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Colloquial layer of the vocabularyKey words:main layers, literary layer, neutral layer, colloquial layer,Standard English Vocabulary, linguistic nature of common literary 1. In order to get a clear idea of the vocabulary of any language, it must be presented as a system, the elements of which are interconnected, interrelated and yet indepen?dent. In accordance with the division of language into lite?rary and colloquial, the vocabulary of the English langua?ge consists of three main layers; the literary layer, the neutral layer and the colloquial layer. Each of these layers has its own feature. The literary layer has a bookish character, the colloquial layer has a spoken character and the neutral layer is deprived of any colou?ring. It is of universal character: it is unrestricted in its use. It can be employed in all styles of language. These three layers have their own classification. The literary layer has no local or dialectal character. Within the literary layerwe distinguish: 1. Common literary words; 2. Terms; 3. Poetic words; 4. Archaic words; 5. Barbarisms and foreign words; 6. Neologisms. Within the colloquial vocabularywe distinguish: 1.Common colloquial words; 2.Slang; 3.Jargonisms; 4.Professional words; 5.Dialectical words; 6.Vulgar words. The common literary, neutral and common colloquial words are grouped under the term Standard English Vocabulary.Other groups in the literary layer are re?garded as special literary vocabulary and those in col?loquial are regarded as special colloquial (non-literary) vocabulary.
2.The neutral layer penetrates both the literary and colloquial vocabulary and is deprived of any stylistic colouring. Neutral words, which form the bulk of the English vocabulary, are used in both literary and colloquial layers. Neutral words are the main source of synonymy and poly?semy. Most neutral English words are of monosemantic character. Unlike all other groups, the neutral group of words cannot be considered as having a special stylistic colou?ring, whereas both literary and colloquial words have a definite stylistic colouring. 3.Common literary words are chiefly used in writing and polished speech. Literary units stand in opposition to colloquial units. The following synonyms illustrate the relations that exist between the neutral, literary and colloquial words in the English language. Colloquial Neutral Literary
Kid Child Infant Bring about To begin To commence Daddy Father Parent Chap Fellow Associate Teenager Boy (girl) Youth To cram To eat To consume
These synonyms are not only stylistic but ideographic as well, i.e. there is slight semantic difference between the words. Termsare words denoting notions of special fields of knowledge. A term is generally very easily coined and easily accepted; new coinages easily replace out-dated ones. Terms are generally associated with a definite branch of science. Here are some examples: microlinguistics, phoneme, vocalism, amplitude, charge, antibiotic, penicil?lin. Generally, terms are used in the language of science but with certain stylistic purpose they may be used in the language of emotive prose. For example, Cronin used a lot of medical terms in some of his books. It is done to make the narration vivid, bright and close to life. A term has a stylistic function when it is used to cha?racterize a person through his calling. It is a well-known fact that terms are monosemantic and have not any contextual meaning. In most cases they have a denotational free meaning. But in some situations a term may have a figurative or emotionally coloured mea?ning. When it is used in other styles but scientific it may cease to be a term and becomes an ordinary word. It hap?pens to the word "atomic" (atomic energy, atomic bomb, atomic weight) which lost its property of a term and acqu?ired a metaphorical meaning in the phrases "atomic age", "atomic music". Compare the above given word combina?tions with the following word combinations which are used as scientific terms: atomic energy (energy obtained as the result of nuclear fission), atomic bomb (bomb of which the distructive power comes from the release of ato?mic energy in the shortest possible time). 2.Poetic words are used mainly in poetry. They stand between terms and archaic words. They are close to terms because they are monosemantic and they are close to ar?chaic words because they are out of use. For ex: steed (horse), woe (sorrow), to behold (to see). Poetic words claim to be of higher rank. Not all English poetry makes use of "poeticisms". In the history of English literature there were periods, which were characterized by protests against the use such con?ventional symbols. The periods of classicism and roman?ticism were rich in fresh poetic terms. Poetic words and expressions were called upon to create the special elevated atmosphere of poetry. When used in the text poetic words call on a certain type of mood. Sometimes they are used to produce a sati?rical effect. They are said to have emotive meanings. They colour the utterance with loftiness, but they fail to produce a genuine feeling of delight, as they are too hackneyed. The use of poetic words does not create the atmosphe?re of poetry in the true sense. This is probably due to their very low degree of predictability. Poetic words are not freely built. There is however one means of creating new poetic words recognized as productive in present-day English, that is the use of a con?tracted form of a word instead of the full one, e.g., drear instead of dreary, scant - scanty. Sometimes the reverse process leads to the birth of a poetism, e.g., vasty - vast. "The vasty deep", i.e. the oce?an; "paly" - pale. Poetical words and set expressions make the utterance understandable only to a limited number of readers. Poeti?cal language is sometimes called poetical jargon. 