Changes in pronunciation.

In Modern British English there is a tendency to change pronunciation of some sounds and combinations of sounds due to the influence of American English and some other factors. These changes are most noticeable in the speech of teachers and students of the universities in the Southern part of England /Oxford, Cambridge, London/.

There are the following changes in pronouncing vowels:

a) shortening of long vowels, especially at the end of the word and before voiceless consonants, e.g. see, keep;

b) lengthening of short vowels before voiced consonants, e.g. big, good, come, jam etc. In such adjectives which end in /d/ lengthening of the vowel is observed all over England, e.g. bad, sad, glad, mad etc.

c) drawling of stressed syllables and clipping of unstressed syllables.

d) In unstressed syllables / / is pronounced instead of / i /, e.g. /b `ko:z/, /`evid ns/ etc.

e) In the words consisting of three or more syllables there is a tendency to have two main stresses,e.g. /`nes `s ri/, /`int `restin/.

f) The diphthong /ou/ is pronounced / u/,e.g. home /h um/, go /g u/.

g) the diphthong / u / is pronounced /o:/, e.g. sure /sho:/.

Vowels can also change under the influence of consonants:

a) after fricatives and consonants /n/ and /m/ /ju:/ is pronounced as /u:/, e.g. resume, music, news, enthusiasm.

 

 

b) before fricatives and combinations of fricatives with consonants «a« is pronounced as / /, e.g. dance, answer, class, fast.

The pronunciation of some consonants is also changed :

a) after a vowel /r/ is pronounced ,e.g. /ka:r/ , /ha:rt/.

b)There appears an intrusive /r/ in the combinations where after the final vowel / / there is a vowel at the beginning of the next word, e.g. the idea of, Asia and Europe/ on the analogy with word combinations there is, there are/.

c) /p/ and /t/ are glotalized in the middle of the word,e.g. matter is pronounced as /`m ? /, happy as /`h ? i/.

d) /s/ is used instead of /sh/ before /i/ in the structure of suffixes, e.g. social /`sousi l/, negotiate / ni`gousi,eit/;

e) /l/ is vocalized at the end of the word, e.g. full/ ful/( close to /v/ in sound).

f) /sh/ is voiced in the intervocal position in some geographical names, e.g . «Asia», «Persia»;

g) combinations of sounds /dj/, /tj/ , /sj/ in such words as duke, tube, issue have two variants of pronunciation: /d3u:k/ and /dju:k/, /chu:b/ and /tju:b/, /`ishu:/ and /`isju:/;

 g) pronunciation approaching spelling is being developed, e.g. often /`oftn/, forehead / fo:`hed/ etc;

h) /t/ and/d/ at the end of words are not pronounced, e.g. «half past five’ /`ha:f `pa:s`faiv/, «old man» /`oul `m n/.

 

LEXICOGRAPHY

 

The theory and practice of compiling dictionaries is called lexicography. The history of compiling dictionaries for English comes as far back as the Old English period, where we can find glosses of religious books / interlinear translations from Latin into English/. Regular bilingual dictionaries began to appear in

the 15-th century /Anglo-Latin, Anglo-French , Anglo-German/.

The first unilingual dictionary explaining difficult words appeared in 1604, the author was Robert Cawdry, a schoolmaster. He compiled his dictionary for schoolchildren. In 1721 an English scientist and writer Nathan Bailey published the first etymological dictionary which explained the origin of English words. It was the first scientific dictionary, it was compiled for philologists.

In 1775 an English scientist compiled a famous explanatory dictionary. Its author was Samuel Johnson. Every word in his dictionary was illustrated by examples from English literature, the meanings of words were clear from the contexts in which they were used.. The dictionary was a great success and it influenced the development of lexicography in all countries. The dictionary influenced normalization of the English vocabulary. But at the same time it helped to preserve the English spelling in its conservative form.

