- •Theme 1: Lexicology as a Branch of Linguistics. The Word as the Basic Unit of Lexicology
- •Theme 2: English Etymology
- •Comment on the terms:
- •Theme 3: Word-building in Modern English
- •Comment on the terms:
- •Theme 4: Lexical Meaning as a Linguistic Category. Development of Meaning
- •Comment on the terms:
- •Explain the basis for the following jokes:
- •3. Specify lexical and grammatical meaning of the following words:
- •4.Identify the denotative and connotative elements of the meanings in the following pairs of words:
- •5.Define the type of transference which has taken place:
- •6.Trace the process of narrowing of meaning in the words:
- •Theme 5: Semantic Relations of Words and Structure of the English Lexicon
- •Comment on the terms:
- •2.Write out from a dictionary all the meanings of the following words. Comment on the semantic structure of the words:
- •3.Single out the denotative and connotative components of meaning of the synonyms in the following examples:
- •Theme 6: English Phraseology
- •1.Comment on the terms:
- •6. Give Russian equivalents of the phraseological units. Memorize them
- •8.Complete the following sentences, using the phraseological units given in the list below. Translate them into Russian.
- •10.Choose the idiom. Choose the word or phrase which best completes each sentence.
- •11.Complete the paired phraseological units in the sentences below.
- •Theme 7: Stylistic classification of English Vocabulary
- •1.Comment on the terms:
- •7.The italicized words and word-groups in the following extracts belong to informal style. Describe the stylistic peculiarities of each extract in general. Look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary:
- •8.Compose the following brief situations. Your language and style should suit both the subject and the situation:
- •Theme 8: American English
- •1.Comment on the terms:
- •2.Find:
- •3.Explain the differences in the meanings of the following words in American and British English:
- •4.Identify the etymology of the following words:
- •5.Say which of the two words is American and which is British. Translate the sentences into Russian:
- •6.Translate into English giving two variants – British and American:
- •7. Translate the following sentences:
8.Compose the following brief situations. Your language and style should suit both the subject and the situation:
a)A short formal letter to a Mrs. Grey, a distant acquaintance, in which you tell her that you cannot accept her invitation to a party. Explain the reason.
b)Two undergraduates are discussing why one of them has been expelled from his college. (Don't forget that young people use both literary and familiar colloquial words.)
c)The parents of the dismissed student are wondering what to do with him. (Older people, as you remember, are apt to be less informal in their choice of words.)
d)A short review on a theatrical production or film.
e)A discussion between two teenagers about the same play or film.
Theme 8: American English
1.Comment on the terms:
Variant, dialect, Americanisms (historical, proper), borrowings, American shortenings, grammatical differences of American English.
2.Find:
a) a full Briticism: fortnight; ship; country; window.
b) a full Americanism: drug-store; childhood; friendship; cinema.
c)the word the spelling of which in the USA differs from that in Britain: standard; national; labor; language.
d) the American form of Participle II: written; proven; spoken; taken.
e) the word which is obsolete in Britain but modern in the USA: building, to pronounce, fall (season), to ask.
f)a dialectal word: village, city, town, burgh.
g)the word formed with the help of a dialectal suffix: doggy, dogeen, Charley, antie.
h)which of the dialects became the national language of Britain: Lowland, Northern, Western, Midland.
3.Explain the differences in the meanings of the following words in American and British English:
Corn, apartment, homely, guess, lunch.
4.Identify the etymology of the following words:
Ohio, ranch, squash, mosquito, banjo, toboggan, pickaninny, Mississippi, sombrero, prairie, wigwam.
5.Say which of the two words is American and which is British. Translate the sentences into Russian:
1. We’ve decided to take our vacation in the autumn/ fall this year. 2. At my son’s new school the new semester/ term starts next week. 3. I never eat biscuits or sweets/ candy. 4. Put that garbage in the dustbin/ trashcan. 5. The trousers look nice with that waistcoat/ vest. 6. The lorry/ track came past us on the highway. 7. My apartment is on the fifth floor but I’m afraid there’s no lift/ elevator. 8. The people next door are on holiday/ vacation. 9. We left the car in the car park/ parking lot and took the subway. 10. My dress is in the wardrobe/ closet.
6.Translate into English giving two variants – British and American:
Тротуар, осень, консервная банка, каникулы, бензин, штора, ящик для мусора, лифт, конфета, грузовик, товарный поезд, багаж, метро, подтяжки, брюки, кран, почтовый ящик, бумажник, визитная карточка, стюардесса, банкнота, свекла, ж.д. касса, багажник, ж.д. вагон, банкомат, кассир, центр города, аптека, компания, переезд, смокинг, район города, врач, правительство, первый этаж, ООО, ж.д. дорога, шпалы, кольцевая дорога, магазин, подземный переход, трамвай;
Надоесть, быть уволенным, на всей скорости, короче говоря, время до рассвета, трудолюбивый человек, встать с левой ноги.