Шпаргалка по "Английскому языку"

Not all stressed syllables are of equal importance. One of the syllables has the greater prominence than the others and forms the nucleus of an intonation pattern. So nucleus is generally the last stressed syllable in an intonation pattern ( The boy was not a model ‘pupil). The nuclear tone is the most important part of the intonation pattern. It is the movement of tone on this syllable. Without it the intonation group cannot exist at all. On the other hand an intonation pattern may consist of one syllable which is its nucleus.

The following 6 most important nuclear tones are distinguished: Low Fall (What a cold day), High Fall (What a cold day), Low Rise( Will you do it?), High Rise (Will you do it?), Fall-Rise (George, to the left). Each nuclear tone has a special meaning. All falling tone expresses “certainty, completeness, finality”. A rising tone expresses “uncertainty, dependence, incompleteness”. A falling-rising tone combines the falling tone’s meaning of certainty and the rising tone’s meaning of dependence, so at the end the phrase often conveys a feeling of reservation, that  it  suggests that there is smth more to be said (Do you like pop-music? Sometimes).

There is one more kind of nuclear tone, with no pitch movement - the level nuclear tone. It has the meaning of boredom, sometimes sarcasm. Low-level tone is characteristic of reading poetry. Mid-level tone is particularly common in spontaneous speech.

The tone of a nucleus determines the pitch of the rest of the intonation pattern (tail). The nucleus and the tail form what is called terminal tone. Thus after a falling tone the rest of the intonation pattern is at a low pitch. After a rising tone the rest moves in an upward direction. (‘No, Mary - ’Well, Mary).

The syllables which preceed the nuclear form is called head. The head begins with the first stress syllable and continues to the nuclears.

To sum it up, we may say that minimally an intonation pattern consists of one syllable, the nucleus; maximally it consists of three other segments - the head and the tail.

Two more pitch parameters are pitch range (normal, wide, narrow) and pitch level (high, medium, low).

All parts of the intonation pattern can be combined in various ways, thus manifesting changes in meaning. The number of combinations is more than a hundred.

The tempo of speech consists of the rate of the utterance and pausation. The rate can be normal, slow and fast. The parts of the utterance which are particularly important sound slower. Utterances are devided into smaller parts by means of pauses. Usually a pause is  a complete stop of phonation. Usually three kinds of pauses are distinguished:

1. Short pauses separate intonation groups

2. Longer pauses is at  the end of the phrase.

3. Very long pauses are used to separate paragraphs.

Functionally pauses may be syntactic, emphatic and hesitation.

Syntactic pauses separate paragraphs, phrases, intonation groups. Emphatic pauses serve to make prominent certain parts of the utterance. Hesitation pauses are mainly used in spontaneous speech to think over what to say next. They may be silent or filled.

INTONATION AND ITS FUNCTION

The main function of intonation is communicative function. One of the aims of communication is the exchange of information between people. The meaning of an English utterance derpends not only on the grammatical structure, the lexical composition, but also on its  intonation.

The communicative function of intonation is realized in various ways.

1. First of all intonation  serves to structure the information content so as to show which information is new or which is already possessed by the listener.

2.grammatic function. It serves to determine the speech function of a phrase (whether it is a statement, a command, a question, etc.). (Do it , please)

3.pragmatic function To convey meanings of attitude and emotions (surprise, annoyance, enthusiasm, etc.).

4. To structure a text. On the one hand it delimitates texts into smaller units (phrases, intonation groups), on the other hand it integrates these smaller constituents forming a complete text.

5. To differentiate shades of the meaning of phrases and texts  (intonation groups, phrases, phonetic passages) of the same grammatical structure and the same lexical composition, and that is the distinctive or phonological function of intonation.

6. To characterise   a particular style (stylistic function).

 

 

11. Periods in the history of the English language

Traditionally they single out   3 periods in the development of the system of the English Language

Old English (Y-X c.), Middle English (X-XY) New English (XY-XYII)/ The criteria of the classification present two different approaches

the extra linguistic one based on historical events Y th century the cconquest of  the British isles by the Germanic tribes Angles, Saxes, Jutes and Friezes – up to the Scandinavian Conquest and the formation of Dane lag  in the Xth century etc/

linguistic criteria, first  suggested by H.Sweet, who took into account the development of the morphological system of the English language and singled out the period of “full endings”, the period of “reduced endings” and the period of  “lost endings”

a complex of  linguistic criteria, taking into consideration the development of the three subsystems of the language  the phonetic, the grammatical system and the vocabulary ( Ivavanova I.P. Arakin )

English vocabulary contains an immense number of words of foreign origin. The history of the language which is closely connected with the history of the nation explains it.

The first century В. С. Most of the territory of Europe is occupied by the Roman Empire. Among the inhabitants of the continent are Germanic tribes. Their stage of development is really primitive, especially if compared with the high civilisation of Rome. Their tribal languages contain only Indo-European and Germanic elements.

