Unit 1Check Y our UnderstandingState whether each of the following statements is TRUE or FALSE.a. Fb. Fc. Fd. Fe. TIn-Class Activities1. The word ―wor d‖is diverse in terms of its meaning. Consider its usages in the following contexts:a. May I say a word about that?b. Actions speak louder than words.c. She has kept her word.d. Finally the general gave the word to retreat.e. Let me know if you get word of my wife.f. Word has it they‘re divorcing.ASK:(1) What does ―word‖ mean in each of the contexts?a. Something he would talk aboutb. things that are said, contrasted with things that are donec. the promise one has maded. spoken command or signale. informationf. piece of news; message(2) Do you know of any other usages the word ―word‖ has?2.ASK:(1) Can you summarize the five criteria introduced by David Crystal here?Potential pause :The pause , which happens when you say a sentence, will tend to fallbetween words, and not within words.Indivisibility: The extra items will be added between the words and not within them.Minimal free forms: the smallest units of speech that can meaningfully stand on their own. Phonetic boundaries: It is sometimes possible to tell from the sound of a word where it begins or ends.Semantic units: each word in a sentence has a clear meaning.(2) Do you think these criteria are questionable in any way? Can they be applied to theidentification of zi, the rough Chinese equivalent of the English ―word‖?No, as the above analysis explained. No , they cannot. For example, 流连and 蹒跚，they are danchuci(单纯词) which cannot be analyzed independently.3.ASK:(1) Suppose we want to know what are the ten most frequently used English words. What are they, as far as you can tell? How about Chinese?The, of ,to, and, a, in, is, it, you, that的、一、是、在、了、不、和、有、大、着(2) Are there any similarities and differences between the ten most frequently used words inEnglish and those in Chinese?They are basically functional words. Both have possessive word,(of, 的) number words(a,一), copula words(is, 是), conjunctions(and, 和) and localizers(in, 在).; English has the definite article the and several pronouns, you , that and it which are absent in Chinese.4. According to Ferdinand de Saussure, there is no intrinsic relation between the form of a word and what it stands for. In other words, words are arbitrary (i.e. not motivated) in terms of meaning designation. However, there seem to be abundant cases in natural languages that defy this generalization. For example, onomatopoeic words seem to exist in all the languages known to us. To a lesser degree, the meaning of some words can be partly deduced from their components. For example, ―sl-― is highly suggestive of the meaning of the words that contain it, such as ―slide‖, ―slip‖, and ―slush‖.ASK:(1)Babble, bang, grunt, splash; 噼啪、嗡嗡、滴滴哒、吱嘎吱No, these words are only a small part of English or Chinese vocabulary(2)Football and handball concern the body part which take the ball from one place to another, and basketball is named after a basket into which the ball is put in the begging stage of the game. (3)People have bodily embedded knowledge to infer these motivations of such usage. The first example concerns the metaphor and second metonymy(4) Do you know other types of words or usages that are motivated in one way or another?Some figurative usages are also highly motivated. For example: Necessity is the mother of invention.5. British English (BE for short) and American English (AE for short) are two major varieties of the English language.Though they have fundamental similarities in terms of grammar and vocabulary, they also differ substantially in many ways. On the vocabulary level, several distinct distinctions are found. First, there are differences in the pronunciation of some words, mostly in the vowel sounds, as illustrated in the following table:Some consonants are also pronounced differently. Particularly, in BE，the letter r before a consonant is not pronounced, but that at the end of a word is pronounced if the next word beginswith a vowel, e.g., cart /k: t/, door /d :/, but a member of /☜ memb☜☜f /; in AE, the letter r is pronounced in all positions.Secondly, BE and AE differ in the spelling of some words. Usually, the AE variants are simpler than their British counterparts, as manifested below.A further noticeable difference relates to the lexical meaning of some words. For instance, ―bill‖ means ―bank note‖ in AE but ―a demand for payment of a debt‖ in BE.ASK:(1) Can you supply more words that are pronounced differently in British English and AmericanEnglishhalf, advance, advantage, after, answer, ask, glance, glass, grasp(2) Do you know of any grammatical differences between British English and American English? In American English we say ―graduate from school‖; while in British English, we say ―leave school‖. In American English, it has ―put up price‖, while in British English, it is ―raise price‖(3) Are there special words for which AE and BE have very distinctive spellings?For Chinese characters―博览会‖, British English has ―fair‖ while American English usees trade show. ― Life and elevator‖ , and ―autumn and fall‖ are more examples.