In 1858 one of the members of the English philological society Dr. Trench raised the question of compiling a dictionary including all the words existing in the language. The

 

philological society adopted the decision to compile the dictionary and the work started. More than a thousand people took part in collecting examples, and 26 years later in 1884 the first volume was published. It contained words beginning with «A» and «B». The last volume was published in 1928 that is 70 years after the decision to compile it was adopted. The dictionary was called NED and contained 12 volumes.

In 1933 the dictionary was republished under the title «The Oxford English Dictionary», because the work on the dictionary was conducted in Oxford. This dictionary contained 13 volumes. As the dictionary was very large and terribly expensive scientists continued their work and compiled shorter editions of the dictionary: «A Shorter Oxford Dictionary» consisting of two volumes. It had the same number of entries, but far less examples from literature. They also compiled «A Concise Oxford Dictionary» consisting of one volume and including only modern words and no examples from literature.

The American lexicography began to develop much later, at the end of the 18-th century. The most famous American English dictionary was compiled by Noah Webster. He was an active stateman and public man and he published his first dictionary in 1806. He went on with his work on the dictionary and in 1828 he published a two-volume dictionary. He tried to simplify the English spelling and transcription. He introduced the alphabetical system of transcription where he used letters and combinations of letters instead of transcription signs. He denoted vowels in closed syllables by the corresponding vowels, e.g. / a/, /e/, / i/, / o/, /u/. He denoted vowels in the open syllable by the same letters, but with a dash above them,e.g. / a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/. He denoted vowels in the position before /r/ as the same letters with two dots above them, e.g. / a/, /o/ and by the l etter «e» with two dots above it for the combinations «er», «ir», «ur» because they are pronounced identically. The same tendency is preserved for other sounds : /u:/ is denoted by /oo/, /y/ is used for the sound /j/ etc.

 

 

                       Classification of dictionaries

All dictionaries are divided into linguistic and encyclopedic dictionaries. Encyclopedic dictionaries describe different objects, phenomena, people and give some data about them. Linguistic dictionaries describe vocabulary units, their semantic structure, their origin, their usage. Words are usually given in the alphabetical order.

Linguistic dictionaries are divided into general and specialized . To general dictionries two most widely used dictionaries belong: explanatory and translation dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include dictionaries of synonyms, antonyms, collocations, word-frequency, neologisms, slang, pronouncing, etymological, phraseological and others.

All types of dictionaries can be unilingual ( excepting translation ones) if the explanation is given in the same language, bilingual if the explanation is given in another language and also they can be polilingual.

There are a lot of explanatory dictionaries (NED, SOD, COD, NID, N.G. Wyld’s «Universal Dictionary» and others). In explanatory dictionaries the entry consists of the spelling, transcription, grammatical forms, meanings, examples, phraseology. Pronunciation is given either by means of the International Transcription System or in British Phonetic Notation which is different in each large dictionary, e.g. /o:/ can be indicated as / aw/, /or/, /oh/, /o/. etc.

Translation dictionaries give words and their equivalents in the other language. There are English-Russian dictionaries by I.R. Galperin, by Y.Apresyan and others. Among general dictionaries we can also mention Learner’s dictionaries. They began to appear in the second half of the 20-th century. The most famous is «The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary» by A.S. Hornby. It is a unilingual dictionary based on COD, for advanced foreign learners and language teachers. It gives data about grammatical and lexical valency of words. Specialized dictionaries of synonyms are also widely used, one of them is «A Dictionary of English Synonyms and Synonymous Expressions» by R.Soule. Another famous one is «Webster’s Dictionary of Synonyms». These are unilingual dictionaries. The best known bilingual dictionary of synonyms is «English Synonyms» compiled by Y. Apresyan.

In 1981 «The Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English» was compiled, where words are given in 14 semantic groups of everyday nature. Each word is defined in detail, its usage is explained and illustrated, synonyms, antonyms are presented also. It describes 15000 items, and can be referred to dictionaries of synonyms and to explanatory dictionaries.

