Seminar 2

1. What does it mean to compare and contrast two objects? Study the meaning
of “contrast” and “similarity”

Compare and contrast are words that are often used to talk about the similarities and
differences between two things or objects. ... According to various dictionaries,
compare means 'to represent things or objects in respect of similarity' and contrast
means 'to represent things in respect of differences. '
For example : comparing means to be as good or as bad as something else : to be on
the same level or in the same category as something else. And an example of contrast
is thunder storms on one end of an island and clear, blue skies on the other end.
Contrast means to compare in order to show differences. ... The definition of
contrast is the difference between two objects, people or places. An example of
contrast is thunder storms on one end of an island and clear, blue skies on the other
end.
The definition of a similarity is a quality or state of having something in common.
When you and your cousin look exactly alike, this is an example of when the
similarity between you two is striking.

2. Explain the term “comparative linguistics”

Comparative linguistics is a field of general linguistics that focuses on
genetically related languages. Establishes correspondences between these
languages, describes their evolution in space and time. It uses comparative
method, which aims to compare phonological systems, morphological
systems, syntax and the lexicon.
In principle, any difference between two related languages should be
explained with a high degree of plausibility, and systematic changes, such
as in phonological or morphological systems, are expected to be very
regular.

3. Comment on the position of contrastive linguistics within compara-

tive linguistics.

4. Typological versus contrastive linguistics.

typology takes as a basis for comparison the individual components of the
system, but studies them in all languages or in the widest possible
commonality of languages. Contrastive linguistics compares only two
languages, but for all elements of the system. The difference between
comparative linguistics and typology is in the tasks set by each of these
disciplines. The task of typology is to establish the language type for
further classification of languages and to identify how the language can be
arranged in general. The task of contrastive linguistics is narrower: it
compares the facts of two or more languages in order to identify
similarities and differences.
However, these two areas "cooperate". Typology takes the facts obtained
by contrastive linguistics, and contrastive linguistics is based on the
experience of typology to explain the interdependence of linguistic
phenomena.
Thus, the main difference between typology and contrastive linguistics in
their purposes: for typology - is the establishment of the language type,
and for contrastive linguistics - contrasts against the background of
common features.

5. The object of contrastive lexicological studies.

Contrastive lexicology is a branch of linguistics which deals with similarities and
differences of two or more related and non-related languages. The object of
Contrastive Linguistics investigations is a comparison of two or more linguistic
systems at a synchronous level. It is concerned with the analysis of language
vocabularies and lexical items in respect of their structural, semantic and functional
features. So that, contrastive lexicology studies various lexical units. They are:
morphemes, words, variable word-groups and phraseological units.
Contrastive lexicology studies the morphological and semantic aspects of the lexical
units or lexemes at the cross-language level. It compares and contrasts the various
lexicalization processes, i.e., the form and meaning realizations at the word level.

7. Definition of contrastive Lexicology.

Contrastive lexicology is a branch of linguistics which deals with similarities and
differences of two or more related and non-related languages. The object of
Contrastive Linguistics investigations is a comparison of two or more linguistic
systems at a synchronous level. It is concerned with the analysis of language
vocabularies and lexical items in respect of their structural, semantic and functional
features.

9. Theoretical value of contrastive lexicology

The Theoretical Value of Lexicology is determined by its subject matter, the
vocabulary of language which forms one of the three main aspects of language. The
other two aspects of language are its grammar and sound system. So, this helps us to
make a conclusion that lexicology is one of the most essential branches of linguistics.
1. Comment on the notion of the word and approaches to this definition.
Word – smallest unit of grammar that can stand alone as a complete element,
separated by spaces in written language and by pauses in speech, which serves for
naming objects, phenomena, their peculiarities, states and relations.
1) associates a particular group of sounds with a particular meaning;
2)has particular grammatical characteristic ([‘siste] - eng - a female relative of the
same parents, noun, the common case - two-facet unit);
3)the biggest unit of morphology and the smallest of syntax;
4)the smallest significant of a given lang. able to function alone and make sense, as
well as move average sentences
2. Comment on the notion of morpheme and its grammatical and lexical mean-
ing.

A morpheme refers to the smallest meaningful element of a word. A morpheme

cannot be further broken into parts. For example, chair, dog, bird, table, computer are
all morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest meaningful part of a word.The main dif-
ference is that while a word can always stand alone, a morpheme may or may not be
able to stand alone. For example, when we say ‘reconstruct,‘ it is a single word, but it
is not a single morpheme but two morphemes together (‘re‘ and ‘construct‘).We saw
that the word “historical” can stand alone and has meaning. “Pre” is a morpheme in
“prehistorical” however “pre” cannot stand alone. So as conclusion, words are made
up of morphemes. In other words, each word has, at least, one morpheme.

