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Post deal blow mean mindPOLYSEMY QUESTIONS
1. What does polysemy denote? 2. What words do we call monosemantic? Are there many such words in English? 3. What words are called polysemantic? 4. What contribution did Academician V.V. Vinogradov make to the development to the problem of polysemy? 5. What is the difference between meaning and usage? 6. Where does polysemy exist? 7. What makes speech unambiguous? 8. What did prof. A.I. Smirnitsky claim? What term did he create? 9. How are all lexico-semantic variants of a word united? 10. What does polysemy in diachronic term imply? 11. What does the primary and the secondary meaning of the word denote? 12. What is the main source of polysemy? 13. What can semantic changes result? 14. How is polysemy understood synchronically? 15. What do the central (basic) and marginal (minor) meanings of a word imply? 16. What are the two levels of analysis in investigating the semantic structure of a word? 17. Why semantic structure of the word is never static? 18. What is historical changeability of semantic structure of the word evidence? 19. What is context? 20. What is the lexical context of the word? Give examples. 21. What is the grammatical context of the word? Give examples. 22. How may the extra-linguistic context be presented? 23. What is lexical ambiguity? EXERCISES 1. Read the sentences in which the polysemantic wordsimpleis used. Give all the lexico-semantic variants constituting the semantic structure of this word. Check yourself by a dictionary.
1) The book tries to give simple explanations of some very complex scientific ideas. 2) Sally likes clothes that are simple but elegant. 3) The simple fact is that he wants a divorce. 4) Archaeologists found several simple tools at the site. A knife is a simple tool. 5) Her grandparents were simple people who never had much money. I’m just a simple farmer. 6) You may be joking but she’s simple enough to believe you. 7). I’m afraid old Jack is a bit simple.
2. Give the lexico-semantic variants constituting the semantic structure of the word schoolin the following sentences. Check yourself by a dictionary.
1) The kids will be at school until 3.00 today. 2) I didn’t like school very much. 3) The School of Management in Cornwall is considered the best one in the country. 4) Harvard, which I graduated from 5 years ago, is a very good school. 5) What you think about this probably depends on which school of economics you belong to. 6) In the distance we could see a school of whales.
3. Define all lexico-semantic variants of the verbto thinkin the following sentences. Look up in a dictionary.
1) I don’t think there’s a bank in the village. 2) Nobody seriously thought of him as a candidate for the job. 3) Let’s stop and think before we do anything else. 4) He could never think of the woman’s name. 5) It was kind of you to think of our daughter. 6) I expect we were all thinking the same thing. 7) I never thought that I’d end up working here.
4. State which of these words possesses wider polysemy:man, fellow, change (n), federation, order. 5. Compare the semantic structure of the following words: a)slenderandskinny;b)to stopandto cease. 6. Analyze the meanings of the given polysemantic words taken from the Dictionary of English Etymology. These meaning are considered primary and central in Middle English. What are their basic (or central) meanings from the point of view of the present-day language? What can you say about the historical development of their semantic structure?
Model: pension – ‘fixed or regular payment, spec. out of the revenues of a benefice’ (XIV c.). In modern English the central meaning of the word is ‘a regular payment made by the state to someone who can no longer earn money by working’. Thus, in the present-day language the primary meaning of the word pension remains central.
1) likely – ‘probable’ (XIII c.); 2) revolution – ‘movement of a celestial body in an orbit’ (XIVc.); 3) to perish – ‘come to a violent or untimely end, cease to exist’ (XIIIc.); 4) challenge – ‘accusation’ (XIII c); 5) single – ‘unaccompanied, unmarried; individual; not double (XIV c.); 6) to betray – ‘to give up treacherously’ (XIII c).
7. Look up in the dictionary for the verbfireand answer these questions:
8. Look at the entry in an English dictionary for the wordway. All the examples below contain this word. Which (number of the) meaning does each example illustrate?
9. Explain the meaning of each italicized word in given collocations: 1) Smart (adj). Smart clothes, smart answer, smart house, smart garden, smart repartee, smart officer, smart blow, smart punishment.
2) Stubborn(adj) A stubborn child, a stubborn look, a stubborn horse, stubborn resistance, a stubborn fighting, a stubborn cough, a stubborn depression.
3) Sound (adj) Sound lungs, a sound scholar, a sound tennis-player, sound views, sound advice, sound criticism, a sound ship, a sound whipping.
4) Root (n) Edible roots, the root of the tooth, the root of the matter, the root of all evil, square root, cube root.
5) Perform (v) To perform one’s duty, to perform an operation, to perform a dance, to perform a play.
6) Kick (v) To kick the ball, to kick the dog, to kick off one’s slippers, to kick somebody downstairs.
10. Identify lexico-semantic variants of the wordengagedin the following contexts: 1. They’ve been engaged for 6 months; 2. I cannot get though – her line’s engaged; 3. To be otherwise engaged; 4. His father engaged a private tutor to improve his maths. 11. Sort out the following sentences with the verbto seeaccording to the meanings: 1. visual apprehension; 2. to visit somebody; 3. mental comprehension 4. meeting somebody.
1) Don’t you see my meaning? 2) Mr. Thomas is seeing a client at 2:30. 3) If you shut your eyes, you cannot see. 4) Can I see you on business? 5) Why not see your lawyer. 6) I can see that you are not very happy with the situation. 7) Let me see your pictures. 8) I wish you could see you again some time. 9) I had not seen him for a long time.10) He just won’t see the reason. 11) It is dark and I can hardly see to do my work. 12) Ian laughed politely even though he couldn’t see the joke. 13) I have to see my teacher about my grades. 14) We’ll see each other at my house tonight. 15) You ought to see a doctor about those symptoms.
Complete the examples below with the words from the box, choosing one word which fits in the gaps in all three examples. Then check your answers by looking up the headword in the dictionary. post deal blow mean mind 1. A strong wind was ________ across the moors. Visitors can watch the men ________ glass in the workshop. The victim was apparently killed by a ________ to the head with a heavy object. 2. The word ________ something different in French. I’d feel ________ saying no. I didn’t ________ to step on your toe. 3. I wonder what’s going on in his ________. I don’t ________ going if no one else wants to. He told me to ________ my own business. 4. His first shot hit the ________. The Prime Minister appointed her to the ________ of ambassador. New job openings are ________ every day on their website. 5. The government must now ________ with the problem of high unemployment. She spent a good ________ of time on the project. We’ve cut a ________ with Germany on wine imports.
Date: 2015-12-24; view: 2406
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