3.Sources of Synonymy.

The majority of those who studied synonymy focussed their attention on the prominent part of foreign loan words in English synonymy,e.g. freedom::liberty or heaven::sky,where the first elements are native and the second,French and Scandinavian respectively. O.Jespersen and many others used to stress that the English language is peculiarly rich in synonyms because Britons,Romans,Saxons,Danes and Normans fighting and settling upon the soil of the British Isles could not but influence each other’s speech.

Synonymy has its characteristic patterns in each language. Its peculiar feature in English is the contrast btw. simple native words stylistically neutral,literary words borrowed from French and learned words of Greco - Latin origin. This results in a sort of stylistically conditioned triple keyboard that can be illustrated by the following:

Native English	Words borrowed fr.	Words borrowed fr.
Words.	French.	Latin.
to ask	to question	to interrogate
belly	stomach	abdomen
to gather	to assemble	to collect
empty	devoid	vacuous
to end	to finish	to complete
to rise	to mount	to ascend
teaching	guidance	instruction

English also uses many pairs of synonymous derivatives the one of Hellenic and the other Romance,e.g.: periphery: circumference; hypothesis: supposition;

sympathy: compassion.

The pattern of stylistic relationship represented in the above table,althoughtypical,is by no means universal.

A source of synonymy also well worthy of note from sociolinguistic point of view is the so - calledeuphemism in which by a shift of meaning a word of more or less pleasant or at least inoffensive connotation substitutes one that is harsh,obscene,indelicate or otherwise unpleasant.

The denotational meaning of "drunk"and "merry" may be the same. The substitution is accounted for by the speaker's tendency to be considerate, and not to offend other people e.g.: naked -in one's birthday suit; pregnant- in the family way; to die; to be no more - to be gone; to breath one’s last -to join the silent majority- to pass away.

In present - day English euphemism is mostly based on some social and ethical standard or behaviour, on the desire not to hurt other people's feelings.

4. Antonyms

May be defined as two or rarely more words of the same languagebelonging to the same part of speech,identical in style and nearly identical in distribution ,associated and usedtogether so that their denotative meanings render contrary or contradictory notions. Antonyms form binary oppositions the distinctive feature of which is semantic polarity.("Romeo and Juliet" Act I,Scene V)

My only love sprung from my only hate!

Too early seen unknown,and known too late!

5. Homonyms

Two or more words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning,distribution and (in many cases) origin are calledhomonyms.

Homonymy exists in many languages,but in English it is particularly frequent especially among monosyllabic words. The most widely accepted classification is that recognizing homonyms proper,homophones and homographs.

Homonyms proper - identical in pronunciation and spelling: "ball" - мяч,ball- бал; bark - лаять,bark - корадерева.

Homophones are words of the same sound but of different spelling and meaning: knight - night; not - knot; cent - sent; piece - peace.

Homographs are words different in sound and meaning but identical in spelling: bow-[bәυ] -bow- [baυ]

- sewer-[sәυә] -sewer- [sjuә]

- tear-[tɛә]-tear [tiә]

LECTURE 7.

Theme: Phraseology.Set Expression Proverbs and Idioms.

1. Introduction.

In this lecture we are going to deal withword - groups consisting of two or more words whose combination is integrated as a unit with a specialized meaning of the whole,such as "not for the world", "ups and downs", "up to the mark", "bulls in china shops".Thus,together with synonymy and antonymy,phraseology represents expressive resources of vocabulary. However there is great ambiguity of the terms "phraseology" and "idioms" accepted in Russian linguistics. Opinions differ as to how this part of the vocabulary should be defined,classified,described and analyzed. Many authors disagree upon the terminology they use. The word "phraseology",for instance has very different meanings in this country and in Gr.Britain or the US.In Russian linguistics the term has come to be used for the whole ensemble of expressions where the meaning of one element is dependent on the other irrespective of the structure and properties of the unit.V. V. Vinogradov);with other authors it denotes only such set expressionswhich,as distinguished from idioms,do not possess expressiveness or emotional colouring(A.I.Smirnitsky). A.V.Koonin lays stress on the structural separateness of the elements in a phraseological unit,on the change of meaning in the whole as compared with its elements taken separately and on a certain minimum stability. All these authors use the same word "phraseology" to denote the branch of linguistics studying theword - groups they have in mind.

