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FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 1
Question 1. What is the subject matter of lexicology?
Answers: (5 points)
The subject matter of lexicology is the word, its structure, formation, meaning, history,
phraseology, lexicography and regional varieties of the words. In a broad sense, lexicology
can be said to include five essential branches:
- Word structure and formation: investigates all the problems concerning the structure of
the word and the way it is formed.
- Semantics (or semasiology): focuses on the meaning of the word chiefly lexical meaning
because the grammatical meaning is studied in grammar. It discusses the types of meaning, the
change and development of meaning, the grouping of words and so on.
- Phraseology: goes into set (fixed) expressions which are reproduced in speech as ready-
made units. There may be standardized word combinations, idioms, proverbs etc. from only
two word phrases to very long sayings. In English, there are such set expressions as “Good
heavens, diamond cuts diamond, no pains no gains”
- Etymology: refers to the history, the origin of words. Etymologists divide the English
vocabulary into two main layers: native words and borrowed words.
- Lexicography: studies the problems related to dictionary compiling. They are the problems
of the types of dictionary, the selection of words for each type, the arrangement of word and
so on.
Question 2. Give the definitions of lexical meaning and grammatical meaning? Give 3
examples for each.
Answers:
There are two main types of meanings found in words: lexical meaning and grammatical
meaning.
Lexical meaning is the realization of concept or emotion. When we hear or see the word
“house” for example, our concept is realized and the picture or image of a house occurs to our
mind. Therefore this realization is called lexical meaning. Eg: book, man, woman
Grammatical meaning is what unites words with different lexical meaning. It is the meaning
recurrent in identical sets of different words. It divides words into groups with their own
grammatical features. So, the grammatical meaning of house, book, man, word, etc. is that
they are nouns in singular and common case. The grammatical meaning of “pretty, tall, dark,
white, lexical, etc.” is that they are adjectives.
Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department
Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai
FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 2
Question 1. What is the basic stock of words?
Answers: 5 points
The basic stock of words may be said to consist of five groups which denote:
1- The most common objects and phenomena of nature: sky, earth, sun, star, moon, rain,
wind, water, tree etc.
2- The names of human beings, parts of the body, relatives: man, woman, mother, father,
brother, sister, arm, foot etc.
3- Men’s dwelling, domestic animals: house, roof, dog, cat, pig, cow, sheep, etc.
4- Actions in everyday life, labour tools: eat, drink, do, make, hammer, etc.
5- Main qualities and properties: big, small, good, bad, old, young, cold, hot, etc.
Question 2. What are metaphors? What are the characteristic features of metaphors?
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Metaphor is the transference of names based on the association of similarity. In
other words, metaphor is a hidden comparison.
Characteristic features: There are various types of similarity:
- The similarity of shape: The head of a cabbage
- The similarity of position: The foot of a mountain
- The similarity of function: The key to the mystery
- The similarity of movement: to worm
- The similarity of color: orange
- The similarity of size: elephantine
- The similarity of behavior or characters: a fox
The names of the parts of human body are a great source for metaphor. Eg: The leg of a table
The names of animals are also widely used as metaphors. Eg: She is a fox (a cunning person)
Set expressions are based on names of animals as well. Eg: crocodile tears.
A number of proper names are used as metaphors. Eg: He is an Othello (a jealous person)
Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai


FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 3
Question 1. What is metonymy? What types of metonymy are there?
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Metonymy is the transference of name based on the association of contiguity. The
name of one thing is changed for that of another to which it is related. Eg: The kettle is boiling
The cases/types of metonymy
- Names of containers are used instead or the things contained. Eg: He drank twenty glasses.
- Names of parts of the body are used as symbols. Eg: She has a good ear for music.
- Proper names are used as common names. Eg: The boy eating a sandwich is wearing an
expensive cardigan.
There is a great number of such words from names: volt, watt, china, sardine, champagne,
pénicilline, etc. People are always likely to find simple and convenient ways to express
themselves: Eg: Two Dunhills, please.
- Names of materials are used instead of the things made of them. Eg: I’ve bought a new iron.
- Concrete things are used instead of abstract things.
Eg: The White House decided to spend more money on cosmic exploration.
- A separate part is used instead of a whole thing and vice versa. Eg: I used to live without a
roof over my head.
Question 2. Give the definition of word and vocabulary? How are words and vocabulary
different?
Answers: 5 points
A word means a dialectical unity of form and content, independent unit of language capable to
form a sentence by itself. Eg: book, bookish, unlucky, go, eat, lexicology, whitewash, kiss-
me-quick and so forth.

Vocabulary or lexis means the sum total or system of all the words that a language possesses.

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 4
Question 1. What is a morpheme? What types of morphemes are there?
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Morphemes may be defined as the minimal meaningful language units. Eg: book
+ -ish = bookish (2 morphemes); un- + luck + -y = unlucky (3 morphemes)
Two main types of morphemes: The root morpheme and the affixational morpheme
The root morpheme is also called the lexical morphene or simply the root. It is the primary
element of the word and conveys its essential lexical meaning. In the example above, we have
the roots “book, luck, white, wash” etc. The root remains after removing all the other elements
and cannot be analyzed any further.
The affixational morpheme is further divided into grammatical morpheme and derivational
morpheme.
- The grammatical morpheme is also called inflection or ending. Used to create different
forms of the same word it carries the grammatical meaning only and is, therefore, studied in
grammar: -s in “books”, -ed in “asked, studied” etc.
- The derivational morpheme carries both lexical and grammatical meaning. Because of this
dual nature it can be called lexico – grammatical morpheme, E.g.: pre - ; un- ; re - ; - ness; -
ful ; -ly.
Question 2. What are the components of lexical meaning? Give one example of each
component.
Answers: (5 points)
1. The denotational meaning (denotation)
The denotational meaning indicates (denotes) or points out things, concepts etc. For example,
“bird” denotes an animal that can fly: Father, dad, daddy ” denote the male parent. “Rain ,
shine” denote phenomena of nature
When the referent is a concept, an abstract thing, we have significative denotation and when it
is an individual object we have demonstrative denotation.
2. The connotational meaning (connotation)
The connotational meaning shows us how things, concepts etc. are indicated (denoted). It
conveys the speaker’s attitude, emotions and so on. “Father, dad, daddy”, as mentioned above,
have the same denotational meaning but different connotational meaning, and so do “face,
mug, muzzle” and so on.
Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai


FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 5
Question 1. What are proverbs and idioms? How are they different?
Answers: (5 points)
Proverbs: a proverb is a short saying expressing popular wisdom, a truth or a moral lesson in
a concise and imaginary way. English and Vietnamese have many similar proverbs:
He laughs best who laughs last. Two heads are better than one
Proverbs are also set expressions because their lexical components are constant and stable.
Their meaning is usually figurative and they are ready–made units as well. Proverbs,
therefore, must be studied together with other set expressions.
One more feature of proverbs is that they are often elliptical in their nature:
(so) many men, (so) many minds;
Idioms: are difficult to define accurately. They are also set expressions, short sayings usually
characterized by the fact that their meaning cannot easily be deduced from their components.
Besides, they are different from proverbs in that they are not “instructive, moral” in nature.
They are constructions peculiar to a language: give way; in order to …
Question 2. What is the definition of homonyms? How are they classified? Give two
examples for each.
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Homonyms are words identical in pronunciation and/or spelling but different in
meaning. Eg: fast – fast; here – hear
Classification:
- Homophones: are words identical in pronunciation only. Eg: piece – peace; buy – by
In English, there are many special cases of homophones like:
know (from “ to know“) – nose
- Homographs: are words identical in spelling only. Eg: tear – tear; wind – wind
- Full (perfect) homonyms: are words identical in both pronunciation and spelling:
Eg: fast (go without food or some kinds of food)
fast (quickly) – fast (deeply, soundly)