3. Types of morphemes. Free/bound morphemes.

Morphemes can be divided into free and bound morphemes.

"Free morphemes" can stand alone with a specific meaning, for example, eat, date,
weak dress wear phone. Free Morpheme can be a word on its own.
Bound morphemes cannot build up words by themselves. Have no linguistic meaning
unless they are connected to a root or base word, or in some cases, another bound
morpheme. Prefixes and suffixes are two types of bound morphemes. Depending on
how they modify a root word, bound morphemes can be grouped into two categories:
inflectional morphemes and derivational morphemes.
Inflectional morphemes in English include -s (or -es); 's (or s'); -ed; -en; -er; -est; and
–ing.
derivational morphemes- affixes
4. Types of Affixes. Its classification.
 Affixes are bound morphemes. They can be classified into prefixes and suffixes
in English.
A prefix is an affix added to the beginning of other morphemes to form a word.
Examples: dislike, deactivate, inadequate, immobile, misleading
A suffix is an affix added to the end of other morphemes to form a word.
Examples:
admirable, fruitful, ambitious, enjoyment, eagerness
5. The classification of prefixes.

Prefixation is the formation of words with the help of prefixes. Prefixes are deriva-
tional morphemes affixed before the derivational base. Prefixes modify the lexical
meaning of the base.

1. According to the class they preferably form:

-verb-forming prefixes, e.g. en-/em (embed, enclose): be* (befriend); de- (dethrone);
-noun-forming prefixes, e.g. non- (non-smoker); sub- (subcommittee); ex- (ex-husband);
-adjective-forming prefixes, e.g. un- (unfair); il- (illiterate): ir- (irregular).
-adverb-forming prefixes, e.g. un- (unfortunately); up- (uphill).
2. According to the lexical-grammatical type of the base they are added to:
a). Deverbal (those added to the verbal base) - rewrite, overdo;
b). Denominal - unbutton, detrain, ex-president,
c). Deadjectival - uneasy, biannual.
3. According to their semantic structure prefixes may fall into monosemantic (the prefix ex- ha
4. According to the generic-denotational meaning they are divided into different groups:
a). Negative prefixes: un-, dis-, non-, in-, a- (e.g. unemployment, non-scientific, incorrect, dislo
b). Reversative or privative prefixes: un-, de-, dis- (e.g. untie, unleash, decentralize, disconnect
c). Pejorative prefixes: mis-, mal-, pseudo- (e.g. miscalculate, misinform, maltreat, pseudo-clas
d). Prefixes of time and order: fore-, pre-, post-, ex- (e.g. foretell, pre-war, post-war, ex-presid
e). Prefix of repetition re- (e.g. rebuild, rewrite).
f). Locative prefixes: super-, sub-, inter-, trans- (e.g. superstructure, subway, inter-continental,
5. According to their stylistic reference:
a). Neutral: un-, out-, over-, re-, under- (e.g. outnumber, unknown, unnatural, oversee, underes
b). Stylistically marked: pseudo-, super-, ultra-, uni-, bi- (e.g. pseudo-classical, superstructure,
6. Suffixation. English and Ukrainian suffixes.
Suffixation is the formation of words with the help of suffixes.

Suffixes usually modify the lexical meaning of the base and transfer words to a, dif-
ferent part of speech. There are suffixes however, which do not shift words from one
part of speech into another; a suffix of this kind usually transfers a word into a differ-
ent semantic group, e.g. a concrete noun becomes an abstract one, as is the case with
child — childhood, friend — friendship, etc.

Take the suffix -ist for example, by adding this to a word, you have changed the word
to describe a person who performs or practices something. So, art becomes artist, a
person skilled in a particular art.
Let's look at the verb read. This verb can be turned into a noun by adding the suffix -
er so read becomes reader. Likewise, by adding the suffix -able, the verb read now
becomes the adjective readable.
Form-building suffixes in English and Ukrainian, when added to the root, change
the form of these words. These suffixes may also change the lexical meaning of
the stem, for example: Ann − Anny, duck − duckling, friend – friendship, London
− Londoner, four − fourteen − forty, etc. In Ukrainian: дитина − дитинча, лошак
− лошачок. Харків − харків’янин, плітка − пліточка, швидко − швиденько.