Variants and Dialects of the English Language

 

Key words: idiolect, dialect, standard norm/English, regional/local dialect, minority dialect, variation/variety, regional variety, ethnic/indigenized variety, pidgin, creole, lingua franca, cockney, vernacular.

Look up these terms in the glossary or in the sources indicated in the bibliography to the glossary. Compare the definitions given in English and in Russian.

 

 

Problems for Discussion

 

1. General characteristics of the English language in different parts of the English-speaking world.

a. Territorial variants vs. local/regional dialects.

b. Minority dialects. Indigenized varieties.

c. English as the basis for pidgin and creole.

2. British variant of the English language.

a. Standard English.

b. Local dialects and varieties in the British Isles. The Scottish and Irish varieties.

c. Local dialects in England.

d. Cockney.

3. American variant of the English language.

a. Specific features of American English in phonetics, grammar, spelling, word meaning, word formation.

b. Local dialects in the USA.

 

 

Questions and Tasks

 

1. Give equivalents in American English for the following British English words and word combinations: billion, bill, bank note, bookings, cinema, charity organisation, dummy (for babies), full-stop, handbag, homely (simple in a way that makes you feel comfortable), tinned food, car park, potato crisps, single ticket, stalls, sweet, toilet.

2. Write the most suitable American words in the gaps:

a. In our building we have a caretaker to see to that things are ok.

In our building we have a … to see to that things are ok.

b. On the top of the roof we have an aerial for our television set.

On the top of the roof we have an … for our television set.

c. In October it is autumn.

In October it is ….

d. Bank notes are easier to carry than coins.

… are easier to carry than coins.

e. I was in the Tivoli – I tried several tours in the big dipper.

I was in the Tivoli – I tried several tours in the ….

f. Give me another sweet thing – one of those biscuits.

Give me another sweet thing – one of those ….

g. I will have to get a new pair of shoelaces, as I broke them this morning.

I will have to get a new pair of …, as I broke them this morning.

h. The trousers were too big – so I had to wear braces.

The … were too big – so I had to wear ….

i. Between two lessons you often have a break.

Between two lessons you often have a ….

3. Translate the following words and word-combinations into English giving two variants – British and American: аптека, в отпуске, грузовик, железнодорожная касса, заполнить анкету, класс (в школе), купать (выкупать), метро, миксер, овсяная каша, переезд (перекресток), подземный переход, почтальон, свитер, страна, стюардесса, тренировка, умный, фарш, центр города, ящик для мусора.

4. Compare the spelling and the use of words and word combinations in British, American and Canadian English. Make conclusions about the peculiarities in the territorial variations of the English language:

 

British English	American English	Canadian English
Colour	Color	Colour
Centre	Center	Centre
Tyre	Tire	Tire
Draught	Draft	Draft
Recognise	Recognize	Recognize
Patronise	Patronize	Patronize
Encyclopaedia	Encyclopedia	Encyclopedia
Manoeuvre	Maneuver	Manoeuvre
Licence	License	License
To post a letter	To mail a letter	To mail a letter
To hire a car	To rent a car	To rent a car
Railway	Railroad	Railway
Waggon	Car	Car
Table napkin	Serviette	Serviette
Petrol	Gasoline	Gasoline
Housewife	Stay-at-home mom	Stay-at-home mom
Running shoes	Sneakers	Sneakers, runners
Burnt/burned	Burned/burnt	Burnt
Smelt/smelled	Smelled/smelt	Smelt
Spoilt/spoiled	Spoiled/spoilt	Spoilt

 

5. Compare the examples in British English (BrE) with their equivalents in South African English (SAfrE), Australian English (AustralE) and Kiwi/New Zealand English (NZE). Use them in your presentations on the suggested topics for discussion.