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 6
Question 1. What are quotations and cliché’s? Give one example for each.
Answers: 5 points
Quotations: are also set expressions coming from literature and gradually becoming part and
parcel of the language. This means that many people using them may not know or may forget
that they are quoting. In English, most familiar quotations are from Shakespeare, Pope etc. Eg:
Give every man thy ear but few thy voice.
Cliché’s: are quotations or sayings which are so frequently used that they have become
hackneyed and stale. As they are constantly and mechanically repeated, they have lost their
expressiveness and therefore better avoided.
Eg: stand shoulder to shoulder with …
Question 2. How many types of words are there? What are they? Define them and give
two examples for each type.
Answers: 5 points
The concept of morpheme now allows us to classify words into three types: simple words,
derived words and compound words.
A simple word is one that only consist of a root morpheme: “boy, girl, table, small, green,
yellow, speak, follow, establish”
A derived word is one that consists of a root and one or more derivational morphemes:
Teacher, student, amusing, interested, antidisestablishmentarianism.
A compound word is one that has at least two roots, with or without derivational morphemes:
blackboard, ladykiller, happy-go-lucky, whitewash. The following is the chart of words:

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness
FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020
SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 7
Question 1. How many types of word formation are there? What are they? Give one
example for each.
Answers: (5 points)
There are 7 types of word formation
1. Affixation is the formation of new words with the help of affixes. Eg: happiness
2. Compounding (or word-composition) is the building of a new word by joining two or
more words.
3. Shortening: In linguistics, shortening (or clipping) is the word formation process which
consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts. Eg: VNUA
4. Conversion is the formation of a new word in a different part of speech without adding any
element. Eg: Lecture à to lecture; hand à to hand
5. Sound imitation is the way to form words by imitating sounds produced by actions, things
and so on. Eg: cackle, moo
6. Back derivation and sound and stress interchange
Back–derivation of back–formation is the building of new words by subtracting a real or
supposed affix from existing words. Eg: to window – shop (from window – shopping)
Sound interchange: This is a very unproductive way of word forming. The new word is built
by changing the root vowel or consonant of the old word: Eg: food (n) à feed (v)
Stress interchange: This is also very unproductive in English word formation. The new word
is built by changing the place of the stress on the old one: Eg: ‘export (n) à ex’port (v)
7. “Words from names” or “metaphor and metonymy based words” can be regarded as a new
point of view in word formation. Eg: an unusually big thing may be described as “jumbo”.
Question 2. Give the definition of word and vocabulary? How are words and vocabulary
different?
Answers: (5 points)
A word means a dialectical unity of form and content, independent unit of language capable
to form a sentence by itself. Eg: book, bookish, unlucky, go, eat, lexicology, whitewash, kiss-
me-quick and so forth.

Vocabulary or lexis means the sum total or system of all the words that a language possesses.
Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai


FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
Independence – Freedom – Happiness
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH
FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020
SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 8
Question 1. What are the components of lexical meaning? Give one example of each
component.
Answers: 5 points
Two components of lexical meaning:
+ The denotational meaning (denotation)
The denotational meaning indicates (denotes) or points out things, concepts etc. For example,
“bird” denotes an animal that can fly: Father, dad, daddy ” denote the male parent. “Rain ,
shine” denote phenomena of nature
When the referent is a concept, an abstract thing, we have significative denotation and when it
is an individual object we have demonstrative denotation.
+ The connotational meaning (connotation)
The connotational meaning shows us how things, concepts etc. are indicated (denoted). It
conveys the speaker’s attitude, emotions and so on. “Father, dad, daddy”, as mentioned above,
have the same denotational meaning but different connotational meaning, and so do “ face,
mug, muzzle” and so on.
Question 2. What is the definition of homonyms? How are they classified? Give two
examples for each.
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Homonyms are words identical in pronunciation and/or spelling but different in
meaning. Eg: fast – fast
Classification:
- Homophones: are words identical in pronunciation only. Eg: piece – peace; buy – by
In English, there are many special cases of homophones like:
know (from “ to know“) – nose
- Homographs: are words identical in spelling only. Eg: tear – tear; wind – wind
- Full (perfect) homonyms: are words identical in both pronunciation and spelling:
Eg: fast (go without food or some kinds of food)
fast (quickly) – fast (deeply, soundly)

