- •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.
2.3. Sd based on the use of adjectives.
In contrast with nouns, adjectives have only one grammatical category, that of comparison. The violation of morphemic combinability in adjectives which express different degrees of comparison are typical of advertising techniques, e.g. the most Italian car. The meaning of comparison can be also expressed lexically through equonisms, e.g. senior — junior, and adjectives with the -ish suffix, e.g. mannish, wommanish, which are occasional words which sound less categoric.
2.4. Sd based on the use of pronouns.
Being very abstract, pronouns in contrast with nouns and adjectives are rarely used stylistically, which makes their stylistic usage especially expressive.
Pronouns may acquire stylistic value if they denote persons or objects that have not been named or introduced but are still represented as familiar. This device, in media res plunges the reader into the midst of events, making the author's narrative more intimate (see E. Hemingway's stones Now I Lay Me and In Another Country).
A particular stylistic effect may be created due to the usage of archaic (thee, thou, thy) or low colloquial forms of pronouns. White archaic forms make the speech sound official, solemn, or poetical, low colloquial forms usually render some speech characteristics. Pronouns can also undergo various contextual transpositions:
1) when we is used instead of I (/ -> we transposition):
Pluralis Auctoris ("editorial we"), when the author speaks on behalf of a certain group, party, or class;
Pluralis Majestatis, when we is used as a symbol of royal power:
Pluralis Modestial, when we is used as a means of involving the reader or listener into the author's thoughts, it is typical of oral or written scientific prose,
when we is employed to impart to the utterance a jocular unceremonious colouring,
/ => one transposition which gives an utterance a more general, impersonal character;
/ => you transposition which frequently occurs in reported speech and some descriptions;
/ => he/she transposition that takes place when:
the speaker tells his/her life story as an onlooker;
the speaker addresses himself / herself as an interlocutor;
the speaker overstresses his/her relevance;
the speaker laughs away what is said about him/her by the others;
5) you => we ("clinical we") transposition, which conveys a patronising attitude of the senior/ superior to the junior / inferior. It can also create a humorous effect.
2.5. Sd based on the use of adverbs.
Adverbs as one of the means of communicating intensity may be:
stylistically neutral, typical of both written and oral speech (exceedingly, quite, too, utterly):
stylistically marked, typical of oral speech only (awfully, terribly, dreadfully etc.). The latter are close to intensifying particles.
Forma! differentiation of suffix and non-suffix adverbs in Modern English is supported by their stylistic usage. The use of non-suffix adverbs is typical of the oral form of speech. In belles-lettres style they can become SD which impart greater vividness and expressiveness to the personage's speech. Both types of adverbs may be found in the publicists style.