III. Read the following jokes. Write out the informal words and word-groups and say whether they are colloquial, slang or dialect.
1. A Yankee passenger in an English train was beguiling his fellow passengers with tall stories1 and re
marked: "We can start with a twenty-story apartment house this month, and have if finished by next."
This was too much for the burly Yorkshireman, who sat next to him. "Man, that's nowt", he said. "I've seen 'em in Yorkshire when I've been going to work just laying the foundation stone and when I've been coming home at neet they've been putting the folk out for back rent."
2. A driver and his family had gathered bluebells,
primrose roots, budding twigs and so on from a country
lane. Just before they piled into the car to move off Father approached a farmer who was standing nearby and asked: “Can we take this road to Sheffield?” The farmer eyed the car and its contests sourly, then: “Aye, you mun as well, you’ve taken nigh everything else around here.”
Lecture 3. Formal Style
Exercises
I. a. The italicized words and word-groups in the following extracts belong to formal style. Describe the stylistic peculiarities of each extract in general and say whether the italicized represents learned words, terms or archaisms. Look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary.
1. "Sir,
in re1 Miss Ernestina Freeman
We are instructed by Mr. Ernest Freeman, father of the above-mentioned Miss Ernestina Freeman, to request you to attend at these chambers at 3 o'clock this coming Friday. Your failure to attend will be regarded as an acknowledgement of our client's right to proceed."
(From The French Lieutenant's Woman by J. Fowles)
2. "I have, with esteemed advice..." Mr. Aubrey bowed briefly towards the sergeant,... "... prepared an admission of guilt. I should instruct you that Mr. Freeman's decision not to proceed immediately is most strictly contingent upon your client's signing, on this occasion and in our presence, and witnessed by all present this document."
(Ibid.)
3. R o m e o... So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.
Tybalt. This, by his voice should be a Montague.
Fetch me my rapier, boy. What! dares the slave
Come hither, cover'd with an antiek face,
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?
Now, by the stock and honour of my kin,
To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.
(From Romeo and Juliet by W. Shakespeare, Act 1, Sc. 5)
1 Usually in modern correspondence you will find the form
re [ri:] without the in.
2 measure (here) — dance.
4. "... I want you to keep an eye on that air-speed indicator. Remember that an airplane stays in the air because of its forward speed. If you let the speed drop too low, it stalls — and falls out of the air. Any time the ASI shows a reading near 120, you tell George instantly. Is that clear?" "Yes, Captain. I understand." "Back to you, George... I want you to unlock the autopilot — it's clearly marked on the control column — and take the airplane yourself.... George, you watch the artificial horizon... Climb and descent indicator should stay at zero."
(From Runway Zero-Eight by A. Hailey, J. Castle)
5. Mr. Claud Gurney's production of The Taming of the Shrew shows a violent ingenuity. He has learnt much from Mr. Cochran; there is also a touch of Ham mersmith in his ebullient days. The speed, the light, the noise, the deployment of expensively coloured figures...amuse the senses and sometimes divert the mind from the unfunny brutality of the play, which evokes not one natural smile.
(From a theatrical review)
6. A r t h u r: Jack! Jack! Where's the stage manager?
J a c k: Yes, Mr.Gosport?
Arthur: The lighting for this scene has gone mad.
This isn't our plot. There's far too much light. What's gone wrong with it?
J a c k: I think the trouble is they have crept in numbers two and three too early. (Calling up to the flies.) Will, check your plot, please. Number two and three spots should be down to a quarter instead of full.... And you've got your floats too high, too.
(From Harlequinade by T. Rattigan)
II. Read the following jokes. Look up the italicized words in the dictionary (unless you know their meanings) and prove that they are professional terms. State to which sphere of human activity they belong. On what is the humour based in each of the jokes?
1. A sailor was called into the witness-box to give evidence.
"Well, sir," said the lawyer, "do you know the plaintiff and defendant!"
"I don't know the drift of them words," answered the sailor.
"What! Not know the meaning of "plaintiff" and "defendant?" continued the lawyer. "A pretty fellow you to come here as a witness! Can you tell me where on board the ship the man struck the other?"
"Abaft the binnacle," said the sailor.
"Abaft the binnacle?" said the lawyer. "What do you mean by that?"
"A pretty fellow you," responded the sailor, "to come here as a lawyer, and don't know what "abaft the binnacle" means!"
2. "Where did the car hit him?" asked the coroner.
"At the junction of the dorsal and cervical verte
brae," replied the medical witness.
The burly foreman rose from his seat.
"Man and boy, I've lived in these parts for fifty years," he protested ponderously, "and I have never heard of the place."
3. The doctor's new secretary, a conscientious girl, was puzzled by an entry in the doctor's notes on an emergency case: "Shot in the lumbar region," it read. After a moment she brightened and, in the interest of clarity, typed into the record: "Shot in the woods".
Lecture 4. Etymology of English Words (part 1)
Exercises
I. Subdivide all the following words of native origin into:
a) Indo-European, b) Germanic, c) 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.
II. Read the following jokes. Explain the etymology of the
italicized words. If necessary consult a dictionary.
1. He dropped around to the girl's house and as he ran up the steps he was confronted by her little brother.
"Hi, Billy."
"Hi," said the brat.
"Is your sister expecting me?"
"Yeah."
"How do you know that?"