After a number of wars between the Germanic tribes and the Romans these two opposing peoples come into peaceful contact. The Germanic people gain knowledge of new and useful things. Only products known to the Germanic tribes were meat and milk. From the Romans  they learn names of some foodstuffs and, as there are  no words for them in their tribal languages, they are to use the Latin words. Here are some more examples of Latin borrowings of this period: cup (Lat. cuppa), , port (Lat. portus), wine (Lat. vinum).

The Germanic tribal languages gained a considerable number of new words and were thus enriched. All these Latin words became the earliest group of borrowings in the future English language.

The fifth century A. D. Several of the Germanic tribes (the most numerous amongst them being the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes) migrated across the sea  to the British Isles. The Celts the original inhabitants of the Isles defended their lands against the invaders, but they gradually yielded most of their territory. Through their numerous contacts with the defeated Celts, the conquerors got to know and a number of Celtic words (Mod. E. bald, down, glen, druid, bard, cradle). Especially numerous among the Celtic borrowings were place names, names of rivers, bills, etc. The Germanic tribes occupied the land, but the names of many parts and features of their territory remained Celtic. For instance, the names of the rivers Avon, Exe, Esk, Usk, Ux originate from Celtic words meaning "river" and "water".

Some Latin words entered the Anglo-Saxon languages through Celtic, among them such widely-used words as street (Lat. strata via) and wall (Lat. vallum).

The seventh century A. D. This century was significant for the christianisation of England. Latin was the official language of the Christian church, and it was a new period of Latin borrowings. These words came not from spoken Latin, but from church Latin. Also, these new Latin borrowings were very different in meaning from the earlier ones. They mostly indicated persons, objects and ideas associated with church and religious rituals. E. g. priest (Lai. presbyter), bishop (Lai. episcopus), monk (Lat. monachus), nun (Lai. nonna), candle (Lai. candela).

Among them  were educational terms. It was quite natural because the first schools in England were church schools, and the first teachers priests and monks. So, the very word school is a Latin borrowing (Lat. schola, of Greek origin) and so are such words as scholar (Lai. scholar(-is) and magister (Lat. ma-gister).

From the end of the 8th c. to the middle of the 11th c. England underwent several Scandinavian invasions. There are some words of early Scandinavian borrowings:husband, n. (< Sc. hus + bondi, i. e. "inhabitant of the house"), window n. (< Sc. vindauga, i. e. "the eye of the wind"), ill, adj., loose, adj., low, adj., weak, adj.

Some of the words of this group are easily recognisable as Scandinavian borrowings by the initial sk- combination. E. g. sky, skill, skin, ski, skirt.

Certain English words changed their meanings under the influence of Scandinavian words of the same root. So, the O. E. bread which meant "piece" associats with the Scandinavian brand.

The О. Е. dream which meant "joy" assimilated the meaning of the Scandinavian draumr(cf. with the Germ. Traum "dream" and the R. дрёма).

1066. With the famous Battle of Hastings, when the English were defeated by the Normans under William the Conqueror, it is epoch of the Norman Conquest. England became a bi-lingual country, and theis period made great influence on the English vocabulary: French words from the Norman dialect penetrated every aspect of social life.

Administrative words: state, government, parliament, council, power.

Legal terms: court, judge, justice, crime, prison.

Military terms: army, war, soldier, officer, battle, enemy.

Educational terms: pupil, lesson, library, science, pen, pencil.

Everyday life:. table, plate, saucer, dinner, supper, river, autumn, uncle, etc.

The Renaissance Period. In England, as in all European countries, this period was marked by significant developments in science, art and culture and, also, by a great interest in the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome and their languages. So, there occurred a considerable number of Latin and Greek borrowings. The Renaissance ones were rarely concrete names. They were mostly abstract words ( intelligent, permanent, to elect, to create). There were naturally numerous scientific and artistic terms (datum, status, phenomenon, philosophy, method, music).¹ The same is true of Greek Renaissance borrowings (e. g. atom, cycle, ethics, esthete).

The Renaissance was a period of cultural contacts between the major European states. It was only natural that new words also entered the English vocabulary from other European languages. The most significant once more were French borrowings. This time they came from the Parisian dialect of French and are known as Parisian borrowings. Examples: regime, routine, police, machine, ballet, matinee, scene, technique, bourgeois, etc. Italian also contributed a considerable number of words to English, e. g. piano, violin, opera, alarm, colonel.

Modern scholars estimate the percentage of borrowed words in the English vocabulary at 65—70 per cent. This anomaly is explained by the country's eventful history and by its many international contacts.

Considering the high percentage of borrowed words, one would have to classify English as a language of international origin or, at least, a Romance one (as French and Latin words obviously prevail). But the native element in English comprises a large number of high-frequency words like the articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, auxiliaries and, also, words denoting everyday objects and ideas (e. g. house, child, water, go, come, eat, good, bad, etc.).

The native element consists of three groups: Indo-European and Germanic and English proper element appeared in the English vocabulary in the 5th c. It The tribal languages of the Angles, the Saxons, the Jutes, by the time of their migration, contained only words of Indo-European and Germanic roots plus a certain number of the earliest Latin borrowings.

By the Indo-European element are meant words of roots common to all or most languages of the Indo-European group. English words of this group denote elementary concepts without which no human communication would be possible.

