SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Lexicology as a branch of linguistics, its subject-matter and relations with other

branches of linguistics. The word as the basic object of Lexicology.
Lexicology is the part of linguistics which studies words. Lexicology also
involves relations between words, which may involve semantics (for example, love
vs. affection), derivation (for example, fathom vs. unfathomably), usage and
sociolinguistic distinctions (for example, flesh vs. meat), and any other issues
involved in analyzing the whole lexicon of a languages.

Links with other branches of linguistics:

1) Lexicology is closely connected with phonetics because they have the
same object of studies, they both studies the word, but phonetics studies the outer
form and lexicology studies the inner form of the word.
2) Lexicology is connected with grammar because lexicology studies words
and grammar studies the grammatical relations between words and how words are
combined into phrases and sentences. Meaningful communication is not possible
without knowing the grammar rules.
3) Lexicology is connected with the history of language because the history
of language studies the changes and the development of the vocabulary in the
course of time.
4) Lexicology is connected with stylistics because stylistics studies the
differentiation of the vocabulary according to the sphere of communication.
5) Lexicology is connected with the sociolinguistics because sociolinguistics
studies the extra linguistic and social causes of the changes in the vocabulary of a
language.
Word is the principal and basic unit of the language system, the largest on
the morphological and the smallest on the syntactic plane of linguistic analysis.
A word is an autonomous unit of language, it is able to form a sentence by
itself. Unlike a word, a morpheme is not an autonomous unit as it can occur in
speech only as a constituent part of the word, although a word can consist of a
single morpheme.
2. Etymological peculiarities of the vocabulary of Modern English: general
remarks. The words of native origin
3. The foreign element in the English vocabulary. Classification of borrowings.
4. Latin borrowings.
5. Greek borrowings.
6. French borrowings.
7. The Scandinavian element in the English vocabulary.
8. Criteria of borrowing. Assimilation of borrowings.
Criteria of borrowing . Though borrowed words undergo changes in the adopting language they preserve
some of their former peculiarities for a comparatively long period. This makes it possible to work out some criteria
for determining whether the word belongs to the borrowed element.
In some cases the pronunciation of the word (strange sounds, sound combinations, position of stress, etc.), its
spelling and the correlation between sounds and letters are an indication of the foreign origin of the word. This is
the case with waltz (G.),. psychology (Gr.), soufflé (Fr.), etc. The initial position of the sounds [v], [dз], [з] or of the
letters x, j, z is a sure sign that the word has been borrowed, e.g. volcano (It.), vase (Fr.), vaccine (L.), jungle (Hindi),
gesture (L.), giant (OFr.), zeal (L.), zero (Fr.), zinc (G.), etc.
The morphological structure of the word and its grammatical forms may also bear witness to the word being
adopted from another language. Thus the suffixes in the words neurosis (Gr.) and violoncello (It.) betray the
foreign origin of the words. The same is true of the irregular plural forms papyra (from papyrus, Gr.), pastorali
(from pastorale, It.), beaux (from beau, Fr.), bacteria, (from bacterium, L.) and the like.
Last but not least is the lexical meaning of the word. Thus the concept denoted by the words ricksha(w),
pagoda (Chin.) make us suppose that we deal with borrowings.
It must also be taken into consideration that the closer the relation between the languages, the more difficult
it is to distinguish borrowings.
Assimilation is the process of changing the adopted word. The process of assimilation of
borrowings includes changes in sound form, graphical and morphological structure, grammar
characteristics, meaning, and usage. There are several types of assimilation:
Completely assimilated borrowings are the words, which have undergone all types of
assimilation. Such words are frequently used and are stylistically neutral, they may occur as dominant
words in a synonymic group. They take an active part in word-formation, e.g., words containing the
French suffixes -age, -ance, -ment.
Partially assimilated borrowings are the words which lack one of the types of assimilation. They
are subdivided into the groups:
1) Borrowings not assimilated semantically, e.g., shah, rajah. Such
words usually denote objects and notions peculiar to the country from which
they came – foreign clothes sari, foreign titles, foreign vehicles rickshaw, foreign food and drinks
goulash.
2) Loan words not assimilated grammatically, e.g., nouns borrowed from Latin or Greek
which keep their original plural forms, e.g., datum - data, phenomenon —phenomena.
3) Loan words not completely assimilated phonetically. These words contain peculiarities
in stress, combinations of sounds that are not standard for English, e.g., machine, camouflage, regime,
cafe.
4) Loan words not completely assimilated graphically, e.g., ballet, buffet. Some may keep
diacritic mark: cliché.
Unassimilated borrowings: This group includes words from other languages used by the English
people in conversation or in writing, but not assimilated in any way, and for which there are
corresponding English equivalents e.g., ciao Italian - good-bye English. These words are called
barbarisms.
The words originating from the same etymological source, but differing in phonemic shape and
in meaning are called etymological doublets, e.g., shirt (native word) and skirt (a Scandinavian
borrowing). Etymological doublets can enter the vocabulary by different routes, e.g., shrew (native
word) and screw (Scandinavian borrowing). Etymological doublets may be represented by two
borrowings from two languages which are historically descended from the same root senior (Lat.) - sir
(Fr.); canal (Lat.) - channel (Fr.). Etymological doublets may be borrowed from the same language twice,
but in different periods, e.g., corpse (Norm. Fr.) - corps (Par. Fr.); travel (Norm. Fr.) - travail (Par. Fr.).
Groups of three words of common root occur rarer, e.g., hospital (Lat.) - hostel (Norm. Fr.) - hotel (Par.
Fr.).
International words. There exist many words that were borrowed by several languages. Such
words are mostly of Latin and Greek origin and convey notions which are significant in the field of
communication in different countries. Here belong names of sciences, e.g., philosophy, physics,
chemistry, linguistics, terms of art, e.g., music, theatre, drama, artist, comedy, political terms, e.g.,
 politics, policy, progress. The English language became a source for international sports terms, e.g.,
football, hockey, cricket, rugby, tennis.
9. Morpheme, its definition and comparison with word.
Morphemes. The term comes from Greek: morphe = ‘form’ + suffix –eme (the Greek suffix
which denotes the smallest unit, cf.: phoneme, sememe, lexeme, etc.) or the minimum distinctive
feature.
Morphemes are defined as the smallest indivisible two-facet (possessing sound-form and
meaning) language units. They are defined as minimum language units because they can’t be
further divided into meaningful units.
For instance, words like reader, writer fall into the morphemes read-, writ- and -er by virtue
of the recurrence of the morpheme –er in other similar words and of the morphemes read-, writ-
in to read, to write, reading, writing, etc.
Word is the principal and basic unit of the language system, the largest on the morphological
and the smallest on the syntactic plane of linguistic analysis.
A word is an autonomous unit of language, it is able to form a sentence by itself. Unlike a
word, a morpheme is not an autonomous unit as it can occur in speech only as a constituent part
of the word, although a word can consist of a single morpheme.
There are two levels of approach to the study of word-structure:
 the level of morphemic analysis
 the level of derivational or word-formation analysis.
10.Morphemic analysis of words. Procedure of Immediate Constituents analysis.
The aim - to split the word into its constituent morphemes and to determine their number
and types. The procedure consists of several stages:
 segmentation of words,
 identification of morphs,
 classification of morphemes.
Segmentation of words
The procedure generally employed for the purposes of segmenting words into the
constituting morphemes is the method of Immediate and Ultimate Constituents. First suggested
by L. Bloomfield it was later developed by many other linguists (e.g. E. O. Nida).
This method is based on a binary principle, i. e. each stage of the procedure involves two
components the word immediately breaks into. At each stage these two components are referred
to as the Immediate Constituents (ICs.).
Each IC at the next stage of analysis is in turn broken into two smaller meaningful
elements. The analysis is completed when we arrive at constituents incapable of further division,
i. e. morphemes. In terms of the method employed these are referred to as the Ultimate
Constituents (UCs).
Friendliness
It is first segmented into the IC friendly recurring in the adjectives friendly-looking and
friendly and the suffix -ness found in a countless number of nouns, such as happiness, darkness,
etc. The IC -ness is at the same time an UC of the noun, as it cannot be broken into any smaller
elements possessing both sound-form and meaning.
The IC friendly is next broken into the ICs friend- and -ly recurring in friendship,
unfriendly, etc. on the one hand, and wifely, brotherly, etc., on the other. Needles to say that the
ICs friend- and -ly are both UCs of the word under analysis.
 The analysis of the morphemic composition of words defines the ultimate meaningful
constituents (UCs), their typical sequence and arrangement, but it does not reveal the way a word
is constructed, nor how a new word of similar structure should be understood.
11.Types of morphemic segmentability of words.
As far as the complexity of the morphemic structure of the word is concerned all English
words fall into
 segmentable words, i. e. those allowing of segmentation into morphemes, e.g. agreement,
information, quickly, and
 non-segmentable words, i. e. those not allowing of such segmentation, e.g. house, girl,
husband, etc.
Types of segmentability
 complete,
 conditional,
 defective
Complete segmentability
is characteristic of words the morphemic structure of which is transparent enough as their
individual morphemes clearly stand out within the word. Constituent morphemes recur with the
same meaning in a number of other words, e.g.: agreement, development.
Conditional segmentability
characterizes words whose segmentation into constituent morphemes is doubtful for
semantic reasons.
In words like retain, detain, or receive, deceive the sound-clusters [ri], [di] are singled
out quite easily due to their recurrence in a number of words. On the other hand, they undoubtly
have nothing in common with the phonetically identical morphemes re-, de- as found in words
like rewrite, re-organize, decode, deorganize;
Neither the sound-clusters [ri], [di] nor the sound-clusters [-tein], [si:v] possess any
lexical or functional meaning of their own. The type of meaning that can be ascribed to them is
only a differential and a certain distributional meaning.
The cluster [ri-] distinguishes retain from detain and the cluster [-tein] distinguishes
retain from receive whereas their order and arrangement point to the status of the re-, de- as
different from that of the –tain and –ceive within the structure of the words.
The morphemes making up words with conditional morphemic segmentability do not rise
to the full status of morphemes for semantic reason. That is why a special term is applied to them
in linguistic literature: such morphemes are called pseudo-morphemes or quasi-morphemes.
Defective segmentability
is the property of words whose component morphemes seldom or never recur in other
words. One of the component morphemes is a unique morpheme in the sense that it doesn’t, as
a rule, recur in a different linguistic environment.
A unique morpheme is isolated and understood as meaningful because the constituent
morphemes display a more or less clear denotational meaning.
There is no doubt that in the nouns streamlet, ringlet, leaflet, booklet, etc. the morpheme
-let has the denotational meaning of diminutiveness and is combined with the morphemes
stream-, ring-, leaf-, book- each having a denotational meaning.
Things are entirely different with the noun hamlet. The morpheme -let retains the same
meaning of diminutiveness, but the sound-cluster [hæm] that is left after isolation of the
 morpheme -let doesn’t recur in any other English word with anything like the meaning it has in
the word hamlet (the noun ham denoting ‘a smoked and salted upper part of a pig’s leg’ is
irrelevant to the ham- in hamlet).
12.Identification of morphs. Classification of morphemes.
The main criteria for identification of morphemes are semantic and phonetic similarity.
Morphemes should have the same denotational meaning
As far as phonemic shapes of morphs are concerned, they may vary. Thus, e.g. the root
morpheme in the words please, pleasing, pleasure, pleasant is represented by three morpheme
variants: [pli:z] in please, pleasing, [plez] in pleasant and [pleʒ] in pleasure. Such positional
morpheme variants are called allomorphs.
Allomorphs don’t differ in meaning or function, they show only a slight difference in
sound form.
Allomorphs occur in specific environment and are characterized by complementary
distribution, which is said to take place when two variants can’t appear in the same
environment.
Allomorphs can be found not only among root-morphemes, but also among affixes, e.g.
the prefix in- has the following allomorphs: il-, im-, ir- (illiterate, impossible, irregular).
Different morphemes are characterized by contrastive distribution, i. e. if they occur in
the same environment they signal different meanings.
Thus, the suffixes -able and –ed are different morphemes, not allomorphs, because the
adjectives in -able mean ‘capable of being’ while the adjectives in -ed mean ‘having,
chracterized by, resembling’.
Classification of Morphemes
Morphemes may be classified from two points of view:
 semantic
 structural.
Semantically morphemes fall into two classes:
 root-morphemes
 non-root or affixational morphemes.
The root-morpheme
 is the lexical nucleus of a word, it has an individual meaning shared by no other morpheme of
the language. Besides it may also possess all other types of meaning proper to morphemes except
the part-of-speech meaning which is not found in roots.
e.g. the morpheme teach- in to teach, teacher, teaching, theor- in theory, theorist,
theoretical, etc.
Non-root morphemes
 inflectional morphemes or inflections
 affixational morphemes or affixes
Inflections
carry only grammatical meaning and are thus relevant only for the formation of word-forms
Affixes
are relevant for building various types of stems – the part of a word that remains
unchanged throughout its paradigm.
Lexicology is concerned only with affixational morphemes.
 are classified into prefixes and suffixes: a prefix precedes the root-morpheme, a suffix
follows it. Affixes besides the meaning proper to root-morphemes possess the part-of-speech
meaning and a generalized lexical meaning.
Structurally morphemes fall into three types:
 free,
 bound,
 semi-free (semi-bound).
A free morpheme
is defined as one that coincides with the stem or a word-form. A great many root-
morphemes are free morphemes. The root-morpheme friend of the noun friendship is a free
morpheme because it coincides with one of the forms of the noun friend.
A bound morpheme
occurs only as a constituent part of a word. Affixes are, naturally, bound morphemes, for
they always make part of a word, e.g. the suffixes –ness, -ship, -ize, etc., prefixes in-, un-, dis-,
etc. (e.g. kindness, comradeship, to activize, incomplete, unnecessary, disappear, etc.).
Many root-morphemes also belong to the class of bound morphemes which always occur
in morphemic sequences, i. e. in combination with roots or affixes.
All unique roots and pseudo-roots are bound morphemes. Such are the root-morphemes
theor- in theory, theoretical, barbar- in barbarism, barbarian, -ceive in conceive, perceive, etc.
Semi-bound (semi-free) morphemes
can function in a morphemic sequence both as an affix and as a free morpheme. For
example, the morpheme well and half occur as free morphemes that coincide with the stem and
the word-form in utterances like sleep well, half an hour, etc., on the other hand they occur as
bound morphemes in words like well-known, half-done, etc.
13.Derivational analysis of words.
Aims at establishing correlations between different types of words, the structural and
semantic patterns words are built on;
enables one to understand how new words appear in the language.
The basic unit at the derivational level is the stem - the part of the word which remains
unchanged throughout its paradigm. It takes the inflections which shape the word grammatically
as one or another part of speech. Thus, the stem which appears in the paradigm to ask, asks,
asked, asking is ask-; the stem of the word singer, singer’s, singers, singers’ is singer-.
The nature, type and arrangement of the ICs of the word is known as its derivative structure.
According to the derivative structure English words fall into four main types:
1) simple words (root words) which have only a root morpheme in the structure: take, go,
eat, agree, differ, job, joy, child, fine, etc.;
2) derived words (affixational derivatives) which consist of a root and one or more affixes:
eatable, joyful, brightness, childhood, disagree, indifference, etc.;
3) compound words (compounds) in which two or more stems are combined into a lexical
unit: fruit-tree, snow-white, light-blue, fishing-boat, forget-me-not, fifty-fifty, etc.;
4) derivational compounds in which phrase components are joined together by means of
compounding and affixation: long-legged, blue-eyed, bare-headed.
14.Word-formation, its definition. Types and ways of forming new words.
Word-formation is the process of creating new words from the material available in the word-stock
according to certain structural and semantic patterns specific for the given language.
 There are various types of word-formation in English. Some of them are highly-
productive (affixation, conversion, compounding, shortening), others are semi-productive (back-
formation, blending, lexicalization of phrases, sound imitation), still others are non-productive (sound
interchange, change of stress). There are two types of word-formation: word-derivation and word-
composition. Derivation is the process of creating new words.
15.Prefixation. Classification of prefixes.
16.Suffixation. Classification of suffixes.
17.Compounding as a way of forming new words. The criteria of compounds.
18.Classification of compounds.
19.Conversion as a way of forming new words. Types of semantic relations in
conversion.
Conversion is the process of coining new words without adding derivative elements, through
changes in the paradigm.
R. Zandvoort makes distinction between complete and partial conversion. In cases of complete
conversion the converted word takes the adjuncts and grammatical endings proper to that part of
speech while in cases of partial conversion the converted word takes only some of the characteristics of
the other part of speech so that it really belongs to two parts of speech at the same time. Thus, the
poor, though plural in meaning, does not take a plural ending, it becomes a noun to some extend only.
Conversion consists in making a new word from some existing word by changing the category of a
part of speech, the morphemic shape of the original word remaining unchanged. The new word has a
meaning which differs from that of the original one though it can more or less be easily associated with
it, e.g.: The leaves were turning yellow (the adjective denotes colour). The leaves yellowed (the
converted unit no longer denotes colour, but the process of changing colour).
There are two main typical semantic relations between words related through conversion:
1) verbs converted from nouns (denominal verbs);
2) nouns converted from verbs (deverbal substantives).
Denominal Verbs - verbs converted from nouns comprise the largest group of words related
through conversion. They imply an action or state that bears relation to the noun involved. The
converted verb may have the following meanings:
1) action characteristic of the object: ape – to ape (to imitate in a foolish way); dog – to dog (to
follow close behind as a dog does); wolf – to wolf (to eat speedily, to devour);
2) instrumental use of the object: whip – to whip (to strike with a whip); elbow – to elbow (to push
or to force one’s way with the elbows);
3) acquisition or addition of the object: fish – to fish (to catch or try to catch fish);
4) deprivation of the object: dust – to dust (to remove dust from smth.); skin – to skin (to strip off
the skin from);
5) locative meaning: bottle – to bottle (to store in bottles); pocket – to pocket (to put into one’s
pocket);
6) resultative relations: rabbit – to rabbit (to give birth to rabbits);
7) temporal meaning: winter – to winter (to spend the winter); honey-moon – to honey-moon (to
spend one’s honey-moon).
Deverbal nouns may denote:
1) the action: to jump – jump (sudden spring from the ground); to move – move (a change of
position);
2) the personal agent of the action: to help – help (a person who helps); to bore – a bore (a person
that bores); to cheat – cheat (a person who cheats);
 3) the impersonal agent of the action: to draw – a draw (attraction), to stick – a stick (smth. that
causes delay), to sting – a sting (animal organ);
4) place of the action: to drive – drive (path or road along which one drives); to forge – forge (a
place where metal is heated and shaped into objects);
5) object or result of the action: to peel – peel (the outer skin of fruit or vegetables taken off); to
find – find (smth. found, especially valuable or pleasant); to catch – catch (that which is caught).
Nouns may be formed by conversion from other parts of speech, e.g. from adverbs: a life of ups
and downs.
Names of action are often used in collocations where they take the position of the object making
up an analytical construction semantically equivalent to the verb, e.g. to give help, to find help, to find
expression, to find reflection, to have comfort, to get publicity, to take possession.
20.Shortening as a way of forming new words. Types of shortenings.
Shortening may be represented as significant subtraction, in which part of the original word is taken
away. The spoken and the written forms of the English language have each their own patterns of
shortening.
Shortening (other terms are clipping or curtailment) is marked in many European languages and
is particularly intense in English. It consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts, as a result of
which the new form acquires some linguistic value of its own. Newly shortened words appear
continuously, mostly among nouns. Shortened adjectives are very few and mostly reveal a combined
effect of shortening and suffixation, e.g.
dub  double, comfy  comfortable,
frig or fridge  refrigerator, dilly  delightful,
mike  microphone, tellie, telly or TV  television set,
vac  vacuum cleaner, mizzy  miserable, etc.
Various classifications of shortened words have been offered. The generally accepted one is that
based on the position of the clipped part. According to whether it is the final, initial or middle part of the
word that is cut off final clipping (or apocope, from Greek apokopto ‘cut off’), initial clipping (or
aphesis, from Greek aphairesis ‘a taking away’) and medial clipping (or syncope, from Greek syncope, ‘a
cutting up’) are distinguished.
Final clipping (apocope) in which the beginning of the prototype is retained forms the bulk of
the class: ad, advert  advertisement,
cap  captain,
coke  coca-cola,
dorm  dormitory,
ed  editor,
exam  examination,
fab  fabulous,
gent  gentleman,
gym  gymnasium,
lab  laboratory,
lib  liberty,
mac  mackintosh,
prof  professor
stip  stipend,
tick  ticket,
vegs  vegetables, etc.
 Initial-clipped words (aphesis) retaining the final part of the prototype are less numerous but
much more firmly established as separate lexical units with a meaning very different from that of the
prototype and stylistically neutral doublets:
cello  violoncello, mend  amend,
chute  parachute, mid  amid,
cute  acute, phone  telephone,
cruit  recruit, story  history,
fend  defend, van  caravan.
Final and initial clipping may be combined and result in curtailed words with the middle part of the
prototype retained (syncope):
flu  influenza,
frig, fridge  refrigerator,
tec  detective.
Curtailed words with the middle part of the word left out are few. They may be further subdivided
into two groups: a) words with a final-clipped stem retaining the functional morpheme: maths 
mathematics, specs  spectacles; b) contractions due to a gradual process of elision under the influence
of rhythm and context: fancy  fantasy, ma’am  madam.
There are also, though very few, shortenings of phrases:
hi-fi  high fidelity (високонадійний),
hospron  hospital squadron (госпітальний підрозділ),
mod cons  modern conveniences (сучасні комунальні зручності),
non-com  non-commissioned officer (нештатний офіцер),
sci-fic  scientific fiction (науково-популярна проза) тощо.
Here belong also shortenings of proper names, most of them are final clippings, e.g. Bart 
Bartholomew, Ben  Benjamin, Bert  Bertram, Chris  Christopher, Clem  Clement, Don  Donald,
El  Elbert, Greg  Gregory, Ken  Kenneth, Pat  Patricia, Patrick, Pete  Peter, Ron  Ronald,
Sam  Samuel, Steve  Stephen, Tim  Timothy, Val  Valentine, though there are also initial
clippings, too, e.g. Beckie  Rebecca, Gene  Eugene, Manuel  Emmanuel, Bert  Robert, Bessie,
Beth  Elizabeth, Lena  Helena, Magdalena.
Semantic correlation of ordinary words and their clipped counterparts merits special consideration.
The coining of clipped word-forms may result either in the ousting of one of the words from the
vocabulary, or in establishing a clear semantic differentiation between the two units. Accurate studies of
such processes have not yet been made, but some tendencies can be observed. The full words have
passed out of use, so their clipped variants become new roots. According to H. Marchand, examples of
this sort are as follows: chap  chapman, brandy  brandywine, mob  mobile. The change is not only
quantitative: a clipped word is not merely a word that has lost its part. Identifying shortened word as
using a part for the whole (pars pro toto), as Hockett assumes, does not seem fully justified, and must be
taken with some points of reservation.
21.Minor ways of replenishing the vocabulary of Modern English: blending, back-
formatiom, sound-interchange, change of stress.
Blending is a special type of compounding by means of merging parts of words into one new
word. Such words are called blends, fusions, portmanteau words, telescoped words. Familiar examples
are:
smog (smoke + fog),
brunch (breakfast + lunch),
skort (skirt + short),
 smaze (smoke + haze),
laundromat (laundry + autimat),
slanguage (slang + language).
Telescoped words may be coined from words of one and the same grammatical rank or by
contrasting attributive groups. In the opinion of H. Marchand, the result of blending is a moneme, i. e.
an unanalysable simple word, not a motivated syntagma.
Telescopy involves different lexico-grammatical categories (nouns, adjectives, adverbs and
verbs), e.g.:
N + N: macon (mutton + bacon);
Adj + N: slurbs (sleazy + suburbs);
N + Adj: soroptimistic (sorority + optimistic);
Adj + Adj: posilutely (positively + absolutely);
V + V: flurry (fly + hurry).
Nounal coinages of this type are most frequent.
Structurally the following groups of blends are distinguished:
1) the initial elements of one word and the final elements of another:
drunch (drinks + lunch),
greige (grey + beige),
skort (skirt + short);
2) one notional word and the final element of another word:
glassphalt (glass + asphalt),
radiotrician (radio + electrician);
3) the initial elements of one word and a notional word:
bascart (basket + cart),
mobus (motor + bus),
petrodollar (petrol + dollar).
Depending on the prototype phrases two types of blends can be distinguished: additive and
restrictive. The semantic relations within the phrases are different.
In additive blends their elements belong to the same lexico-grammatical class, sometimes to the
same semantic field; their stems may be combined by the conjunction and, e.g. :
mimsy (miserable + flimsy),
Frenglish (French + English).
The restrictive type may be transformed into attributive phrases where the first element serves
as modifier of the second, the second being the semantic and structural nucleus, e.g.:
positron (positive + electron),
Amdoc (American + doctor).
Blends seem to be on the rise especially in terminology and in trade advertisement. The progress
of science played a great role in the development of this kind of word-formation, e.g.:
seacopter (sea + helicopter),
avionics (aviation + electronics),
acetol (acetic + alcohol),
bookvesting (book + advertising).
Among blends there are many placenames. Towns near the borders of two states are given names
which are made of parts of the names of the states and names of nations, e.g.:
Calexico (California + Mexico),
Amerindian (American + Indian),
Amerasian (American + Asian).
 Telescopic words are sometimes formed to achieve humorous effect and have a stylistic status.
They can convey various shades of emotive colouring (irony or mockery), often referring to political
slang, e.g.:
dopelomat (dope + diplomat),
pollutician (pollute + politician),
paytriotism (pay + patriotism).
Reversion or back-formation is an active derivative process at the present time. By reversion is
meant inferring of a short word from a long one. Familiar examples are: to baby-sit from baby-sitter, to
edit from editor, to beg from beggar, to peddle from peddler, etc.
Reversion may be found in the formation of words belonging to different parts of speech:
1) verbs made from names of agent with the suffixes -er, -or, -our/-eur, -ar, -rd:
broker  to broke,
wafter  to waft,
hawker  to hawk,
usher  to ush,
sculptor  to sculpt;
2) verbs made from nouns with the suffix -ing:
kittling  to kittle;
3) verbs made from compounds that have either -er or -ing as their last element:
air-conditioner  to air-condition,
beachcombing  beachcomb,
housecleaning  houseclean,
housekeeping  to housekeep,
thoughtreading  thoughtread;
4) verbs made from nouns with abstract suffixes -ence, -tion, -sion, -is, -y, -ment, -age, -ery:
reminiscence  to reminisce,
infraction  to infract,
television  to televise,
catalysis  to catalyse,
emplacement  to emplace;
5) verbs made from adjectives:
luminescent  to luminisce,
reminiscent  to reminisce,
frivolous  to frivol;
6) nouns made from adjectives:
greedy  greed,
nasty  nast.
Sound Interchange It may be defined as an opposition in which words are differentiated due to
an alternation in the phonemic composition of the root. The change may affect the root vowel, e.g.: foodn
– feedv, fulla – feelv, or root consonant as in speakv – speechn, believev – beliefn or both, as for instance in
lifea – livev. It may also be combined with affixation: strong – strength.
The process is not active in the language at present, and oppositions of this kind survive in the vocabulary
only as remnants of previous stages. Synchronically sound interchange should not be considered as a
method of word-building at all, but rather as a basis for contrasting words belonging to the same word-
family and different parts of speech or different lexico-grammatical groups.
Change of Stress. Homographic, mostly disyllabic nouns and verbs of Romanic origin have a distinctive
stress pattern: nouns are forestressed and verbs have a stress on the second syllable:
 ′conductn – con′ductv,
′accentn – ac′centv,
′compressn – com′pressv,
′recordn – re′cordv, etc.
A similar phenomenon is observed in some homographic pairs of adjectives and verbs: ′absenta – ab
′sentv,
′frequenta – fre′quentv,
′perfecta – per′fectv,
′abstracta – ab′stractv.
This stress distinction is, however, neither productive nor regular. There are many denominal