Work (BrE) – weck (SAfrE), car (BrE) – kah (SAfrE), book (BrE) – boook (SAfrE), garden (BrE) – gaddin (SAfrE), fast (BrE) – fust (SAfrE), town (BrE) – taun (SAfrE), pickup truck (BrE) – bakkie (SAfrE), guy, mate (BrE) – China (SAfrE), Ouch! (BrE) – Eina! (SAfrE), Hello/how are you? (BrE) – Howzit? (SAfrE), Really/is that so? (BrE) – Izzit? (SAfrE), yes, yeah (BrE) – ja (SAfrE), Goodbye. (BrE) – Go well, stay well. (SAfrE), traffic-light (BrE) – robot (SAfrE), training shoe (BrE) – tackie (SAfrE), She’ll be here soon. (BrE) – She’ll be here just now. (SAfrE), Things are okay. (BrE) – Ja well. (SAfrE), Things are so-so. (BrE) – No fine. (SAfrE).

Pavement (BrE) – footpath (AustralE), holiday cottage (BrE) – weekender (AustralE), girl (BrE) – sheila (AustralE), sweet (BrE) – lolly (AustralE), fool (BrE) – drongo (AustralE), Australian (BrE) – Aussie (AustralE), in need of (BrE) – broke for (AustralE), tired of (BrE) – fed with (AustralE).

New Zealand (BrE) – Enzel (NZE), Englishman (BrE) – Pom (pejorative) (NZE), TV (BrE) – telly (NZE), glasses (BrE) – gig lamps (NZE), dustbin (BrE) – kitchen tidy (NZE), salary (BrE) – screw (NZE), two dollars (BrE) – quid (NZE), trousers (BrE) – strides (NZE).

6. Read the passage and say if Randolph Quirk was right. Predict the role of English in 2020:

In a paper written in 1970 for a conference in Luxembourg organized by the London-based Institute of Linguists, Randolph Quirk, then Professor of English at University College of London, engaged in a speculation about the future. His paper was called “English in twenty years”.

I must base my speculation about the future role of English upon assumptions outside linguistics, and my assumptions are these: that Britain will become more and more closely involved with continental Europe, economically, intellectually and politically; and that English will retain in the next 20 years the degree of prestige it has enjoyed in continental Europe in the past twenty years… On these assumptions I could confidently predict that English will retain its prominent place in Europe… One could in fact go further and predict that English will actually increase its currency, above all for purposes of trade, but also in scientific communication and in the everyday matters of popular culture – for example, through Eurovision. And all this even in the European countries whose mother tongue is so important a language as German or French. … Given something more like a cultural boost, we may expect present uses of English to expand so that by 1990 everyone in Europe may be using, or be exposed to, English for some part of every day.

 

 

Recommended Reading

Obligatory

Арнольд, И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка / И.В. Арнольд; на англ. яз. – 3-е изд. – М.: Высш. шк., 1986. – C. 262–271.

Лексикология английского языка / Р.З. Гинзбург [и др.]; на англ. яз. – 2-е изд., испр. и доп. – М.: Высш. шк., 1979. – C. 200–209.

Лещёва, Л.М. Слова в английском языке: Курс лексикологии английского языка / Л.М. Лещёва; на англ. яз. – Минск: Академия управления при Президенте Республики Беларусь, 2001. – С. 123–135.

 

Optional

Швейцер, А.Д. Социальная дифференциация английского языка в США / А.Д. Швейцер. – М.: Наука, 1983.

Ярцева, В.Н. Развитие национального литературного английского языка / В.Н. Ярцева. – М.: Наука, 1969.

 

 

Topic 8

Lexicography

 

Key words: lexicography, dictionary, vocabulary, lexicographer, compiler of a dictionary, lexical unit, or item, entry, single and separate entries, onomasiological and semasiological approaches in the organization of an entry, alphabetical order, encyclopedic and linguistic dictionaries, or encyclopedias and dictionaries, thesaurus, or thesaurus dictionaries, abridged and unabridged dictionaries, general and restricted dictionaries, specialized and non-specialized dictionaries (technical dictionaries, phraseological dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms, antonyms and etc. ), monolingual, or unilingual or explanatory, dictionaries and bilingual and polylingual, or translation, dictionaries, synchronic and diachronic, or historical, dictionaries, prospective users’ type of dictionaries and learners’ type of dictionaries, concordances and glossaries, electronic dictionaries.