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Ha


FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness
FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020
SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 9
Question 1. What are proverbs and idioms? How are they different?
Answers: 5 points
Proverbs: a proverb is a short saying expressing popular wisdom, a truth or a moral lesson in
a concise and imaginary way. English and Vietnamese have many similar proverbs:
He laughs best who laughs last. Two heads are better than one
Proverbs are also set expressions because their lexical components are constant and stable.
Their meaning is usually figurative and they are ready–made units as well. Proverbs,
therefore, must be studied together with other set expressions.
One more feature of proverbs is that they are often elliptical in their nature:
(so) many men, (so) many minds;
Idioms: are difficult to define accurately. They are also set expressions, short sayings usually
characterized by the fact that their meaning cannot easily be deduced from their components.
Besides, they are different from proverbs in that they are not “instructive, moral” in nature.
They are constructions peculiar to a language: Eg: in order to
Question 2. How many types of words are there? What are they? Define them and give
two examples for each type.
Answers: 5 points
The concept of morpheme now allows us to classify words into three types: simple words,
derived words and compound words.
A simple word is one that only consists of a root morpheme: “boy, girl, table, small, green,
yellow, speak, follow, establish”
A derived word is one that consists of a root and one or more derivational morphemes:
Teacher, student, amusing, interested, antidisestablishmentarianism.
A compound word is one that has at least two roots, with or without derivational morphemes:
blackboard, lady-killer, happy-go-lucky, whitewash.

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness
FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020
SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 10
Question 1. How many types of word formation are there? What are they? Give one example for each.
Answers: 5 points
7 types of word formation
1. Affixation is the formation of new words with the help of affixes. Eg: happiness
2. Compounding (or word-composition) is the building of a new word by joining two or more words.
3. Shortening: In linguistics, shortening (or clipping) is the word formation process which consists in the
reduction of a word to one of its parts. Eg: VNUA
4. Conversion is the formation of a new word in a different part of speech without adding any element. Eg:
Lecture à to lecture; hand à to hand
5. Sound imitation is the way to form words by imitating sounds produced by actions, things and so on. Eg:
cackle, moo
6. Back derivation and sound and stress interchange
Back–derivation of back–formation is the building of new words by subtracting a real or supposed affix
from existing words. Eg: to window – shop (from window – shopping)
Sound interchange: This is a very unproductive way of word forming. The new word is built by changing the
root vowel or consonant of the old word: Eg: food (n) à feed (v)
Stress interchange: This is also very unproductive in English word formation. The new word is built by
changing the place of the stress on the old one: Eg: ‘export (n) à ex’port (v)
7. “Words from names” or “metaphor and metonymy based words” can be regarded as a new point of view
in word formation. Eg: an unusually big thing may be described as “jumbo”.
Question 2. How many types of words are there? What are they? Define them and give two examples
for each type.
Answers: 5 points
The concept of morpheme now allows us to classify words into three types: simple words, derived words
and compound words.
A simple word is one that only consists of a root morpheme. Eg: boy, girl
A derived word is one that consists of a root and one or more derivational morphemes: Eg: Teacher, student,
A compound word is one that has at least two roots, with or without derivational morphemes: lady-killer,
happy-go-lucky