verbs that are forestressed and thus homonymous with the corresponding nouns:

′commentn – ′commentv,
′exilen – ′exilev,
′figuren – ′figurev,
′processn – ′processv,
′triumphn – ′triumphv, etc.
22.Semasiology. Different approaches to meaning.
The branch of the study of language concerned with the meaning of words and word
equivalents is called semasiology. The name comes from the Greek word semasia meaning
signification. As semasiology deals not with every kind of meaning but with the lexical
meaning only, it may be regarded as a branch of Lexicology.
Meaning is one of the most controversial terms in the theory of language. There is no universally
accepted definition of meaning so far.
In general, in modern linguistics word-meanings are studied from different angles of view:
1) through establishing the interrelations between words and concepts – the so-called referential approach;
2) through the observations of the functional use of a word in speech – the functional approach.
Referential approach
 distinguishes between the three components closely connected with meaning:
 the sound-form of the linguistic sign,
 the concept underlying this sound-form,
 the actual referent, i. e. that part or that aspect of reality to which the linguistic sign
refers.
 The best known referential model of meaning is the so-called “basic triangle” worked
out by C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards in their book The Meaning of Meaning: A Study of
the Influence of Language upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism (1923)
The sound-form of the linguistic sign is connected with our concept of the referent that is the actual
piece of reality.
The dotted line between the sound-form and the referent suggests that there is no immediate
relation between word and referent: it is established only through the concept.
The common feature of any referential approach is the implication that meaning is in some form or
other connected with the referent
Functional approach
 the meaning of a linguistic unit may be studied only through its relation to other linguistic units
and not through its relation to either concept or referent.
  one and the same polysemantic word in different syntactical relations can develop different
meanings:
1) He treated my words as a joke.
2) The book treats of poetry.
3) They treated me to sweets.
4) He treats his son cruelly.

23.Types of meaning.
The modern approach to semantics is based on the assumption that the inner form of the word,
i. e. its meaning, presents a structure which is called the semantic structure of the word. Thus,
meaning is a certain reflection in our mind of objects, phenomena or relations that makes part of the
linguistic sign – its so-called inner facet, whereas the sound-form functions as its outer facet.
Word-meaning is not homogeneous but is made up of various components the combination and
the interrelation of which determine to a great extend the inner facet of the word. These
components are usually described as types of meaning.
The two main types of meaning that are readily observed are the grammatical and the lexical
meanings.
Grammatical meaning. Grammatical meaning may be defined as the component of meaning recurrent in
identical sets of individual forms of different words. Thus, when we take, e.g., such a set of word-forms as tables,
girls, books, etc. the grammatical meaning of plurality.
Nouns have also the grammatical meaning of case which can be illustrated by a set of word-forms
mother’s, girl’s, night’s, world’s, etc.
The set of the verb word-forms asked, thought, worked, etc. illustrate the grammatical meaning of tense.
Lexical meaning. Lexical meaning is the realization of concept or emotion by means of a definite language
system, cf.:
The component of meaning proper to the word as a linguistic unit, i. e. recurrent in all the forms of this
word and in all possible distributions of these forms. [Ginzburg R.S.; Rayevskaya N.N.]
The semantic invariant of the grammatical variation of a word. [Nikitin M.V.]
The material meaning of a word, i. e. the meaning of the main material part of the word which reflects the
concept the given word expresses and the basic properties of the thing
(phenomenon, quality, state, etc.) the word denotes. [Mednikova E.M.]
The lexical meaning is not homogenous, it includes denotational and connotational components
Denotational meaning is that component of the lexical meaning which serves to identify and name the
notion, it makes communication possible.
 Fulfilling the significative and the communicative functions of the word the denotative meaning is present
in every word and may be regarded as the central factor in the functioning of language.
The second component of the lexical meaning is the connotational component. Connotation is the
pragmatic communicative value the word receives depending on where, when, how, by whom, for what purpose and
in what contexts it may be used.
There are four main types of connotations: stylistic, emotional, evaluative and expressive/intensifying.
Stylistic connotation is what the word conveys about the speaker’s attitude to the social circumstances and
the appropriate functional style (slay vs kill).
Emotional connotation conveys the speaker’s emotions (mummy vs mother).
Evaluative connotation may show the speaker’s approval or disapproval of the object spoken of (clique vs
group).
The degree of intensity (adore vs love) is conveyed by expressive or intensifying connotation.
The expressive function of the language (the speeker’s feelings) and the pragmatic function (the effect of
words upon listeners) are rendered in connotations. Unlike the denotative meaning, connotations are optional.
The corelation between the denotational and connotational components
 Glare - to look // steadily, lastingly; in anger, rage.
  Glance -to look // briefly, passingly.
Connotation differs from the implicational meaning of the word. Implicational meaning is the implied
information associated with the word, with what the speakers know about the referent.
A wolf is known to be greedy and cruel (implicational meaning) but the denotative meaning of this word
does not include these features. The denotative or the intentional meaning of the word wolf is ‘a wild animal
resembling a dog that kills sheep and sometimes even attacks men’. Its figurative meaning is derived from implied
information, from what we know about wolves – ‘a crual greedy person’ and the adjective wolfish means ‘greedy’.
24.Motivation of meaning.
The term motivation is used to denote the relationship existing between the morphemic or phonemic
composition and structural pattern of the word on the one hand, and its meaning on the other.
There are three main types of motivation: phonetical motivation, morphological and semantic motivation.
Phonetical motivation is observed in words in which the sound-clusters are a direct imitation of the sounds
these words denote (they are called echoic words): boom, buzz, chatter, clip, crack, cuckoo, giggle, gurgle, hiss,
hop, mew, purr, sip, sizzle, splash, swish, whistle, etc.
Morphological motivation. The main criterion in morphological motivation is the relationship between
morphemes constituting the word. Hence all one-morpheme words are non-motivated.
In words composed of more than one morpheme the carrier of the word-meaning is the combined meaning of
the component morphemes and the meaning of the structural pattern of the word.
The words finger-ring and ring-finger contain two morphemes, the combined lexical meaning of which is
the same; the difference in the meaning of these words can be accounted for by the difference in the
arrangement of the component morphemes.
Semantic motivation. Semantic motivation is based on the co-existence of direct and figurative meaning, i.
e. of the old sense and new within the same synchronous system. Thus the word mouth denotes a part of a
human face, and at the same time it can mean metaphorically any opening or outlet: the mouth of a river, for
instance. In its direct meaning the word mouth is not motivated, but in its figurative meaning it is semantically
motivated, though this motivation is relative.

25.Semantic change of meaning, its causes.

As far as causes of semantic change are concerned they may be subdivided into two groups: 1) extra-
linguistic and 2) linguistic.
By extra-linguistic causes are meant various changes in the life of a speech community, changes in
economic and social structure, in ideas and scientific concepts, way of life and other spheres of human activities
as reflected in word meanings.
The word being a linguistic realization of notion. As the human mind achieves more exact understanding
of the world of reality and the objective relationships that characterize it, the notions become more and more
exact reflections of real things. This process is reflected in the development of lexical meaning.
The history of the social, economic and political life of the people, the progress of culture and science bring
about changes in notions and things influencing the semantic aspect of language
Modern English word earth meant in OE ‘the ground under people’s feet’, ‘the soil’ and ‘the world of man’
as opposed to heaven that was supposed to be inhabited by God, his saints and the souls of the dead. With the
progress of science earth came to mean “the third planet from the sun” and the knowledge was constantly
enriched.
As far as linguistic causes are concerned, these are changes which take place within the very language
system, namely changes due to the constant interdependence of vocabulary units in language and speech, such
as differentiation between synonyms, changes taking place in connection with ellipses and fixed contexts,
changes resulting from ambiguity in certain contexts, and some other cases.
The verb to starve, in Old English (OE. steorfan) had the meaning ‘to die’ and was habitually used in
collocations with the word hunger (ME. sterven of hunger). Already in the 16th century the verb itself acquired
the meaning ‘to die of hunger’
Ellipsis - in a phrase made up of two words one of these is omitted and its meaning is transferred to its
partner.

26.Transfer of meaning: metaphor.

