, -less, -y, -ly(adv.), -ing, -tion, -able, -ar, -ment, dis-, im-, un-, pre-, post-, semi-, anti-, micro.

9.Knowing about affixes can often help you to work out what words mean. Fill in the table and write 3–4 words of your own using the same affix

To mistranslate

To rewrite

To overeat

To underpay

Anti-war

Ex-husband

Employee

Bluish

Useless

10.The italicized words in the following text are formed by derivation. Write them out in two columns: a) words formed with the help of native affixes; b) words formed with the help of borrowed affixes

Computer Gender

A man who was previously a sailor was aware that ships are addressed as “she” or “he”. He often wondered what gender computers should be addressed. To answer that question, he set up two groups of computer experts. The first was comprised of women, and the second of men. Each group was asked to recommend whether computers should be referred to in the feminine gender or the masculine gender. They were asked to give four reasons for their recommendation.

The group of women reported that the computers should be referred to in the masculine gender because:

In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on. They have o lot of data, but are still clueless.

They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are the problem.

As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you have waited a little longer you could have had a better model.

The men, on the other hand, concluded that Computers should be referred to in the feminine gender because:

No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.

The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.

As soon as you make commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paychecks on accessories for it.

Conversion

11. In the following sentences find cases of conversion

A.Dr. Morris said he planned to expand his research.

B.The green tax agenda is likely to anger many traditional supporters.

C.Back at the office I decided to experiment with alternative transport and borrowed a colleague’s bike.

D.I’ve kept the thing to myself so far because I fear public ridicule.