(4) Can you find more examples of the same words with different meanings in AE and BE?one billion/ first floor/ pantsone billion(Brit) the number 1000000000000 万亿之数(US) the number 1000000000十亿之数first floorIn British English the floor of a building at street level is the ground floor and the floor above that is the first floor.In US English the street-level floor is the first floor and the one above is the second floorPants(Brit) men's underpants; women's or children's knickers(US) trousers6. The following excerpt comes from Barack Obama‘s speech on Father‘s Day, June 15, 2008. Read it carefully, and pay special attention to his choice of words.The first is setting an example of excellence for our children — because if we want to set high expectations for them, we‘ve got to set high expectations for ourselves. It‘s great if you have a job; it‘s even better if you have a college degree. It‘s a wonderful thing if you are married and living in a home with your children, but don‘t just sit in the house and watch ―Sports Center‖ all weekend long. That‘s why so many children are growing up in front of the television. As fathers and parents, we‘ve got to spend more time with them, and help them with their homework, and replace the video game or the remote control with a book once in a while. That‘s how we build that foundation…..The second thing we need to do as fathers is pass along the value of empathy to our children. Not sympathy, but empathy —the ability to stand in somebody else‘s shoes;to look at the world through their eyes. Sometimes it‘s so easy to get caught up in ―us,‖ that we forget about our obligations to one another. There‘s a culture in our society that says remembering these obligations is somehow soft —that we can‘t show weakness, and so therefore we can‘t show kindness……And the final lesson we must learn as fathers is also the greatest gift we can pass on to our children —and that is the gift of hope.…I‘m not talking about an idle hope that‘s little more than blind optimism or willful ignorance of the problems we face. I‘m talking about hope as that spirit inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting for us if we‘re willing to work for it and fight for it. If we are willing to believe.ASK:(1) How does Obama distinguish ―empathy‖ from ―sympathy‖?Empathy means Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings.The ability to stand in somebody else‘s shoesSympathy is defined as feeling of pity and sorrow (for sb.)(2) Why does Obama bother to define ―hope‖– a familiar word to all?Hope, according to Obama, is som ething better is waiting for us if we‘re willing to work for it and fight for it. If we are willing to believe. He differentiates hope from what is blind optimism or willful ignorance of the problems we face(3) What other lexical choices impress you deeply as well?―As fathers and parents‖, why not as fathers and mothers,Open to discussionPost-Class Tasks1. What characteristics do functional words have？Read the following excerpt from George W. Bush‘s Farewell Address in 2009 and underline the functional words used in it.Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I have always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.2. How do you understand receptive and productive lexical knowledge? Use your own examplesto illustrate their differences. Which type of vocabulary is probably the largest for a language user, reading vocabulary, writing vocabulary, listening vocabulary, or speaking vocabulary? Give one reason that convinces you most.For example, we learn that ―word‖can be used to refer to ―rumor‖, and we know it means ―rumor‖ in the sentence ―The word is that he's left the country.(据说他已经离开这个国家了).‖But actually, we will not write the sentence, esp., say the sentence in daily conversations. By this example, we show that receptive lexical knowledge concerns what you learned and productive lexical knowledge concerns what you would put into practice. Reading vocabulary may be the largest type of vocabulary, because you may recognize the meaning of a word without using it in daily exchanges or in academic writing.3. Is lexical competence the same thing as productive lexical knowledge? How do you understand the two concepts on the basis of the discussion in Pre-Class Reading?No, lexical competence covers a larger scope that that of productive lexical knowledge.4. Can we say lexicology is the scientific study of the words in a language? How important is the notion of word equivalent? Read the following excerpt from Barrack Obama‘s V ictory Speech in 2008 and underline the word equivalents. What types of word equivalents are contained in this passage?So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but eachother.Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity thathas poisoned our politics for so long.Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values ofself-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has wona great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination toheal the divides that have held back our progress.Language is composed of not just individual words, but also word equivalents, such as word groups (or compound words), chunks such as idioms, formulaic sequences, and so. The latter is attracting more and more scholarly attention these days. Thus, lexicology is more precisely defined as the scientific study of the words and word equivalents in a language.5. Identical systems of stress and rhythm are used by BE and AE. There are, however, a few words that have their stress on a different syllable. Write out the specific pronunciations of the following words:OmittedUnit 2Check Y our UnderstandingState whether each of the following statements is TRUE or FALSE.a. Fb. Fc. Fd. Fe. FIn-Class Activities1.(1) How are the three allomorphs conditioned by their adjoining sounds?S is pronounced as [s] [z and [iz]] when it is respectively attached to a voiceless consonant, a voiced consonant or a vowel, and any words ending with s, z or pronouncing as [s] or [z].(2) Does the plurality morpheme have other allomorphs apart from those mentioned above?Y es, for example,the plural form of sheep remains unchanged, and man has its plural form realized as ―men‖.(3) What about the allomorphs of the morpheme for the past tense in English?The usual allomorphs of the morpheme of the past tense may be realized as [t], [d] and [id]2. In English, there are quite a few prefixes that connote negation. They include a-, un-, in- (ir-, il-), dis-, mis-, non-, de-, and the like.symmetry→asymmetrytypical→atypicalforgettable →unforgettabletie→untiearticulate →inarticulate,discreet →indiscreetmature →immature,partial →impartiallegal →illegallegible →illegiblerelevant →irrelevantreverent →irreverentlike→dislikeable→disableuse →misuselead →misleadsense →nonsensecommercial→noncommercialform→deformconstruction→deconstruction(2) How would you distinguish between un- and non- in terms of their meaning and use? Can weprefix un- to adjectives like ―tall‖, ―ill‖, and ―black‖? Why or why not?Un- is usually prefixed before transitive verbs, such as tie →untie, nouns, such as and adjectives, such as employment→unemployment. Non- is often put before adjectives, such as essential→non-essential, and nouns, such as existence→non-existence. Both of the usage are possible because the word followed the above two prefixes has no ready-made acronyms in English lexical system.3.ASK:(1) Could we cut ―unwomanly‖ into ―unwoman‖ and ―-ly‖?No. unwoman is not a word in English. Un- is usually put before an abstract uncountable noun. (2) Can you analyze the morphological structure of the word ―inaccessibility‖?inaccessibilityinaccessible -ityin- accessibleaccess -ible(3) According to some feminists, words like ―history‖ and ―human‖ encode sex inequality. Do youagree?These words may connate sex inequality at first sight. But, In fact, we go too far if we hold this notion in mind. Both words have been part of our culture.4.ASK:(1) What are the words in the pictures that stem from conversion?Stop, bin, wear, suit(2) Are they instances of partial conversion or complete conversion?complete conversions5.ASK:(1) What words undergo shortening here? What is the full form of PM (or sometimes p.m.)?Tue Tuesday, Sun Sunday, post meridiem.(2) Do you know how the month names are shortened in English?1月January Jan 2月February Feb 3月March Mar. 4月April Apr. 5月May May 6月June Jun. 7月July Jul. 8月August Aug. 9月September Sept. 10月October Oct. 11月November Nov. 12月December Dec.6.ASK:(1) Can you provide more examples instantiating analogy?Marathon--telethon/talkathon, hamburger--shrimpburger-(2) Is this process of word formation also found in Chinese? Support your answer with evidence.无微不至－无胃不治；其乐无穷－棋乐无穷7.(1) What semantic relation holds the two lexemes together in each case?a. flu virus: A caused Bb. safety line :B ensures Ac. night bird: A is the usual time when B is actived. spoon-feeding: A is one of the ways to realize B.e. potato pancake: A is the ingredient of Bf. man-made: B is realize by Ag toilet seat: B is part A.(2) Does ―safety line‖ mean the same as ―safe line‖? Can you come up with similar compounds? NO, the former means that line can keep one safe, whereas the latter means the line is safe.