 Similarity of meaning or metaphor may be described as a semantic process of associating two
referents, one of which in some way resembles the other. In other words, it is the transfer of
meaning based on similarity.
Metaphors may be based on very different types of similarity, namely:
 similarity of shape and form: head of a cabbage, the teeth of a saw, mouth of a river, bottle-neck
(вузьке місце), bull’s eye (кишеньковий ліхтар), maypole (здоровило, каланча);
 similarity of size: elephantine, mammoth, a grain of truth;
 similarity of function: hand of a clock, finger-post, key to the mystery, wing of the plane, arms of a
balance (коромисло ваги);
 similarity of position: foot of a page (mountain), head of a procession, back of a chair, entrails (надра
землі);
 similarity of colour: black (book, deed, envy, ingratitude, injustice, list, magic, market,); white lie (crow,
frost, light, man, night,); the names of some flowers and shrubs are commonly used to denote their
colour (rose, violet, orange, lilac);
 similarity of temperature (to denote certain qualities of human voice, etc.): cold voice, cold
reception/shoulder, cold comfort (мала втіха), worm words, in warm blood (згарячу, зопалу), heat
discussion, red-hot / boiling, hot (розлючений, оскаженілий), hot scent (гарячий слід).
Another subgroup of metaphors comprises transitions of proper names into common use. This
process is called antonomasia, e.g.:
an Adonis (a very handsome young man),
a Cicero (a gifted orator),
a Don Juan (a man who is good at persuading women to have sex with him),
a Don Quixote (an idealist ready to fight for his ideas),
an Einstein (a man of genius),
a Philistine (a person who doesn’t like or understand art, literature, music, etc.),
a Vandal (a person who intentionally destroys or damages public property) etc.
Peculiar is the metaphoric use of the so-called “move and change” class of verbs, such as:
to come, to go, to fly, to fall, to run, to jump, to arrive, to make, etc.:
to come/to jump to a conclusion, to arrive at a conclusion, to come to an agreement, to go hot and
cold, to fly into a rage, to fly high, to leap into fame, to fall in love, to fall a victim, to run into debt, to
run too far, to run wild (рости недоумком), to sink or swim, to sink in one’s estimation, to sink one’s
own interests, to make the money fly.
Zoosemy. Names of animals are often used metaphorically to denote human qualities. This is
zoosemy. Zoosemy needs no explanation when people are nicknamed cock, lion, parrot, monkey,
hen, sheep, snake, duck, viper, wolf, pig, etc. A few typical illustrations are given in the table below.
 bear – a gruff, burly, clumsy, bad-mannered, or rude person;
 bull – a large, solidly built person;
 donkey – a foolish person;
 dove – an innocent, gentle, or tender person;
ducky – (used as a term of endearment or familiarity) dear; sweetheart; darling; pet
 Dead metaphors - are not felt any longer. The verb to ponder was borrowed from Latin in the
meaning of ‘to weigh’. Later on it began to be used metaphorically in the meaning ‘to consider
 something’. At present it is used only in this meaning as a synonym to verbs to think, to
meditate.
27.Transfer of meaning: metonymy.
Contiguity of meaning or metonymy (from Greek ‘meta’ – ‘change’ and ‘onoma’ – ‘name’ ) may
be described as the semantic process of associating two referents one of which makes part of the
other or is closely connected with it. This transfer of meaning is based on the association of
contiguity. It is a shift of names between things that are known to be in some way or other
connected in reality.
The simplest case of metonymy is synecdoche by which is meant using the part for the whole
(Lat. pars pro toto), for instance: ABC for alphabet, man for humanity, colours for army or vice versa,
for instance: fox in the meaning of fur of fox.
The transfer may be conditioned by various connections: spatial, temporal, causal, symbolic,
instrumental, functional and others.
Spatial relations are present when the name of the place is used for the people occupying it,
e. g. the words town, village may denote the inhabitants of a town or a village (the town was
sleeping, the village was afoot), the word house – the members of the House of Commons or Lords,
the word chair – the chairman of the meeting or stting (to address the chair). The same is found in:
the auditorium stood up, the parterre applauded. There are many instances in political vocabulary
when the place of the establishment is used not only for the establishment itself or its staff but also
for its policy: the White House, the Kremlin, the Pentagon, Wall Street, Fleet Street.
A causal relationship states and properties serve as names of objects and people possessing
them: youth, age, authorities, forces.
The adjective dull developed its meaning ‘not clear or bright’ on the basis of former meaning
‘deficient in eyesight’, and its meaning ‘not loud or distinct’ on the basis of the older meaning
‘deficient in hearing’. The association here was obviously that of cause and effect: to a person with
weak eyesight all colours appear pale, and all shades blurred; to a person with deficient hearing all
sounds are indistinct.
Symbolic relationship, e.g.: the crown for monarchy, hand for handwriting, from the cradle to
the grave. Besides, the material may be used for the thing made of this material (glass, iron, copper,
nickel), receptacle for content (the kettle is boiling), a part is applied to the whole: royal horse for
cavalry, foot for infantry, etc.
Instrumental relationship is observed when the instrument is used for the agent: the pen for the
writer, the sword for soldier (e.g. the best pens of the day).
Common names may be derived from proper names also metonymically, as in macadam (a road
surface made of broken stone and tar or asphalt, after Scottish engineer McAdam) and diesel, so
named after their inventors. Garments came to be known by the names of those who brought them
into fashion: mackintosh (after its inventor Charles Macintosh), raglan (after Lord Raglan), nicotine
(after Jean Nicit, who introduced tobacco in France), Wellingtons (after Duke of Wellington).
Many physical and technical units are named after scientists: volt (after the Italian physicist
Alessandro Volta), ohm (after Georg S. Ohm), ampere (after the French physicist Andre Marie
Ampere), watt (after the Scottish inventor James Watt), etc.
Examples of geographic names turning into common nouns to name the goods exported or
originating there are exceedingly numerous: astrakhan, boston, cardigan, china, tweed, etc. Thus,
 for instance, bikini comes from the geographical name in the Marshall Islands, Madeira – wine made
on the island of Madeira, Malaga – white wine made in Malaga, a city and province in Spain,
champagne – a white sparkling wine, made in the province of Champagne, France, Bordeaux – wine
from Bordeaux region, France, sardines – after the name of the island, china in the sense of ‘dishes
made of porcelain’ originated from the name of the country which was believed to be the birthplace
of porcelain, tweed – a coarse wool cloth got its name from the river Tweed and cheviot (another
kind of wool cloth) – from the Cheviot hills in England.

28.Results of semantic change.

 the changes of denotational meaning of the word (narrowing and extension of
meaning)
 the alteration of its connotational meaning (degradation and elevation of meaning).
4.1. Narrowing of meaning
The restriction of the types or range of referents denoted by the word:
 deer: any wild animal  only a certain kind of animals;
 garage: any safety place  a safety place for a car;
 girl: a young person of any sex  a female young person.
4.2. Extension of meaning
 The application of the word to a wider variety of referents:
 arrive: to reach the shore  to reach any destination;
 picture: a painting  any image;
 season: spring  any time of the year;
4.3. Degradation of meaning
Pejorative development or the acquisition by the word of some derogatory emotive charge:
 boor: a peasant  a coarse, rude person;
 gossip: god parent  ill-natured talk;
 silly: happy  insane, foolish;
4.4. Elevation of meaning
Ameliorative development or the improvement of the connotational component of meaning:
 adore: to greet  to love very much;
 fame: rumours  glory;
 handsome: handy  beautiful/
29.Polysemy.Semantic structure of polysemantic words.
Polysemy is a semantic universal inherent in the fundamental structure of language. The word
‘polysemy’ means ‘plurality of meanings’, it exists only in language, not in speech.
It is very important to distinguish between the lexical meaning of a word in speech and its
semantic structure in language. The meaning in speech is contextual. The sum total of many
contexts in which the word may occur permits to observe and record cases that differ in meaning.
They are registered and classified by lexicographers in dictionaries.
The system of meanings of any polysemantic word develops gradually, mostly over the
centuries, as more and more new meanings are either added to old ones, or oust some of them. So
the complicated process of polysemy development involve both the appearance of new meanings
and the loss of old ones.

Wide-spread polysemy in English is conditioned by the peculiarities of its structure (due to the
monosyllabic character of English and the predominance of root words). The greater the frequency
of the word, the greater the number of meanings that constitute its semantic structure. Frequency –
combinability – polysemy are closely connected.
 A special formula known as Zipf’s law has been worked out to express the correlation between
frequency, word length and polysemy. Zipf's law is an empirical law, formulated using mathematical
statistics, named after the linguist George Kingsley Zipf, who first proposed it. Zipf's law states that
given a large sample of words used, the frequency of any word is inversely proportional to its rank in
the frequency table.

Zipf's law

The shorter the word, the higher is frequency of use; the higher the frequency, the
wider is combinability, i. e. the more word combinations it enters; the wider its combinability, the
more meanings are realized in these contexts.

The word in one of its meanings is termed a lexico-semantic variant of this word. All the lexico-
semantic variants of a word taken together form its semantic structure or semantic paradigm.

No general or complete scheme of types of lexical meanings as elements of a word’s semantic

structure has so far been accepted by linguists.

The following terms may be found with different authors: direct ↔ figurative, main ↔ derived,
primary ↔ secondary, concrete ↔ abstract, central ↔ peripheral, general ↔ special, narrow ↔
extended.

Meaning is direct when it nominates the referent without the help of a context, in isolation;
meaning is figurative when the referent is named and at the same time characterized through its
similarity with other objects (the head of a man ↔ the head of a cabbage). Differentiation between
the terms primary ↔ secondary, main ↔ derived meanings is connected with two approaches to
polysemy: diachronic and synchronic.

Polysemy can be viewed upon diachronically and synchronically. If polysemy is viewed diachronically,
it is understood as the growth and development of or, in general, as a change in the semantic
structure of the word.
Polysemy in diachronic terms implies that a word may retain its previous meaning or meanings
and at the same time acquire one or several new ones.

The problem of interrelation and interdependence of individual meanings of a polysemantic

word may be roughly formulated as follows:

- Did the word always possess all its meanings or did some of them appear earlier than the
others?

- Are the new meanings dependent on the meanings already existing?

- What is the nature of this dependence?

- Can we observe any changes in the arrangement of the meanings?

Synchronically polysemy is understood as the coexistence of various meanings of the same word
at a certain historical period of the development of the English language.

The interrelation and interdependence of individual meanings making up the semantic structure
of the word must be investigated along different lines, namely:
 - Are all the meanings equally representative of the semantic structure of this word?

- Is the order in which the meanings are enumerated (or recorded) in dictionaries purely arbitrary
or does it reflect the comparative value of individual meanings?

TABLE

 a piece of furniture;
 the persons seated at a table;
 sing. the food put on a table, meals;
 a thing flat piece of stone, metal, wood, etc.;
 pl. slabs of stone;
 words cut into them or written on them (the ten tables);
 an orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc.;
 part of a machine-tool on which the work is put to be operated on;
 a level area, a plateau.
In the course of a diachronic semantic analysis we find out that of all the meanings the primary
meaning is ‘a flat slab of stone or wood’ which is proper to the word in the Old English (OE tabule from
L. tabula). All other meanings are secondary as they derived from the primary meaning of the word and
appeared later than the primary meaning.

When viewed upon synchronically we intuitively feel that the meaning that first occurs to us
whenever we hear or see the word table, is ‘an article of furniture’. It occupies the central place in the
semantic structure of the word table and all other meanings are minor in comparison.

There are two main processes of the semantic development of a polysemantic word: radiation and
concatination.
In cases of radiation the primary meaning stands in the centre and the secondary meanings proceed
out of it like rays. Each secondary meaning can be traced to the primary meaning. E.g. in the word
face the primary meaning denotes ‘the front part of the human head’. Connected with the front
position such meanings as ‘the front part of a watch’, ‘the front part of a building’, ‘the front part of a
playing card’ were formed.
Other examples of this semantic process are as follows: the word head; its central meaning ‘the top
part of a human body’ stands in the centre from which such meanings radiated:
1) mind, mental ability (e.g. get it out of your head);
2) person in charge (You should discuss the matter with your head of department);
3) front, leading position (at the head of the table);
4) the top of smth. (the top of a flower or a plant).
In cases of concatination or a semantic chain the central meaning stands at the very beginning of a
chain and all the secondary meanings develop from the previous meaning. In such cases it is difficult
to trace some meanings to the primary one. It can be illustrated by the word style:
1) a pointed stick;
2) a pointed stick for writing on wax in Rome;
3) a manner of writing;
4) a manner of doing smth. in general.
Sometimes these two ways of semantic development merge. It is called the split of polysemy. In
such cases polysemy ends and homonymy starts. Let’s illustrate it by the word bar. Its primary
 meaning was ‘a long narrow piece of metal’ which developed my means of radiation a number of
other meanings, namely: ‘a bolt’, ‘a crowbar’, ‘gratings’, a musical term ‘bar line’, i. e. vertical lines
dividing printed music into metrical units (the first bars of the symphony), then – ‘a narrow
band/strip of colour or light’, then – ‘barrier/obstacle’ (poor health may be a bar to success), then –
‘a counter separating the judge and the lawyers and the prisoner from spectators’ and one more
meaning – ‘the counter where spirits are sold’. Later on the last two meanings developed meanings
of their own: the last but one developed the meaning ‘barrister’ (She is training for the bar) and the
last one developed the meaning ‘a place where food and drinks are served’ (a sandwich bar, a coffee
bar, a wine bar). Here polysemy splits and homonymy starts.

30.Homonymy. Sources of homonymy. Classification of homonyms.

Words identical in sound-form or spelling, or both in sound-form and spelling but different in
meaning are called homonyms.

Homonyms can be classified due to different principles. Thus, Walter Skeat classified homonyms
according to their spelling and sound forms. He pointed out three groups of homonyms, namely:

1) absolute (or full) homonyms or words identical both in pronunciation and in spelling but different in
meaning:
bearn (ведмідь) – bearv (носити);

paleadj (блідий) – palen (кіл, паля);

schooln (школа) – schooln (косяк риби);

2) homographs (or heteronyms) i. e. words which are identical in spelling but different in sound and
meaning:
bown ([bau] поклін) – bown ([boV] лук );

rown ([rau] шум, гвалт) – rown ([roV] ряд, низка);

leadn ([led] cвинець) – leadv ([li:d] вести, показувати шлях; керувати);

3) homophones i. e. words identical in sound but different in spelling and meaning:

sonn – sunn; byprep – buyv; nightn – knightn;

pearn – pairn; airn – heirn; piecen – peacen;

nightn – knightn; himprn – hymnn; steeln – stealv.

Homonyms may belong both to the same and different categories of parts of speech. Obviously,
a classification of homonyms should reflect this distinctive feature. Also, the paradigm of each word
should be considered, because it has been observed that the paradigms of some homonyms coincide
completely, and of others only partially.

2. 2. Sources of Homonymy
There are two main sources of homonymy:

1) diverging meaning development of a polysemantic word, The same happened in the case of
Modern English flower and flour which originally were one word.
2) converging sound development of two or more different words.
 The great majority of homonyms arise as a result of converging sound development which leads
to the coincidence of two or more words which were phonetically distinct at an earlier date. Thus, the
words night and knight were not homonyms in Old English but owing to phonetic changes which words
underwent in the course of their historical development became homonyms.

Some other examples: OE ic and eae have become identical in pronunciation (MnE I [ai] and eye
[ai]); the verb to write had the form wrĪtan and the adjective right had the forms reht, riht. The noun sea
descended from the Old English form sæ, and the verb to see from Old English sæon.

Words borrowed from other languages may through phonetic convergence become homonyms.
A borrowed word may, in the final stage of its phonetic adaptation, duplicate in form either a native
word or another borrowing. Thus, e.g.: ON ras and Fr race are homonyms in Modern English (race1 as
running and race2 as a distinct ethnical stock).

Shortening is a further type of word-building which increases the number of homonyms. For
instance, fann in the sense of ‘an enthusiastic admirer of some kind of sport or of an actor, singer, etc.’ is
a shortening produced from fanatic. Its homonym is a Latin borrowing fann which denotes an
implement for waving lightly to produce a cool current of air. The noun repn denoting a kind of fabric
has three homonyms made by shortening: repn  repertory, repn  representative, repn  reputation.

31.Vocabulary as a system. Synonymy. Synonymic dominant. Sources of synonymy.

 A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed
with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge.
Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the largest challenges in learning a second language.
 Synonyms are two or more words of the same language, belonging to the same part of speech and
possessing one or more identical or nearly identical denotational meanings, interchangeable, at least in
some contexts, without any considerable alteration in denotational meaning, but differing in morphemic
composition, phonemic shape, shades of meaning, connotations, affective value, style, valency and
idiomatic use.
 (I. V. Arnold )
 The synonymic dominant expresses the notion common to all synonyms of the group in the most
general way, without contributing any additional information as to the manner, intensity, duration or any
attending feature of the referent, i. e. it is a typical basic-vocabulary word.

 In the synonymic series to get, to obtain, to acquire, to gain, to win, to earn the verb to get is a
synonymic dominant as it can stand for all the verbs of this group.
 In the synonymic series to get, to obtain, to acquire, to gain, to win, to earn the verb to get is a
synonymic dominant as it can stand for all the verbs of this group.
 Synonyms are two or more words of the same language, belonging to the same part of speech and
possessing one or more identical or nearly identical denotational meanings, interchangeable, at least in
some contexts, without any considerable alteration in denotational meaning, but differing in morphemic
composition, phonemic shape, shades of meaning, connotations, affective value, style, valency and
idiomatic use.
 The synonymic dominant expresses the notion common to all synonyms of the group in the most
general way, without contributing any additional information as to the manner, intensity, duration or
any attending feature of the referent, i. e. it is a typical basic-vocabulary word.
 In the synonymic series to get, to obtain, to acquire, to gain, to win, to earn the verb to get is a
synonymic dominant as it can stand for all the verbs of this group.

Sources of synonymy
Scholars distinguish the following sources of synonymy:
1. Synonyms which originated from the native language:
fast – speedy – swift,
handsome – pretty – lovely,
bold – manful – steadfast.
2. Synonyms created through the adoption of words from dialects:
mother – minny (Scot.),
dark – murk (O.N.),
charm – glamour (Scot.).
3. Synonyms which owe their origin to foreign borrowings:
to begin – to commence (Fr),
to end - to finish (Fr),
help – aid (L.),
heaven – sky (Sc.),
freedom – liberty (L.).
Native words are stylistically neutral, words borrowed from French are literary and words
of Greco-Latin origin are learned. This results in a stylistically conditioned triple:
Native French Greco-Latin
to ask to question to interrogate,
to end to finish to complete
to gather to assemble to collect,
to rise to mount to ascend
belly stomach abdomen
teaching guidance instruction.
4. Synonyms connected with non-literary figurative use of words in pictorial language:
dreamer – star-gazer,
profession, occupation – walk of life.
5. Synonyms – euphemisms and vulgarisms employed for certain stylistic purpose:
to lie – to distort facts,
to steal – to shoop,
to spend – to blow in.
6. Some synonymic oppositions appeared due to shift of meaning, new combinations of verbs with
postpositives and compound nouns formed from them:
to choose – to pick up,
to abandon – to give up,
to continue – to go on,
to enter – to come in,
to postpone – to put off,
 arrangement – layout,
reproduction – playback.
7. Quite frequently synonyms, mostly stylistical, are due to shortening:
memorandum – memo,
vegetables – vegs,
doctor – doc,
laboratory – lab,
popular – pop,
examination – exam.

