LINGUA INGLESE 1 LLEM

2010-11

HANDOUTS

Please bring this to every lesson !
LESSON 3 – What is English linguisitcs?

A.QUIZ 1

  1. Who speaks standard English?
  2. “No people = no meanings”: yes or no?
  3. “Animals cannot understand languages” – yes or no?
  4. Who might say “I wented”?

A.DEFINITIONS AND AREAS 1

a.the study of how you learn your mother tongue

b.the study of language and the mind

c.the study of language and society

d.the study of how we communicate as a species

B.QUIZ 2

  1. “The same person can be a terrorist and a freedom fighter”: yes or no?
  2. “Ice cream” has the same sound as “I scream”: yes or no?
  3. “A single letter means a lot”: yes or no?
  4. xt xs pxssxblx tx xndxrstxnd whxt I xm wrxtxng xvxn xf x rxplxcx xll thx vxwxls wxth xn x. Yes or no?
  5. “English does not have a future tense”: yes or no?
  6. “it’s a boy”. There are three words in this sentence: yes or no?

B.DEFINITIONS & LINGUISTIC AREAS

e.the study of sound patterns in languages

f. the study of the sounds of speech

g.the study of the structure of words

h.the studyof rules governing language use i.the study of word meaning

j.the study of how language is used

C.PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY QUIZ

11.What categories are used to classify sounds?

12.How many sounds are there in English? 5-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-25, 25-30, 30-35

13.How many sounds are there in Italian? ? 5-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-25, 25-30, 30-35

14.English is not a phonographic language. What does this mean?

15.What are the main problems for Italian students learning English pronunciation?

16.Why is English spelling so strange?

LESSON 4

MORPHOLOGY 1

A.What is morphology?

1.Explain the difference between grammar, syntax and morphology. How are they related?

2.What is the morphology of these words:boyayeselephant

3.What is the name of the meaningful dependent elements before and after the base form of a

word?

B.Prefixes and suffixes

4.Is there any difference between the morphological structure ofwalked = walk + -ed

andkind = kind + -ness

5.How many derivational suffixes can you think of ?

6.Write down as many derivations of the word grace that you can think of :

C.Compounds

a.How many words?black birdblackbird

b.Are these compounds?greenhousegreen housewhite houseWhite House

  1. Compound verbs (CV), compound adjectives (CA) or compound nouns (CN)?

air-conditionblackboarddry-cleanhairnethyperactivered-hot overcoat sky-high stir-fry swearword underestimate

d.Compound verbs - identify 1 example of:

verb-verb

noun-verb

adjective-verb

preposition-verb

e.Compound adjectives - identify 1 example of:

noun-adjective

adjective-adjective

preposition-adjective

f.Compound nouns - identify 1 example of:

verb-noun

noun-noun

adjective-noun

preposition-noun

g.What kind of compounds are the following:

earthquakescarecrowsunrisehaircutsightseepostman maneating homesick goldfish birdcage

LESSON 5

CONSONANTS

1.a.How many consonant sounds are there in English? Can you list them all

b.Which kind do articulation is required by:/b//d//g//k//p//t/

c.These sounds are called plosives (or stops). How would you define it in terms of articulation?

2.a.Make a hissing sound and then lower your tongue. What happens?

b.Make a long /f/ sound and then take your lower lip away. What happens?

c.What are these sounds called?

d.Which consonant sounds are being contrasted in these examples?

ifan – vansafer – saverhalf – halve

iithumb – thusether – fatherbreath – breathe

iiisip – zipfacing – phasingrice – rise

ivRussia – measureIrish – garage

What is the basic difference between the sounds?

3.What are the two affricates of English?

4.What are the nasal sounds of English? What does nasal mean?

Are these words pronounced the same? finger, singer, anger, hanger, longer

5.In which of the following words in the /r/ sound pronounced?

redarrivehearingcarever herehard versecares

How would you describe the articulation of /r/

6.How would you describe the articulation of /l/, /w/, /j/

EXTRA PRATICE MATERIAL (VERY IMPORTANT FOR PASSING YOUR EXAM!!!)

Go to this website address:

- click on “The Articulation of speech sounds” in the Index (on the left of the screen)

- click on “Match phonemes with pictures”

- do the exercises for “Consonants: diagrams, symbols and definitions”

LESSON 6
VOWELS

1.Are these vowel sounds long or short (write S for short and L for long):

aboutbadbedcardoorfreefriend

girlgoodheadhishotitkiss

lovememoremustnumberofon

parkpleaseputshouldthirdwhoworld

youthecaught

2.Put the words in groups with the same vowel sound:

Short vowelsLong vowels

  1. 1.
  1. 2.
  1. 3.
  1. 4.
  1. 5.

6.

7.

EXTRA PRATICE MATERIAL (VERY IMPORTANT FOR PASSING YOUR EXAM!!!)