Look up these terms in the glossary or in the sources indicated in the bibliography to the glossary. Compare the definitions given in English and in Russian.

 

 

Problems for Discussion

 

1. Lexicography as the branch of linguistics. Lexicography vs. lexicology.

2. The history of British and American lexicography.

3. The principles the complication of a dictionary is based on. Lexical units included in dictionaries. Information provided by dictionaries and the form of its presentation. The structure of the entry.

4. Dictionaries and their typology. Classification of linguistic dictionaries.

 

 

Questions and Tasks

 

1. What is a dictionary from your point of view? What is it necessary for?

2. Do you know the name of the first British dictionary compiler? What other outstanding names from the history of British and American lexicography do you know? From the history of Russian/Belarusian lexicography?

3. Study the information concerning the first British and American dictionaries. In what ways are they similar to or different from the dictionaries we use nowadays?

4. What types of dictionaries do you know? What are the main types of dictionaries from your point of view? Why?

5. Compare encyclopedic and linguistic dictionaries. Do they have much in common?

6. Compare linguistic dictionaries of different types. What are the main criteria linguistic dictionaries can be classified by?

7. You are a dictionary-compiler. Choose lexical units necessary from your point of view for inclusion in the dictionary: -aholic, Brangelina, e-, -ee, Euro- (combining form), Euro (adj, (informal) connected with Europe, especially the European Union), euro (n, the unit of money of some countries of the European Union), flip-flop, freak, it-girl, heads and tails, nanotechnology, nonalcalinocetaceoaluminosocupreovitriolic, see-saw, tip-top, ugly duckling. State the principles upon which you have made your choice.

8. Offer a reasonable solution to such problems as the number of meanings of a word for inclusion in a dictionary (if a word is polysemantic) and the choice of the meaning which should be placed first in the entry.

9. Give examples of the ways the information about the meaning of the lexical unit (its derived meanings if a word is polysemantic) may be given by.

10. Semasiological approach in the organization of an entry (information goes from a name to the correspondent notion) vs. onomasiological approach (information goes from a notion to the name(s) it can be expressed by). Give an example of a dictionary which practices onomasiological approach in the organization of its entries. Characterize the prospective user of such a dictionary.

11. Arranging entry words in alphabetical order vs. arranging entry words in alphabetical order starting with their final letters. Give an example of a dictionary where entry words aren’t presented alphabetically. Characterize the prospective user of such a dictionary.

12. Compare the contents and structure of entries in dictionaries of different types. Do you agree that the most complicated type of entry is that found in monolingual, or explanatory, dictionaries?

13. Identify the types of dictionaries the following entries belong to and try to explain what is of interest in the treatment of the same word by dictionaries of different types:

a) woman /ٰwumən/ n. (pl. women /ٰwımın/)

1 an adult human female. 2 the female sex; any or an average woman (how does woman differ from man?). 3 colloq. a wife or female sexual partner. 4 ( prec. by the) emotions or characteristics traditionally associated with women (brought out the woman in him). 5 a man with characteristics traditionally associated with women. 6 (attrib.) female (woman driver; women friends). 7 (as second element in comb.) a woman of a specified nationality, profession, skill, etc. (Englishwoman; horsewoman). 8 colloq. a female domestic help. 9 archaic or hist. a queen’s etc. female attendant ranking below lady (woman of the bedchamber). □ woman of the streets a prostitute. women’s lib colloq. = women’s liberation. women’s libber colloq. a supporter of women’s liberation. women’s liberation 1 the liberation of women from inequalities and subservient status in relation to men, and from attitude causing these. 2 (also women’s liberation movement) = women’s movement a broad movement campaigning for women’s liberation and rights. women’s rights rights that promote a position of legal and social equality of women with men. □ womanless adj. womanlike adj. [OE wīƒmon, -man (as WIFE, MAN), a formation peculiar to English, the ancient word being WIFE] (The Oxford English Reference Dictionary / ed. by J. Pearsall, B. Trumble. – 2nd ed. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1996. – P. 1662.)