I. Family relations: father, mother, brother, son,

daughter.

II. Parts of the human body: foot (cf. R. пядь), nose, lip, heart.

Animals: cow, swine, goose.

Plants: tree, birch (cf. R. береза), corn (cf. 
R. зерно).

V. Time of day: day, night. VI. Heavenly bodies: sun, moon, star. VII. Numerous adjectives: red (cf. Ukr. рудий, R. рыжий), new, glad (cf. R. гладкий), sad (cf. R. сыт).

VIII. The numerals from one to a hundred. IX. Pronouns — personal (except they which is a

Scandinavian borrowing); demonstrative. X. Numerous verbs: be (cf. R. быть), stand (cf. R. стоять), sit (cf. R. сидеть), eat (cf. R. есть), know (cf. R. знать, знаю).

The Germanic element represents words of roots common to all or most Germanic languages. Some of the main groups of Germanic words are the same as in the Indo-European element.

I. Parts of the human body: head, hand, arm, finger, bone.

II. Animals: bear, fox, calf.

Plants: oak, fir, grass.

Natural phenomena: rain, frost.

V. Seasons of the year: winter, spring, summer.¹ VI. Landscape features: sea, land. VII. Human dwellings and furniture: house, room.

VIII. Sea-going vessels: boat, ship. IX. Adjectives: green, blue, grey, white, small,

thick, high, old, good.

X. Verbs: see, hear, speak, tell, say, answer, make, give, drink.

It has been mentioned that the English proper element is opposed to the first two groups. These words have another distinctive feature: they are specifically English having no cognates ( words of the same etymological root, of common origin) in other languages whereas for Indo-European and Germanic words such cognates can always be found, as, for instance, for the following words of the Indo-European group.

Star: Germ. Stern, Lat. Stella, Gr. aster.

Sad: Germ, satt, Lat. satis, R. сыт, Snscr. sd-.

Stand: Germ, stehen, Lat. stare, R. стоять, Snscr. stha-.

Here are some examples of English proper words. These words stand quite alone in the vocabulary system of Indo-European languages: bird, boy, girl, lord, lady, woman, daisy, always.

It should be taken into consideration that the English proper element also contains all the later formations, that is, words which were made after the 5th century according to English word-building patterns  both from native and borrowed morphemes. For instance, the adjective 'beautiful' built from the French borrowed root and the native suffix belongs to the English proper element. It is natural, that the quantity of such words is immense.

This question partially concerns the historical circumstances which stimulate the borrowing process. Each time two nations come into close contact, certain borrowings are a natural consequence. The nature of the contact may be different. It may be wars, invasions or conquests when foreign words are in effect imposed upon the reluctant conquered nation. There are also periods of peace when the process of borrowing is due to trade and international cultural relations.

The difference in the consequences of these evidently similar historical events is usually explained by the divergence in the level of civilisation of the two conflicting nations. Russian civilisation and also the level of its language development at the time of the Mongol-Tartar invasion were superior to those of the invaders. That is why the Russian language successfully resisted the influence of a less developed language system. On the other hand, the Norman culture of the 11th c. was certainly superior to that of the Saxons. The result was that an immense number of French words forced their way into English vocabulary. Yet, linguistically speaking, this seeming defeat turned into a victory. Instead of being smashed and broken by the powerful intrusion of the foreign element, the English language managed to preserve its essential structure and vastly enriched its expressive resources with the new borrowings.

But all this only serves to explain the conditions which encourage the borrowing process. The question of why words are borrowed by one language from another is still unanswered.

Sometimes it is done to fill a gap in vocabulary. When the Saxons borrowed Latin words for "butter", "plum", "beet", they did it because their own vocabularies lacked words for these new objects. For the same reason the words potato and tomato were borrowed by English from Spanish when these vegetables were first brought to England by the Spaniards.

But there is also a great number of words which are borrowed for other reasons. There may be a word (or even several words) which expresses some particular concept, so that there is no gap in the vocabulary and there does not  need for borrowing. Yet, one more word is borrowed which means almost the same, — almost, but not exactly. It is borrowed because it represents the same concept in some new aspect, supplies a new shade of meaning or a different emotional colouring. This type of borrowing enlarges groups of synonyms and enrichs the expressive resources of the vocabulary.

Most of borrowed words undergo certain changes and adapted to  new environment and to the norms of the language

Borrowed words are adjusted in the three main areas of the new language system: the phonetic, the grammatical and the semantic.

Phonetic adaptation is not completed.

The three stages of gradual phonetic assimilation of French borrowings can be illustrated by different phonetic variants of the word garage: (Amer.).

Grammatical adaptation consists in a complete change of the former paradigm of the borrowed word.

By semantic adaptation is meant adjustment to the system of meanings of the vocabulary. Borrowing is necessary to fill a gap in the vocabulary or to add a synonym.

International Words -words are borrowed by several languages, and not just by one which are significant in the field of communication.

Many of them are of Latin and Greek origin. Most names of sciences, political terms, terms of art are international, e. g. philosophy, mathematics, music, theatre, politics, policy.