3.The word stock of a language is in an increasing state of change. New words spring up and replace the old ones. Some words stay in the language a very long time, others live a short time: they disappear leaving no trace of their existence. Thus, words, which are no longer recognizable in Modern English and which have either dropped out of the language or have changed in their appearance and they ha?ve become unrecognizable are called archaic words. So ar?chaic words are those which are not used now except for special purpose: thee (you), thy (you), thou (you), hath (has), makest (make), thine (your), methinks (it seems to me). In the development of a literary language words un?dergo changes in their meaning or usage. Sometimes this process causes the disappearance of the unit from the lan?guage. We shall distinguish three stages of aging process of words. The beginning of the aging process when the word becomes rarely used. Such words are called obso?lescent. In the English language these are the pronouns thou and its forms thee, thy and thine etc. Among the obsolescent elements of the English voca?bulary we find the following forms: aforesaid, hereby, therewith, hereinafternamed._ To the category of obsolescent words belong many French borrowings: a palfrey (a small horse), garniture (furniture). The second group of archaic words are those that have already gone completely out of use but are still re?cognized by the English speaking community: methinks (it seems to me), nay (no). These words are called obso?lete. The third group, which may be called archaic proper, are words which are no longer recognizable in Modern English, words that were in use in Old English which have either dropped out of the language or have changed in their appearance so much that have become un?recognizable: troth (faith); a losel (a worthless, lazy fel?low). We can find a number of archaic words in the style of official documents: aforesaid, hereby, therewith. These words are used here as terms and express the exact notion of certain phenomena. Problematic question: Where is the difference between archaic and historical words? Archaic words stand very close to historical words - names of ancient weapons, types of tools, carriages, and musical instruments, agricultural implements, which are no longer in use. E.g. blunderbuss (an old type of gun), brougham (a closed carriage having one seat). Words of this type never disappear from the language. They are his?torical terms and remain as terms referring to the definite stages in the development of society, though the things and the phenomena to which they refer have long passed into oblivion. Historical words have no synonyms, where?as archaic words have been replaced by modern synonyms. Archaic words are mostly used in the creation of rea?listic background to historical novels. The heroes of histo?rical novels speak the language of the period the writer and the reader live in, and the skill of the writer is requi?red to colour the language with such archaic elements. Walter Scott was a master in creation of a historical atmosphere. He used the stylistic means that create this atmosphere with such skill that the heroes of his novels speak his language. In accordance with these principles Walter Scott ne?ver photographs the language of earlier periods; he intro?duces a few words and expressions more or less obsoles?cent in character and this is enough to convey the desired effect. Besides, archaic words and phrases have other functi?ons. They are, first of all, frequently to be found in the style of official documents. In business letters, in legal language, in diplomatic documents and in all kinds of le?gal document one can find archaic words. They are emplo?yed in the poetic style as special terms. The function of archaic words and constructions in official documents is terminological in character. They are used here because they help to maintain that exactness of expression so necessary in this style. Archaic words are sometimes used for satirical purposes. The low predictability of an archaism, when it appears in ordinary speech produces the necessary satirical effect. In many cases archaic words are used to create eleva?ted style in poetry. 4.Many foreign words in English vocabulary fulfil a terminological function: Therefore, though they still retain their foreign appearance, they should not be regarded as barbarisms. E.g. acidum, allegro, solo, tenor. Unlike bar?barisms they have no synonyms. The stylistic function of barbarisms and foreign words is to create local colour. Both foreign words and barbarisms are widely used in various styles of language with various aims. One of these functions is to supply lo?cal colour. In "Vanity Fair" Thackeray takes the reader to a small German town where a boy with a remarkable appe?tite attracts attention. The author gives a description of the peculiarities of the German menu. E.g. "The little boy had a famous appetite, and consumed schinken, and braten, and kartoffeln, that did honour to his nation." The context leads the reader to understand the italisi-zed words denoting some kind of food, but exactly what kind he will learn when he travels in Germany. Barbarisms and foreign words are mostly used in the style of belles-lettres and publicistic style. In belles-lettres style the author, putting foreign words into the mouth of his personage, gives the vivid characterization of his hero: ?Au revior!" not "good-bye!" Foreign words always arrest the attention of the rea?der and therefore