"She's gone out."
2. A man was at a theatre. He was sitting behind two women whose continuous chatter became more than he could bear. Leaning forward, he tapped one of them on the shoulder.
"Pardon me, madam," he said, "but I can't hear."
"You are not supposed to — this is a private conversation," she hit back.
3. S o n n y: Father, what do they make asphalt roads of?
Father: That makes a thousand question you've asked today. Do give me a little peace. What do you think would happen if I had asked my father so many questions?
S o n n y: You might have learnt how to answer some of mine.
III. Identify the period of the following Latin borrowings; point out the structural and semantic peculiarities of the words from each period.
Wall, cheese, intelligent, candle, major, moderate, priest, school, street, cherry, music, phenomenon, nun, kitchen, plum, pear, pepper, datum, cup, status, wine, philosophy, method.
IV. 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 Wainwright's own theory of an outside accomplice. 6. It's not such a bad thing to be unsure sometimes. It takes us away from rigid thinking.
V. Read the following jokes and identify the Scandinavian borrowings.
1. "Very sorry, Mr. Brown, but the coffee is exhausted," the landlady announced.
"Not at all surprised," came back Mr. Brown. "I've seen it growing weaker and weaker every morning."
2. S m a l l b o y: I say, dad, teacher said this morning that the law of gravity kept us on the earth. Is that right?
Father: Yes, my boy, that's correct.
S m a l l b o y: Well, how did we get on before the law was passed?
3. "I want a man to do odd jobs about the house, run errands, one who never answers back and is always ready to do my bidding," explained a lady to an applicant for a post in the household.
"You're looking for a husband, ma'am, not a servant," said the seeker for work.
VI. 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.
VII. Think of 10—15 examples of Russian borrowings in English and English borrowings in Russian.
VIII. Read the following text. Identify the etymology of as many words as you can.
The Roman Occupation
For some reason the Romans neglected to overrun the country with fire and sword, though they had both of these; in fact after the Conquest they did not mingle with the Britons at all but lived a semi-detached life in villas. They occupied their time for two or three hundred years in building Roman roads and having Roman Baths, this was called the Roman Occupation, and gave rise to the memorable Roman law, 'He who baths first baths fast', which was a good thing and still is. The Roman roads ran absolutely straight in all the directions and all led to Rome. The Romans also built towns wherever they were wanted, and, in addition, a wall between England and Scotland to keep out the savage Picts and Scots.
(From 1066 and All That by С W. Sellar, R. J. Yeatman)
Lecture 5. The Etymology of English Words (part 2)
Exercises
I. Explain the etymology of the following words. Write them out in three columns: a) fully assimilated words; b) partially assimilated words; c) unassimilated words. Explain the reasons for your choice in each case.
Pen, hors d'oeuvre, ballet, beet, butter, skin, take, cup, police, distance, monk, garage, phenomenon, wine, large, justice, lesson, criterion, nice, coup d'etat, sequence, gay, port, river, loose, autumn, low, uncle, law, convenient, lunar, experiment, skirt, bishop, regime, eau-de-Cologne.
II. Classify the following borrowings according to the sphere of human activity they represent. What type of borrowings are these?
Television, progress, football, grapefruit, drama, philosophy, rugby, sputnik, tragedy, coca-cola, biolo gy, medicine, atom, primadonna, ballet, cricket, hockey, chocolate, communism, democracy.
III. Read the following jokes. Identify examples of international words.
1. Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. 2. A psychologist is a man who watches everybody rise when a beautiful girl enters the room. 3. An expert is a man who knows a great deal about very little; and who goes on knowing more and more about less and less until finally he knows practically everything about nothing; whereas a reviewer is a man who knows very little about a great deal and keeps on knowing less and less about more and more until finally he knows practically nothing about everything.
IV. State the origin of the following translation-loans. Give more examples.
Five-year plan, wonder child, masterpiece, first dancer, collective farm, fellow-traveller.
V. Read the following text. What words were borrowed into English during the period described in it? Describe the borrowings of this period. Comment upon the etymological and stylistic peculiarities of the italicized words.
Caesar Invades Britain
The first date in English History is 55 В. С, in which year Julius Caesar (the memorable Roman Emperor) landed, like all other successful invaders of these islands, at Thanet. This was in the Olden Days, when the Romans were top nation on account of their classical education, etc.
Julius Caesar advanced very energetically, but the Ancient Britons fought as heroically under their dashing queen Woadicea as they did later under their good Queen Victoria. Julius Caesar was therefore compelled to invade Britain again the following year (54 В. С, not 56, owing to the peculiar Roman method of counting) and having defeated the Ancient Britons by unfair means, set the memorable Latin sentence 'Vent, Vidi, Vici'1 which the Romans, who were all very well educated, constructed correctly.
The Britons, however, who of course still used the old pronunciation, understanding him to have called them 'Weeny, Weedy, Weaky'2 — lost heart and gave up the struggle.
(From 1066 and All That by С W. Sellar, R. J. Yeatman)
 |
[1]Veni, Vidi, Vici (Lat.) I came, I saw, I conquered
(famous words ascribed to Julius Caesar)
Weeny, Weedy, Weaky means "tiny", "frail", "weak".
Lecture 6. Word-Building
Exercises
I. The italicized words in the following jokes and extracts are formed by derivation. Write them out in two columns:
