- •The aims of studying the history of the English language. Synchronic and diachronic approaches to studying the language. The concept of ‘language change’.
- •Proto-Indo-European language and comparative linguistics.
- •Proto-Germanic language, its development from Proto-Indo-European.
- •Modern Germanic languages.
- •The earliest descriptions of the Germans, the ancient tribes that spoke Germanic languages.
- •Eastern Germanic, Western Germanic and Northern Germanic groups of languages.
- •The runic alphabet. Old English alphabet and pronunciation.
- •Common phonetic characteristics of the Germanic languages.
- •Grammar characteristics common to the Germanic languages.
- •Changes in the system of vowels in the Germanic languages.
- •Vocabulary
- •Periodisation in the history of the English language, Old English written records.
- •The historical background of Old English.
- •Phonetic processes in Old English (the system of vowels).
- •Independent changes. Development of monophthongs
- •Phonetic processes in Old English (the system of consonants).
- •Velar consonants in Early Old English. Growth of New Phonemes
- •Old English dialects.
- •The nominal system of Old English.
- •The vocabulary and word-building means in Old English.
- •Old English syntax.
- •The verbal system in Old English (grammatical categories).
- •The verbal system in Old English (morphological classification).
- •Economic and social conditions in the 11-12th centuries.
- •The Scandinavian invasions, the Norman Conquest & the way they influenced English.
- •Changes in the alphabet and spelling in Middle English. Middle English written records.
- •Middle English dialects. The London dialect.
- •Phonetic processes in Middle English (the system of vowels).
- •Phonetic processes in Middle English (system of consonants).
- •Changes in the categories of the noun in Middle English.
- •Lecture 2. The phonetical system of the English Language.
- •1. Classification of the English speech sounds.
- •2. The Role of Sound Phenomena in Communication.
- •3. The Syllable as a Phonetic and Phonological Unit.
- •4. Intonation and Prosody.
- •Rhythm and Speech Melody.
- •Problems of phonostylistics.
- •Phonostylistic Characteristics at the Level of Prosodic Features.
- •Timbre.
- •Delimitation.
- •Phonostylistic Characteristics of Conversational Style, Publicistic Style
- •Types of English Pronunciation.
- •American English Pronunciation.
- •Glossary of phonetic terms
- •Lectures 3, 4, 5. The main outline of the Lexicology of the English Language.
- •1. General Problems of the Theory of the Word. The Definition of the Word.
- •The Structure of the Word. Types of Morphemes and their Specific Features.
- •3. Affixation.
- •4. Conversion
- •5. Composition.
- •6. Shortening.
- •7. Back Formation.
- •8. Blending.
- •9. Sound Interchange.
- •10. Stress Interchange.
- •11. Sound Imitation.
- •1. Semasiology as a Branch of Linguistics.
- •2. The Word and its Meaning.
- •Meaning and Referent
- •Functional Approach to Meaning
- •3. Types Of Meaning.
- •Grammatical Meaning
- •Lexical Meaning
- •4. Polysemy of Words.
- •5. The Main Semantic Processes.
- •Synonyms.
- •2. Antonyms.
- •Homonyms.
- •1. Free and Non-Free Word Combinations.
- •2. Classifications of Phraseological Units.
- •3. Synonyms in Phraseology.
- •4. Antonyms in Phraseology.
- •5. Proverbs, Sayings.
- •1. The Native Element and Borrowed Words.
- •3. Criteria of Borrowings in English.
- •4. The Celtic Element in the English Vocabulary.
- •5. The Classical Element in the English Language.
- •8. Various Other Elements in the English Vocabulary.
- •9. False Etymology.
- •10. Types of Borrowings.
- •Ways of Classifying the Vocabulary.
- •Special Literary Vocabulary.
- •3. Special Colloquial Vocabulary.
- •1. The identifying function
- •2. The definitizing function
- •3. The individualizing function
- •Lectures 8, 9. Stylistics of the English Language.
- •3. Stylistic functions of the words having a lexico-stylistic paradigm.
- •3.1. Stylistic functions of literary (high-flown) words.
- •4. Stylistic functions of words having no lexico-stylistic paradigm.
- •5. Stylistic functions of phraseology.
- •2. Stylistic morphology of the english language.
- •2.1. Sd based on the use of nouns.
- •2.2. Sd based on the use of articles.
- •2.3. Sd based on the use of adjectives.
- •2.4. Sd based on the use of pronouns.
- •2.5. Sd based on the use of adverbs.
- •Alliteration;
- •Assonance;
- •Onomatopoeia.
- •2.6. Sd based on the use of verbs.
- •1. Phonetic means of stylistics.
- •2. Expressive means of english syntax.
- •3. Syntactical stylistic devices.
- •3. Figures of qualification.
- •3. Figures of opposition.
Timbre.
Delimitation.
Style-marking prosodic features: loudness, levels and ranges, rate, pauses, rhythm.
Accentuation of semantic centres: terminal tones, pre-nuclear patterns, contrast between accented and unaccented segments.
The speech typology characteristic of the informational style includes: informational style registers (reading / speaking as the varieties of the language involved; prepared written speech read aloud and / or spontaneous spoken speech); educational information; press reporting and broadcasting. The forms of communication are represented by a monologue, a dialogue or a polylogue with the number of participants involved (suggestion the spheres of discourse – public and non-public) and the character of their relationship (formal and informal). By way of illustration, here is the invariant of phonostylistic properties of the reading of a new bulletin (press reporting and broadcasting) presented in the form of phonostylistic parameters with their appropriate markers.
Timbre: dispassionate, impartial, but resolute and assured.
Delimitation: phonopassages – phrases – intonation groups.
Style – marking prosodic features:
loudness – normal or increased, contrasted at the phonopassages boundaries;
levels and ranges – normal, decrease towards the end of the passage, noticeable increase at the start of any new news item;
rate – not remarkably varied, slow, rarely allegro, deliberately slow (lento) on communicatively important centres;
pauses – rather long, especially at the end of each new item;
rhythm – stable, properly organized.
Accentuation of semantic centres:
terminal tones – frequent use of final, categoric falling tones on the semantic centres and falling –rising or rising ones in the initial intonation groups;
pre-nuclear patterns – common use of descending heads (very often broken); alternation of descending and ascending heads;
the contrast between the accented and unaccented segments – not great.
The academic style is used in the following spheres of communication that involve the written variety of the language and the spoken variety of the language in the forms of a monologue, a dialogue, a polylogue suggesting public and non-public relationships, reading or speaking in a prepared or spontaneous way. By way of illustration, let us consider the invariant of phonostylistic characteristics of an academic lecture read aloud in public in front of a fairly-sized audience.
Timbre: authoritative, imposing, edifying, instructive, self-assured.
Delimitation: phonopassages – phrases – intonation groups.
Style – marking prosodic features:
loudness – increased;
levels an ranges – remarkably varied with the passage segments, gradual decrease within the supraphrasal unity;
rate – normal, slow on the most important parts of the lecture (rules, conclusions, examples); rate is as flexible as the lecturer wishes it to be;
pauses – rather long, especially between the phonopassages; a large proportion of the pauses serving to bring out communicatively important parts of utterances; occasional use of breath-taking pauses;
rhythm – properly organized, especially while giving the rules, reading the laws, drawing conclusions, etc.
Accentuation of semantic centres:
terminal tones – high proportion of compound terminal tones (High Fall + Low Rise, Fall-Rise, Rise-Fall-Rise); a great number of high categoric falls;
pre-nuclear patterns – frequent use of stepping and falling heads; alternation of descending and ascending heads, especially in enumeration;
the contrast between the accented and unaccented segments – not great.