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness
FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020
SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 11
Question 1. What is the subject matter of lexicology?
Answers: (5 points)
The subject matter of lexicology is the word, its structure, formation, meaning, history,
phraseology, lexicography and regional varieties of the words. In a broad sense, lexicology
can be said to include five essential branches:
- Word structure and formation: investigates all the problems concerning the structure of
the word and the way it is formed.
- Semantics (or semasiology): focuses on the meaning of the word chiefly lexical meaning
because the grammatical meaning is studied in grammar. It discusses the types of meaning, the
change and development of meaning, the grouping of words and so on.
- Phraseology: goes into set (fixed) expressions which are reproduced in speech as ready-
made units. There may be standardized word combinations, idioms, proverbs etc. from only
two word phrases to very long sayings. In English, there are such set expressions as “Good
heavens, diamond cuts diamond, no pains no gains”
- Etymology: refers to the history, the origin of words. Etymologists divide the English
vocabulary into two main layers: native words and borrowed words.
- Lexicography: studies the problems related to dictionary compiling. They are the problems
of the types of dictionary, the selection of words for each type, the arrangement of word and
so on.
Question 2. Give the definitions of lexical meaning and grammatical meaning? Give 3
examples for each.
Answers: 5 points
Lexical meaning is the realization of concept or emotion. When we hear or see the word
“house” for example, our concept is realized and the picture or image of a house occurs to our
mind. Therefore this realization is called lexical meaning. Eg: book, man, woman
Grammatical meaning is what unites words with different lexical meaning. It is the meaning
recurrent in identical sets of different words. It divides words into groups with their own
grammatical features. So, the grammatical meaning of house, book, man, word, etc. is that
they are nouns in singular and common case. The grammatical meaning of “pretty, tall, dark,
white, lexical, etc.” is that they are adjectives.
Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai


FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 12
Question 1. What is the basic stock of words?
Answers: 5 points
The basic stock of words may be said to consist of five groups which denote:
- The most common objects and phenomena of nature: sky, earth, sun, star, moon, rain, wind,
water, tree etc.
- The names of human beings, parts of the body, relatives: man, woman, mother, father,
brother, sister, arm, foot etc.
- Men’s dwelling, domestic animals: house, roof, dog, cat, pig, cow, sheep, etc.
- Actions in everyday life, labour tools: eat, drink, do, make, hammer, etc.
- Main qualities and properties: big, small, good, bad, old, young, cold, hot, etc.
Question 2. What are metaphors? What are the characteristic features of metaphors?
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Metaphor is the transference of names based on the association of similarity. In
other words, metaphor is a hidden comparison.
Characteristic features: There are various types of similarity:
- The similarity of shape: The head of a cabbage
- The similarity of position: The foot of a mountain
- The similarity of function: The key to the mystery
- The similarity of movement: to worm
- The similarity of colour: orange
- The similarity of size: elephantine
- The similarity of behaviour or characters: a fox
The names of the parts of human body are a great source for metaphor. Eg: The leg of a table
The names of animals are also widely used as metaphors. Eg: She is a fox (a cunning person)
Set expressions are based on names of animals as well. Eg: crocodile tears.
A number of proper names are used as metaphors. Eg: He is an Othello (a jealous person)

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 13
Question 1. What is metonymy? What types of metonymy are there?
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Metonymy is the transference of name based on the association of contiguity. The
name of one thing is changed for that of another to which it is related. Eg: The kettle is boiling
The cases/types of metonymy
- Names of containers are used instead or the things contained. Eg: He drank twenty glasses.
- Names of parts of the body are used as symbols. Eg: She has a good ear for music.
- Proper names are used as common names. Eg: The boy eating a sandwich is wearing an
expensive cardigan.
There is a great number of such words from names: volt, watt, china, sardine, champagne,
pénicilline, etc. People are always likely to find simple and convenient ways to express
themselves: Eg: Two Dunhills, please.
- Names of materials are used instead of the things made of them. Eg: I’ve bought a new iron.
- Concrete things are used instead of abstract things.
Eg: The White House decided to spend more money on cosmic exploration.
- A separate part is used instead of a whole thing and vice versa. Eg: I used to live without a
roof over my head.
Question 2. Give the definition of word and vocabulary? How are words and vocabulary
different?
Answers: 5 points
A word means a dialectical unity of form and content, independent unit of language capable to
form a sentence by itself. Eg: book, bookish, unlucky, go, eat, lexicology, whitewash, kiss-
me-quick and so forth.