have a definite stylistic function. Some?times the skilful use of one or two foreign words will be sufficient to create the impression of a foreign language. For example: "Deutsche Soldaten" - a little while ago, you received a sample of American strength. (S.Heym) The two words "Deutsche Soldaten" are sufficient to create the impression that the speech was made in German and not in English. There are very few absolute synonyms in any langu?age. The main distinction between synonyms remains sty?listic. Colloquial words are always more emotionally colou?red than literary ones. The neutral words have no degree of emotiveness. The lines of demarcation between common colloquial and the neutral on the one hand, and common literary and neutral, on the other, are blurred. The neutral vocabulary may be viewed as the invari?ant of the Standard English vocabulary. Synonyms of neutral words, both colloquial and literary, have a great deg?ree of concreteness. 4.The essential part of common colloquial words cons?titutes common neutral vocabulary which is in every day usage and is the part of Standard English. They may be di?vided into several groups. In the first group we have words which change their phonetic form. Eg. a) word combinations are shor?tened. E.g. s^long (so long), lemme (let me), gimme (give me), gonna (going to); b) certain sounds may be omitted: ^im (him), ^cos (because), ^ud (would), ^ave (have), ^eaven (heaven), yeh (yes). Here we meet the speech of an uneducated person. Instead of "can" one uses "kin", you (yuh), get (git), your (yer), to (tuh). The violation of grammar rules is also observed: yuh gotta lawyers? (have you got a lawyer?), hain^t yuh? (haven?t you?), there hain^t no rules (there aren?t any ru?les). Problematic question:What kind of characteristic feature does children?s speech bear? While we speak about the peculiarities of oral speech special attention should be paid to the children?s speech in which we have a lot of contracted forms of words. E.g. Doc (doctor), telly (television), fridge (refrigerator); words with diminutive suffixes: beastie (beast), milkie (milk), kissy (cat), titter (sister). In the second group we have words which change their form and meaning. New words (neologisms) may be formed with the help of suffixes which have negative mea?ning: noddy - a stupid person, wordling - a person who talks much, giglet - a girl who laughs in a silly manner. Nouns may be formed with the help of suffixes which have positive meaning: dolly - an attractive, fashionably dressed girl or a young woman, nestling - a bird too yo?ung to leave the nest. The following words constitute the third group of colloquial vocabulary, where words change their meaning in certain contexts. E.g. He was getting along in years -(he was growing old), I like his get up - (I like his way and manner), Let me know have you come out (let me know the results). By slang we mean non-literary words which are used to create fresh names for some things. Slang used in col?loquial speech has a great expressive force. It is most ironical words. For the most part slang words sound some?what vulgar. Slang is nothing but a deviation from the established norm of the language. J. B. Greenbush and C. L. Kittening define slang in these words: "Slang...is a peculiar kind of vagabond language, always hanging on the outskirts of the speech but continually forcing its way into the most respectable company" . Whenever the notation "si.? appears in a dictionary it may serve as an indication that the unit presented is non-literary. Besides general (standard) slang we distinguish teenager slang, university (student?s) slang, public school slang, prison slang, war slang, lawyer?s slang etc. There are the following slang words for money - be?ans, lolly, brass, dibs, daughs (compare: in Uzbek for ??? - ????); for head - attic, brainpen, hat, nut, upper storey; for drunk - boozy, cock-eyed, high. The function of slang in the written texts may be the following: to characterize the speech of the person, to pro?duce a special impression and humorous effect. Here are some more examples of slang which have this effect: bread-basket (the stomach); cradle-snatcher (an old man who marries a much younger woman); a big head (a booster); go crackers (go mad); I?ll send you an old-bob (I?ll send you a shilling). So broad is the term slang that, according to Eric Par?tridge, there are many kinds of slang, e.g., Cockney, pub?lic-house, commercial, society, military, theatrical, parlia?mentary and others. 2. In the non-literary vocabulary of the English language there is a group of words that are called jargonisms. Traditionally jargon is defined as the language difficult to understand, because it has a bad form and spoken badly. The vocabulary of jargon are the words existing in the language but having new meanings. Jargonisms are of social character. They are not regional. In England and in the USA almost any social group of people has its own jargon. There are jargon of thieves and vagabonds, generally known as can; the jargon of the army, known as military slang; the jargon of sportsmen, the jargon of students, etc. people who are far from that profession may not under?stand this jargon. Here are some examples from students jargon: exam (examination), math (mathematics), trig (tri?gonometry), ec (economics), a big gun (an important per?son), an egg (an inexperienced pilot). Almost any calling has its own jargon. Jargonisms are a special group within the non-literary layer of words. Jargonisms easily classified according to the social divi?sions of the given period. There is common jargon and special professional jargons. Common jargonisms have gradually lost their special quality. They belong to all social groups and there?fore, easily understood by everybody. That is why it is dif?ficult to draw a line between slang and jargon. Slang, con?trary to jargon, need no translation. Many of jargon words are based on the use of the transferred meanings of words: I'll brain you (I'll break your head); to put on a bag (to kill); don't be such a drip (don't be such a dull person). 