b) woman /ٰwumən/ noun (pl. women /ٰwımın/)

1 [C] an adult female human: men, women and children ◊ a 24-year-old woman ◊ I prefer to see a woman doctor. 2 [U] female humans in general: (informal) She’s all woman! (= has qualities that are typical of women) 3 [C] (in compounds) a woman who comes from the place mentioned or whose job or interest is connected with the thing mentioned: an Englishwoman ◊ a businesswoman ◊ a Congresswoman ◊ a horsewoman → note at GENDER 4 [C] a female worker, especially one who works with her hands: We used to have a woman to do the cleaning. 5 [sing.] (old-fashioned) a rude way of addressing a female person in an angry or important way: Be quiet, woman! 6 [C] (sometimes disapproving) a wife or sexual partner: He’s got a new woman in his life. – see also FALLEN WOMAN, KEPT WOMAN, OTHER WOMAN IDM be your own ٰ man/ ٰ woman to act or think independently, not following others or being ordered: Working for herself meant that she could be her own woman. – more at HEART, HELL, HONEST, MAN n., PART n., POSSESSED, SUBSTANCE, WORLD (Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English / A.S. Hornby; ed. by S. Wehmeier (chief ed.) [et al.]. – 7th ed. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. – P. 1755.)

c) woman noun

Adj. young | middle-aged | elderly, old, older The thief tricked his way into an elderly woman’s home. ◊ Older women often have difficulty conceiving. | adult, grown The little girl she remembered was now a grown woman. | married | single, unattached, unmarried | widowed | divorced | pregnant | childless | business (also businesswoman), career, professional, working | non-working | attractive, beautiful, good-looking, handsome, pretty | desirable | well-dressed | plain, ugly | motherly | hysterical | decent, good, kind |evil, wicked | battered a hostel for battered women | the other Jean Menkes plays the president’s wife and Fiona Handley plays the other woman (the one the President is having an affair with).

VERB + WOMAN depict, portray, present, show We want to change the way women are depicted in the media. | limit, reduce Women are limited to the more poorly paid jobs. ◊ Women are reduced to merely playing a passive role.

PHRASES the position/role of women There were important changes in the position of women in society. a woman of the world He saw her as the woman of the world who could offer him advice. w omen’s lib/liberation (becoming old-fashioned) The freedom to wear trousers became a symbol of women’s liberation. t he women’s movement, women’s rights (Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2002. – P. 879.)

d) woman [ٰwumən] n. 1. женщина; my good ~ милая; kept ~ содержанка; the little ~ (joc., my wife) женушка, хозяйка; old ~ (lit.) старуха; (coll., wife) жена, хозяйка; the ‘other’ ~ (in sexual triangle) любовница, разлучница; single ~ незамужняя женщина; ~ of the town уличная женщина; ~ of the world светская/бывалая женщина; play the ~ вести (det.) себя как баба; a ~’ place in the home место женщины дома (or у очага); women’s rights женское равноправие; man born of ~ (bibl.) смертный; рожденный женщиной. 2. (femininity): there is little of the ~ in her в ней мало женственности; all the ~ in her rebelled вся ее женская суть восстала против этого. 3. (coll., charwoman): daily ~ приходящая домработница, 4. (arch. female attendant) камеристка, фрейлина. 5. (illicit sexual partner) любовница. 6. (man with feminine characteristics) баба; he is an old ~ он настоящая баба; ~ doctor женщина-врач; ~friend подруга, приятельница.