32.Classification of synonyms.
 1) complete or absolute,
 2) ideographic,
 3) stylistic,
 4) phraseological.
1. Absolute synonyms
 can replace each other in any given context without the slightest alteration in denotative or emotional
meaning and connotations (terms peculiar to this or that branch of knowledge)
 As it has already been mentioned, absolute synonyms are rather rare. These are synonyms which can
replace each other in any given context without the slightest alteration in denotative or emotional
meaning and connotations. Examples of this type can be found in special literature among terms
peculiar to this or that branch of knowledge, e.g.
 in linguistics, noun and substantive, functional affix, flection and inflection, composition and
compounding;
 in medicine: cephalalgia – headache, epidermis – scarf-skin, haemorrhage – bleeding, trachea – wind-
pipe, scarlet fever - scarlatina;
 among names of tools, instruments, machines, technological processes : basement – foundation, engine
– motor – prime mover, fan – ventilator, knife – cutter, oil – petrol, plane – aircraft.
 Some absolute synonyms appeared due to geographical divergence : lorry – truck, tin – can, railway –
railroad, pavement – sidewalk, etc.
2. Ideographic synonyms
 denote different shades of meaning or different degrees of a given quality.
 are nearly identical in one or more denotational meanings
 are interchangeable at least in some contexts, e.g.:
 beautiful – fine – handsome – pretty,
 different – various,
 idle – lazy – indolent,
Ideographic synonyms are not homogeneous. They can be subdivided into several groups, according
to their denotational and connotational meanings:
1) Synonyms which are very close in their meaning:
horrible – terrible,
answer – reply,
thankful – grateful,
 immediately – instantly – at once.
2) Synonyms which differ in their meaning considerably: translator – interpreter (the former changes
writing into a different language, the latter changes spoken words from one language into another:
Speaking through an interpreter).
One more example: journey, travel, voyage, trip (journey is associated with travelling by land, travel
is associated with travelling as profession or travelling with scientific purposes or discovering, voyage
is connected with travelling by sea or by air, trip implies travelling for a short period of time).
3) Synonyms which differ in the volume of the notion they denote: frontier – border (frontier is the
border of a country, e.g. the frontier between France and Belgium while border is the official line that
separates two countries, states or areas, so it wider in meaning, e.g. The river lies on the border
between the US and Mexico). Here also belong: illness – disease (illness is wider is wider for it implies
a weakened state of one’s health in general whereas disease means a special kind of disorder), smell
– scent (smell is wider as it implies any kind of odour whereas scent is associated only with pleasant
smells), author – writer (author creates any piece of art while writer – only literary production), work
– job (work is general term for any activity, while job means a particular case of applying one’s
labour, usually associated with a certain salary).
4) Synonyms which differ in the connotation of manner of the action, e. g.:
5) Synonyms which differ in the degree or intensity of the action, e. g.
to alarm – to frighten – to terrify – to intimidate – to scare (to alarm implies the causing of a milder
degree of fear than to frighten; to terrify is to frighten to an extreme degree; to intimidate usually
implies pressure, threat and to scare implies the causing of sudden and often unreasoning fear or
panic);
to ask – to beg – to beseech – to implore (the verb to ask expresses the idea of making a request for
smth., to beg means “to ask for smth. in an anxious or urgent way”, to beseech means “to ask
eagerly” and to implore means “to ask for smth. in an emotional way with earnestness”),
6) Synonyms which differ in the degree of some quality, e.g. synonyms expressing excellent quality:
big – huge – enormous,
tired – exhausted.
7) Synonyms, the distinctive feature of which is based on the time, duration and quickness of the
action, e.g.:
look – glance – glimpse. All of them denote a conscious and direct endeavour to see, but a glance is a
look which is quick and sudden and a glimpse is quicker still, implying only momentary sight.
to speak – to say,
to fear – to fright,
to beat – to strike.
3. Stylistic synonyms
They are synonymically correlated words which differ not so much in meaning as in emotive value
and stylistic sphere of application.
Thus, pictorial language often uses poetic words as stylistic alternatives of neutral ones, e.g.: nouns:
maid for girl, ire for anger, woe for sorrow, bliss for happiness, eve for evening, morn for morning,
thrall for distress, steed for horse;
 adjectives: lone for lonely, forlorn for distressed, jocund for merry, mute for silent;
verbs: quit for leave, quoth for said, vanquish for conquer, hie or speed for hasten, smite for hit or
strike;
adverbs: haply for perhaps, full for very, etc.
4. Phraseological synonyms.
The difference in distribution may be morphological, syntactical and lexical.
Morphological valency can be illustrated by such kind of synonyms are many – much, few – little,
Syntactical – by bare and naked (bare in reference to persons is used only predicatively while naked
occurs both predicatively and attributively.
Lexical difference in distribution can be illustrated by the verbs to win – to gain. Both can be used in
combination with the noun victory: to win a victory, to gain a victory. But with the word war only win
is possible: to win a war. Other examples: ill – sick, high – tall, sunny – solar, etc.

33.Vocabulary as a system. Antonymy. Classification of antonyms.

Antonyms may be defined as two or rarely more words of the same language belonging to the same
part of speech identical in style and nearly identical in distribution, associated and used together so that
their denotative meanings render contrary or contradictory notions.
My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
 absolute antonyms have different roots (late – early, day – night); express contrary notions (ugly -
beautiful).
 derivational antonyms have the same root but different affixes (to please – to displease, successful –
successless). In most cases negative prefixes un-, non-, in-, dis-, pre-, post- and suffixes -ful, -less are
used. Express contradictory notions, one of them excludes the other (active – inactive)
 Antonyms do not differ either in style, emotional colouring or distribution.
 Paradigmatic antonyms, i. e. two words revealing regular semantic polarity in their invariant meaning:
thick layer – thin layer, thin forest – thick forest, thick slice – thin slice, etc.
 Antonyms which may be contrasted on the syntagmatic axis, only in certain contexts. Thus, for instance,
the adjectives fat and thin are brought together as antonyms in collocations like a fat man – a thin man.

34.Meaning relations in paradigmatics: associative fields, lexical fields, word

families
1. 1. The word and its associative field
According to this approach, every word is involved in a network of associations which connect it
with other terms in the language. Some of these associations are based on similarity of meaning, others
are purely formal (i.e. based on forms), while others involve both form and meaning.
Lecturer
 (1) connects it with the verb forms lectured and lecturing by formal and semantic similarity based on the
common stem lecture;
 2) connects it with teacher and tutor by semantic similarity;
 (3) associates it with gardener and labourer because they all have the suffix -er forming agent nouns
from verbs;
 (4) associates it with the adjective clever and the inflected adverb quicker by accidental similarity in their
endings.
 The use of an arrow and that of etc. at the end of each line of associations suggests that the line has no
limit and that an infinite number of words can be added to those suggested in the diagram.
 Any word chosen from a given context will suggest other words to us, because they either resemble or
differ from each other in form, meaning or both. Such relations are referred to as 'paradigmatic'.
 They are called relations 'in absentia', because the terms involved consist of a word present in the
utterance and others that are not actually in the same utterance but that are substitutable for it in that
context.
 For example, 'difficult' is paradigmatically related with 'easy', 'funny', 'silly', etc. in expressions such as
'an easy question', 'a funny question', 'a silly question', etc. Similarly, 'question' is paradigmatically related
with 'problem', 'word', etc. in expressions like 'a difficult problem', 'a difficult word', etc.

1. 2. Lexical fields
 A semantic or lexical field - 'named area of meaning in which lexemes interrelate and define each other in
specific ways‘ Crystal (1995) . For example, the lexical field of 'kinship terms' comprises the lexemes:
father, mother, son, daughter, cousin, nephew, uncle, aunt, grandfather, grandmother, etc.
 Lexical field theory, or word-field theory
 was introduced on March 12, 1931 by the German linguist Jost Trier. He argued that words acquired
their meaning through their relationships to other words within the same word-field. An extension of the
sense of one word narrows the meaning of neighboring words, with the words in a field fitting neatly
together like a mosaic.
 If a single word undergoes a semantic change, then the whole structure of the lexical field changes. Trier's
theory assumes that lexical fields are easily definable closed sets, with no overlapping meanings or gaps.
These assumptions have been questioned and the theory has been modified since its original formulation
 According to lexical field theory, the vocabulary of a language is essentially a dynamic and well-
integrated system of lexemes structured by relationships of meaning. The system is changing
continuously by the interaction of various forces such as the disappearance of previously existing
lexemes, or the broadening or narrowing of the meaning of some lexemes.
 The system is mainly characterized by the general-particular and part-whole relationships, which hold not
only between individual lexemes and the lexical field within which they are best interpreted, but also
between specific lexical fields and the vocabulary as a whole
 'Fields are living realities intermediate between individual words and the totality of the vocabulary; as
parts of a whole, they share with words the property of being integrated in a large structure and with the
vocabulary the property of being structured in terms of smaller units' (Jost Trier).
 Jost Trier (15 December 1894 – 15 September 1970) - a German philologist
 For example, the lexical field of 'colour terms' includes the lexemes: black, white, red, green, yellow,
blue, orange, etc. Similarly, the lexical field of colour terms, together with those of kinship terms, military
ranks, vehicles, among others, are only parts of the whole English vocabulary.
 Furthermore, the general lexeme red for instance may in turn be considered a lexical field (or sub-field)
within which the particular lexemes scarlet, crimson, vermillion, etc. may best be interpreted.

1. 3. Word families
 Words are grouped into 'families' on the basis of their morphology, both their inflections and their
derivations. A family consists of a base form, its possible inflectional forms, and the words derived from
it by prefixation and suffixation.
 (a) state (verb)
states, stated, stating (inflections) stateable, statement; misstate, restate, understate (derivations)
 (b) skill (noun)
skills, skill's, skills' (inflections)
skilful, skilfully, skilfulness, skilless, skilled (derivations)
 Laurie Bauer and Paul Nation (1993) developed the notion of word families by proposing a set of levels
into which families are divided. The levels are established on a number of criteria relating to the
frequency, productivity, regularity and predictability of the affixes in English.
 The criteria are ordered in terms of their importance.
 The first concerns frequency, specifically the number of words in which an affix occurs; -er, for example,
occurs far more frequently than -ist to form 'agent' nouns from verbs (speaker, violinist).
 An invaluable tool for all learners of American English, providing a list of the 5,000 most frequently used
words in the language.
 The dictionary is based on data from a 385 million word corpus – evenly balanced between spoken
English (unscripted conversation from radio and TV shows); fiction (books, short stories, movie scripts);
more than 100 popular magazines; ten newspapers; and 100 academic journals – for a total of nearly
150,000 texts.
 The second criterion relates to productivity, the extent to which an affix continues to be used to form new
words; -ly is still highly productive in deriving adverbs from adjectives (stubbornly, speculatively).
 The third relates to the predictability of the meaning of the affix; -ness is only used to form nouns from
adjectives, with the meaning 'quality of' [craziness, tiredness), whereas -ist has a number of possible
meanings.
 The remaining criteria concern regularity of spelling and pronunciation (of the base and affix) and
regularity of the function of an affix in terms of the word class of the base to which it attaches.
 Using these criteria, Bauer and Nation (1993) establish seven levels of family relationship.
 At the first level, each word form is regarded as a different word; so, there is no family.
 Using these criteria, Bauer and Nation (1993) establish seven levels of family relationship.
 At the first level, each word form is regarded as a different word; so, there is no family.
 The second level groups words that have a common base but variant inflectional suffixes (plural and
possessive for nouns; present and past tense, and present and past participle for verbs; comparative and
superlative for adjectives).
 At the third level are added words formed by the addition of 'the most frequent and regular derivational
affixes', which are established on the basis of an analysis of a computer corpus, viz. -able, -er, -isb, -less,
-ly, -ness, -th, -y, non-, un- .
 At level four are added forms with 'frequent, orthographically regular affixes': -al, -ation, -ess, -ful, -ism, -
ist, -ity, -ize, -ment, -ous, in-.
 At level five come forms derived with some fifty 'regular but infrequent affixes', e.g. -ary, -let, anti-, sub-.
 The sixth level has forms derived by 'frequent but irregular affixes': -able, -ee, -ic, -ify, -ion, -ist, -ition, -
ive, -th, -y, pre-, re-.
 Lastly, at level seven are included words formed using classical (Latin and Greek) roots and affixes, e.g.
bibliography, astronaut and the common prefixes ab-, ad-, com-, de-, dis-, ex-, sub-.
Develop
 Level 2: develop, develops, developed, developing
 Level 3: developable, undevelopable, developer(s), undeveloped
 Level 4: development(s), developmental, developmentally
 Level 5: developmentwise, semideveloped, antidevelopment
 Level 6: redevelop, predevelopment.
35.Stylistic classification of the English vocabulary. Standard English vocabulary.
The word-stock of a language may be represented as a definite system the elements of
which are interconnected, interrelated, and independent.

Stylistically the word-stock is divided into three layers: the literary, the neutral, and
the colloquial layer. The literary and the colloquial layers contain a number of subgroups
each of which has a property it shares with all the subgroups within the layer. This common
property, which unites the different groups of words within the layer, may be called its
aspect. Thus the aspect of the literary layer is its markedly bookish character. It is this that
makes this layer more or less stable. The aspect of the colloquial layer of words is its lively
spoken character. It is this that makes it unstable, fleeting. The aspect of the neutral layer is
its universal character. It means that it is unrestricted in its use. It can be employed in all
styles of language and in all spheres of human activity. It is this that makes this layer the
most stable of all.

The literary vocabulary consists of the following groups of words: 1) common literary; 2)
terms or learned words; 3) poetic words; 4) archaic words; 5) barbarisms and foreign words;
literary coinages including nonce-words.
 The colloquial vocabulary falls into the following groups of words: 1) common colloquial
words; 2) slang; 3) jargonisms; 4) professional words; 5) dialectal words, 6) vulgar words; 7)
colloquial coinages.

The common literary, neutral, and common colloquial words are grouped under the term
standard English vocabulary. Other groups in the literary layer are regarded as special
literary vocabulary and those in the colloquial layer are regarded as special colloquial (non-
literary) vocabulary.

2. Standard English vocabulary

2.1. Stylistically Neutral Words

All words are divided into stylistically neutral and stylistically marked. Stylistically marked words are
limited in their use and include formal and informal vocabulary. Stylistically-neutral words are also called
the basic vocabulary of the language.

Stylistically neutral words can be used in any styles and situations, everyday, everywhere and by
everybody, regardless of profession, education, age group or geographical location. They denote objects
and phenomena of everyday importance (e.g. house, milk, dog, cat, to walk, to run, and etc.). Their
meanings are broad, general, and bear no additional information.

Basic vocabulary words are the central group of the vocabulary, its historical foundation and living
core.That is why words of this stratum show a considerably greater stability in comparison with words of
other strata, especially informal.

Stylistically neutral words are the main source of synonymy. Etymologically the words of these
layers are mostly native, and if of foreign origin, borrowed long ago and completely assimilated (e.g.
Latin borrowings wall, street, French borrowings river, mutton, Scandinavian loan-words husband, call,
etc.).

Basic vocabulary words can be recognized not only by their stylistic neutrality, but also by entire lack
of other connotations (i.e. attendant meanings). For instance, the verb to walk means merely "to move
from place to place on foot", whereas in the meanings of its synonyms to stride, to stroll, to trot, to
stagger and others, some additional information is encoded as they each describe a different manner of
walking, a different gait, tempo, purpose-fulness or lack of purpose and even length of paces. Compare
the meanings of the a-fore-mentioned synonyms: to walk— to go or traverse on foot; to stride— to walk
with long steps;

Thus, to walk, with its direct broad meaning, is a typical basic vocabulary word, and its synonyms,
with their elaborate additional information encoded in their meanings, belong to the periphery of the
vocabulary.

So, we can say that this layer includes the most vital part of the vocabulary.A lot of these words
have synonyms, which are stylistically marked, e.g. child-infant-kid, continue – go on – proceed, begin –
start- commence.
2.2. Common literary words

Common literary words are chiefly used in writing and in polished speech. One
can always tell a literary word from a colloquial word though no objective criteria for
this differentiation have been worked out yet. Literary units always stand in
opposition to colloquial units.

Let’s compare the synonyms in the following triangle:

These synonyms are not only stylistic but ideographic as well, i. e. there is a
definite, though slight, difference between them. But this is almost always the case
with the synonyms, but the main distinction between synonyms is stylistic. But
stylistic difference may be of various kinds: it may lie in the emotional tension, or in
the sphere of application, or in the degree of the quality denoted. Colloquial words
are always more emotionally coloured than literary ones. The neutral stratum of
words has no degree of emotiveness, nor have they any distinction in the sphere of
usage.

Both literary and colloquial words have their upper and lower ranges. The lower
range of literary words approaches the neutral layer and it has a tendency to pass
into that layer. The same may be said of the upper range of the colloquial layer: it
can easily pass into the neutral layer too. The lines of demarcation between common
colloquial and neutral, on the one hand, and common and literary, on the other, are
blurred. It is here that the process of interpenetration of the stylistic strata becomes
more apparent.

2.3. Common colloquial vocabulary

Common colloquial vocabulary

borders both on the neutral vocabulary and on the special colloquial vocabulary. Some of these
lexical items are close to the colloquial groups such as jargonisms, professionalisms, etc.
 Colloquialisms are familiar words and idioms used in informal speech and writing, but
unacceptable in polite conversation or business speech.

For example, the words teenager (a young man or young girl) and hippie/hippy (a young person
who leads an unordered and unconventional life) are colloquial words passing into the neutral
vocabulary. They are gradually losing their non-standard character and becoming widely recognized.

36.Special literary vocabulary: terms, poetic words, archaisms.

3.1. Poetic and Highly Literary Words

There is no poetic style in the English language. The language a poet uses is
closely bound with his outlook and experience, with his subject-matter and the
message he wants to express. But there remains in English vocabulary a set of
words which contrast with all other words because, having been traditionally used
only in poetry, they have poetic connotations. Their usage was typical in the 18th
century, but later on poetic diction fell into disuse. These words are not only more
lofty but also as a rule more abstract in their denotative meaning than their neutral
synonyms: nouns: array – clothes; billow – wave; brine – salt water; brow –
forehead; gore – blood; main – sea; steed – horse; woe – sorrow; verbs: behold –
see; deem – think; hearken – hear; slay – kill; trow – believe; quoth – past tense of
speak; adjectives: fair – beautiful; hapless – unhappy; lone – lonely; murky –
grim; adverbs: anon – presently; nigh – almost; oft – often; pronouns: thee, ye;
aught – anything; naught – nothing; conjunctions: albeit – although; ere – before.
Poetic words are called upon to sustain the special elevated atmosphere of poetry.
This may be said to be the main function of poetic words. In an ordinary
environment poetical words may also have a satirical function.
Poetical words and set expressions make the utterance understandable only to a
limited number of readers. Poetical language is sometimes called poetical jargon.