In English and American linguistics the situation is very different. No special branch of study exists and the term "phraseology" is a stylistic one,meaning mode of expression,peculiarities of "diction",i.e. choice and arrangement of words and phrases characteristic of some author or some literary work. TheEnglish use the word idiom "to denote" a mode of expression peculiar to a language without differentiating btw. the grammatical and lexical levels. It may also mean a group of words whose meaning is difficult or impossible to understand from the knowledge of the words considered separately.

The term "set expression" is on the contrary more definite and self - explanatory because the first element points out the most important characteristicsof these units, namely, their stability,their fixed and ready - made nature. Thus, "give up"and "that’s a horse of another colour" - are set expressions.

2. Set expressions,semi - fixed combinations and free phrases

Set expressions are contrasted to free phrases and semi - fixed combinations. All these are but different stages of restrictions imposed upon со - occurrence of words upon the lexical filling of structural patterns which are specific for every language.

A free phrase permits substitution of any of its elements without semantic change in the other element or elements.

In semi - fixed combinations we are not only able to say that such substitution exists,but fix their boundaries by stating the semantic properties of words that can be used for substitution. For example,the pattern consisting of the verb "go" followed by a preposition and a noun with no article before it(go to school,go to market,go to college,etc.) is used only with nouns of places where definite actions or functions are performed. If substitution is only pronominal,or restricted to a few synonyms for one of the members only,or impossible,i.e. if the elements of the phrase are,always the same and make a fixed context for each other,the word - group is aset - expression .

A set - expression functioning in speech is equivalent in distribution to definite classes of words or to complete sentences. Therefore we can distinguish set - expressions that arenominal phrases,e.g.the root of the trouble; verbal phrases:to take the bull by the horns; adjectival phrases:as good as gold; adverbial phrases:from head to heels; prepositional:in the course of; conjunctional phrases:as long as;interjectional phrases: well,I never.

3.Proverbs,sayings, familiar quotations and cliches.

The place of proverbs, sayings and familiar quotations with respect to set expressions is a controversial issue.A proverb is a short familiar epigrammatic sailing expressing popular wisdom,a truth or a moral lesson in a concise and imaginative way.

Proverbs have much in common with set expressions because their lexical components are also constant,their meaning is traditional and mostly figurative,and they are introduced into speech ready - made. That's why some scholars following V.V.Vinogradov thinkproverbs must be studied together with phraseological unities.

Another reason why proverbs must be taken into consideration together with set expressions is that they often form the basis of set expressions. For example: "the last straw breaks the camel's back::the last straw."; "a drowning man will clutch at a straw::to clutch at a straw".

Both set expressions and proverbs are sometimes split and changed for humorous purposes,as in the following quotation where the proverb.J7MZ is not gold that glitters"combines with an allusion to the set expression(ccылкa,намек) i.e. "golden age"::It will be an age not perhaps of gold,but at least of glitter.

As to familiar quotations,they are different from proverbs in their origin.They come from literature but by and by they become part and parcel of the language,so that many people using them do not even know that they are quoting.

The Shakespearian quotations have become and remain extremely numerous - they have contributed enormously to the store of the language.

Some quotations are so often used,that they come to be consideredcliches. The term comes from the printing trade.The cliche is a metal block used for printing pictures and turning them out in great numbers. The term is used to denote such phrases as have become hackneyed and stale. Being constantly and mechanically repeated they have lost their original expressiveness and so are better avoided. The following are perhaps the most generally recognized: "astronomical figures; the arms of Morpheus, to break the ice; the irony of fate,stand shoulder to shoulder; swan song", etc.

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