cpds. womenfolk n. pl. женщины (f. pl.); (of household) женская половина; ~-hater n. женоненавистник; ~kind n. женщины (f. pl.); женская половина; ~-servant n. служанка. (The Oxford Russian Dictionary: Russian-English/English-Russian / rev. and updated by C. Howlett. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997. – P. 1329.)

e) woman wu·mən pl. women wı·mın

adult female human being; female servant. OE. wīƒman (n) m., later fem., f. wīƒ woman + man (n) MAN; a formation peculiar to Eng. not in the oldest OE. records, the primitive words being wīƒ WIFE and cwene QUEAN; assim. of -fm- to -mm- is evident in late OE. sp. (cf. LEMAN) and rounding of wim- to wum-, wom- in XIII. wo·man ish¹. XIV (ch., Gower). wo·man kind. XIV. wo·man ly¹. XIII (AncrR.). wo·man ize emasculate XVI; consort XIX. (The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology / ed. by C.T. Onions. – Oxford: AT the Clarendon Press, 1996. – P. 1011.)

f) WOMAN, n. 1562e (West, M. A General Service List of English Words with Semantic Frequencies and a Supplementary Word-List for the Writing of Popular Science and Technology / M. West. – Longman, 1959. – P. 571.)

g) WOMAN (ٰٰwumən) World Organization for Mothers of All Nations (The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. – 2nd ed. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998. – P. 390.)

h) WOMAN World Organization for Mothers of All Nations Всемирная организация матерей (Волкова, Н.О. Англо-русский словарь сокращений / Н.О. Волкова, И.А. Никанорова. – 3-е изд., стер. – М.: Рус. яз., 2000. – С. 459.)

14. Compare the contents and structure of entries in dictionaries of the same type belonging to different publishing houses.

15. Compare the contents and structure of entries in dictionaries catering to the needs of learners having different levels of language proficiency.

16. Analyze the illustrative examples (if there are any) in the following entries:

ro·mance /rəuٰٰmæns; ٰٰrəumæns; NAmE ٰٰrou-/ noun, verb

noun 1 [C] an exciting, usually short, relationship between two people who are in love with each other: a holiday romance ◊ They had a whirlwind romance. 2 [U] love or feeling of being in love: Spring is here and romance is in air. ◊ How can you put the romance back into your marriage? 3 [U] a feeling of excitement and adventure, especially connected to a particular place or activity: the romance of travel 4 [C] a story about a love affair: She’s compulsive reader of romances. 5 [C] a story of excitement and adventure, often set in the past: medieval romances

verb 1 [V] to tell stories that are not true or to describe sth in a way that makes it seem more exciting or interesting than it really is 2 [VN] to have to try to have a romantic relationship with sb (Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English / A.S. Hornby; ed. by S. Wehmeier (chief ed.) [et al.]. – 7th ed. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. – P. 1319.)

ro·man·ti·cism /rəuٰٰmæntısızəm; NAmE ٰٰrou-/ noun [U]

1 (also Romanticism) a style and movement in art, music and literature in the late 18th and early 19th century, in which strong feelings, imagination and a return to nature were more important than reason, order and INTELLECTUAL ideas – compare REALISM 2 the quality of seeing people, events and situations as more exciting and interesting than they really are 3 strong feeling of love; the fact of showing emotion, affection, etc. (Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English / A.S. Hornby; ed. by S. Wehmeier (chief ed.) [et al.]. – 7th ed. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. – P. 1320.)

How much space from your point of view should be devoted to illustrative examples and/or pictorial illustrations? What words may be listed without them?

17. What does the size of a dictionary depend on? Is it possible to say that a dictionary of a living language (a dictionary of reasonable size) is complete?

