25. Evaluate the basic featuers of formal and informal vocabulary. What differentiates them?

By the sphere of communication we mean the circumstances attending the process of speech in each particular case: professional communication, a lecture, an informal talk, a formal letter, a speech in court, etc. All these circumstances or situations can be roughly classified into two types: formal (a lecture, a speech in court, an official letter, professional communication) and informal (an informal talk, an intimate letter).

Formal style or formal vocabulary is used to cover varieties of English vocabulary that occur in books and magazines, that we hear from a lecture, a public speaker, a radio announcer or possibly in official talk. These types of communication are characterised as monologues addressed by one person to many, and often prepared in advance. Words are used with precision, the vocabulary is elaborate.

Informal style or informal vocabulary is used in personal two-way everyday communication. It is in the form of dialogue where the speaker has the qualities of voice, gesture, the speaker has an opportunity to know whether he is understood, the listener can always interrupt him and demand additional information. The vocabulary may be determined socially or regionally(dialect). Informal vocabulary is used in one’s immediate circle: family, relatives or friends. Informal style is relaxed, free and easy, familiar and unpretentious. The choice of words is determined in each particular case not only by an informal (or formal) situation, but also by the speaker’s educational and cultural background, age group and his occupational and regional characteristics.

26. Compare general and special types of dictionarities and give their differences.

General dictionaries represent the vocabulary as a whole with a degree of completeness depending upon the scope and bulk of the book in question. The group includes the thirteen volumes of “The Oxford English Dictionary” alongside with any miniature pocket dictionary. Some general dictionaries may have very specific aims and still be considered general due to their coverage. They include, for instance, frequency dictionaries, i.e. lists of words, each of which is followed by a record of its frequency of occurrence in one or several sets of reading matter. A rhyming dictionary is also a general dictionary, though arranged in inverse order, and so is a thesaurus in spite of its unusual arrangement. General dictionaries are contrasted to special dictionaries whose stated aim is to cover only a certain specific part of the vocabulary.

Special dictionaries may be further subdivided depending on whether the words are chosen according to the sphere of human activity in which they are used (technical dictionaries), the type of the units themselves (e. g. phraseological dictionaries) or the relationships existing between them (e. g. dictionaries of synonyms).

27. Point out primary and secondary ways of formation of phraseological units.

Ways of formation. Primary ways of formation.

1) by means of transferring the meaning of terminological word-groups, e.g. in cosmic technique we can point out the following phrases: “launching pad” in its terminological meaning is “стартовая площадка”, in its transferred meaning “отправной пункт”, “to link up”- стыковатьсяб стыковать космические корабли in its transformed meaning it means “знакомиться”

2) by a large group of phraseological units was formed free word groups by transforming their meaning, e.g. “granny farm”- пансионат для престарелых, “troyan horse”- компьютерная программа преднамеренно составленная для повреждения компьтера

3) by means of alliteration, e.g. “a sad sack”- несчастный случай , “culture vulture”- человек интересующийся искусством, “fudge and nudge”- уклончивость

4) by means of expressiveness, especially it is characteristic for forming interjections, e.g. My aunt! Hear, hear!

5) by means of distorting a word group, e.g. odds and ends was formed from odd ends

6) by using archaisms, e.g. in brown study – in gloomy meditation, here both components preserve their archaic meanings

7) by using a sentence in a different sphere of life, e.g. that cock won’t fight can be used as a free word-group when it is used in sports (cock fighting), it becomes a phraseological unit it is used in everyday life, because it is used metaphorically

8) when we use some unreal images, e.g. to have butterflies in the stomach – испытывть волнение, to have green fingers- преуспевать как садоводлюбитель

9) by using expressions of writers or polititions in everyday life, the winds of change –(McMillan), American dream (Alby), corridors of power (Snow)

Ways of formation. Secondary ways of formation.

1) by means of conversion, e.g. to vote with one’s feet was converted into vote with one’s feet

2) by changing the grammar form, e.g. make hay while the sun shines is transferred into a verbal phrase – to make hay while the sun shines.

3) by analogy, e.g. curiosity killed the cat was transferred into care killed the cat.

4) by contrast, e.g. cold surgery – a planned before operation was formed by contrasting it with acute surgery, thin cat – a poor person was formed by contrasting it with fat cat.

5) by shortening of proverbs or sayings, e.g.

6) by borrowing phraseological units from other languages, e.g. to take the bull by horns (Latin), living space (German)