Phraseological dictionaries describe idioms and colloquial phrases, proverbs. Some of them have examples from literature. Some lexicographers include not only word-groups but also anomalies among words. In «The Oxford Dicionary of English Proverbs» each proverb is illustrated by a lot of examples, there are stylistic references as well. The dictionary by Vizetelli gives definitions and illustrations, but different meanings of polisemantic units are not given. The most famous bilingual dictionary of phraseology was compiled by A.V. Koonin. It is one of the best phraseological dictionaries.

Etymological dictionaries trace present-day words to the oldest forms of these words and forms of these words in other languages. One of the best etymological dictionaries was compiled by W. Skeat.

Pronouncing dictionaries record only pronunciation. The most famous is D. Jones’ s «Pronouncing Dictionary».

Dictionaries of neologisms are : a four-volume «Supplement to NED» by Burchfield, «The Longman Register of New Words»/1990/, «Bloomsury Dictionary of New Words» /1996/.

                

 

                                 SEMINARS

 

                      Seminar 1

 

                   Language units.

The smallest language unit.

The function of a root morpheme.

The main function of suffixes.

The secondary function of suffixes.

The main function of prefixes.

The secondary function of prefixes.

Splinters and their formation in English.

The difference between affixes and splinters.

Structural types of words in English.

The stem of a word and the difference beween a simple word, a stem and a root.

The difference between a block compound and a nominal benomial.

The difference between a word and a phraseological unit.

The similarity between a word and a phraseological unit.

 

Analyze the following lexical units according to their structure. Point out the function of morphemes. Speak about bound morphemes and free morphemes. Point out allomorphs in analyzed words:

accompany        unsystematic             forget-me-not

computerise       expressionless           reservation

de-restrict          superprivileged         moisture

lengthen            clannish                     pleasure

beautify            workaholic                 reconstruction

beflower            inwardly                    counterculture

specialise           moneywise                 three-cornered

round table       Green Berets              to sandwich in

 

                          Seminar 2.

 

                         Affixation.

Classification of suffixes according to the part of speech they form.

Classification of suffixes according to the stem they are added to.

Classification of suffixes according to their meaning.

Classification of suffixes according to their productivity.

Classification of suffixes according to their origin.

Classification of prefixes according to their meaning.

Classification of prefixes according to their origin.

Classification of prefixes according to their productivity.

 

Analyze the following derived words, point out suffixes and prefixes and classify them from different points of view:

 

to embed                   nourishment         unsystematic

to encourage             inwardly                to accompany

translatorese             dispensable           clannishness

to de-restrict             workaholic            jet-wise

reconstruction          to overreach          thouroughly

afterthought             foundation            childishness

transgressor              to re-write                  completenik

gangsterdom             pleasure                concentration

refusenik                   counter-culture     brinkmanship

allusion                     self-criticism          to computerise

slimster                     reservation             translation

 

                                 Seminar 3

 

                        Compound words.

Characteristic features of compound words in different languages.

Characteristic features of English compounds.

Classification of compound words according to their structure.

Classification of compound words according to the joining element.

Classification of compound words according to the parts of speech.

Classification of compound words according to the semantic relations between the components.

Ways of forming compound words.

 

Analyze the following compound words:

 

note-book                 speedometer          son-in-law

to job-hop                brain-gain              video-corder    

fair-haired                forget-me-not        Anglo-Russian

teach-in                    back-grounder       biblio-klept

theatre-goer             well-dressed            bio-engineer

to book-hunt           mini-term                to baby-sit

blood-thirsty           good-for-nothing    throw-away

do-gooder                skin-head                kleptomania

sportsman               para-trooper            airbus 

bus-napper              cease-fire                 three-cornered

tip-top                  brain-drain             bread-and-butter

Compare the strucure of the following words:

 

demagougery         tablewards          heliport

tobbacoless            money-wise         non-formal

booketeria              go-go                   motel

counter-clockwise  to frontpage        productivity

giver-away              newly-created      nobody

 

                           Seminar 4.

 

                           Conversion.

 

Conversion as a way of wordbuilding.

Different points of view on the nature of conversion.