Vocabulary or lexis means the sum total or system of all the words that a language possesses.

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 14
Question 1. What is a morpheme? What types of morphemes are there?
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Morphemes may be defined as the minimal meaningful language units. Eg: book
+ -ish = bookish (2 morphemes); un- + luck + -y = unlucky (3 morphemes)
Two main types of morphemes: The root morpheme and the affixation morpheme
The root morpheme is also called the lexical morpheme or simply the root. It is the primary
element of the word and conveys its essential lexical meaning. In the example above, we have
the roots “book, luck, white, wash” etc. The root remains after removing all the other elements
and cannot be analyzed any further.
The affixational morpheme is further divided into grammatical morpheme and derivational
morpheme.
- The grammatical morpheme is also called inflection or ending. Used to create different
forms of the same word it carries the grammatical meaning only and is, therefore, studied in
grammar: -s in “books”, -end in “asked, studied” etc.
- The derivational morpheme carries both lexical and grammatical meaning. Because of this
dual nature it can be called lexico – grammatical morpheme, E.g.: pre - ; un- ; re - ; - ness; -
ful ; -ly.
Question 2. What are the components of lexical meaning? Give one example of each
component.
Answers: (5 points) Two components of lexical meaning:
+ The denotational meaning (denotation)
The denotational meaning indicates (denotes) or points out things, concepts etc. For example,
“bird” denotes an animal that can fly: Father, dad, daddy ” denote the male parent. “Rain ,
shine” denote phenomena of nature
When the referent is a concept, an abstract thing, we have significative denotation and when it
is an individual object we have demonstrative denotation.
+ The connotational meaning (connotation)
The connotational meaning shows us how things, concepts etc. are indicated (denoted). It
conveys the speaker’s attitude, emotions and so on. “Father, dad, daddy”, as mentioned above,
have the same denotational meaning but different connotational meaning, and so do “ face,
mug, muzzle” and so on.
Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai


FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 15
Question 1. What are proverbs and idioms? How are they different?
Answers: (5 points)
Proverbs: a proverb is a short saying expressing popular wisdom, a truth or a moral lesson in
a concise and imaginary way. English and Vietnamese have many similar proverbs:
He laughs best who laughs last. Two heads are better than one
Proverbs are also set expressions because their lexical components are constant and stable.
Their meaning is usually figurative and they are ready–made units as well. Proverbs,
therefore, must be studied together with other set expressions.
One more feature of proverbs is that they are often elliptical in their nature:
(so) many men, (so) many minds;
Idioms: are difficult to define accurately. They are also set expressions, short sayings usually
characterized by the fact that their meaning cannot easily be deduced from their components.
Besides, they are different from proverbs in that they are not “instructive, moral” in nature.
They are constructions peculiar to a language: give way; in order to …
Question 2. What is the definition of homonyms? How are they classified? Give two
examples for each.
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Homonyms are words identical in pronunciation and/or spelling but different in
meaning. Eg: fast – fast; here – hear
Classification:
- Homophones: are words identical in pronunciation only. Eg: piece – peace; buy – by
In English, there are many special cases of homophones like:
know (from “ to know“) – nose
- Homographs: are words identical in spelling only. Eg: tear – tear; wind – wind
- Full (perfect) homonyms: are words identical in both pronunciation and spelling:
Eg: fast (go without food or some kinds of food)
fast (quickly) – fast (deeply, soundly)