(Y ou can touch it)Security guard and secure guardPost-Class T asks1. Supply the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C, and D.a.D;b.B;c. D;d. C;e. A;f. D2. Learners need to be able to recognize word parts in words. Read the example and break up the following words into meaningful parts. (e.g. unhappiness -- un/happi/ness)a. intangibilityb. unevenlyin/tangible/ity un/even/lyc. friendlinessd. notwithstandingfriend/ly/ness not/with/stand/inge. overseasf. minimalistover/sea/s minim/al/istg. immigration h. Psychologistimmi/grate/ion psych/ology/isti. occurrences j. assumptionoc/cur/rence as/sumpt/ion3. Study the following Security Tips collected from an American Holliday Inn and exemplify the various processes of word formation with words from the passage.Safe: conversionCheck-out: CompositionDead: conversionV aluable: conversion4. What kinds of adjectives undergo partial conversion? What kinds of verbs often undergo complete conversion?Adjectives like ―poor‖, ―rich‖, ―fat‖, ―sick‖, ―wounded‖, ―deaf‖, ―mute‖, ―Chinese‖, ―Danish‖, ―best‖, ―most‖, ―least‖, ―latest‖, ―accused‖, ―condemned‖, (for) ―good‖, ―thick‖ (and) ―thin‖, etc. undergo partial conversion; stop, pause, halt, look, rest, check, try, taste, smell, etc, often undergo complete conversion.5. Some affixes have not only lexical meanings but affective meanings as well. Some personal nouns formed by the suffix –ling, for example, have derogatory meanings,as in hireling, weakling; some personal nouns taking the suffix –ish are also derogatory, as in mannish, womanish and bookish. Can you provide more examples suffixed with –ling and –ish that are negative in attitude?Prince/princelingUnder/underlingWorld/worldingChild/childishSelf/selfishFool/foolish6. Read the following piece of news. What are the acronyms or initialisms used in this passage? What are their full forms?Obama brings hope for warmer relations to TurkeyANKARA, Turkey – U.S. President Barack Obama is reaching out to Turkey to help him wind down the Iraq war and bring stability to the Middle East. He is also counting on the only Muslim member of NATO to remain a steadfast ally in the Afghanistan conflict.Obama's visit is being closely watched by an Islamic world that harbored deep distrust of his predecessor, George W. Bush.Obama was spending two days in Turkey as he wrapped up an event-packed, eight-day international trip that also saw stops in Britain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic.In his inaugural address in January, Obama pledged to reach out to the Muslim world.At a luncheon Sunday for leaders of the European Union's 27 nations in Prague, he said the West should seek greater cooperation and closer ties with Islamic nations. He suggested one way was by allowing Turkey to join the European Union — a contentious subject for some European countries. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after Obama's remarks that the decision was the EU's to make, not Washington's.Americans remain unsure of what to make of Islam even as most people in the U.S.think Obama should seek better relations with the Muslim world, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. About 55 percent of Americans say they lack a good, basic understanding of the religion, the poll found, and 48 percent have an unfavorableview of it.Obama's trip to Turkey, his final scheduled country visit, ties together themes of earlier stops. He attended the Group of 20 economic summit in London, celebrated NATO's 60th anniversary in Strasbourg, France, and on Saturday visited the Czech Republic, which included a summit of European Union leaders in Prague.Turkey is a member of both the G-20 and NATO and is trying to get into the EU with the help of the U.S.Acronyms: NATOInitialisms: EU, ABC, U.S.Unit 3Keys to the exercises in Check Your Understandinga. False;b. False;c. True;d. False;e. FalseKeys to the exercises in In-class Activities1.(1) Y es. There is some difference between the words ―clean‖and ―cleanly‖in the sentences in Group A. In Sentence A-a, ―clean‖ means ―completely‖, while in Sentence A-b, ―cleanly‖ means ―easily‖.(2) Y es. There is some difference between the words ―clean‖and ―cleanly‖in the sentences in Group A. In Sentence A-a, ―clean‖ means ―completely‖, while in Sentence A-b, ―cleanly‖ means ―easily‖.(3) The words ―high‖ and ―highly‖ cannot be used interchangeably in the two sentences in GroupC. In Sentence C-a, ―high‖ is an adjective and fuctions as the complement, while in Sentence C-b, ―highly‖ is an adverb and functions as the modifier.(4) a1. I felt pretty nervous going into the exam, but after I got started I loosened up some.a2. The woman chairing the meeting speaks prettily.b1. When he saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks.b2. I'm deadly serious. This isn't a game!c1. Someone left the back door wide open.c2. These laws were widely regarded as too strict.2.(1) a. The old man smiled his refusal to the young man request.b. He lived a long life and died a natural death.(2) a. 每听完一个笑话，那个老人都咯咯地笑出他的喜悦之情。
