ETYMOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF MODERN ENGLISH
1. Subdivide all the following words of native origin into a) Indo-European, b) Germanic, d) English proper.
daughter, woman, room, land, cow, moon, sea, red, spring, three, I, lady, always, goose, bear, fox, lord, tree, nose, birch, grey, old, glad, daisy, heart, hand, night, to eat, to see, to make.
2. In the following sentences find examples of Latin borrowings; identify the period of borrowings.
1. The garden here consisted of a long smooth lawn with two rows of cherry trees planted in the grass. 2. They set to pork pies, cold potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, cold bacon, ham, grabs, cheese, butter, gooseberry-tarts, cherry-tarts, bread, more sausages and yet again pork-pies. 3. Instead of commendation, all we got was a tiradeabout the condition of the mackintosh sheets which Matron had said were a disgrace both to the hospital and the nursing profession. 4. A cold wind knifing through downtown streets penetrated the thin coat she had on. 5. The substance of my life is a private conversation with myself which to turn into a dialogue would be equivalent to self-destruction. 6. It was the money, of course; money which did strange things to human beings, making them greedy, panicked, at times sub-human.
3. In the sentences given below find the examples of Scandinavian borrowings. How can the Scandinavian borrowings be identified?
1. He went on to say that he was sorry to hear that I had been ill. 2. She was wearing a long blue skirt and a white blouse. 3. Two eyes eyes like winter windows, glared at him with ruthless impersonality. 4. The sun was high, the sky unclouded, the air warm with a dry fresh breeze. 5. If Eastin were right, Wainwright reasoned, the presence of the husband could tie in with Wainwrinhts own theory of an outside accomplice. 6. Its not such a bad thing to be unsure sometimes. It takes us away from rigid thinking.
4. Copy out the examples of Norman and Parisian borrowings from the following passage. Describe the structural peculiarities of these words.
1. It was while they were having coffee that a waitress brought a message to their table. 2. I knew nothing about the film world and imagined it to be a continuous ferment of personal intrigue. 3. The masseur and majordomo quietly disappeared. Replacing them like one more character emerging on stage was a chef, a pale, worried pencil of a man. 4. A limousine and chauffeur, available at any time from the banks pool of cars, were perquisites of the executive vice-presidents job, and Alex enjoyed them. 5. He would have dinner quickly and then get down to work. But as he opened the door he smelt Eau-Cologne and there was Ruth in a chair by the gate. 6. His bandaged head was silhouetted in the light from the little window. 7. I dont see the matter, said Steven, helping himself to more mayonnaise. 8. Apart from being an unforgivable break of etiquette, you only make yourself extremely ridiculous. 9. However this John Davenant evidently knew more about the army and commerce than either of them. 10. At last I began to want my breakfast. I began walking in the direction of Madges hotel and set down en route at a cafe no tar from the Opera.
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Explain the etymology of the following words.
sputnik, kindergarten, opera, piano, potato, tomato, droshky, czar, violin, coffee, cocoa, colonel, alarm, cargo, blitzkrieg, steppe, komsomol, banana, balalaika.
6. Think of 10-15 examples of Russian borrowings in English and English borrowings in Russian.
7. Explain the etymology of the following words. Write them out in the three columns: a) fully assimilated words; b) partially assimilated words; c) unassimilated words. Explain the reasons for your choice in each case.
pen, hors doeuvre, ballet, beet, butter, skin, take, cup, police, distance, monk, garage, phenomenon, wine, large, justice, lesson, criterion, nice, coup detat, sequence, gay port, river, loose, autumn, low, uncle, law, convenient, lunar, experiment, skirt, bishop, regime, eau-de-Cologne.
8. State the origin of the following etymological doublets. Compare their meanings and explain why they are called etymological doublets.
1. captain chieftan, canal channel, cart chart.
2. shirt skirt, shriek screech, shrew screw.
3. gaol jail, corpse corps, travel travail.
4. shadow shade, off of, dike ditch.
