Peculiarities of etymology and lexis



 

The lexis of texts in international exams is extremely multifarious and covers different spheres of life. Lots etymology and lexicology

 

The vocabulary of CAE complies with the  C1 level of English

 

Special word lists are compiled.

Sin

 

 

1.4.1 Etymology

 

Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. By extension, the term "the etymology (of a word)" means the origin of the particular word. When talking about place names, there is a specific term, toponymy.

 

For a language such as Greek with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during earlier periods of their history and when they entered the languages in question. Etymologists also apply the methods of comparative linguistics to reconstruct information about languages that are too old for any direct information to be available.

 

By analyzing related languages with a technique known as the comparative method, linguists can make inferences about their shared parent language and its vocabulary. In this way, word roots have been found that can be traced all the way back to the origin of, for instance, the Indo-European language family.

 

Even though etymological research originally grew from the philological tradition, much current etymological research is done on language families where little or no early documentation is available, such as Uralic and Austronesian.

 

The word etymology derives from the Greek word ἐτυμολογία (etumología), itself from ἔτυμον (étumon), meaning "true sense", and the suffix -logia, denoting "the study of".

 

In linguistics, the term etymon refers to a word or morpheme (e.g., stem or root) from which a later word derives. For example, the Latin word candidus, which means "white", is the etymon of English candid.

 

 

1.4.2  Foreign language influences in English

 

The core of English language descends from Old English, the language brought with the Angles, Saxon, and Jutish settlers to what was to be called England in and after the 500s. The bulk of the language in spoken and written texts is from this source. As a statistical rule, around 70 percent of words in any text are Anglo-Saxon. Moreover, the grammar is largely Anglo-Saxon.

 

A significant portion of the English vocabulary comes from Romance and Latinate sources. Estimates of native words (derived from Old English) range from 20%–33%, with the rest made up of outside borrowings. A portion of these borrowings come directly from Latin, or through one of the Romance languages, particularly Anglo-Norman and French, but some also from Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish; or from other languages (such as Gothic, Frankish or Greek) into Latin and then into English. The influence of Latin in English, therefore, is primarily lexical in nature, being confined mainly to words derived from Latin roots.

 

While some new words enter English as slang, most do not. Some words are adopted from other languages; some are mixtures of existing words (portmanteau words), and some are new creations made of roots from dead languages: e.g., thanatopsis.

 

1.4.3 Lexis

 

A lexis or lexicon is the complete set of all possible words in a language (vocabulary). In this sense, child, children, child's and children's are four different words in the English lexicon. In systemic-functional linguistics, a lexis or lexical item is the way one calls a particular thing or a type of phenomenon. Since a lexis from a systemic-functional perspective is a way of calling, it can be realised by multiple grammatical words such as "The White House", "New York City" or "heart attack". Moreover, since a lexis is a way of calling, different words such as child, children, child's and children's may realise the same lexical item.

 

1.4.4 Lexicology

 

Lexicology is the part of linguistics which studies words. This may include their nature and function as symbols, their meaning, the relationship of their meaning to epistemology in general, and the rules of their composition from smaller elements (morphemes such as the English -ed marker for past or un- for negation; and phonemes as basic sound units). Lexicology also involves relations between words, which may involve semantics (for example, love vs. affection), derivation (for example, fathom vs. unfathomably), use and sociolinguistic distinctions (for example, flesh vs. meat), and any other issues involved in analyzing the whole lexicon of a language.

 

The term first appeared in the 1970s, though there were lexicologists in essence before the term was coined. Computational lexicology is a related field (in the same way that computational linguistics is related to linguistics) that deals with the computational study of dictionaries and their contents.

 

An allied science to lexicology is lexicography, which also studies words, but primarily in relation with dictionaries – it is concerned with the inclusion of words in dictionaries and from that perspective with the whole lexicon. Sometimes lexicography is considered to be a part or a branch of lexicology, but properly speaking, only lexicologists who actually write dictionaries are lexicographers. Some consider this a distinction of theory vs. practice.