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 16
Question 1. What are quotations and cliché’s? Give one example for each.
Answers: 5 points
Quotations: are also set expressions coming from literature and gradually becoming part and
parcel of the language. This means that many people using them may not know or may forget
that they are quoting. In English, most familiar quotations are from Shakespeare, Pope etc. Eg:
Give every man thy ear but few thy voice.
Cliché’s: are quotations or sayings which are so frequently used that they have become
hackneyed and stale. As they are constantly and mechanically repeated, they have lost their
expressiveness and therefore better avoided.
Eg: stand shoulder to shoulder with …
Question 2. How many types of words are there? What are they? Define them and give
two examples for each type.
Answers: 5 points
The concept of morpheme now allows us to classify words into three types: simple words,
derived words and compound words.
A simple word is one that only consists of a root morpheme: “boy, girl, table, small, green,
yellow, speak, follow, establish”
A derived word is one that consists of a root and one or more derivational morphemes:
Teacher, student, amusing, interested, antidisestablishmentarianism.
A compound word is one that has at least two roots, with or without derivational morphemes:
blackboard, lady-killer, happy-go-lucky, whitewash. The following is the chart of words:

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 17
Question 1. How many types of word formation are there? What are they? Give one
example for each.
Answers: 5 points
There are 7 types of word formation
1. Affixation is the formation of new words with the help of affixes. Eg: happiness
2. Compounding (or word-composition) is the building of a new word by joining two or
more words.
3. Shortening: In linguistics, shortening (or clipping) is the word formation process which
consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts. Eg: VNUA
4. Conversion is the formation of a new word in a different part of speech without adding any
element. Eg: Lecture à to lecture; hand à to hand
5. Sound imitation is the way to form words by imitating sounds produced by actions, things
and so on. Eg: cackle, moo
6. Back derivation and sound and stress interchange
Back–derivation or back–formation is the building of new words by subtracting a real or
supposed affix from existing words. Eg: to window – shop (from window – shopping)
Sound interchange: The new word is built by changing the root vowel or consonant of the
old word: Eg: food (n) à feed (v)
Stress interchange: The new word is built by changing the place of the stress on the old one:
Eg: ‘export (n) à ex’port (v)
7. “Words from names” or “metaphor and metonymy based words” can be regarded as a new
point of view in word formation. Eg: an unusually big thing may be described as “jumbo”.
Question 2. Give the definition of word and vocabulary? How are words and vocabulary
different?
Answers: 5 points
A word means a dialectical unity of form and content, independent unit of language capable
to form a sentence by itself. Eg: book, bookish, unlucky, go, eat, lexicology, whitewash, kiss-
me-quick and so forth.

Vocabulary or lexis means the sum total or system of all the words that a language possesses.
Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai


FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 18
Question 1. What are the components of lexical meaning? Give one example of each
component.
Answers: 5 points
1. The denotational meaning (denotation)
The denotational meaning indicates (denotes) or points out things, concepts etc. For example,
“bird” denotes an animal that can fly: Father, dad, daddy ” denote the male parent. “Rain ,
shine” denote phenomena of nature
When the referent is a concept, an abstract thing, we have significative denotation and when it
is an individual object we have demonstrative denotation.
2. The connotational meaning (connotation)
The connotational meaning shows us how things, concepts etc. are indicated (denoted). It
conveys the speaker’s attitude, emotions and so on. “Father, dad, daddy”, as mentioned above,
have the same denotational meaning but different connotational meaning, and so do “ face,
mug, muzzle” and so on.
Question 2. What is the definition of homonyms? How are they classified? Give two
examples for each.
Answers: 5 points
Definition: Homonyms are words identical in pronunciation and/or spelling but different in
meaning. Eg: fast – fast; here – hear
Classification:
- Homophones: are words identical in pronunciation only. Eg: piece – peace; buy – by
In English, there are many special cases of homophones like:
know (from “ to know“) – nose
- Homographs: are words identical in spelling only. Eg: tear – tear; wind – wind
- Full (perfect) homonyms: are words identical in both pronunciation and spelling:
Eg: fast (go without food or some kinds of food)
fast (quickly) – fast (deeply, soundly)

