Курс рассчитан на 74 часа аудиторной работы (32 часа лекций и 32 часа семинарских занятий)

Л.В.Минаева, Т.В.Валентей

1. ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

Lecture

1. The object of phonology. Phoneme and sound. Articulatory setting of English and Russian.

2. The system of English consonants. The system of English vowels. Positional length of vowels.

3. Syllable. Stress.

4. Prosodic system of the English language. Pitch movement. Diapason. Pitch range. Loudness. Tempo. Pausation. Paralinguistic features.

Seminar

Topics for Presentations

1. Received Pronunciation (RP).

2. British and American Pronouncing Standards.

Test Questions

1. What is the phoneme?

2. What is the difference between English and Russian articulatory settings?

3. How are vowels classified?

4. How are consonants classified?

5. What is the difference between English and Russian stress systems?

6. What prosodic features do you know?

7. What paralinguistic features do you know?

Written Tasks

1. Explain the difference in pronunciation of words in the following series:

a) beat – bit – bed – bad – bud - bird

b) beat - bead – been – beef – be

c) pan – peal - lap – spell

d) killed – kilt, pens – pence, mend – meant

2. Divide the following words into three groups according to the accentual patterns: one primary stress, secondary stress plus primary stress, two primary stresses:

sovereign, prohibition, opposition, voluntarily, prehistoric, demonstrate, vice-chairman, proclamation, development, pre-election, bankrupt, sacrifice, ratification, constitution, reorganize, understand, decade, resolution, aggravate.

Describe the prosody of the following text using its punctuation as the starting point.

THE ROAD TO EMU: ORIGINS, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND HOPES

The remarkable persistence of Europe's journey toward EMU makes no sense, except in the perspective of the origins of European economic cooperation a half-century ago. U.S. aid for war-torn Europe under the Marshall Plan, announced in June 1947, included as a key element insistence on the collective European allocation of aid monies. That far-reaching provision reflected the desire to build a united and interdependent Western Europe, prosperous and stable enough to preserve internal peace while withstanding Soviet subversion. As the historian Alan Milward puts it: "The United States did not only intend to reconstruct western Europe economically, but also politically." From the start, economic cooperation was a key pillar in the pursuit of political and strategic goals.

2. LEXICOLOGY. LEXICAL MORPHOLOGY

Lecture

1. The object of lexicology. Definition of the term “word”. Definition of the term vocabulary. Theoretical and practical value of English lexicology. Types of lexical units.

2. Principles of morphological analysis. Item-and-arrangement approach. Item- and-process approach.

3. Morphological structure of an English word.

Morpheme. Types of morphemes. Root-morphemes and affixes. Derivational and functional affixes. Productivity. Classification of suffixes (nominal, adjectival, verbal, adverbial). Classification of prefixes.

4. Composition. Types of compound words. The problem of “stone wall”. Derivational compounds.

5. Shortening of English words. Blending. Graphical abbreviation. Acronyms.

Seminar

Topics for Presentations

1. Conversion.

2. Compound words. Types and peculiarities. Unstable compounds.

3. Shortened words. Causes and consequences.

4. Blending and acronyms

Test Questions

1. What does lexicology study? What is the theoretical and practical value of English lexicology.

2. Give definitions of the terms "word" and "vocabulary". What types of lexical units do you know?

3. What are the types of morphemes? What are their peculiar features?.

4. What is the difference between derivational and functional morphemes?

Give examples of your own.

5. Is the combinability of various parts-of-speech stems unlimited? What suffixes can they combine with?

6. What are the most productive suffixes forming various parts of speech? What connotations can various suffixes convey?

7. What are the most productive prefixes?

8. What types of English compounds do you know? What are their peculiarities?

9. What are the main types of shortening of English words?

10. What is meant by "one way" and "both ways" analysis?

Written Tasks

1. Subject the following words to morphological analysis (make sure you know the meaning of the words and can give their Russian equivalents):

grudgingly, book-shelves, book-keeper, analytical, unchanging, righteousness, painting, ceiling, recognizable, unforgetfulness, reassuringly, marketer, schoolboishness, moonlighter, cost price, tight money policy, de-americanization, re-establishment, inappropriate, differentiated, ad, brunch, stagflation, trade-off, handout, price

2. Use productive suffixes and prefixes to form derivatives from the following words:

to employ, to produce, economy, to manage, to rely, to govern, value, person, to compete, to signify, to conform, to suppose, to regulate, to advertise, create.

3. Translate the following compounds into Russian:

kitchen garden, weekend conference, unemployment benefits, sweetshop-keeper, floor-price, ceiling-price, risk cost, price fluctuation, life-insurance company, Bible-translation experience, left wing section, Trade Union Congress, civil service world, Steam Locomotive Research Institute, senior common room conversation, output aggregate supply price.

Recommended Literature

1. Arnold I.V. The English Word. Moscow.1986.

2. Minajeva L. A Manual of English Lexicology. Moscow University Press.1982

3. Minajeva L.Word in Speech and Writing. Moscow University Press.1982

4. Минаева Л.В.,Тыналиева В.К.Лексикология современного английского языка. Фрунзе. 1989.

5. Смирницкий А.И. Лексикология английского языка. М.,1998.

6. Яковлева Е.Б. Сложные лексические единицы в английском языке и речи. Издательство Московского университета. 1986.

3. POLYSEMY AND HOMONYMY

Lecture

1. Introduction. Definition of the term "polysemy". Definition of the term "homonymy". The problem of discrimination of polysemy and homonymy.

2. Classification of homonyms (homonyms proper, homophones, homographs).

3. The origin of homonyms. Etymological homonymy. Homonymy as "the next step in polysemy". The criteria used to distinguish homonymy and polysemy.

4. The semantic structure of a polysemantic word (V.V. Vinogradov).

Seminar

Topics for Presentations

1. Types of English hononymy as viewed by Prof. A.I. Smirnitskij.

2. Interrelation between polysemy and homonymy.

Test Questions

1. What is the definition of a polysemantic word? What causes polysemy?

2. What is the etymology of the word "homonymy". Give the definition of homonyms. Why is English so rich in homonyms?

3. What is the most widely accepted classification of homonyms?

4. What is the difference between etymological homonymy and homonymy as the 'limit' or "stretching" of polysemy.

5. What are the formal criteria which help to differentiate between polysemy and homonymy? Give examples.

6. What are the main types of lexical meanings?

Written Tasks

1. Describe the semantic structure of the following words in terms of V.V.Vinogradov's theory. Consult a dictionary: head (n), chair (n), know (v), establish (v), fantastic (adj), precious (adj), create (v), run (v), light (n), sell (v), buy (v), break (v), raise (v).