Outline

1. Chronological stratification: 1a.The basic vocabulary

1b. Historic / archaic words

1c. New words / neologisms

2. Stylistic stratification:2a. Stylistically neutral words

2b. Bookish words

2c. Special terminology

2d. Colloquial Words: (1) Dialectal words. Cockney

(2) Professionalisms

(3) Jargonisms

(4) Slang words

(5) Vulgarisms / obscenities

(6) Taboos

Exercises & Tasks

Exercise 1. Pick out colloquialisms from the sentences below and comment on their meaning and word-formative structure.

1. The backcountry look never left her. She came from the sticks; there could be no mistake about that.

2. Could anybody have been tailing him? Guys with zoom lenses or telescopic sights on the Chelsea rooftops? Ithiel smiled, and pooh-poohed this. He wasn't that important.

3. I don't say that I'm better than other women. I'm not superior. I'm nutty, also.

4. "What's your opinion of Frederic ‒ an occasional stealer or a pro?"

5. Involuntarily Clara fell into Dr. Gladstone's way of talking... As the sessions were short, she adopted his lingo to save time, notwithstanding the danger of false statements.

6. Wilder has gone to Minnesota to see some peewee politician who needs a set of speeches.

7. "Did I hurt your feelings?" "If that means bossy, no. My feelings weren't hurt when I knew you better".

8. "What could she do?" "Heaps of things," said Frankie vigorously.

9. For three weeks two days he had a breather and slowly hauled himself out of the abyss.

10. Daddy had looked tired sometimes, he worked so fantastically hard; but he was a super daddy.

11. Rickey always had three or four dollars in his pocket and was happy-go-lucky about things.

12. Dean had arrived the night before, the first time in New York, with his beautiful little sharp chick Marylou.

13. "And the play was well received?" "In Saratoga, we were a smash. Every night we felt blessed".

Exercise 2. Pick out special terms from the extracts below. State what branch of science or field of life they belong to.

1. Acute leukaemia is more indolent than has been thought. There is good precedence for

it in other haematology disorders.

2. The word plays such a crucial part in the structure of language that we need a special

branch of linguistics to examine it in all its aspects. This branch is called Lexicology

and it forms, next to Phonology,the second basic division of linguistic science.

3. A fraction is a part of some thing which is treated as a whole or a unit. In arithmetic, a

proper fraction is a number which represents a part, that is, a number which is less than 1. In

writing a common fraction, two numbers are used, called the numerator and denominator.

4. The most important combinations of sulphur and oxygen are sulphur dioxide S02 and sulphur trioxide S03, which form with water sulphurous acid H2S03 and sulphuric acid H2S04.

Exercise 3. Comment on archaisms. Arrange the following archaic words into lexical and grammatical archaisms.

Aught, belike, didst, dost, eke, ere, hast, hath, maiden, naught, quoth, shall, steed, thee,

thou, wert, woe.

Exercise 4. Pick out obsolete words and comment on them.

1. De Bracy blew his horn three times, and the archers who stood along the wall hastened

to lower the dragbridge and admit them.

2. Locksley, for such was the name of this yeoman, readily took part in the archery contest and I won the prize.

3. Their triumph was announced by the heralds, the trumpeters and shouts of the spectators.

4. Each touched with the reverse of his lance the shield of the antagonist whom he wished to oppose.

5. A narrow space between these galleries and the lists was occupied chiefly by the yeomanry and the burghers.

6. On the platform beyond the southern entrance were placed the five magnificent pavilions of the five knights who were the challengers.

7. At each of these gates stood two heralds, attended by six trumpets and a strong body of men-at-arms.

8. He looked like a strolling minstrel, for he carried a harp in his hand, which he played, while his sweet tenor voice sang a merry love-song.

Exercise 5. Comment on the barbarisms in bold type. State what language they came from and give their stylistically neutral synonyms.

1. The first months, Clara watched her new au pair girl closely.

2. Khozraschot means the end of huge subsidies to inefficient enterprises, which will result in closures and lay-offs.

3. "Bratsie's a bona fide war hero," explained Junior, building him up. "He's downed all kinds of pianos".

4. Billy wrote: "Annabel Christopher's performance is a chef-d'oeuvre which is also a succes d'estime. Although she will never make the big star grade she has an undeniable presence, a je ne sais quoi ".

5. "Well, I've thought over this demarche of Getliffs".

6. "I may not have his talent," said Stephen quietly. "You never know," said the dean brightly.

"We never can say what is in us. I most certainly should not be despondent. Per aspera ad astra. "

7. "Do you intend that now," the squat student said, "as ipso facto or, let us say, as so to speak?"

8. Cumberland's memory was of white sunny days, vast rows of statues in long gorgeous galleries, the immensity of St. Peter's, and the uselessly stately tread of imposing Carabinieri.

9. She knew she could never rival Lady Lechdale in the haut monde. She became the Lady Lechdale of the demimonde.

10. It would be tedious to describe at any length the phases of this Wanderjahr, which undoubtedly inspired young Cibber with the ideals and ambitions which he pursued with calm consistency throughout his life.

Exercise 6. Comment on slang words and phrases in bold type.

1. Tell the old bag to mind her own business.

2. I need some dough to buy some groceries.

3. I need to get some bread to live on.

4. Who's the doll I saw you with last night?

5. Let's go out and booze up!

6. I am too muggy to drive.

7. Wipe that smile off your mug!

8. He's been drinking since noon and is pretty wet.

9. Hard liquor makes people soft.