 

 

Chapter 2

Analysis of the test

In the practical part of the course work the following points will be analysed:

· Lexis (nouns, different types of verbs - phrasal verbs, movement, state, mental activity, synonyms)

· Etymology (whether the word is of Latin, Gree or Anglo Saxon orgin)

· Stylistics

· Word Building (suffixes, preffixes)

Training sports

 

Themes (lexicology - mainly 12)

all the texts

 

Etymology (Latin, Greek, Anglo Saxon)

introduction to a...

 

 

In Part 1 a small text is presented to a test taker who must choose one right answer out of four. The tester should read the text and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. We can see that the text is entitled “Studying black bears” and dedicated to the scientific study of black bears living in North America. The text is rather short, contains three paragraphs and consists of ten sentences. The text is devoted to wild nature and animals, as words like “black bears”, “wildlife”, “biologist” in the first sentence signify it.

 

“After years studying North America’s black bears in the (0) …….. way, wildlife biologist Luke Robertson felt no closer to understanding the creatures.”

 

In the utterance there are four variants:

 a) straight 

 b) common

 c) everyday

 d) conventional and in the point zero the answer is already given. It is the variant “d”, which is “conventional”. 

 

 

He realised that he had to (1) …….. their trust.  

1 a) catch

b) win

c) achieve

d) receive

 

 

Abandoning scientific detachment, he took the daring step of forming relationships with the animals, bringing them food to gain their acceptance. The (2) …….. this has given him into their behaviour has allowed him to dispel certain myths about bears.

2.

a) perception

b) awareness

c) insight

d) vision

 

 

 (3) …….. to popular belief, he contends that bears do not (4) …….. as much for fruit as previously supposed.

3

a) Opposite

b) Opposed

c) Contrary

d) Contradictory

 

 

4

a) care

b)  bother

c)  desire

d)  hope

 

 

He also (5) …….. claims that they are ferocious.

5

a)  concludes

b)  disputes

c)  reasons

d)  argues

 

 

He says that people should not be (6) …….. by behaviour such as swatting paws on the ground, as this is a defensive, rather than an aggressive, act.

6

a) misguided

b) misled

c) misdirected

d) misinformed

 

 

However, Robertson is no sentimentalist. After devoting years of his life to the bears, he is under no (7) …….. about their feelings for him.  

7

a)  error

b)  doubt

c)  illusion

d)  impression

 

 

It is clear that their interest in him does not (8) …….. beyond the food he brings.

8

a)  expand

b)  spread

c)  widen

d)  extend

 

 

The final paragraph of the text should be read attentively as the both sentences of which the paragraph consist of are linked reasonably. It is of crucial importance that the

The second sentence gives us a reason why the test taker should choose the answer in question 7.

 

The right choice of the answer in question 8 could be rather complicated as we are given four words which are close in their meaning.

 

 

In Part 2 of the module “Reading and use of English” of CAE exam paper we are offered a text

 

The origin of language

 

The truth (0) …….. nobody really knows how language first began.

 

Did we all start talking at around the same time (9) …….. of the manner in which our brains had begun to develop?

 

Although there is a lack of clear evidence, people have come up with various theories about the origins of language. One recent theory is that human beings have evolved in (10) …….. a way that we are programmed for language from the moment of birth.

 

 In (11) …….. words, language came about as a result of an evolutionary change in our brains at some stage.

 

 Language (12) …….. well be programmed into the brain but, (13) …….. this, people still need stimulus from others around them.

 

From studies, we know that (14) …….. children are isolated from human contact and have not learnt to construct sentences before they are ten, it is doubtful they will ever do so.

 

 

This research shows, if (15) …….. else, that language is a social activity, not something invented (16) …….. isolation.

 

 

Part 3

 

For questions 17 – 24, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line.