Semantic groups of verbs which can be converted from nouns.

The meanings of verbs converted from adjectives.

Semantic groups of nouns which can be converted from verbs.

Substantivised adjectives.

Characteristic features of combinations of the type «stone wall».

Semantic groups of combinations of this type.

 

Analyze the following lexical units:

 

to eye                          a find                    to slim

a grown-up                to airmail              steel helmet

London season          resit                       sleep

a flirt                           a read                   handout

to weekend                 a build-up            supersonics

a non-formal              to wireless            to submarine

to blue-pencil             to blind - the blind - blinds

distrust                       a jerk                     to radio

news                           have-nots              the English

to co-author              to water                 to winter

a sit-down                 mother-in-law       morning star

undesirables             a walk                    a find

dislike                        log cabin               finals

 

                               Seminar 5.

 

             Shortenings and abbreviations.

 

Lexical and graphical abbreviations,the main differences between them.

Types of graphical abbreviations.

Types of initias, peculiarities of their pronunciation.

Lexical shortenings of words, their reference to styles.

Compound-shortened words, their structural types.

 

Analyze the following lexical units:

 

aggro /aggression/         Algol / algorythmic language/

apex /eipeks/ - advanced purchased excursion/ payment for an excursion ninety days before the time of excursion/

A-day /announcement Day - day of announcing war/

AID / artifitial insemination by a donor/

AIDS / acquired immunity deficiency syndrome/

Ala / Alabama/           a.s.a.p. /as soon as possible/

bar-B-Q ,barb /barbecue/    to baby-sit / baby-sitter/

A-level /advanced level/ BC /birth certificate/

burger /hamberger/        Camford, Oxbridge

CALL /computer-assisted language learning/

CAT /computer-assisted training/

cauli / cauliflower/ COD / cash on delivery/

COBOL / k ubol/ /common business-oriented language/

co- ed                 comp /komp, k mp/ /accompaniment/

DINKY /double income ,no kids yet/

E-Day /entrance day //Common Market/ expo/exposition/

edbiz/ educational business/ el-hi / elementary and high

 schools/, ex lib/ex libris/ /from the library of/

etc             Euratom fax /facsimile/

G-7 / group of seven: GB, Germany, Japan, France, Canada, Italy, Spain/.  FORTRAN /formula translation/.

 

                            Seminar 6.

                   Phraseological units.

 

Ways of forming phraseological units.

Semantic classification of phraseological units.

Structural classification of phraseological units.

Syntactical classification of phraseological units.

 

Analyze the following phraseological units according to their meaning, structure, syntactical function and the way they are formed:

 

When pigs fly /never/.          To leap into marriage.

To be a whipping boy.        To be behind scenes.

Girl Friday /a man’s assistant/. Fire in the belly.

Man Friday /a true friend/. A dear John.

To be on the beam.             Game, set and match.

Country and western.         To jump out of one’s skin.

As smart as paint.               It’s my cup of tea.

Robin Crusoe and Friday / seats at a theatre divided by a passage/. Fortune favours fools. To be in the dog house.

The green power.                 Green Berets.

Culture vulture.                   To get off one’s back.

To make headlines.              On the nose.

With a bump.                       To have a short fuse.

To vote with one’s feet.       Nuts and bolts.

Blackboard jungle.              The sky is the limit.

Cash and carry.                    To nose out.

To sandwich in.                    Berlin wall.                                              

A close mouth catches no flies. To speak BBB.

 

 

To sound like a computer.   As dull as lead.

Last but not least.                 On the stroke of.

 

 

                        Seminar 7.

 

               Phraseological units.

 

Students choose ten phraseological units from Koonin’s dictionary of phraseological units and a unilingual dictionary of idioms and analyze them in the written form. During the seminar they analyze their phrasological units chosen from dictionaries at the blackboard.

 

                       Seminar 8.

 

                    Borrowings.

 

Classification of borrowings according to the language from which they were borrowed:

Latin borrowings.

French borrowings.

