- •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.
Lectures 3, 4, 5. The main outline of the Lexicology of the English Language.
THE STRUCTURE OF WORDS AND WORD-BUILDING.
1. General Problems of the Theory of the Word. The Definition of the Word.
The problems associated with the definition of the word have always been most complex and remain disputable. Determining the word involves considerable difficulties for the criteria employed in establishing it are of different character and each language presents a separate system with its own patterns of vocabulary items, its specific types of structural units and its own ways of distinguishing them. The matter is that the simplest word has many different aspects. It has a sound form because it is a certain arrangement of phonemes.
It has its morphological structure, being a certain arrangement of morphemes.
Being the central element of any language system, the word is a sort of focus for the problems of phonology, lexicology, syntax, morphology and also some other sciences that have to deal with language and speech, such as philosophy, psychology and probably quite a few other branches of knowledge. All attempts to characterise the word are necessarily specific for each domain of science and are considered one-sided by the representatives of all the other domains and criticised for incompleteness,
The definition of the word from the point of view of philosophy:
Words are not mere sounds but names of matter (T. Hobbes).
The definition of the word from the point of view of physiology:
A word is a universal signal that can substitute any other signal from the environment in evoking a response in a human organism (I. Pavlov).
The definition of the word from the point of view of Machine Mathematical Linguistics:
A word is a sequence of graphemes between two blanks.
The definition of the word from the point of view of syntax:
A word is a minimum sentence (H. Sweet).
A word is a minimum free form (L. Bloomfield).
The definition of the word from the point of view of semantics:
Words are meaningful units (S. Ullmann).
The definition of the word from the point of view of syntax and semantics:
A word is one of the smallest completely satisfying bits of isolated units into which the sentence resolves itself (E. Sapir).
The definition of the word from the point of view of semantics and phonology:
A word is an articulate sound-symbol in its aspect of denoting something which is spoken about ( A. Gardiner).
The definition of the word from the point of view of semantics, phonology and grammar:
A word is the association of a given meaning with a given group of sounds susceptible to a given grammatical employment (A. Meillet).
Many scholars have attempted to define the word as a linguistic phenomenon. Yet none of the definitions can be considered totally satisfactory in all aspects. The definition which is a bit extended but takes into account different aspects and hence can be considered optimal is the definition of the word given be I. Arnold:
The word is a speech unit used for the purposes of human communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterised by formal and semantic unity.