 

Training sports champions

 

What are the abilities that a (0) …….. sports person needs? (PROFESSION)

 

 

To guarantee that opponents can be (17) …….. , speed, stamina and agility are essential, not to mention outstanding natural talent. Both a rigorous and comprehensive (18) …….. regime and a highly nutritious diet are vital for top-level performance. (COME/ FIT)

 

 It is carbohydrates, rather than proteins and fat, that provide athletes with the (19) …….. they need to compete. (ENDURE)

 

This means that pasta is more (20) …….. than eggs or meat. Such a diet enables them to move very energetically when required. (BENEFIT)

 

 

Failure to follow a sensible diet can result in the (21) …….. to maintain stamina.  (ABLE)

 

Regular training to increase muscular (22) …….. is also a vital part of a professional’s regime, and this is (23) …….. done by exercising with weights.

(STRONG/TYPE)

 

 

Sports people are prone to injury but a quality training regime can ensure that the (24) …….. of these can be minimised. (SEVERE)

 

Conclusion

 

In the given course paper we have investigated the structural, discoursal and lexical side of one of the international exams in English, namely CAE (Cambridge Advanced English). We have chosen this theme because this exam is one of the most known ones in English which is recognized worldwide. We were interested in its structure, supposing that the thorough analysis of at least one of the parts, namely Read and Use of English, will help us and those who will read this course paper in a preparation to the exam.

 

We have investigated various phenomena of the exam paper such as lexis, stylistics, themes, word-building, etymology, coming to the understanding that texts in exam are rich lexically, stylistically, they may be concerned with different spheres of life and be etymologically diverse.

 

It should be noted that in order to pass international exams in English and score a high assessment, one should possess a wide stock of words. It is highly recommended to compose own lists of vocabulary and use various supplementary books that cover different aspects of English: grammar, phrasal verbs, collocations, idioms.

 

 

Literature

 

 

1. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/advanced/exam-format/

2. Cambridge English Advanced: Handbook for teachers.

3. Common Mistakes at CAE

4. CAE Practice Tests

5. Cambridge Grammar for CAE and CPE

6. Academic Vocabulary in USE

7. Арбекова Т.И. Лексикология англ. яз. (практический курс) учебное пособие для 2-3 курсов ин-ов и фак. иностр. Яз. М., "Высшая школа", 1977.

8. Лингвистический энциклопедический словарь. Главный редактор- В.Н. Ярцева. М. Советская энциклопедия, 1990. – 685с.

  1. Ахманова О.С. Словарь лингвистических терминов. Издание 2-е М.: Издание Советская энциклопедия, 1969. – 605 стр.

 

10.  Баранов А.Н. и др. Англо-русский Словарь по лингвистике и семантике. Под ред. А.Н. Баранова и Д.О. Добровольского. Издание 2-е, исправленное и дополненное. М.: Институт русского языка РАН, 2003-640с.

11.  Смирницкий А.И. Лексикология английского языка. – М.: Изд-во МГУ, 1998. – 260 с.

12.  Шанский Н.М. Лексикология современного английского языка. – М.: Просвещение, 1972. – 328 с

13.  Hornby A.S. Oxford Student’s Dictionary of Current English. – Essex – England: Longman Group Ltd, 1983.

14.  McCarthy M., O’Dell F. English Vocabulary in Use. – Cambridge University Press, 1994. – 168 с.

15.  Антрушина Г.Б., Афанасьева О.В., Морозова Н.Н. Лексикология английского языка. – М.: Дрофа, 1999. – 288 с.

16.  Арнольд И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка. – М.: Высш. школа, 1986. – 295 с.

17.  Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка. – Л.: Просвящение, 1973. - 301 с.

18.  Ginzburg R.S. and others. A course in Modern English Lexikology. (MGLU library).

19.  Leshcova L.M. Words in English: modern English lexicology. Minsk, 2002

20.  Зыкова И. A Practical Course in English Lexicology. Москва.Академия. 2006.

21.  Елисеева В.В. Лексикология английского языка. СПб: СПбГУ, 2003.

22.  Arnold I.V. The English Word. M., 1973/

 


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