Italian borrowings.

Scandinavian borrowings.

German borrowings.

Russian borrowings.

Classification of borrowings according to the borrowed aspect: phonetic borrowings, semantic borrowings, translation loans, morphemeic borrowings, hybrids.

Classification of borrowings according to the degree of assimilation: fully assimilated borrowings, partly assimilated borrowings, barbarisms. Borrowings partly assimilated semantically, grammatically, phonetically and graphically.

 

Analyze the following borrowings:

 

school                     represent            sky-blue

degree                     rhythm               immobility

chandelier              the Zoo              vase

mot /mou/              hybrid                bouffant

illuminate              keenly                communicative

possessiveness      to reproach         command

moustache            gifted                   boutique

skipper                 cache-pot             well-scrubbed

nouveau riche      emphatic             mysteriously

dactyl                    Nicholas             group

to possess             chenile                 psychological

garage                  guarantee             contempt

trait/trei/              triumph                stomach

sympathy             cynical                  Philipp

schoolboy            Christianity          paralyzed

system                  hotel                     cyclic

diphtheria            kerchief                dark-skinned.

 

 

                      Seminar 9

 

                   Semaciology.

 

Word and notion.

Lexical meaning and notion.

Polysemy.

Homonyms.

Synonyms.

Antonyms.

Classifications of homonyms when applied to analysis.

Classifications of antonyms when applied to analysis.

 

Analyze the following lexical units applying the above mentioned classifications of homonyms and antonyms:

 

present - absent, present - to present

like , to like - to dislike - dislike

sympathy - antipathy

progress - to progress, regress - to regress

success - failure, successful- unsuccessful

left - left/to leave/, right adj. - right n.

inflexible - flexible

unsafe - safe adj. - safe n.

fair n. - fair adj.    unfair, foul

piece - peace

dark-haired - fair-haired

a row - a row /rou/ - /rau/

a fan - a fan

superiority - inferiority

different - similar, indifferent, alike, difference - similarity

meaningful - meaningless

after prep.- before -before adv., before conj.

to gossip - a gossip

shapeless - shapy

air - to air - air

fearless - fearful

bright - dim, dull, sad

to fasten - to unfasten

something - nothing

 eldest - oldest -youngest

to husband - husband

obscure - to obscure

unaccustomed - accustomed

to exclude - to include

to conceal -to reveal

too - too- two

somewhere - nowhere

a drawer - a drawer

with - without

 

 

                        Seminar 10.

                          Neology.

Neology «blowup» and the work of R.Berchfield.

Semantic neologisms, transnomination and proper neologisms.

Semantic groups of neologisms connected with computerization.

Social stratification and neologisms.

Semantic groups of neologisms referring to everyday life.

Phonological neologisms and borrowings as strong neologisms.

Morphological and syntactical neologisms.

Changes in pronunciation.

 

Analyze the following neologisms from the point of view of neology theory and also from the point of view of their morphemic structure and the way they were formed :

 

to clip-clip                   AIDS                  coup

sound barrier              to Vice-Preside   boutique

to re-familiarize          tourmobile          sevenish

to de-dramatize          non-formals         to baby-sit       

to scrimp and save    fireside chat          hide-away

coin-in-the-slot         cashless society     memo

We shall overcome.     to dish old wine in new bottles

to-ing and fro-ing     multinationals      the Commons

hyperacidity              religiosity              D-Day

face-to-face/tuition/  femme-fatalish      to the wingtips

to river                      singer-songwriter  beatnik

communication gap laundered money  cheeseburger

Don’t change horses. to put a freeze on  micro-surgical

SA                             out-doorsy            medicare

Cold War                 self-exile                 public-schooly

brain-drainer           movers and shakers Euroyuppie

 

                             Seminar 11.

               

   Control work on the analysis of language units. Each student gets six language units of different types / simple words, derived words, compound words, phraseological units, combinations of the type «stone wall», borrowings, abbreviations, antonyms, homonyms, neologisms , abbreviations/ and is to analize them from all points of view which were studied during the seminars.