18. What dictionaries are indispensable for those interested in the following things:

a) the pronunciation of a definite word and its spelling;

b) the part of speech it belongs to;

c) its meaning(s);

d) its derivatives;

e) its synonyms and antonyms;

f) its equivalents in other languages;

g) its frequency;

h) its chronological development over time;

i) the way it can be combined in a language.

19. What types of dictionaries do you use? What do they help you in?

20. Compare the structure of dictionaries of different types. Do they have much in common?

21. Explain the role of the preface (foreword) in the dictionary.

22. Can you say that you know how to use a dictionary in a proper way? If you can explain what the following abbreviations, symbols and labels used in dictionaries of different types mean:

a) abbr., adj. (A, a, Adj, adj), adv. (Adv, adv), C, conj. (Conj, conj), det., n. (N, n), pl. (pl), pp, prep., pron. (Pron, pron), pt, sb, sing. (sing), sth, symb., U, v. (V, v);

b) AustralE, BrE, CanE, EAfrE, IndE, IrishE, NAmE, NEngE, NZE, SAfrE, ScotE,SEAsianE, US, WAfrE, WelshE;

c) IDM, OPP, PHR V, SYN;

d) (dis)approving, dialect, figurative, (in)formal, humorous, ironic, literary, offensive, old-fashioned, old use, slang, taboo, technical.

Study the entries where the following signs are used: ~, =, ≠, ↔. Explain what they are necessary for.

 

 

Recommended Reading

Obligatory

Арнольд, И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка / И.В. Арнольд; на англ. яз. – 3-е изд. – М.: Высш. шк., 1986. – C. 272 – 285.

Лебедева, Л.Д. Введение в курс английской лексикографии: учеб. пособие / Л.Д. Лебедева. – М.: Высш. шк., 2008.

Лексикология английского языка / Р.З. Гинзбург [и др.]; на англ. яз. – 2-е изд., испр. и доп. – М.: Высш. шк., 1979. – С. 210–233.

Лещёва, Л.М. Слова в английском языке: Курс лексикологии английского языка / Л.М. Лещёва; на англ. яз. – Минск: Академия управления при Президенте Республики Беларусь, 2001. – С. 89–94.

Ступин, Л.П. Лексикография английского языка: учеб. пособие / Л.П. Ступин. – М.: Высш. шк., 1985.

Суша, Т.Н. Лингвистические основы лексикографии: учеб. пособие / Т.Н. Суша; на англ. яз. – Минск: МГЛУ, 1999.

 

Optional

Английская лексикология в выдержках и извлечениях / C.С. Хидекель [и др.]. – Л.: Просвещение. Ленингр. oтд-ние, 1969. – С. 193–211.

Щерба, Л.В. Опыт общей теории лексикографии / Л.В. Щерба // Избранные работы по языкознанию и фонетике академика Л.В. Щербы / Ленингр. гос. ун-т; отв. ред. М.И. Матусевич. – Л., 1958. – С. 54–91.

Lexicography. An Emerging International Profession / ed. by R. Ilson. – Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press in Assoc. with Fulbright Commiss., 1986.

 

 

Dictionaries

Волкова, Н.О. Англо-русский словарь сокращений / Н.О. Волкова, И.А. Никанорова. – 3-е изд., стер. – М.: Рус. яз., 2000.

Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English / A.S. Hornby; ed. by S. Wehmeier [et al.]. – 7th ed. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005.

Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2002.

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. – 2nd ed. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998.

The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology / ed. by C.T. Onions. – Oxford: AT the Clarendon Press, 1996.

The Oxford English Reference Dictionary / ed. by J. Pearsall, B. Trumble. – 2nd ed. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1996.

The Oxford Russian Dictionary: Russian-English; English-Russian / rev. and updated by C. Howlett. – Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997.

West, M. A General Service List of English Words with Semantic Frequencies and a Supplementary Word-List for the Writing of Popular Science and Technology / M. West. – Longmans, 1959.