Seminar №4

1. Answer the following questions.

1. What is the earliest group of English borrowings? Date it.

2. What Celtic borrowings are there in English?

3. Which words were introduced into English vocabulary during the period of Christianization?

4. What are the characteristic features of Scandinavian borrowings?

5. When and under what circumstances did England become a bilingual country? What imprint features were left in English vocabulary by this period?

6. What are the characteristic features of words borrowed into English during the Renaissance?

7. What suffixes and prefixes can help you to recognize words of Latin and French origin?

8. What is meant by the native element of English vocabulary?

9. Why does English vocabulary contain such an immense number of words of foreign origin?

2. Subdivide all the following words of native origin into a) Indo-European, b) Germanic, c) English proper.

Daughter, woman, room, land, cow, moon, sea, red, spring, three, I, lady, always, goose, bear, fox, lord, tree, nose, birch, grey, old, daisy, heart, hand, night, to eat, to see, to make.

3. In the following sentences find examples of Latin borrowings; identify the period of borrowings.

1. The garden here consisted of a long smooth lawn with rows of cherry trees planted in the grass.

2. The room was full of young men, all talking at once and drinking cups of tea.

3. “Lewis, dear,” Edwina said, “could you interrupt your speech and pour some wine?”

4. All Anna’s life worked to schedule; like a nun, she would have been lost without her watch.

5. I made my way to the kitchen and tried the kitchen door which gave on to the fire-escape.

6. Within the cathedral which was filled, a section near the altar had been reserved for Rosselli relatives and friends.

3. In the sentences given below find the examples of Scandinavian borrowings. How can the Scandinavian borrowings be identified?

1. She was wearing a long blue skirt and a white blouse.

2. The sun was high, the sky unclouded, the air warm with a dry fresh breeze.

3. He went on to say that he was sorry to hear that I had been ill.

4. If Eastin were right, Wainwright reasoned, the presence of the husband could tie in with Wainwright’s own theory of an outside accomplice.

5. Two eyes – eyes like winter windows, glared at him with ruthless impersonality.

4. Explain the etymology of the following words.

Sputnik, kindergarten, opera, piano, potato, tomato, violin, coffee, cocoa, blitzkrieg, steppe, komsomol, balalaika.

5. Read the following extract. Which of the italicized borrowings came from Latin and which from French?

Connoisseurs of the song will be familiar with the name of Anna Quentin, distinguished blues singer and versatile vocalist. Miss Quentin’s admirers, who have been regretting her recent retirement from the limelight, will hear with mixed feelings the report that she is bound to Hollywood. Miss Quentin, leaving for a short stay in Paris, refused either to confirm or to deny a rumour that she had signed a long-term contract for work in America.