 

                        Seminar 12.    

 

                     Lexicography.

Analysis of the control paper.

Historical development of British lexicography.

Historical development of American lexicography.

Classification of dictionaries.

Student reports on dictionaries they use in their work.

 

 

                        SOURCES

 

Adams V. Introduction into English Wordformation. Lnd., 1983 .

Akhmanova O.S. Lexicology: Theory and Method. M. 1972

Arnold I.V. The English Word . M. 1986.

Burchfield R.W. The English Language. Lnd. ,1985

Canon G. Historical Changes and English Wordformation: New Vocabulary items. N.Y., 1986.

Ginzburg R.S. et al. A Course in Modern English Lexicology. M., 1979.

Jespersen ,Otto. Growth and Structure of the English Language. Oxford, 1982.

Halliday M.A.K. Language as Social Semiotics. Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. Lnd., 1979.

Howard Ph. New words for Old. Lnd., 1980.

Labov W. The Social Stratification of English in New York City. Washington, 1966.

Maurer D.W. , High F.C. New Words - Where do they come from and where do they go. American Speech., 1982.

Patridge E. Slang To-day and Yesterday. Lnd., 1979.

Potter S. Modern Linguistics. Lnd., 1957.

Quirk R. Style and Communication in the English Language. Lnd., 1980.

Schlauch, Margaret. The English Language in Modern Times. Warszava, 1965.

Sheard, John. The Words we Use. N.Y..,1954.

 

Амосова Н.Н. Этимологические основы словарного состава современного английского языка. М. 1956.

Aмосова Н. Н. Основы английской фразеологии Л. 1963.

Aпресян Ю.Д.Лексическая семантика. Синонимические средства языка. М.1974.

Арнольд И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка.М. 1959.

Беляева Т.М., Потапова И.А. Английский язык за пределами Англии. Л. 1971.

Беляева Т.М. Словообразовательная валентность глагольных основ в английском языке. М., 1979.

Виноградов В.В. Об основных типах фразеологических единиц в русском языке. Виноградов В. В. Лексикология и лексикография. Избранные труды. М. 1977.

Волков С.C., Cенько Е.В. Неологизмы и внутренние стимулы языкового развития. Новые слова и словари новых слов. Л., 1963.

Жлуктенко Ю.А. и др. Английские неологизмы. Киев.,1983.

Заботкина В.И. Новая лексика современного английского языка. М., 1989.

Иванов А.Н. Английская неология. Сб. науч. тр. МГПИИЯ 1984.Вып. 227.

Ивлева Г.Г. Tенденции развития слова и словарного состава. М. 1986.

Кубрякова Е.С. Роль словообразования в формировании языковой картины мира. М. 1988.

 Кунин А.В. Фразеология современного английского языка. М. 1972.

Мешков О.Д. Словообразование современного английского языка. М. 1976.

Cилис Я.Я. Лингвистическое и социальное в неологии британского варианта современного английского обращения. Неологизмы в лексике, грамматике и фонетике. Рига , 1985.

Тимошенко Т.Р. Телескопия в словообразовательной системе современного английского языка. Киев.1976.

Швейцер А.Д. Cовременная социолингвистика. Теория.Проблемы. Методы.М.1977.

Швейцер А.Д. Социальная дифференциация языка в США. М. 1983.

 

                     Dictionaries.

 

Bloomsbury Dictionary of New Words. M. 1996.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. Oxford 1964.

Hornby The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Lnd. 1974.

The Longman Register of New Words. M. 1990.

Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. M. 1986.

Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English. Longman. 1981.

21st century Dictionary of Slang. N.Y. 1994.

Webster’s New World Dictionary of American English. N.Y. 1978.

Апресян Ю.Д. Новый большой англо-русский словарь.

M. 1993.

Апресян Ю.Д. Англо-русский синонимический словарь.

M. 1979.

Кунин А.В. Англо-русский фразеологический словарь.

М. 1967.

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