3.2. Terms

Terms are words and compound words or multi-word expressions that in specific
contexts are given specific meanings—these may deviate from the meanings the
same words have in other contexts and in everyday language.

1. It’sspecial words which express certain concepts of science, engineering, politics, diplomacy,
philosophy, linguistics, etc.
2. names of different phenomena, processes, qualities peculiar to a certain branch of science, art, etc.
3. A term is directly connected with the concept it denotes.
Terms have some peculiarities:

1) terms have no emotional, expressive colouring; they have exact definitions and are
stylistically neutral;

2) they are never used in figurative, transferred meaning;

3) in one and the same branch of science a term is usually monosemantic; polysemy
in technical vocabulary is hardly desirable;

4) terms are strictly systemized; each term has its place in the terminological system;

5) terms are usually of international character.

Types of terms:

1) terms which exist as terms only and function within the limits of one terminology,
e.g.: diphthong, monophthong, etc.;

2) terms which may be used in several terminological systems with different

specialized meanings, e.g. operation, assimilation;

3) terms which may function as terms and ordinary words, e.g. to dress (in medical
terminology it means “to bandage a wound”, in agriculture it means “to prepare the
earth for sowing” and in naval terminology it means “to decorate with flags”).
3.3. Archaic Words

The word-stock of a language is in an increasing state of change. Words change

their meaning and sometimes drop out of the language altogether. Some words stay in
the language a very long time and do not lose their faculty of gaining new meanings
and becoming richer and richer polysemantically. Other words live but a short time
and disappear leaving no trace of their existence.

In registering these processes the role of dictionaries can hardly be over-

estimated. Dictionaries serve to retain the word in a language either as a relic of ancient
times, where it lived and circulated, or as a still living unit of the system, though it may
have lost some of its meanings.
 In this respect one should distinguish, first of all, archaisms, or obsolete
words and historical words.

Archaisms are obsolete words for existing objects. Archaisms always have a
synonym in Modern English, differing in its stylistic sphere. Archaisms are divided into
lexical and grammatical.

Lexical archaisms are archaic nouns woe (sorrow), main (sea), steed (horse),
verbs slay (kill), adjectives fair (beautiful), lone (alone), pronouns aught (anything),
naught (nothing), adverbs eke (also), ere (before).

Grammatical archaisms are obsolete grammatical forms. Here belong first of all
morphological forms, belonging to the earlier stages in the development of the language,
e.g. the pronoun thou (you) and its forms thee, thy, thine; verbal endings -est for the
second person singular (thou makest, hast, dost), the -(e)th inflection for the third person
singular (he maketh), the verbforms art (are), wert (was), shalt, wilt (shall, will).

Historical words. These are names of some objects, special relations, institutions,
customs, which are no longer in use. Names of ancient weapons, carriages, boats,
musical instruments, agricultural implements, etc. can serve as good examples:
battering ram (an ancient machine for breaking walls), yeoman, yeomanry, serf, etc.
Objects, phenomena or processes denoted by these words disappeared from the life of
people completely but the words remained as historical documents, historical terms. No
modern synonym can be found for historical words.

I.R. Galperin considers that in the aging process of words three stages should be
distinguished and consequently three groups of words: obsolescent, obsolete and archaic
proper.

Obsolescent words are words which become rarely used, they are in the stage of
gradually passing out of general use.

Obsolete words are archaic words which have already gone completely out of use
but are still recognized by the English-speaking community, e.g.: nay (= no), methinks (=
it seems to me).

The third group, archaic words proper, are words which are no longer recognizable
in modern English, words that were in use in Old English and which have either dropped
out of the language entirely or have changed in their appearance so much that they have
become unrecognisable, e.g. troth (= faith).

The borderlines between the groups are not distinct. In fact they interpenetrate. It
is especially difficult to distinguish between obsolete and obsolescent words but the
difference is important when we come to deal with the stylistic aspect of an utterance.
37.Special literary vocabulary: barbarisms and foreign words, neologisms, nonce-
words
X.3.4. Barbarisms and Foreign Words
In the vocabulary of the English language there is a considerable layer of words called
barbarisms. These are words of foreign origin which have not entirely been assimilated into English.
They bear the appearance of a borrowing and are felt as something alien. Etymologically they are Latin,
Greek or French. Most of them have corresponding English synonyms but are preferred for certain
stylistic purposes. Here are some examples: chic (= stylish), bon mot (= a witty saying), de facto (in fact),
en regle (according to rules), belles lettres (fiction), brochure (booklet), au revoir! (good bye!, so long!),
etc.

It is very important for purely stylistic purposes to distinguish between

barbarisms and foreign words proper: barbarisms, though they remain on the
outskirts of the literary vocabulary, have already become the facts of the English
language while foreign words don’t belong to the English vocabulary, they are not
registered in dictionaries. In printed works foreign words are generally italicized to
indicate their foreign nature or their stylistic value. Barbarisms, on the contrary, are
not made conspicuous in the text unless they bear a special stylistic load.
Barbarisms are a historical category. Many foreign words and phrases which were once just
foreign words used in literary language to express a concept non-existent in English reality, have little by
little entered the class of words named barbarisms and many of these barbarisms have gradually lost
their foreign peculiarities, become more or less naturalized and have merged with the native English
stock of words. Thus, such words as scientific, conscious, function, figurative, obscure etc. were once
barbarisms, but now are lawful members of the common literary word stock of English.

Both barbarisms and foreign words are widely used in various styles of language with various
aims, but one of the main functions is to supply local colour, to depict local conditions of life, concrete
facts and events, customs and habits, a background to the narrative.

X.3.5. Literary Coinages (including Nonce-Words)

In other words, neologisms are meant here, but I. R. Galperin considers this term to be too
ambiguous. By neologism is meant a new word or a new meaning for an established word, the novelty
of which is still felt.

At the present moment English is developing very swiftly and there is the so called
“neology blowup”. R. Berfield says that averagely 800 neologisms appear every year in
English.
The coining of new words generally arises with the need to designate new concepts
resulting from the development of science and also with the need to express nuances of
meaning called forth by a deeper understanding of the nature of the phenomenon in
question. New words, as a rule, appear in speech of an individual person who wants to
express his idea in some original way. New lexical units are primarily used by university
teachers, newspaper reporters, by those who are connected with mass media.
Neologisms can develop in three ways: 1) a lexical unit existing in the language can
change its meaning to denote a new object or phenomenon. In such cases we have semantic
neologisms, e.g. the word umbrella developed the meanings ‘авіаційне прикриття,
політичне прикриття’; 2) a new lexical unit can develop in the language to denote an
object or phenomenon which already has some lexical unit to denote it; in such cases we
have transnomination, e.g. the word slum was first substituted by the word ghetto then by
the word-group inner town; 3) a new lexical unit can be introduced to denote a new object
or phenomenon; in this case we have ‘a proper neologism’, many of them are cases of new
terminology.
New words are mainly coined according to the productive models for word-building
in the given language, namely by means of derivation, composition, word-combination,
root-creation. Besides, neologisms may come from foreign languages as direct adoption of
foreign words or as translation of the lexical unit, i. e. a calque is meant.
In epochs of social upheaval neologisms come into the language in large numbers,
Thus, for instance, with the process of science, technology, political and cultural life, the
19th century has brought large numbers of new words, special political and technical terms
in various branches of science, e.g. proletariat, automat, calorifer, telegraph, telephone,
aviation, phonograph, microbe, neurology, etc. The 20th century and the beginning of the 21 st
century are characterized by a very intensive development of various sciences, technique,
culture and political life. They also have brought a multitude of new formations, e.g.:
Marxism, trade-unionism, militarism, colonialism, revanchist, antenna, broadcast, electron,
loud-speaker, sound picture, television, aircraft, dirigible, hydroplane, cosmos, lunokhod,
allergic, computer, isotope, nuclear fission, supermarket, etc.
Recently, with the development of computerization, many neologisms have appeared. They can
be classified into several groups: 1) words to denote different types of computers: PC, super-computer,
multi-user, neurocomputer (analogue of a human brain); 2) words to denote parts of computers:
hardware, software, monitor, screen, data, vapourware (experimental samples of computers for
exhibition, not for production); 3) words to denote computer languages: BASIC, Algol FORTRAN; 4)
words to denote notions connected with work of computers: computerman, to computerize, to
troubleshoot, to blitz out (to ruin data in a computer’s memory).

Most of the latest lexico-phraseological innovations are associated with the global net Internet.
Many neologisms appeared to denote concepts and notions in this sphere, for instance, to denote a
company which performs its commercial activity through the Internet a noun dot-com appeared. The
neologisms cybercommerce, cybershopping, e-shopping, electronic shopping, electronic commerce,
Internet shopping, cybercash, cybermoney, cybercurrency, e-cash, virtual money, beenz, flooz, e-gold, i-
dollars are associated with virtual commerce and virtual money.

Modern information technology made its contribution to many other spheres of modern life and
caused the appearance of new words and word-combinations, e.g. electronic foot-prints (електронні
відбитки) (користуючись мережею Інтернет, на кожній веб-сторінці ми залишаємо ‘сліди’, за
якими можна легко простежити наші дії), data spills (інформація приватного характеру, відома
третій стороні), cyberthief (кіберзлодій), cybercrook (кібершахрай), cybersaboteur (кібердиверсант),
cyberpirate (кіберпірат), cyberhacking (хакерство). For instance: Many people suffer from
cyberchondria.

The appearance of many neologisms is caused by the intensive development of economy and
business. Scholars state that globalization leads to zero-friction economy (економіка з нульовим
тертям). The component -nomics meaning ‘економічний аспект діяльності’ proved to be highly
productive in this respect: culturnomics cybernomics, mediconomics, etc.
 To denote new notions in the sphere of biological sciences such neologisms as anti-sense
technology, biopharming (біофармація), biofactory (підприємство, що займається біофармацією),
biopiracy, plantibody (антитіло), crazy tobacco, genetic pollution, genomics, transgenic, GM (genetically
modified) farming (генетично модифіковане сільське господарство), molecular farming
(вирощування генетично модифікованих рослин), gene therapy (генна терапія), pharma food, food
security, Frankenstein food (штучна їжа), genetic donor (генетичний донор) appeared.

In the course of time the new word is accepted into the word-stock of the language and being
often used ceases to be considered new, or else it may not be accepted for some reason or other and
vanish from the language. The fate of neologisms is hardly predictable, some of them are short-lived,
others, on the contrary, become durable.

Another type of neologism is the nonce-word, i. e. a word coined to suit one particular occasion.
Nonce-words remain on the out-skirts of the literary language. They are created to designate some
subjective idea or phenomenon and generally become moribund. They rarely pass into the language as
legitimate units of the vocabulary, but they remain in the language as constant manifestations of its
innate power of word-building. A good illustration of such a phenomenon may be the following
example:

Let me say in the beginning that even if I wanted to avoid Texas I could not, for I am wived in
Texas, and mother-in-lawed, and uncled, and aunted, and cousined within an inch of my life (J.
Steinbeck).

38.Special colloquial vocabulary: slang, jargonisms.

X.4.1. Slang

There is hardly any other term that is as ambiguous and obscure as the term slang. Slang seems to
mean everything that is below the standard of usage of present-day English.

The subject of slang has caused much controversy for many years. Much has been said and written
about it. Very different opinions have been expressed concerning its nature, its boundaries, and the
attitude that should be adopted towards it. This is probably due to the uncertainty of the concept
itself. No one has yet given a more or less satisfactory definition of the term. Nor has it been
specified by any linguist who deals with the problem of the English vocabulary.

The first thing that strikes the scholar is the fact that no other European language has singled out a
special layer of vocabulary and named it slang, though all of them distinguish such groups of words
as jargon, cant, and the like. Why was it necessary to invent a special term for something that has
not been clearly defined as jargon or cant have? Is this phenomenon specifically English? Has slang
any special features which no other group within the non-literary vocabulary can lay claim to? The
distinctions between slang and other groups of unconventional English, though perhaps subtle and
sometimes difficult to grasp, should nevertheless be subjected to a more detailed linguistic
specification.

Webster’s “Third New International Dictionary” gives the following meanings of the term: Slang
(origin unknown): 1. language peculiar to a particular group: as a) the special and often secret
vocabulary used by a class (as thieves, beggars) and usu. felt to be vulgar or inferior: argot; b) the
jargon used by or associated with a particular trade, profession, or field of activity; 2. non-standard
vocabulary composed of words and senses characterized primarily by connotations if extreme
informality and usu. a currency not limited to a particular region and composed typically of coinages
or arbitrarily changed words, clipped or shortened forms, extravagant, forced or facetious figures of
speech, or verbal novelties usu. experiencing quick popularity and relatively rapid decline into
disuse.

The “New Oxford English Dictionary” defines slang as follows: a) the special vocabulary used by any
set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type; b) the cant or
jargon of a certain class or period; c) language of a highly colloquial type considered as below the
level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words
employed in some special sense.

As is seen from these quotations, the first thing that causes confusion is that slang is represented
both as a special vocabulary and as a special language. If it has the rank of language, then it should
be characterized not only by its peculiar use of words but also by phonetic, morphological and
syntactical peculiarities.

I.V. Arnold stresses that slang words are identified and distinguished by contrasting them to
standard literary vocabulary. They are expressive, mostly ironical words serving to create fresh
names for some things that are frequent topics of discourse. For the most part they sound
somewhat vulgar, cynical and harsh, aiming to show the object of speech in the light of an off-hand
contemptuous ridicule. Vivid examples can be furnished by various slang words for money: beans,
brass, dibs, dough, chink, oof, wads. The slang synonyms for the word head are attic, brain-pan, hat
peg, nut, upper-story. Compare also various synonyms for the adjective drunk: boozy, cock-eyed,
high and many more. There are many slang words for such words as alcohol, stealing, jail, death,
madness, etc.

Slang words are classified according to the sphere of usage into general slang and special slang.
General slang includes words that are not specific for any social or professional group, whereas
special slang is peculiar for some group, e.g. university slang, public school slang, Air Force slang,
football slang, sea slang, and so on.

It has been repeatedly stated by many authors that after a slang word has been used in speech for a
certain period of time, people get accustomed to it and it ceases to produce that shocking effect for
the sake of which it has been originally coined and slang words may be accepted into literary
language. The examples are bet, bore, chap, donkey, fun, humbug, mob, odd, pinch, shabby, snob,
trip. These words were originally slang words but now have become part of literary vocabulary.

Slang has always attracted the attention of lexicographers. The best-known English slang dictionary
is compiled by E. Partridge.

X.4.2. Jargonisms
In the non-literary vocabulary of the English language there is a group of words that are called
jargonisms. These are words whose aim is to preserve secrecy within one or another social group.
Jargonisms are generally old words with entirely new meanings imposed on them. Most of the
jargonisms are absolutely incomprehensible to those outside the social group which has invented
them. They may be defined a code within a code, i. e. special meanings of words that are imposed
on the recognized code – the dictionary meaning of the words.

Thus the word grease means “money”; loaf means “head”; a tiger hunter means “a gambler”; a
lexer is “a student preparing for a law course”.
 Jargonisms are not regional, they are social in character. The following jargons are known in the
English language: the jargon of thieves and vagabonds, generally known as cant; the jargon of the
army, known as military slang; the jargon of sportsmen, and many others.

Jargonisms, like slangs and other groups of the non-literary layer, do not always remain on the
outskirts of the literary language. Many of them have overcome the resistance of the language
lawgivers and entered the standard vocabulary, e.g. the words kid, fun, queer, bluff, fib, humbug,
formally slang words or jargonisms, are now considered common colloquial.

39.Special colloquial vocabulary: professional words, dialectal words, vulgar words.

X.4.3. Professionalisms
Professionalisms are the words used in a definite trade, profession or calling by people
connected by common interests both at work and at home. They commonly designate some working
process or implement of labour.

Professionalisms are correlated to terms, but terms nominate new concepts that appear in the
process of technical progress and the development of science, and professionalisms name anew already
existing concepts, tools or instruments, and have the typical properties of a special code. Terms belong
to the literary language while professionalisms are special words in the non-literary layer of the English
vocabulary. Terms are easily decoded and enter the neutral stratum of the vocabulary, while
professionalisms generally remain in circulation within a definite community, as they are linked to a
common occupation and common social interests. The semantic structure of the term is usually
transparent and is therefore easily understood. The semantic structure of the professionalism is often
dimmed by the image on which the meaning of the professionalism is based, especially when the
features of the object in question reflect the process of the work, metaphorically or metonymically.

Here are some professionalisms used in different trades: tin-fish (=submarine); block-buster (= a
bomb especially designed to destroy blocks of big buildings); piper (= a specialist who decorates pastry
with the use of a cream-pipe); outer (= a knockout blow).

X.4.4. Dialectal Words

These are words which in the process of integration of the English national language
remain beyond its literary boundaries, their use is generally confined to a definite locality.
Sometimes there is a difficulty in distinguishing dialectal words from colloquial words. Some
dialectal words have become so familiar in good colloquial or standard colloquial English that they are
universally accepted as recognized units of the standard colloquial English. To these words belong lass,
meaning ‘a girl or a beloved girl’ and the corresponding lad, ‘a boy or a young man’, daft from the
Scottish and the northern dialect, meaning ‘of unsound mind, silly’; fash also Scottish, with the meaning
of ‘trouble, cares’. Still they have not lost their dialectal associations and therefore are used in literary
English with the stylistic function of characterization.

Of quite a different nature are dialectal words of the type hinny from honey; tittie apparently
from sister, being a childish corruption of the word sister etc. These examples come from the Scottish
and the northern dialects. Among other dialects used for stylistic purposes in literature is the southern
dialect, in particular that of Somersetshire. This dialect has a phonetic peculiarity: initial [s], [f] are
voiced and are written as [z], [v], e.g.: volk (folk), vound (found), zee (see), zyely (surely).
 Dialectal words are only to be found in the style of emotive prose, very rarely in other styles.
And even here their use is confined to the function of characterizing personalities through their speech.

X.4.5. Vulgarisms
Vulgarisms are expletive and swear words which are of an abusive character, like damn, bloody,
to hell, goddam and obscene words, i. e. the so-called four-letter words the use of which is banned in
any form of intercourse as being indecent. Such words soil the literary language. Though they are rather
often used in modern fiction, they will never acquire the status of Standard English vocabulary and will
always remain on the outskirts. The function of these expletives is almost the same as that of
interjections, that is to express strong emotions, mainly annoyance, anger, vexation and the like. They
are not to be found in any functional style of language except emotive prose, and here only in the direct
speech of the characters.

40.Free word-groups VS set-extressions. Criteria of set-expressions.

