第二章课后练习

Questions and Tasks

1. Why should students of English lexicology study the Indo-European Language Family?

2. Make a tree diagram to show the family relations of the modern languages given below.

  Roumanian        Greek             Swedish

  English              German          Spanish

  Hindi                 Lithuanian      Prussian

  Norweigian       Icelandic        French

  Breton               Polish             Slovenian

  Russian             Persian           Danish

  Dutch                Italian             Portuguese

  Scottish             Bulgarian       Irish

 

3. What are the fundamental differences between the vocabularies of the three periods of development? Do you think we can divide the historical development in other ways? Defend your argument.

4. What characteristics of English make the English language heterogeneous?

5. Account for the popularity of English in the present world from a linguistic perspective.

6.  Here is a text chosen from the Declaration of Independence.

    ^“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the  

political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Pick out all the words of Greek or Latin origin from the text and see of what origin are the words left. What insight does this exercise give you with reference to the borrowings from Greek and Latin?

 course  human  events   necessary     people dissolve  political    connected       assume   powers separate     equal    station    nature    entitle decent    respect     opinions      requires    declare causes     impel    separation

  

7. Give a brief account of the four phases of Latin borrowing with two or three examples for each period.

8. Tell the different elements that make up the following hybrids.

   eventful              hydroplane

   falsehood           pacifist

   saxophone          heirloom

   joss house          television

9. Put the following French loan words into two groups, one being early borrowings and the other late ones.

    amateur        fiance     empire            peace

    courage        garage     judgment       chair

    chaise          grace       servant           routine

    jealous         savate     genre             gender

    debut           morale     state              chez

     ballet

10. Comment on Jespersen' s remark on Scandinavian element in English 'An Englishman cannot thrive or be ill or die without Scandinavian words; they are to the language what bread and eggs are to the daily fare'.

 

11. Match the Italian musical terms with the proper definitions, 

 

allegro                a. soft and loud

alto                     b. increasing in volume

andante               c. highest singing voice for women

crescendo           d. in a slow stately manner

diminuendo        e. loud

forte                    f. in fast tempo

largo                    g. decreasing in volume

piano                    h. soft

pianoforte            i. lowest singing voice for woman

soprano                j. in moderate tempo

12. Look up these words in a dictionary to determine the language from which each has been 

   borrowed.

cherub             chipmunk

chocolate        coolie

cotton              jubilee

lasso               loot

Sabbath          shampoo

snorkel           tamale

tepee              tulip

voodoo          kibitz

wok               sauerbraten

 

13. Here is a menu of loan words from various sources. Choose a word to fill in each space.

wigwam       blitzkrieg

igloo             boomerang

canoe            hurricane

alligator        loco

poncho          rodeo

bonanza

a.  A crocodile much resembles an__     in appearance.

b.  'To give up a young lady like that,' said Andy. 'A man would have to be plumb________.'

c.  There was a big increase this summer in the number of competitors in calf roping at the annual ___ held in Three Forks.

d.   This dude ranch we have developed has done well so far, but it promises next year to be a real ______, enough to make us all rich.

e.  Some Eskimos build a winter shelter from snow called an_________.

f.  The Germans perfected a type of motorized attack in the Second World War that they called a_______.

g.  The Algonquin Indian in eastern and central North America lived in a domed shelter they called a  ______.

h.  Columbus in 1493 used a Carib Indian word________to describe the small boats

   the native used.

i.  In the West Indies the local name for a violent tropical cyclone is a________.

j.  The Australian aborigines use a throwing stick that they call a________.

k.  'Look like rain, boy, ' sang out Luke. 'Better get out your________. '

 

14.  Describe the characteristics of contemporary vocabulary.

 

15.  What are the major modes of vocabulary development in contemporary English?