lavrova_n_a_a_coursebook_on_english_lexicology_angliiskaya_l

IV

The suffix “-ee”, which is traditionally used in standard English with the meaning of the receiver of the action, is also wide-spread in slang, but it is used with the meaning of the doer of the action and lends to the word a diminutive or a derogatory tinge. The suffix “-er” is used in slang in the formation of

compound verbal nouns, it is added twice – to the verb stem and to the postpositive, making the resultant word morphologically and semantically pleonastic.

Using a dictionary of modern slang, establish what the words below mean:

Cookee, waitee, kissee, forgettee, breaker-upper, goerawarer, reader-in-bedder.

V

Rhyming slang can be defined as a formation of a compound word, which rhymes with a common word, but which doesn’t have any semantic connection with it. The resultant word is facetious and humorous. Find out what the rhyming slang words below mean:

Bees-and-honey, boat-race, Brahms and Liszt, bubble- and-squeak, bull and cow, daisy roots, dog-and-bone, five-to-two, greengage, ham and beef, hot beef, linendraper, mince-pie, needle and pin, nickel and dime, Peckham rye, pen and ink, plates of meat, pot and pan, rabbit-and-talk, rogue and villain, round-the-houses, Simple Simon, skin and blister, tomfoolery, turtledove, two-and-eight.

31

VI

Another characteristic feature of slang is the formation of pseu- do-geographical names, aimed to reflect some characteristic feature of a locality. The following words are some such examples. What localities do they stand for?

Bananaland,

Costa del Crime,

Costa Geriatrica.

VII

In slang, nouns denoting colours are used to form compounds. Predominantly, these are the nouns “blue”, “brown”, “red”, “yellow”. What do the compounds below mean and what meaning does the first element lend to the second one?

Blue funk, blue murder, brown job, to brown-nose, brown sugar,

red-devil, red eye, red-hot, yellow-belly.

VIII

Some other elements that are used in the formation of slang words are “hard”, “Mr.”, “de-”. What do the following words containing these elements mean?

Hard ticket, hard tail, hard cheese; Mr. Big, Mr. Clean, Mr. Proper; de-bag, de-bunny, de-bug.

32

IX

Barbaric words (or barbarisms) are non-as- similated words that are traceable to Latin or French (rarely to some other languages) and that are used in a well-educated person’s speech. They also resemble terms in that they are, firstly, not known by everyone and, secondly, usually circulate within some specific

professional fields, like jurisdiction or medicine. Below is a list of most common barbarisms in English.

Consult a dictionary and (1) say what language they come from and (2) what their current meaning is4:

Ad hoc, ad hominem, a fortiori, a priori, a posteriori, alma mater, bona fide, cum laude, curriculum vitae, e pluribus unum, Ibid, inter alia, mutatis mutandis, per se, prima facie, quid pro quo, sine die, sine qua non, sui generis, á la carte, amour-propre, bête-noire, bon voyage, carte blanche, coup de grâce, déjà vu, enfant terrible, faux pas, laissez-faire, nom de plume, nouveau riche, par excellence, tour de force.

An inkhorn word is a pretentious borrowing considered to be too highflown, pedantic, recondite, or obscure, and therefore

often frowned upon by purists. The attribute “inkhorn” was chosen because it used to be associated with academics and writers, and later became a symbol of their activities. Very often such words are scientific terms for a neutral or a colloquial word.

4 For detailed information on barbarisms in English and their meaning see П. Палажченко «Мой несистематический словарь», 2003.

33

Inkhorn terms may be deemed superfluous and concealing the notion they represent.

X

Consider the supposedly “inkhorn” words below and their more natural English counterparts, express your attitude to them. Are they too scientific and redundant, or could their usage be indicative of a well-bred, well-educated person?

34

Recommended reading:

Арнольд И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка. – М.: Высш. шк., 1973.

Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка: (Стилистика декодирования). – 3-е изд. – М.: Просвещение, 1990.

Арнольд И.В. Стилистика. Современный английский язык: учебник для вузов. – 8-е изд. – М.: Флинта: Наука, 2006.

Гальперин И.Р. Очерки по стилистике английского языка. – М.: Изд-во литературы на иностранных языках, 1958.

Гальперин И.Р. Лингвостилистика. – М.: Прогресс, 1980.

Лаврова Н.А. О некоторых словообразовательных и семантических особенностях современного сленга // Актуальные проблемы английской лингвистики и лингводидактики. – М.: Прометей, 2010. – С. 41–47.

Маковский М.М. Современный английский сленг: Онтология, структура, этимология. – 4-е изд. – М.: ЛИБРОКОМ, 2009.

Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. – N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Peckham A. Urban Dictionary: Fularious Street Slang Defined. – Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2005.