Words put together to form lexical units make phrases or word-groups. The degree of structural
and semantic cohesion of word-groups may vary. The component members in some word-groups,
e.g. a week ago, to take lessons, man of wisdom, seem to possess semantic and structural
independence. Word-groups of this type are defined as free word-groups and are habitually studied
in syntax.

Some word-groups, e.g. at least, by means of, take place, to slew in one’s own juice, etc. seem to
be functionally and semantically inseparable. Such word-groups are usually described as set-phrases
or phraseological units which are non-motivated and cannot be freely made up in speech but are
reproduced as ready-made units and are regarded as the subject-matter of the branch of lexicology
that studies phraseology.

Structure of Free Word-groups

Structurally word-groups may be approached in various ways. All word-groups may be analysed
by the criterion of distribution into two big classes: endocentric (if the word-group has the same
linguistic distribution as one of its members, i. e. having one central member functionally equivalent to
the whole word-group, e.g. red flower are distributionally identical with their central components
flower: I saw a red flower – I saw a flower) and exocentric (if the distribution of the word-group is
different from either of its members, i. e. as having no such central member, e.g. side by side, grow
smaller) .

Word-groups are also classified according to their syntactic pattern into predicative and non-
predicative groups. Non-predicative word-groups may be sub-divided according to the type of syntactic
relation between the components into subordinative and coordinative. In subordinative word-groups
some words are subordinated to others, while in coordinative ones the members are functionally and
semantically equal.

Subordinative word-groups may be classified according to their head-words into nominal (red
flower), adjectival (kind to people), verbal (to speak well), pronominal (all of them) and statival (fast
asleep) (see the fugure below).
 The border-line between free word-groups and phraseological units is not clearly defined. The
so-called free word-groups are only relatively free as collocability of their member-words is
fundamentally delimited by their lexical and grammatical valency.

XI.2.1. Criteria of Set-Expressions

Scholars suggest the following criteria for distinguishing between free word-groups and set-
phrases:

1. Criterion of stability of the lexical components and lack of motivation. It is assumed that unlike
components of free word-groups which may vary according to the needs of communication, member-words of
phraseological units are always reproduced as single unchangeable collocations. Thus, for example, the constituent
red in the free word-group red flower may, if necessary, be substituted for by any other adjective denoting colour,
without essentially changing the denotational meaning of the word-group under discussion (a flower of a certain
colour). But in the phraseological unit red tape (it means ‘bureaucratic methods’) no such substitution is possible, as a
change of the adjective would involve a complete change in the meaning of the whole group. It follows that the
phraseological unit red tape is semantically non-motivated, i. e. its meaning can’t be deduced from the meaning of its
components and that it exists as a ready-made linguistic unit which does not allow of any variability of its lexical
components. The origin of this phrase: in English offices documents are sewn together with red tape. Hence: red-
tapish = бюрократичний, red tapist = бюрократ.
 Classification of free word-groups

endocentric
According to the criterion
of distribution
exocentric

predicative
According to the syntactic
pattern
non-predicative

coordinative subordinative

nominal

adjectival

verbal

According to the part of

speech the head word adverbial
belongs to

numerical

pronominal

statival
 2. Criterion of function. Phraseological units function as word-equivalents, the denotational meaning
belongs to the word group as a single semantically inseparable unit and the grammatical meaning i. e. the part-of-
speech meaning is felt as belonging to the word-group as a whole irrespective of the part-of-speech meaning of the
component words. In a free word-group each component has its own denotational meaning and its own
grammatical meaning. Let’s compare the free word-group a long day and a phraseological unit in the long run. In the
first case the adjective long and the noun day preserve the part-of-speech meaning proper to these words taken in
isolation, while in the phraseological unit the part-of-speech unit belongs to the group as a single whole (it is
grammatically equivalent to adverbs finally, ultimately).

3. Criterion of context. The essence of this criterion lies in the fact that free word-groups make up variable
contexts whereas the essential feature of phraseological units is a fixed context. Thus, in free word-groups small
town, small room the adjective small has the meaning ‘not large’ but in the set-phrases small hours the meaning of
the word small has nothing to do with the size. It means ‘early hours from 1 to 4 a.m.’. Or one more example. The
phrase heavy father means ‘a serious solemn part in a theatrical play’ or a heavy man which means ‘an actor who
plays tragic roles’. The adjective heavy has these meanings only in these specific fixed contexts.

4. Criterion of idiomaticity. Phraseological units are ready-made phrases registered in

dictionaries while free word-groups are made up spontaneously.

41.Classification of set-expressions: thematic principle, semantic principle.

Classification of Set-Expressions
A phraseological unit is a complex phenomenon with a number of important features, which can
be approached from different points of view. Hence, there exist a considerable number of different
classifications devised by different scholars and based on different principles.

The traditional and oldest principle of classifying phraseological units is based on their original
content and might be alluded to as “thematic”. On this principle phraseological units are classified
according to the particular sphere of human activity, of life of nature, of natural phenomena, etc. Thus,
L. P. Smith gives in his classification groups of phraseological units used by sailors, fishermen, soldiers,
hunters and associated with the realia, phenomena and conditions of their occupations, phrases
associated with domestic and wild animals and birds, agriculture and cooking, sports and arts, etc. [202].

L. P. Smith points out that word-groups associated with the sea and the life of seamen are
especially numerous in English vocabulary. Some of them have no longer any association with the sea or
sailors. Here are some examples:

to be all at sea = to be unable to understand; to be in a state of ignorance about smth., e.g. I am

all at sea in this problem;

to sink or swim = to fall or succeed, e.g.: It is a case of sink or swim;

in deep water = in trouble or danger;

in low water, on the rocks = in strained financial circumstances;

to be in the same boat with somebody = to share the same difficulties;

to sail under false colours = to pretend to be what one is not;

to show one’s colours = to betray one’s real character or intentions;

 to weather/to ride out the storm = to overcome difficulties;

to bow to the storm = to give in, to acknowledge one’s defeat;

half seas over (sl.) = drunk.

The thematic principle of classifying phraseological units has real merit but it doesn’t take into
consideration the linguistic characteristic features of the phraseological units. In this respect a
considerable contribution was made by Russian scholars, especially by Academician V. V. Vinogradov
[36]. His classification system of phraseological units is considered by some linguists of today to be
outdated. Thus N. N. Amosova considers that this classification lacks a general theoretical basis, and
being developed for the Russian phraseology, does not fit the specifically English features [6]. And yet its
value is beyond doubt because it was the first classification system which was based on the semantic
principle, which is of immense importance in phraseological units.

V. V. Vinogradov’s classification system is founded on the degree of semantic cohesion between

the components of a phraseological unit. Units with a partially transferred meaning show the weakest
cohesion between their components. V. V. Vinogradov classifies phraseological units into three classes:
phraseological combinations (collocations) (фразеологічні сполучення), phraseological unities
(фразеологічні єдності) and fusions (зрощення) [36].

Phraseological combinations are word-groups with a partially changed meaning. They are
clearly motivated, the meaning of the unit can be easily deduced from the meaning of its constituents,
moreover, the word-group contains one component used in its direct meaning, e.g.: to be at one’s wit’s
end, to be good at something, to have a bite, to come off a poor second, to come to a sticky end (coll.), to
meet the requirements, to take something for granted, to stick to one’s word, gospel truth, bosom
friends, etc.

Phraseological unities are word-groups with a completely changed meaning, that is, the
meaning of the unit does not correspond to the meanings of its constituent parts. They are motivated
units, the meaning of the whole unit can be deduced from the meanings of the constituent parts; the
metaphor, on which the shift of meaning is based, is clear and transparent:

to stick to one’s guns  to be true to one’s views or convictions;

to sit on the fence  to refrain from committing oneself to either side (in discussion, politics);

to catch/to clutch at a straw  when in extreme danger, avail oneself of even the slightest
chance of rescue;

to lose one’s head  to be at a loss what to do;

to lose one’s heart to smb.  to fall in love with smb.;

to lock the stable door after the horse is stolen  to take precautions too late;

to ride the high horse  to behave in a superior, haughty way;

the last drop/straw  the final culminating circumstance that makes a situation

unendurable;
 a big bug/pot (sl.)  a person of importance;

a fish out of water  a person situated uncomfortably outside his usual or proper environment.

Phraseological fusions are word-groups with a completely changed meaning, but in contrast to
the unities, they are demotivated, i. e. their meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of the
constituent parts; the metaphor, on which the shift of meaning was based, has lost its clarity and is
obscure, e.g.:

neck and crop = entirely, altogether, thoroughly;

at sixes and sevens = in confusion or in disagreement;

to set one’s cap on smb. = to try to attract a man;

to leave smb. in the lurch = to abandon a friend when he is in trouble;

to show the white feather = to betray one’s cowardice;

to dance attendance on smb. = to try to lease smb., to show exaggerated attention to smb.

42.Classification of set-expressions: structural/functional principle, etymological

principle.
The structural principle of classifying phraseological units is based on their ability to perform the
same syntactical functions as words (some scholars call it formal and functional). In the traditional
structural approach, the following principal groups of phraseological units are distinguishable.

1) Verbal phrases: to win the upper hand, to talk through one’s hat, to make a song and dance
about smth.;

2) Substantive phrases: dog’s life, cat-and-dog life, calf love, white lie, birds of a feather, red
tape, brown study;

3) Adjectival phrases: high and mighty, spick and span, brand new, safe and sound. In this group
the so-called comparative word-groups are particularly expressive: (as) cool as a cucumber, (as)
nervous as a cat, (as) weak as a kitten, (as) good as gold, (as) pretty as a picture, (as) slippery as an
eel, (as) thick as thieves, (as) drunk as an owl (sl.), (as) mad as a hatter / a hare in March, red as a
cherry;

4) Adverbial phrases: high and low, by hook or by crook, for love or money, in cold blood, in the
dead of night, between the devil and the deep sea, to the bitter end, by a long chalk;

5) Interjectional: my God!, by Jove!, by George!, goodness gracious!, good Heavens!, sakes alive!
(Amer.);

6) prepositional phrases: in the course of, in front of;

7) conjunctional phrases: as long as, as soon as.

43.Ways of forming phraseological units

Phraseological units can be also classified according to the ways they are formed. Thus, A. V.Kunin
distinguishes primary and secondary ways of forming phraseological units.
 Primary ways of forming phraseological units are those when a unit is formed on the basis of a free
word-group:
1) by means of transferring the meaning of terminological word-groups: thus, for instance, launching
pad in its terminological meaning is стартовий майданчик, and in its transferred meaning –
відправний пункт; to link up – стикуватися (про космічні кораблі), in its transferred meaning it
means знайомитися;
2) by transforming the meaning of free word-groups: granny farm – пансіонат для пристарілихб
Troyan horse – комп’ютерна програма, призначена для навмисного пошкодження
комп’ютера;
3) by means of alliteration: a sad sack – нещасний випадок, culture vulture – людина, яка
цікавиться мистецтвом;
4) by means of distorting a word-group: odds and ends  odd ends;
5) by means of using archaisms: in brown study = in gloomy meditation (both components preserve
their archaic meanings);
6) by using some unreal images: to have butterflies in the stomach = to feel very nervous about, to
have green fingers = to be very good an gardening.
Secondary ways of forming phraseological units are those when a phraseological unit is formed on
the basis of another phraseological unit. They are:
1) conversion: to vote with one’s feet  vote with one’s feet;
1) changing the grammar form: make hay while the sun shines  to make hay while the sun
shines;
3) analogy: curiosity killed the cat  care killed the cat;
4) contrast: fat cat  thin cat;
5) shortening of proverbs or sayings: birds of feather  birds of feather flock together;
6) borrowing phraseological units from other languages, either as translation loans: to take the
bull by the horns (Latin).

44.Dialects and variants of the English language. Standard English.

For historical and economic reasons the English language has spread over vast territories. It is the
national language of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the USA, Australia
and New Zealand. It is used as one of the official languages in Canada, in the Irish Republic, in India,
Pakistan, and numerous countries in Africa. Linguists distinguish territorial variants of national
language and local dialects.

Every language allows different kinds of variants: geographical or territorial, stylistic, the difference
between the written and spoken form of standard national language and others. Variants of
language are regional varieties of a standard literary language characterized by some peculiarities in
the sound system, vocabulary, grammar, and by their own literary norms. Local forms of the
language are known as local dialects. They are peculiar to comparatively small localities and are
used as a means of oral communication in them. Dialects set off from other varieties by some
distinctive features of pronunciation and vocabulary. Thus a dialect includes an accent, i. e. a way of
pronouncing the language. In the British Isles there exist 5 main groups of local dialects: Northern,
Western, Midland, Eastern and Southern.
Dialects are usually opposed to the literary variety of the language which is called Standard English.
The term ‘standard’ is to be interpreted to mean ‘implicity considered to represent correct and
socially acceptable usage for educated purposes’. Standard English is the official language of Great
Britain taught at schools and universities, used by the press, radio and television and spoken by
educated people. It may be defined as that form of English, which is current and literary,
substantionally uniformed and recognized as acceptable whenever English is spoken or understood.

Throughout the history of English there has been a contest between the forces of standardization
and the forces of localization, at both the written and the spoken levels. The appearance of the first
substantial English dictionaries in the 18th century was a move towards written standardization. It
was Victorian England that realized the idea of “the Queen’s English, a spoken standard to which the
“lesser breeds” could aspire.”

There is an old Hindi proverb that “language changes every eighteen or twenty miles.” Despite the
influence of television and radio, one can still find a surprising number of regional varieties of
spoken English within the United States, Canada and Australia, and especially within the British Isles.
Here, depending on which county you are driving through, a donkey can still be called a moke, or a
cuddy, or a nirrup, or a pronkus. In the English Lake District deg, frap, heft, joggle, nope, scaitch and
whang all mean “to beat.” While it is true that local idioms are not as strong as they were, we
probably underrate their resilience and attribute more power to the levelling forces of television
and radio than they deserve. A conversation between a Dorset shepherd and an Aberdonian
farmworker can still be a dialogue of the deaf.

The most common form of English used by the British ruling class is that originating from south-east
England (the area around the capital, London, and the ancient English university towns of Oxford
and Cambridge). This form of the language is known as the “Received Standard”, and its accent is
called Received Pronunciation (RP), which is improperly regarded by many people outside the UK as
“the British accent.” Earlier it was held as better than other accents and referred to as the King’s (or
Queen’s) English, or even “BBC English.” Originally this was the form of English used by radio and
television. However, there is now much more tolerance of variation than there was in the past; for
several decades other accents have been accepted and are frequently heard, although stereotypes
about the BBC persist. English spoken with a mild Scottish accent has a reputation for being
especially easy to understand. Moreover, only approximately two percent of Britons speak RP, and it
has evolved quite markedly over the last 40 years. Even in the south east there are significantly
different accents; the local inner east London accent called Cockney is strikingly different from RP
and can be difficult for outsiders to understand. The expression “cockney,” which was originally
reserved for the members of certain communities, was a name applied by country people to those
who dwelt in cities. The Oxford English Dictionary explains the term as originating from cock and
egg, meaning first a misshapen egg (1362), then a person ignorant of country ways (1521). Now
Cockney is seldom heard except a certain very limited area of the East End of London. The most
marked feature in vowel sounds was the substitution of the diphthong [ai] instead of the standard
[ei] in rain, days. The [au] was changed into [a:]: instead of houses they wrote and pronounced
[ha:ses]; [ai] [daint] instead of [@U] – don’t.

Cockney is lively and witty and its vocabulary imaginative and colourful. Its specific feature not
occurring anywhere else is the so-called rhyming slang, in which some words are substituted by
other words rhyming with them. Boots, for instance, are called daisy roots, hat is tit for tat, head is
called loaf of bread. There are some specifically Cockney words and set expressions such as up the
pole - “drunk,” you’ll get yourself disliked (a remonstrance to a person behaving very badly). All its
lexical, phonetical and grammatical peculiarities can be found in the speech of Eliza Doolittle and her
father in Bernard Shaw “Pygmalion”, in Charles Dickens “Pickwick Papers.”

There is a new form of accent called Estuary English that has been gaining prominence in recent
decades: it has some features of Received Pronunciation and some of Cockney. In London itself, the
broad local accent is still changing, partly influenced by Caribbean speech. Londoners speak with a
mixture of these accents, depending on class, age, upbringing, and so on. Since the mass
immigration to Northamptonshire in the 1940s and its close accent borders, it has become a source
of various accent development. There, nowadays, one finds an accent known locally as the Kettering
accent, which is a mixture of many different local accents, including East Midlands, East Anglian,
Scottish, and Cockney.

Although some of the stronger regional accents may sometimes be difficult for some English-
speakers from outside Britain to understand, almost all “British English” accents are mutually
amongst the British themselves, with only occasional difficulty between very diverse accents.
However, modern communications and mass media have reduced these differences significantly. In
addition, most British people can to some degree temporarily “swing” their accent (and particularly
vocabulary) towards a more neutral form of standard English at will, to reduce difficulty where very
different accents are involved, or when speaking to foreigners. For historical reasons dating back to
the rise of London in the 9th century, the form of language spoken in London and the East Midlands
became standard English within the Court, and ultimately became the basis for generally accepted
use in the law, government, literature and education within Britain. To a great extent, modern
British spelling was standardised in Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language (1755),
although previous writers had also played a significant role in this and much has changed since
1755. Scotland, which only underwent parliamentary union in 1707, still has a few independent
aspects of standardisation, especially within its autonomous legal system.

The sphere of application of dialects is confined to the oral speech of the rural population in a
locality and lexical peculiarities are most noticeable in specifically dialectal words pertaining to a)
local customs, social life and natural conditions (kirk – church, loch – Scottish lake); b) names of
agricultural processes, tools, domestic animals (galloway – horse of small strong breed, kyloe – one
of small breed of long-horned Scotch cattle). There are also a considerable number of emotionally
coloured dialectical words, e.g.: bonny – beautiful, healthy-looking; daffy – crazy, silly; cuddy – fool;
loom – clumsy, stupid. In addition, words may have different meanings in the national language and
local dialects: e.g. in the Scottish dialect the word to call is used in the meaning “to drive”, short –
“rude”, silly – “weak,” etc.

The English language in the USA is characterized by relative uniformity throughout the country.
While written American English is standardized across the country, there are several recognizable
variations in the spoken language, both in pronunciation and in vernacular vocabulary. Local dialects
in the USA are relatively small. The following 3 major belts of dialects have been identified in the
USA: Northern, Midland (South Midland and North Midland) and Southern.

