- •26. Antonyms.
- •27. The theory of the semantic field. Common semantic denominator.
- •Common Denominator of Meaning, Semantic Fields.
- •The problem of definition of free word-groups. Various approaches to the definition of the term "word-group". Structure of free word-groups.
- •30.Meaning of free word-groups: lexical meaning, structural meaning. Interrelation of structural and lexical meanings in word-groups. Motivation in word-groups.
- •31. The semantic principle of classification for phraseological units
- •36. Special literary vocabulary.
- •38. Lexical peculiarities of the British and American English.
- •41. Local dialects in the uk.
- •42. Dialects in the usa.
- •43. The history of English lexicography.
41. Local dialects in the uk.
There are five main groups of local dialects in Great Britain: Northern, Western, Midland, Eastern, Southern. The close links existing between some of the dialects make it possible to unite them into two major groups: Southern dialects and Northern and Midland dialects.
One of the best known Southern dialects is Cockney, the regional dialect of London. It exists on two levels (According to E. Partridge and H.C. Wylde). As spoken by the educated lower middle classes it is a regional dialect marked by some deviations in pronunciation but few in vocabulary and syntax. As spoken by uneducated, Cockney differs from Standard English not only in pronunciation but also in vocabulary, morphology and syntax.
Cockney is lively and witty and its vocabulary is imaginative and colorful. Its specific feature is the so-called rhyming slang, in which some words are substituted by other words rhyming with them.
In recent decades a new dialect called Estuary English has been gaining prominence. Estuary English is the variety of the English language common in the South-East of England, especially along the river Thames and its estuary. It is a hybrid of Received Pronunciation (RP) and a number of South-Eastern dialects, particularly from the London and Essex areas. Among the most notable lexical features of the Estuary English dialect is the use of Cockney words and phrases as well as words from American and Australian English.
Estuary English is very popular among the young probably because it is said to obscure social origins – very often it is adopted as a neutral dialect. It increases ‘street cred’ among the young from an RP background and young people with local dialects and accents adopt it because it sounds more “sophisticated”.
One of the group of Northern and Midlands dialects is the Yorkshire dialect. As Yorkshire is on the linguistic border of Northern and North-Midland varieties of English, it shares some of their characteristics.
Yorkshire is the dialect spoken by the majority of people in the English county of York. It was in Yorkshire that Anglo-Saxon speakers mixed with Scandinavian settlers in the market places, etc., during the period from the 8th to the 11th centuries, and engaged in a simplified speech to make themselves understood to each other dropping gender, word endings, complex conjugations, etc. The result was the birth of a simplified Middle English that spread throughout England; a revolution speeded up after the Norman Conquest.
Some words in Yorkshire dialect at first sight seem to be Standard English but they have different meanings. For example, the word real is used in the Yorkshire dialect to describe something good or outstanding, it has nothing to do with genuineness as compared with the meaning of this words in Standard English.
Dialects are now chiefly preserved in rural communities, in the speech of elderly people. They are said to undergo rapid changes under the pressure of Standard English taught at schools and the speech habits cultivated by radio, television and other means of the mass media.