3. Professional words are such words, which are used in certain spheres of human activity. They are used in a de?finite trade, profession or calling by people connected by common interests both at work and at home. Profes?sionalisms are correlated to terms. Terms are coined to no?minate new concepts that appear in the process of techni?cal progress and the development of science. Professional words name a new already-existing con?cepts, tools and instruments. Professionalisms are special words in the non-literary layer of the English vocabulary, whereas terms are a specialized group belonging to the literary layer of words. Terms, if they are connected with a field or branch of science or technique well-known to ordinary people, are easily decoded, Professionalisms ge?nerally remain in the circulation within a definite commu?nity. Problematic question:What is the stylistic function of professional words? The function of professionalisms may be different: to characterize the speech of a person, to make the descrip?tion more precise and realistic.Like terms professionalisms do not allow any poly?semy, they are monosemantic.Here are some professionalisms used in different tra?des: tin-fish (submarine), block-buster (a bomb especially designed to destroy blocks of big buildings), piper (a specialist who decorates pastry with the use of a cream-pipe). Some professionalisms, however, like certain terms, become popular and gradually lose their professional cha?racter. Professionalisms are used in emotive prose to direct the natural speech of a character. The skillful use of pro?fessional words will show the education, breeding, envi?ronment and psychology of a character. That is why they are abundantly used to create the speech characterization in emotive prose. Some professional words become popular and gradu?ally lose their professional character. 4. Dialectal words are such non-literary English words, which are connected with a certain area of region. They are not the property of the literary English. There is some?times a difficulty in distinguishing dialectal words from colloquial words. Some dialectal words have become so familiar that they are accepted as recognized units of the standard colloquial English. To these words belong: a lass (a girl or a beloved girl), a lad (a boy or a young man). These words belong to Scottish dialect. From Irish came the following dialec?tal words: hurley (hockey), colleen (a girl). From the northern dialectal came words: "to coom" (to come), "sun" (son). Still these words have not lost their dialectal associ?ations and therefore are used in literary English with sty?listic function of characterization. Dialectal words, unlike professionalism, are confined in their use to a definite locality and most of the words deal with the everyday life of the country. A few words should be said about Cockne'y, which is a special dialect of the working class of London. Cockney dialect is made up of a collection of slang words. For ex?ample: "cows" is half a note, "poppy" is a slang for money. 5. Vulgar words are non-standard English words, which are marked by a coarseness of speech or expressions, which are offensive, indecent. They have noting to do with words in common use nor can they be classed as col?loquialism. There are different degrees of vulgar words. Some of them should not even be fixed in common dictionaries. They are euphemistically called "four-letter" words. A lesser degree of vulgarity is presented by words like damn, bloody, son of a bitch; to hell, a right old bag (an old woman), a nigger (a black person), and others. These vulgarisms sometimes appear in euphemistic spelling -only the initial letter is printed: d - damn, b - bloody. The function of vulgarisms is almost the same as that of interjectuions, that is to express strong emotions, main?ly annoyance, anger. They are not to be found in any style of speech except emotive prose, and here only in the direct speech of the characters. They are mostly swear-words and expressions. Not every coarse expression should be regarded as a vulgarism. Coarseness of expression may be in the result of grammatical mistake, non-standard pronunciation, of misuse of certain literary words and expressions, from de?liberate distortion of words. All these improprieties of speech cannot be regarded as vulgarisms.
Questions 1. What are the main layers of the English vocabulary?
2. Give the classification of the literary layer. 3. Enumerate the constituent parts of colloquial 4. What are the constituent parts of Standard English 5. What is the linguistic nature of neutral words? 6. What are the distinctions between neutral words and 7. What is the linguistic nature of common literary Literature: 1. Akhmanova O. S. Linguostylistics. Theory and Method. M., MGU,1972 2. Anderson W. E. The Written Word. Some uses of English. Oxford University,1971 3. Arnold I. V. The English Word. M., Higher School, 1973 4. Galperin I. R. Stylistics M., Higher school, 1977 5. Murry, J. Middleton. The problems of Style. Ldn, 1961 6. Turner G. W. Stylistics. Peguim Books,1975 7. Warner A. A. Short Guide to English Style 8. ?????????? ?.?. ?????? ???? ????????????. ?., ?қ??????, 1995 LECTURE 3 Date: 2016-06-12; view: 2195
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