After the Civil War, the settlement of the western territories by migrants from the Eastern U.S. led
to dialect mixing and levelling, so that regional dialects are most strongly differentiated along the
Eastern seaboard. The Connecticut River and Long Island Sound is usually regarded as the
southern/western extent of New England speech, which has its roots in the speech of the Puritans
from East Anglia who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Potomac River generally divides
 a group of Northern coastal dialects from the beginning of the Coastal Southern dialect area; in
between these two rivers several local variations exist, chief among them the one that prevails in
and around New York City and northern New Jersey, which developed on a Dutch substratum after
the British conquered New Amsterdam. The main features of Coastal Southern speech can be traced
to the speech of the English from the West Country who settled in Virginia after leaving England at
the time of the English Civil War, and to the African influences from the African Americans who were
enslaved in the South. Although no longer region-specific, African American Vernacular English,
which remains prevalent amongst African Americans, has a close relationship to Southern varieties
of American English and has greatly influenced everyday speech of many Americans. A distinctive
speech pattern was also generated by the separation of Canada from the United States, centred on
the Great Lakes region. This is the “Inland North” dialect — the “standard Midwestern” speech that
was the basis for General American in the mid-20th Century (although it has been recently modified
by the northern cities vowel shift). Those not from this area frequently confuse it with the North
Midland dialect treated below, referring to both collectively as “Midwestern.” In the interior, the
situation is very different. West of the Appalachian Mountains begins the broad zone of what is
generally called "Midland" speech. This is divided into two discrete subdivisions, the North Midland
that begins north of the Ohio River valley area, and the South Midland speech; sometimes the
former is designated simply “Midland” and the latter is reckoned as “Highland Southern.” The North
Midland speech continues to expand westward until it becomes the closely related Western dialect
which contains Pacific Northwest English as well as the well-known California English, although in
the immediate San Francisco area some older speakers do not possess the cot-caught merger and
thus retain the distinction between words such as cot and caught which reflects a historical Mid-
Atlantic heritage. Mormon and Mexican settlers in the West influenced the development of Utah
English. The South Midland or Highland Southern dialect follows the Ohio River in a generally
southwesterly direction, moves across Arkansas and Oklahoma west of the Mississippi, and peters
out in West Texas. It is a version of the Midland speech that has assimilated some coastal Southern
forms (outsiders often mistakenly believe South Midland speech and coastal South speech to be the
same). The island state of Hawaii has a distinctive Hawaiian Pidgin. Finally, dialect development in
the United States has been notably influenced by the distinctive speech of such important cultural
centres as Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Charleston, New Orleans, and Detroit, which imposed their
marks on the surrounding areas.

The differences in pronunciation between American dialects are most apparent, but they seldom
interfere with understanding. Distinctions in grammar are scarce.

The differences in vocabulary are rather numerous, but they are easy to pick up, e.g. Inland
Northern Dutch cheese, New York pot cheese for Standard American cottage cheese. There are also
some full lexical units specific to the each group of American dialects: Midland dialect (blinds –
фіранки; buck - баран; fishworm – дощовий черв’як; a little piece – невелика відстань; skillet –
сковорідка), Northern (baby boggy – дитячий візок; belling – гамір; boughten – щось куплене, не
домашнє), Southern (bottoms – земля вздовж річки; fork – струмок; coffee sack – полотняна
торба; hobbies – кукурудзяні пластівці; rick – копиця сіна).

45.Variants of English in the United Kingdom: Scottish English.

46.Variants of English in the United Kingdom: Irish English.

47.Local dialects in the British Isles. Received standard. Cockney. Estuary English.
48.Variants of English outside the British Isles: American English.
The use of English in the United States was inherited from the British colonization. The first
wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America in the 17th century. During that
time, there were also speakers in North America of French, German, Spanish, Dutch as well
as numerous native American languages.
The first large American dictionary “An American Dictionary of the English Language”
(written by Noah Webster in 1828) intended to show that the United States, which was a
relatively new country at the time, spoke a different variation from Britain.
The distinctions between British English (BrE) and American English (AmE) are not limited to
vocabulary; they can also be observed in phonetics, spelling and grammar.

The phonetical peculiarities of English in America are chiefly such as:

1) the pronunciation of the front [{] instead of the back [α:] in words like answer, ask, class, dance,
path, rather, sample etc.;

2) the pronunciation of the back [ö] with a slight labialisation instead of [Á] in words like doctor, hot,
modern, not, stop;

3) the pronunciation of [r] before consonants and at the end of words in words like car, far, sort;

4) the pronunciation of [u:] instead of [ju:] in words like due, new, suit, tune;

5) some words have different pronunciation in British and American variants:

Word BrE AmE

advertisement [@] [ai]

candidate [i] [ei]

either [ai] [i:]

neither [ai] [i:]

process [@ [α:]
u]

tomato [α:] [ei]

Spelling differences. Among the various words which tend to be spelled differently in the United
States, there are many which can be placed within a few general groups on the basis of certain letter
combinations. American spelling is usually simpler. It tries to correspond more closely to
pronunciation.

Model Examples

BrE AmE BrE AmE

-our -or honour, colour honor, color

-re -er centre, litre center, liter

 -ice -ise practice, defence practise, defense

-ll- -l- travelling, cancelling traveling, canceling

-s- -z- analyse, organisation analyze, organization

-ogue -og catalogue, dialogue catalog, dialog

-mme -m kilogramme, programme kilogram, program

-que -(c)k cheque, masque check, mask

en- in- enquire, ensure inquire, insure/ensure

-ement -ment judgement judgment

-ae- -e- anaesthesia, anesthesia,

encyclopeadia encyclopedia

-exion -ection connexion, reflexion connection, reflection

The process of coining new lexical items started as soon as the colonists began borrowing names
for unfamiliar flora, fauna, and topography from the native American languages (moose, opossum,
raccoon, squash). Among them can be found Indian names of specifically Indian things (canoe,
moccasin, toboggan, wigwam); some Spanish words (adobe, barbecue, cinch, ranch); words brought
into the language through the Negroes (banjo, juba). Among the earliest and most notable regular
“English” additions to the American vocabulary, dating from the early days of colonization through
the early 19th century, are terms describing the features of the North American landscape; for
instance, run, branch, fork, neck (of the woods), barrens, notch, knob, riffle, watergap, trial. Already
existing words such as creek, slough, sleet, and (in later use) watershed, received new meanings that
were unknown in England. Other noteworthy American toponyms are found among loanwords; for
example, prairie, butte (French); canyon mesa, arroyo (Spanish); vlei, kill (Dutch, Hudson Valley). The
word corn, used in England to refer to wheat (or any cereal), came to denote the plant Zea mays,
the most important crop in the U.S., originally named Indian corn by the earliest settlers; wheat, rye,
barley, oats, etc. came to be collectively referred to as grain (or breadstuffs). Other notable farm
related vocabulary additions were the new meanings assumed by barn (not only a building for hay
and grain storage, but also for housing livestock) and team (not just the horses, but also the vehicle
along with them), as well as, in various periods, the terms elevator, range, truck. Ranch, later
applied to a house style, derives from Mexican Spanish; most Spanish contributions came indeed
after the War of 1812, with the opening of the West. Among these are, other than toponyms, chaps
(from chaparreras), lasso, plaza, bronco, buckaroo, examples of “English” additions from the cowboy
era are bad man, maverick, chuck “food,” and Boot Hill; from the California Gold Rush came such
idioms as hit pay dirt or strike it rich. The word blizzard probably originated in the West.

A couple of notable late 18th century additions are the verb belittle and the noun bid, both first used
in writing by Thomas Jefferson. With the new continent developed new forms of dwelling, and
hence a large inventory of words designating real estate concepts (land office, lot, outlands,
waterfront, the verbs locate and relocate, betterment, addition, subdivision), types of property (log
cabin, adobe in the 18th century; frame, house, apartment, tenement house, shack, shanty in the
19th century; project, condominimum, townhouse, mobile home, multi-family in the 20th century),
and parts thereof (driveway, breezeway, backyard, dooryard; clapboard, baseboard, trim, stoop
(from Dutch), family room, den; and, in recent years, HVAC, central air, walkout basement).

Ever since the American Revolution, a great number of terms connected with the U.S. political
institutions have entered the language; examples are run, gubernatorial, primary election,
carpetbagger (after the Civil War), repeater, lame duck, and pork barrel. Some of these are
internationally used (e.g. caucus, gerrymander, filibuster, exit poll).

The rise of capitalism, the development of industry, and material innovations throughout the 19th
and 20th centuries were the source of a massive stock of distinctive new words, phrases, and
idioms. Typical examples are the vocabulary of railroading and transportation terminology, ranging
from names of roads (from dirt roads and back roads to freeways and parkways) to road
infrastructure (parking lot, overpass, rest area), and from automobile terminology to public transit
(e.g. in the sentence “riding the subway downtown”); such American introductions as commuter
(from commutation ticket), concourse, to board (a vehicle), to park, double-park, and parallel park (a
car), double decker, or the noun terminal have long been used in all variants of English. Trades of
various kinds have endowed (American) English with household words describing jobs and
occupations (bartender, longshoreman, patrolman, bellhop, white collar, blue collar, employee, boss
(from Dutch), intern, busboy, senior citizen), businesses and workplaces (department store,
supermarket, gift shop, drugstore, motel, gas station, hock (also from Dutch)), as well as general
concepts and innovations (cash register, dishwasher, reservation (as at hotels), pay envelope, movie,
mileage, blood bank, shortage). Already existing English words — such as store, shop, dry goods,
haberdashery, lumber — underwent shifts in meaning; some — such as mason, student, clerk, the
verbs can (as in “canned goods”), ship, fix, carry, enroll (as in school), run (as in “run a business”),
release, and haul — were given new significations, while others (such as tradesman) have retained
meanings that disappeared in England. From the world of business and finance came breakeven,
bottom line, merger, delisting, downsize; from sports terminology came, jargon aside, Monday-
morning quarterback, cheap shot, game plan (football); in the ballpark, out of left field, off base, hit
and run, and many other idioms from baseball; gamblers coined bluff, blue chip, ante, bottom dollar,
raw deal, pass the buck, ace in the hole, freeze-out, showdown; miners coined bedrock, bonanza,
peter out, and the verb prospect from the noun; and railroadmen are to be credited with make
thegrade, sidetrack, head-on, and the verb railroad. A number of Americanisms describing material
innovations remained largely confined to North America: elevator, ground, gasoline; many
automotive terms fall in this category, although many do not (hatchback, SUV, station wagon, truck,
to exhaust). In addition to the above-mentioned loans from French, Spanish, Mexican Spanish,
Dutch, and Native American languages, other accretions from foreign languages came with 19th and
early 20th century immigration; notably, from Yiddish (chutzpah, schmooze, and such idioms as need
something like a hole in the head) and German — hamburger and culinary terms like
frankfurter/franks, liverwurst, sauerkrau; musical terminology (whole note, half note, etc.); and
apparently cookbook, fresh “impudent,” and what gives?. Such constructions as Are you coming
with? and I like to dance (for “I like dancing”) may also be the result of German or Yiddish influence.
Finally, a large number of English colloquialisms from various periods are American in origin; some
have lost their American flavor (from OK and cool to nerd and 24/7), while others have not (have a
nice day, sure); many are now distinctly old-fashioned (swell, groovy). Some English words now in
general use, such as hijacking, disc jockey, boost, bulldoze, and jazz, originated as American slang.
Among the many English idioms of U.S. origin are get the hang of, take for a ride, bark up the wrong
tree, keep tabs, run scared, take a backseat, have an edge over, stake a claim, take a shine to, in on
the ground floor, bite off more than one can chew, off/on the wagon, for the birds, stay put, inside
track, stiff upper lip, bad hair day, give the hairy eyeball, under the weather, jump bail, come clean,
come again?, and will the real x please stand up?

Linguists usually note the fact that different variants of English use different words for the same
objects. Thus, in describing the lexical differences between the British and American variants, they
provide long lists of word pairs like:

BrE AmE BrE AmE

accumulator battery nought zero

aubergine eggplant pavement sideback

anorak parka plaster Band Aid

autumn fall post mail

bill check queue line

boot trunk rank taxi stand

crisp potato chip ring (up) call (on the phone)

diary appointment book rubber eraser (for a pencil)

dustbin garbage can rucksack backpack

flat apartment specs (spectacles) glasses

garden yard spot pimple

high street main street subway pedestrian crossing

jacket potato backed potato surgery doctor’s/dentist’s

office

jumper sweater taxi cab

lemon squash lemonade trolley shopping cart

lift elevator trousers pants

lorry truck tuition instruction

mark grade vegetable marrow squash

minder babysitter vest undershirt

nappy diaper waistcoat vest

With respect to morphology, American English has always shown a marked tendency to use
substantives as verbs and form compound words. Examples of verbed nouns are interview,
advocate, vacuum, lobby, expense, room, pressure, rear-end, transition, feature, profile, buffalo,
weasel, express (mail), belly-ache, spearhead, skyrocket, showcase, merchandise, service (as a car),
corner, torch, exit (as in “exit a place”), factor (in mathematics), gun “shoot,” author (which
disappeared in English around 1630 and was revived in the U.S. three centuries later) and, out of
American material, proposition, graft (bribery), bad-mouth, vacation, major, backpack, backtrack,
intern, ticket (traffic violations), hassle, blacktop, peer-review, dope, and OD. Compounds coined in
the U.S. are for instance foothill, flatlands, badlands, landslide (in all senses), overview (the noun),
backdrop, teenager, brainstorm, smalltime, deadbeat, frontman, lowbrow and highbrow, hell-bent,
foolproof, nitpick, about-face (later verbed), upfront (in all senses), fixer-upper, no-show; many of
these are phrases used as adverbs or (often) hyphenated attributive adjectives: non-profit, for-profit,
free-for-all, ready-to-wear, catchall, low-down, down-and-out, down and dirty, in-your-face, nip and
tuck; many compound nouns and adjectives are open: happy hour, fall guy, capital guy, wheat pit,
head start, plea bargain; some of these are colourful (loan shark, buzz sawghetto blaster, dust
bunny), others are euphemistic (differently abled, human resources, physically challenged,
affirmative action). Many compound nouns have the form verb plus preposition: add-on, stopover,
lineup, tryout, hideout, comeback, cookout, kickback, makeover, takeover, rollback “decrease,” rip-
off, come-on, shoo-in, fix-up, tie-in, tie-up “stoppage,” stand-in. These essentially are nouned phrasal
verbs; some prepositional and phrasal verbs are in fact of American origin (spell out, figure out, hold
up, brace up, size up, rope in, back up/off/down/out, step down, miss out on, kick around, cash in,
rain out, check in and check out (in all senses), fill in “inform,” kick in “contribute,” square off, sock
in, sock away, factor in/out, come down with, give up on, lay off (from employment), run into and
across “meet,” stop by, pass up, put up (money), set up “frame,” trade in, pick up on, pick up after,
lose out. Some verbs ending in -ize are of U.S. origin; for example, fetishize, prioritize, burglarize,
accessorize, itemize, editorialize, customize, notarize, winterize, and so are some back-formation
(locate, fine-tune, evolute, curate, donate, emote, upholster, and enthuse). Among syntactical
constructions that arose in the U.S. are as of, outside of, headed for, meet up with, back of, convince
someone to..., not to be about to, and lack for.

Americanisms formed by alteration of existing words include notably pesky, phony, rambunctious,
pry (as in “pry open,” from prize), putter (verb), buddy, skeeter, sashay, and kitty-corner. Adjectives
that arose in the U.S. are for example lengthy, bossy, cute and cutesy, grounded (of a child), punk (in
all senses), sticky (of the weather), through (as in “through train,” or meaning “finished”), and many
colloquial forms such as peppy or wacky. American blends include motel, guesstimate, infomercial,
and televangelist.

The grammatical system of British and American variants is mostly the same, with very few
exceptions:

1) the auxiliary verb will is used in the 1 st person singular and plural of the Future Indefinite Tense in
American English while British normative is shall;

2) in interrogative sentences with the verb to have the auxiliary verbs do and does are used in the
American variant while in British English it may be omitted;

3) there is a tendency in American variant to substitute the Present Indefinite Tense for the Present
Perfect Tense;
 4) the American variant is characterized by the use of indefinite pronouns as adverbs (BrE: He didn’t
eat at all, AmE: He didn’t eat any);

5) some irregular verbs have the old forms of the Past Participle in AmE (e.g. learn, burn, sneak, dive,
get);

6) the American variant is characterized by the use of different prepositions and adverbs in certain
contexts (e.g. AmE in school, BrE at school).

There are also some full lexical units specific to the British or American variant in all their meanings.
For example, the words fortnight, pillar-box are full Briticism, campus, mailboy, drive-in are full
Americanisms. So, lexical peculiarities of American English have social and geographical basis.

In spite of certain peculiarities of word usage, colloquial idioms and slang, both Britishers and
Americans use fundamentally the same language.

49.Local dialects in the USA

50.Variants of English outside the British Isles: Canadian English.
It should be noted that American English isn’t the only existing variant. There are several other
variants where difference from the British standard is normalized, they are: Australian English,
Canadian English and Indian English. Each of them has developed a literature of its own, and is
characterized by peculiarities in phonetics, spelling, grammar and vocabulary.

The term “Canadian English” is first attested in a speech by the Reverend A. Constable

Geikie in an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857. Geikie, a Scottish-born Canadian,

reflected the Anglocentric attitude prevalent in Canada for the next hundred years when he

referred to the language as “a corrupt dialect,” in comparison to what he considered the

proper English spoken by immigrants from Britain. Canadian English is the product of four

waves of immigration and settlement over a period of almost two centuries. The first large

wave of permanent English-speaking settlement in Canada, and linguistically the most

important, was the influx of British Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, chiefly from

the Middle Atlantic States. The second wave from Britain and Ireland was encouraged to

settle in Canada after the War of 1812 by the governors of Canada, who were worried about

anti-English sentiment among its citizens. Waves of immigration from around the globe

peaking in 1910 and 1960 had a lesser influence, but they did make Canada a multicultural

country, ready to accept linguistic change from around the world during the current period of

globalisation. The languages of Canadian Aboriginal peoples started to influence European

languages used in Canada even before widespread settlement took place, and the French of

Lower Canada provided vocabulary to the English of Upper Canada.

Spelling. Canadian spelling of the English language combines British and American rules. Most
notably, French-derived words that in American English end with -or and -er, such as color or center,
usually retain British spellings (colour and centre), although American spellings are not uncommon.
Also, while the U.S. uses the Anglo-French spelling defense (noun), Canada uses the British spelling
defence. (Note that defensive is universal.) In other cases, Canadians and Americans stand at odds
with British spelling such as in the case of nouns like tire and curb, which in British English are
spelled tyre and kerb; words such as realize and recognize are usually spelled with -ize rather than -
ise. Canadian spelling rules can be partly explained by Canada’s trade history. For instance, the
British spelling of the word cheque probably relates to Canada’s once-important ties to British
financial institutions. Canada’s automobile industry, on the other hand, has been dominated by
American firms from its inception, explaining why Canadians use the American spelling of tire and
American terminology for the parts of automobiles.