Peckham A. Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined. – Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing House, LLC, 2007.

Steinmetz S., Kipfer B.A. The Life of Language. The fascinating ways the words are born, live and die. – N.Y.; Toronto; L.: Random House Reference, 2006.

35

3. Etymology

Points to ponder

–Name the major landmarks of borrowing into English. What types of words were borrowed during these periods?

–Given that the majority of words are non-native in English (mostly of Romance origin), why can’t we regard English as a Romance language?

–What are the formal signs of words borrowed from Latin, Greek, French, Scandinavian, Spanish, etc.?

–What are the major types of assimilation? What do we call words that are completely non-assimilated? In what context are they predominately used? How would you characterize a person who uses such words?

–Specify the reasons for borrowing words.

–What spheres of life do international words tend to describe?

–Name the types of etymological doublets.

–Enumerate structural and stylistic characteristics of borrowed words, particularly learned and terminology.

–Comment on the following quotation from Karl Sornig. Express your opinion:

People have always used words without knowing where they came from and what they once denoted. Such knowledge would not be of use to a speaker anyway; on the contrary, the knowledge of obsolete meanings would most probably interfere with the present semantic rules of usage. And even if the etymological meaning of a lexeme has been traced and made public, the actual meaning of the word usually remains uninfluenced by this additionally acquired knowledge. Etymological explanations and clarifications have absolutely no effect whatsoever upon the speaker’s usage (except if he is one of the very few philologists). Despite their “etymological blindness”, people know precisely how to use a word, some are even capable of explicitly describing differentiations in meaning

[Sornig, 1981:11].

36

Many compound and derived English words that are non-native in origin, in particular, those going down to Greek and Latin, are etymologically meaningful. Native speakers, however, may no longer be aware of this, because, as a result of the devel-

opment of the meaning of a word, its semantics may have departed from its etymology, or, putting it differently, the word no longer means what it used to.

Below are some examples of such well-known words. Are you surprised at their etymology?:

Atrocious (XII) – 1) extremely cruel or wicked: ruthless atrocious deeds; 2) horrifying or shocking: an atrocious road accident; 3) informal very bad: detestable atrocious writing. Etymology: formed on Latin āter black + stem of oculus eye.

Belfry (XIII) – bell-tower or chamber. Etymology: Old French berfrei, Frankish * bergfrid, formed on *bergan protect + * friduz peace, shelter; the etymological meaning being ‘defensive place of shelter’.

Brandy (XVII) – 1) an alcoholic drink consisting of spirit distilled from grape wine; 2) a distillation of wines made from other fruits plum brandy. Etymology: formed on Dutch elliptical brandewijn: branden burn, roast + wijn wine.

Caprice (XVII) – sudden unaccountable turn of mind; work of art of lively or sportive character. Etymology: formed on Latin caput – head + ericeus – urchin.

Crocodile (XIII) – 1) any large tropical reptile, such as C. niloticus (African crocodile), of the family Crocodylidae: order Crocodilia (crocodilians). They have a broad head, tapering snout, massive jaws, and a thick outer covering of bony plates, 2) any other reptile of the order Crocodilia; a crocodilian, 3) a) leather made from the skin of any of these animals, b) (as modifier) crocodile shoes, 4) informal a line of people, esp. schoolchildren, walking two by two. Etymology: Greek *krokódrīlos, formed on krókē – pebble + drilos – worm.

37

Pedigree (XV) – genealogy in tabular form; one’s line of ancestors; family descent. Etymology: formed on Latin pēs, ped- – foot + de – of + gru – crane: crane’s foot. So called from the mark – three radiating downward lines – used to denote succession in a genealogical tree; later forms show assimilation to degree.

Exercises:

I

Trace the etymology of the words below and state whether the inner form departed from the current meaning of the word:

II

The following groups of words have the same root. 1) State how the words are related etymology-wise; 2) Specify the difference in the current meaning of the words:

Permission –permissiveness

Aggression – aggressiveness

Agreement – agreeableness

Vice – viciousness

Legality – legalization

38

V

Consult an etymological dictionary and state the origin of the words below. Where possible, specify the period of borrowing:

Cradle, curse, loch, camp, linen, gem, devil, disciple, martyr, mass, offer, alphabet, fever, giant, mount, polite, radish, air, beast, beauty, colour, diet, fest, flower, journey, judge, oil, soil, tender, literature, art, medicine, figure, grammar, remedy, romance, surgeon, fragrant, elegance, baton, accent, adverb, amplitude, demolish, admire, avenue, balcony, opera.

VI

During the Renaissance period a lot of Italian musical terms were borrowed. Here is a list of some of them. Consult a dictionary and say what they mean:

40