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Ha


FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 19
Question 1. What are proverbs and idioms? How are they different?
Answers: 5 points
Proverbs: a proverb is a short saying expressing popular wisdom, a truth or a moral lesson in
a concise and imaginary way. English and Vietnamese have many similar proverbs:
He laughs best who laughs last. Two heads are better than one
Proverbs are also set expressions because their lexical components are constant and stable.
Their meaning is usually figurative and they are ready–made units as well. Proverbs,
therefore, must be studied together with other set expressions.
One more feature of proverbs is that they are often elliptical in their nature:
(so) many men, (so) many minds;
Idioms: are difficult to define accurately. They are also set expressions, short sayings usually
characterized by the fact that their meaning cannot easily be deduced from their components.
Besides, they are different from proverbs in that they are not “instructive, moral” in nature.
They are constructions peculiar to a language: Eg: in order to
Question 2. How many types of words are there? What are they? Define them and give
two examples for each type.
Answers: 5 points
The concept of morpheme now allows us to classify words into three types: simple words,
derived words and compound words.
A simple word is one that only consists of a root morpheme: “boy, girl, table, small, green,
yellow, speak, follow, establish”
A derived word is one that consists of a root and one or more derivational morphemes:
Teacher, student, amusing, interested, antidisestablishmentarianism.
A compound word is one that has at least two roots, with or without derivational morphemes:
Eg: lady-killer, happy-go-lucky.

Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

FACULTY OF EDUCATION & FOREIGN LANGUAGES THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM


DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH Independence – Freedom – Happiness

FINAL ORAL TEST: SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020


SUBJECT: LEXICOLOGY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
CARD NO 20
Question 1. How many types of word formation are there? What are they? Give one example for each.
Answers: 5 points
There are 7 types of word formation
1. Affixation is the formation of new words with the help of affixes. Eg: happiness
2. Compounding (or word-composition) is the building of a new word by joining two or more words.
3. Shortening: In linguistics, shortening (or clipping) is the word formation process which consists in the
reduction of a word to one of its parts. Eg: VNUA
4. Conversion is the formation of a new word in a different part of speech without adding any element. Eg:
Lecture à to lecture; hand à to hand
5. Sound imitation is the way to form words by imitating sounds produced by actions, things and so on. Eg:
cackle, moo
6. Back derivation and sound and stress interchange
Back–derivation or back–formation is the building of new words by subtracting a real or supposed affix
from existing words. Eg: to window – shop (from window – shopping)
Sound interchange: The new word is built by changing the root vowel or consonant of the old word: Eg:
food (n) à feed (v)
Stress interchange: The new word is built by changing the place of the stress on the old one: Eg: ‘export (n)
à ex’port (v)
7. “Words from names” or “metaphor and metonymy based words” can be regarded as a new point of view
in word formation. Eg: an unusually big thing may be described as “jumbo”.
Question 2. How many types of words are there? What are they? Define them and give two examples
for each type.
Answers: 5 points
The concept of morpheme now allows us to classify words into three types: simple words, derived words
and compound words.
A simple word is one that only consists of a root morpheme: “boy, girl, table, small, green, yellow, speak,
follow, establish”
A derived word is one that consists of a root and one or more derivational morphemes: Teacher, student,
amusing, interested, antidisestablishmentarianism.
A compound word is one that has at least two roots, with or without derivational morphemes: blackboard,
lady-killer, happy-go-lucky, whitewash.
Designed by Checked by
Deputy Head of Department

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy Tran Thi Hai

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