Phonology and Pronunciation. The following features distinguish Canadian English from a
phonologically conservative Northern U.S. accent: Canadian raising: diphthongs are “raised” before
voiceless consonants. For example, IPA [aI] and [aU] become [əI] and [əU], respectively, before [p],
[t], [k], [s], [f]. Cot-caught merger: Speakers do not distinguish between the open-mid back rounded
vowel [O] and open back unrounded vowel [α:]. Canadian Shift: it is a chain shift triggered by the
cot-caught merger. The vowels in the words cot and caught merge to [kOt]. The [æ] of bat is
retracted to [a], the [E] of bet shifts to [æ], the [I] in bit then shifts to the [E] in bet. Traditionally
diphthongal vowels such as [əU] (as in boat) and [eI] (as in bait) have qualities much closer to
monophthongs in some speakers especially in the Inland region. [Á] and [aU] are pronounced back.
[u] is fronted after coronals. [æ] is tense before velar stops. Words such as borrow, sorry or
tomorrow are realized as [-Or-], rather than [-ar-]. In oral speech the Canadian variant of the English
language has a tendency to change “th” into “t” and “d”. Words like semi, anti, and multi tend to be
pronounced as [semi], [ænti], and [mölti] rather than [semaI], [æntaI], and [möltaI]. Often, a
Canadian will use the former in general use, but the latter in order to add emphasis. The [α:] of
foreign loanwords (such as pasta) is pronounced as [æ].

Vocabulary. Canadian English shares vocabulary with other English variants, it tends to share most
with American English; many terms in standard Canadian English are, however, shared with Britain,
but not with the majority of American speakers. In some cases the British and the American term
coexist, to various extents; a classic example is holiday, often used interchangeably with vacation. In
addition, the vocabulary of Canadian English also features words that are seldom (if ever) found
elsewhere. As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Canada shares many items of
institutional terminology with the countries of the former British Empire – e.g., constable, for a
police officer of the lowest rank, and chartered accountant. The term college, which refers to post-
secondary education in general in the U.S., refers in Canada to either a post-secondary technical or
vocational institution, or to one of the colleges that exist as federated schools within some Canadian
universities. Most often, a college is a community college, not a university. In Canada, college
student might denote someone obtaining a diploma in business management while university
student is the term for someone earning a bachelor’s degree. For that reason, going to college does
not have the same meaning as going to university, unless the speaker clarifies the specific level of
post-secondary education that is meant. Canadian universities publish calendars or schedules, not
 catalogs as in the U.S. Students write exams, they do not take or sit them. Those who supervise
students during an exam are generally called invigilators as in Britain, or sometimes proctors as in
the U.S.; usage may depend on the region or even the individual institution. Successive years of
school are often, if not usually, referred to as grade one, grade two, and so on. (Compare American
first grade, second grade, sporadically found in Canada, and British Year 1, Year 2.) In the U.S., the
four years of high school are termed the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years (terms also
used for college years); in Canada, these are simply grade 9 through 12. As for higher education,
only the term freshman (usually reduced to frosh) has some currency in Canada. The specific high-
school grades and university years are therefore stated and individualized; for example, the grade
12s failed to graduate; John is in his second year at McMaster. Canadian students use the term
marks (more common in England) or grades to refer to their results; usage is very mixed.

Canadian English has words or expressions not found, or not widely used, in other variants of
English. For example, bachelor: bachelor apartment (“They have a bachelor for rent”); chesterfield:
originally British and internationally used (as in classic furnishing terminology) to refer to a sofa
whose arms are the same height as the back, it is a common term for any couch or sofa in Canada
(and, to some extent, Northern California). The more international terms sofa and couch are also
used; among younger generations in the western and central regions, chesterfield is largely in
decline. Double-double: a cup of coffee with two creams and two sugars. And by the same token,
triple-triple. Eh: a spoken interjection to ascertain the comprehension, continued interest,
agreement, etc., of the person or persons addressed (“That was a good game last night, eh?”). May
also be used instead of “huh?” or “what?” meaning “please repeat or say again.” Frequently mis-
represented by Americans as A, or hey. Humidex: measurement used by meteorologists to reflect
the combined effect of heat and humidity. Toonie: Canadian two dollar coin.

Grammar. The name of the letter Z, z is normally the Anglo-European (and French) zed; the
American zee is not unknown in Canada, but it is often stigmatized. When writing, Canadians will
start a sentence with As well, in the sense of “in addition”; this construction is a Canadianism.
Canadian and British English share idioms like in hospital and to university, while in American English
the definite article is mandatory; to/in the hospital is also common in Canadian speech.

51.Variants of English outside the British Isles: Australian and New Zealand
English.
Australian English began to diverge from British English soon after the foundation of the colony
of New South Wales (NSW) in 1788. The settlement was intended mainly as a penal colony. The British
convicts sent to Australia were mostly from large English cities. Among the original immigrants there
were also many free settlers, military personnel and administrators and their families. In 1827, Peter
Cunningham, in his book Two Years in New South Wales, reported that native-born white Australians
spoke with a distinctive accent and vocabulary, albeit with a strong Cockney influence. (The
transportation of convicts to Australian colonies ended in 1868, but immigration of free settlers from
Britain continued unabated.) The first Australian gold rushes in the 1850s resulted in a much larger wave
of immigration that also had a significant influence on Australian English. At the same time, large
numbers of people who spoke English as a second language were also arriving. The “Americanisation” of
Australian English — signified by the borrowing of words, spellings, terms, and usages from North
American English — began during the goldrushes, and was accelerated by a massive influx of the USA
military personnel during World War II. Since the 1950s, there has been an increasing availability and
importation of mass media content written in US English, such as books and magazines, television
programs, computer software and the world wide web; this has also had an effect. As a result
Australians use many British and American words interchangeably. Due to their shared history and
geographical proximity, Australian English is most similar to New Zealand English.

As with most variants of English, it is distinguished primarily by its vowel phonology. Australian
English vowels are divided into two categories: long, which includes long monophthongs and
diphthongs, and short, all of which are monophthongs. The short vowels mostly correspond to the lax
vowels, the long vowels correspond to its tense vowels as well as its centralising diphthongs. Unlike
most varieties of English, it has a phonemic length distinction: a number of vowels differ only by the
length. Australian English consonants are similar to those of other non-rhotic varieties of English. In
comparison to other varieties, it has a flapped variant of [t] and [d] in similar environments as in
American English. Many speakers have also coalesced [tj] and [dj] into [tS] and [dʒ], with pronunciations

such as [tSu:n] being standard .

Vocabulary. The vocabulary of all the variants is characterized by a high percentage of borrowings from
the language of the people who inhabited the land before the English colonisers came. Many of them
denote some specific realia of the new country: local animals, plants or weather conditions, new trades
and conditions of labour. Among lexical units of the Australian variant there are such as:

1) names of towns, countries: Kangarooland, Cabbage Garden (штат Вікторія), Banana City
(Брісбен);
2) geographical and nature names: Albany doctor – південно-східний бриз, Darling shower –
пилова буря, creek - ручай, bush - хащі;
3) plants: gum-tree - евкаліпт, wattle – місцева акація, scub - ліс;
4) animals: dingo, emu, echidna, koala;
5) ethnic names and professionalisms: digger – золотошукач, sheila, lubra – молода жінка,
ringer – особа, яка стриже овець.
There are many metaphors and metonyms in Australian variant: dingo - боягуз, koala -
дипломат, kiwi – мешканець Нової Зеландії.

Many phraseological units are spread in Australian variant of English. They may be divided into: 1)
names of wild animals: to be on the tiger – бути засватаним під час пиятики, to have kangaroos in
one’s top paddock – з’їхати з глузду, lousy as a bandicoot - огидний; 2) names of domestic animals:
to undress a sheep – обдурити когось, Pig Islands – Нова Зеландія, to run the rabbit – запастись
напоями; 3) names of birds: Sidney duck – переселенці, які потрапили до Австралії під час
золотої лихоманки, the duck’s dinner – одна вода, cocky’s coal – качан кукурудзи, що
використовується як паливо; 4) names of reptiles and insects: to flat out like a lizard on a log –
швидко працювати, a frog skin – однодоларова банкнота, to drink with the flies – випивати на
самоті; 5) plants and trees: to be a gum-tree – бути корінним мешканцем, a bush lawyer –
гостроязика людина.
Australian English incorporates many terms that Australians consider to be unique to their
country. One of the best-known of these is outback which means a remote, sparsely-populated area.
The similar bush can mean either native forests or country areas in general. However, both terms are
historically widely used in many English-speaking countries. Many such words, phrases or usages
originated with the British convicts transported to Australia. Many words used frequently by country
Australians are, or were, also used in all or part of England, with variations in meaning. For example: a
creek in Australia, as in North America, is any stream or small river, whereas in England it is a small
watercourse flowing into the sea; paddock is the Australian word for a field, while in England it is a small
enclosure for livestock and; wooded areas in Australia are known as bush or scrub, as in North America,
while in England, they are commonly used only in proper names (such as Shepherd’s Bush and
Wormwood Scrubs). Australian English and several British English dialects (for example, Cockney, Scouse
or Geordie) also both use the word mate to mean a close friend of the same gender and increasingly
with a platonic friend of the opposite sex (rather than the conventional meaning of “a spouse”),
although this usage has also become common in some other varieties of English. The origins of other
terms are not as clear, or are disputed. Dinkum (or “fair dinkum”) means “true”, or when used in
speech: “is that true?”, “this is the truth!”, and other meanings, depending on context and inflection.
The derivation dinky-di means a “true” or devoted Australian. The words dinkum or dinky-di and phrases
like true blue are widely purported to be typical Australian sayings, however these sayings are more
commonly used in jest or parody rather than as an authentic way of speaking. Similarly, g’day, a
stereotypical Australian greeting, is no longer synonymous with “good day” in other varieties of English
(it can be used at night time) and is never used as an expression for “farewell”, as “good day” is in other
countries. Some elements of Aboriginal languages have been incorporated into Australian English,
mainly as names for places, flora and fauna (for example dingo, kangaroo). Beyond that, few terms have
been adopted into the wider language, except for some localised terms, or slang. Some examples are
cooee and Hard yakka. The former is a high-pitched call which travels long distances and is used to
attract attention. Cooee has also become a notional distance: if he’s within cooee, we’ll spot him. Hard
yakka means hard work and is derived from yakka, from the Yagara/Jagara language once spoken in the
Brisbane region. Also from the Brisbane region comes the word bung meaning broken. A failed piece of
equipment might be described as having bunged up or referred to as “on the bung” or “gone bung”.
Bung is also used to describe an individual who is pretending to be hurt; such individual is said to be
“bunging it on”. If someone was hurt he could say “I’ve got a bung knee.”

There is a widely held belief in Australia that “American spellings” are a modern intrusion, but
the debate over spelling is much older and has little to do with the influence of North American English.
The town of Victor Harbor has the Victor Harbour Railway Station and the municipality’s official website
speculates that excising the u from the town’s name was originally a “spelling error.” This continues to
cause confusion in how the town is named in official and unofficial documents. Although the spelling jail
prevails, gaol is still used in official contexts.

Many Australians believe themselves to be direct in manner and/or admire frank and
open communication. Such sentiments can lead to misunderstandings and offence being caused
to people from other cultures. For instance, spoken Australian English is generally more tolerant
of offensive and/or abusive language than other variants. Many politicians are exponents of this
style in Parliament.
Australian English makes frequent use of diminutives. They can be formed in a number
of ways and can be used to indicate familiarity. Some examples include arvo (afternoon), servo
(service station), bottle-o (bottle-shop), barbie (barbecue), cozzie (swimming costume), footy
(Rugby League or Australian rules football) and mozzie (mosquito). Similar diminutives are
commonly used for personal nicknames (Johnno, Fitzy). Occasionally a -za diminutive is used,
usually for personal names where the first of multiple syllables ends in an "r", so Barry becomes
Bazza and Sharon, Shazza. Many phrases once common to Australian English have become the
subject of common stereotypes, over-use and Hollywood’s caricaturised over-exaggerations,
even though they have largely disappeared from everyday use. Words being used less often
include cobber, strewth, you beaut and crikey, and archetypal phrases like flat out like a lizard
drinking are rarely heard without a sense of irony. The phrase put a shrimp on the barbie is a
misquotation of a phrase that became famous after being used by Paul Hogan in tourism
advertisements that aired in America. Most Australians use the term prawn rather than shrimp,
 and do not commonly barbecue them. Many people trying to impersonate or mock an Australian
will use this line, though Australians themselves would never have used this line. Australia's
unofficial national anthem Waltzing Matilda written by bush poet Banjo Paterson, contains many
obsolete Australian words and phrases that appeal to a rural ideal and are understood by
Australians even though they are not in common usage outside this song. One example is the
title, which means travelling (particularly with a type of bed roll called a swag).

52.The Linguistic Basis of Lexicography.

Lexicography is the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries. It is an important
branch of applied linguistics, the main purpose of which is the production of dictionaries.
What is meant by the term “dictionary”? There are various definitions of this phenomenon, but
in the opinion of the famous lexicographer L. Zgusta, one of the best definitions was given by C. C. Berg:
“A dictionary is a systematically arranged list of socialized linguistic forms compiled from the speech
habits of a given speech-community and commented on by the author in such a way that the qualified
reader understands the meaning of each separate form, and is informed of the relevant facts concerning
the function of that form in its community”.

Lexicography is a process related to both – the vocabulary, or lexis, or lexicon, and a set of
theoretical principles (Lexicology) with which to tackle them. The theory of Lexicography is connected
with all the levels of linguistic structure: semantics, lexicology, grammar and stylistics. The dictionary is
indeed the meeting of all the systems, linguistic and non-linguistic which are relevant to speech activity.
The result of this complex process is the dictionary which is defined as a reference book that gives a list
of words (usually in alphabetical order) together with a guide to their meanings, pronunciation,
spelling, or equivalents in other languages.

Dictionary-making is an essentially practical activity which is as old as man’s concern with written
communication. But in order to compile a dictionary, one must have a notion of the “word” and an
understanding of how it is used in interpersonal discourse.
The discipline that has contributed more than any other to our understanding of how words are
used in communication is linguistics. There exists a close interrelationship between linguistic theory and
lexicographical practice. This interrelation is confirmed by the following 5 postulates, i. e. smth.
accepted without any proofs:

1) Lexicography is concerned with the description and explanation of the vocabulary of a

language;

2) the basic unit in dictionary-making is the “lexeme, the close combination of form and
meaning”;

3) dictionaries may describe the whole vocabulary of the language or concentrate on one or
more of its aspects;

4) dictionary-making has to develop a metalanguage for handling and presenting the

information, i. e. it has to develop words that are used for talking about or describing language
(metalinguistics is the study of the interrelation between language and other cultural behavioral [bi
´heivәjәrәl] phenomena; language as behaviour);

5) ultimately all dictionaries are motivated by and judged against the lexical needs of the
language user whom they serve.
 As we see, the first postulate relates to the subject-matter of Lexicography – its subject-matter is
description and explanation of words of the language.
The second postulate confirms that the basic unit of dictionary-making is the lexeme, a meaningful
speech form that is one of the vocabulary items of a language.
The third one deals with the size of dictionaries and the aspect of the language it describes.
Size is not mere bulk and so the number of the entries of a dictionary, numerically precise as it may
be, is only a rough indication of its informative power. Very much depends upon how the entry itself
is worked out. Thus, in size dictionaries may be from pocket to library editions, for laymen (person
who doesn’t possess an expert knowledge of a subject) and specialists, many of them not even
containing the word “dictionary” in their title. They may be concerned with historical changes or
contemporary usage, with the standard language or one or more of its variants, with two or several
different languages.
The fourth postulate underlines that dictionary-making may be usefully guided by a metalanguage, i.
e. a set of symbols used in talking about language or describing natural languages, a universal
semiotic code used for handling and presenting linguistic information. For this purpose in a
metalanguage both various codes of logics and mathematics and codes of mental objects and
situations, e.g. frames, cognitive and semantic diagrams, etc., are used.
And the last, the fifth postulate is concerned with the dictionary user. It should answer the question
“What is a dictionary for?” In this respect many questions arise, namely:
- Who owns this or that dictionary?
- Are dictionaries used as guides to usage or to settle questions?

- What role do dictionaries play in the home, in schools, in the office?

- How often are dictionaries borrowed from libraries?

To answer these questions the following 4 factors should be taken into account:

Information Operations
meanings/synonyms finding meanings

pronunciation/syntax finding words

spelling/etymology translating, etc.

names/facts, etc.

users purposes

child extending knowledge of the mother tongue

pupil/trainee learning foreign language

teacher/critic playing word games

scientist/secretary, etc. composing a report

 reading/decoding foreign lang. texts

Summing up, it’s necessary to mention, that principles of dictionary-making are always based on
linguistic fundamentals.

53.Aims and functions of lexicography.

Definition: Lexicography is the part of lexis dealing with the body of a language and the
properties of words as the main units of language (words, words combinations) Lexicography
and lexicology have a common object of study for they describe the vocabulary of a language.
The essential difference between them lies in the degree of systematization and completeness.
Lexicography aims at systematization revealing characteristic features of words. The field of
lexicography is the semantic, formal, and functional description of all individual words.
Dictionaries aim at a more or less complete description. Lexicology shows that the vocabulary of
every particular language is not a chaos of diversified phenomena but a homogeneous whole, a
system constituted by independent elements related in certain specific ways. It goes without
saying that neither of these branches of linguistics could develop successfully without the other.
Lexicography this section of linguistics concerns practice of theory of compiling dictionaries.
Every theory is a result of practical needs. Practical lexicography and theoretical one are closely
connected carrying out different socially important functions. Functions of practical
lexicography are as follows: 1. educational function presupposes teaching language both native
and foreign; 2. ‘legislative’ function studies and problems of description and normalization of
language; it relates with describing standardizing native language forming a certain language
norm; 3. communicative function deals with realizing intercultural communications; 4. scientific
function fulfills studying vocabulary of a language periods of practical lexicography. 4 In the
long perspective of human evolutionary development dictionaries have been known through only
a slight fraction of language history. People at first simply talked without having authoritative
packing from reference books.
54.Historical development of British lexicography (VIII-XVIII cc.).
55.The history of the Oxford English Dictionary and its peculiarities (XIX – XXcc.).
56.Main types of English dictionaries. Criteria for classification.
57.Linguistic dictionaries VS Encyclopedic dictionaries.
58.Specialized dictionaries.
59.Basic problems of dictionary compiling. The structure of a dictionary.
60. The Procedure of Compiling a Dictionary.