Go to this website address:

- sign in the guest book

- click on “Vowel sounds” (on the left of the screen towards the top)

- click on English Vowel Sounds (Flash) and you get to “Standard British Vowel Sounds”

- click on “Listen” and match the sound with the phoneme

- click on Library to hear the sounds and see them explained

- click on Index of Minimal Pairs Exercises to practice distinguishing difficult vowel sounds

- click on Grouping sounds exercises to match words with the same sound but different spelling

LESSON 7

MORPHOLOGY 2 (Analysing morphemes)

  1. What are the roots of the following words?
  • unwholesome
  • rulership
  • underdeveloped
  • overachiever
  • operational
  • indispensable
  1. Divide the following using hyphens
  • colourful
  • happiness
  • unbelievable
  • teacher
  • monster
  • rattlesnake
  1. truthfulness
  1. specification
  1. unwholesome

HOMEWORK

  1. Draw tree diagrams for the words in n.1
  1. Do all the morphology exercises in the “Morphology section of the David Brett website.
LESSON 8

SYNTAX 1

Dog The Walks Hairy Park Quickly In The

Practice Sentences

  1. Juliet
  2. loves
  3. Romeo
  4. Juliet loves Romeo
  5. Romeo loves Juliet
  6. He loves carrots
  7. The lamb followed Mary
  8. Beavers build dams
  9. The cat killed the mouse
  10. Jack killed the giant
  11. She solved the mystery
  12. The witnesses helped her
  13. Alice followed the rabbit
  14. Alice followed the white rabbit
  15. Alice slowly followed the white rabbit
Sentences for Syntax 2 lesson (please bring your analysis to Syntax 2)
  1. He gave her a kiss
  2. She rewarded him with a kiss.
  3. She paid the money to the cashier.
  4. The porter called George a taxi
  5. The medicine made her ill.
  6. Those unhappy students failed the final exam.
  7. The dog bit the old man on the nose
  8. The woman on the bus told me the story of her life.
  9. He saw the girl in the green park
  10. He saw the girl in the blue dress
LESSON 9
DIPHTHONGS

1.Look at these words and decide how many different groups of the same sound you can make:

feargoherehousebeerhowIknow

mypainhomepearplaythereheartour

toyvoicewhere

2.What is the difference between this group of sounds and the sounds in 1?

playerfirehourliarroyallowerpower

Which two pairs of words have the same sound?

EXTRA PRATICE MATERIAL (VERY IMPORTANT FOR PASSING YOUR EXAM!!!)

Go to this website address:

- sign in the guest book

- click on “Vowel sounds” (on the left of the screen towards the top)

- click on Index of Minimal Pairs Exercises

- do the exercise to distinguish “coat” v. “court” and “fair” v. “fear”

LESSON 10

WORD FORMATION 1

1.What do these words have in common:

swimrainbicyclecheat

What is the name of this phenomenon?

2.How have the following groups of words been constructed?

a.CNNNATO

b.ping-pongteeny-weeny

c.motelbrunchheliport

d.gasburgerdelimike

e.edittelevisedemo

f.Aussiemovie

f.quackwoof

g.DarwinianBuzz LightyearGaribaldi biscuit

h.nylonaspirin

  1. Which word formation processes have created these words:

-vet

-fantabulous

-Google

-to Google

-doc

-zig-zag

-fahrenheit

-“Sob!”

-hankie

-AIDS

-to biograph

-infotainment

-to party

LESSON 11

LEXICAL SEMANTICS 1 (Lexical relations)

1.Defining words

How would you answer a child who asked :

what does “dog” mean?what does “unicorn” mean?

2.Can we separate units of meaning?

good morning = good + morning (a morning which is good???)

good singer = good + singer (a singer who is good???)

heavy smoker = heavy + smoker (a smoker who is heavy???)

criminal lawyer = criminal + lawyer (a lawyer who is criminal???)

3.How are these words related?daffodiltulip flower pansy rose

What are these relationships called?

Can you organise these words into a hierarchy:

livingvegetableanimal (3) birdfishinsecthuman

4.Match the following words:

enoughinsanerancidsufficientautumnsalt

deepfraternalsodium chloridefreedomendlessmad

fallprofoundbrotherlypurchaselibertyregal

everlastingrottenkinglybuy

  • What is the relations between these words called?
  • Why are there so many of these pairs in the English language?
  • Can two words have exactly the same meaning?

5.Explain the differences in meaning between the following:

fall v. autumnman v. guyliberty v. freedomgovern v. direct / control / determine / run

6.Why is synonymy important for language students?

7.Make some related pairs out of these words

alivebigbuyclumsydeaddexterousdryfirst

hothappyhusbandlargelastlittlemarried

coldoversadsellsinglesmallunderwetwife

  1. pairs which are gradable
  2. pairs which are either/or
  3. pairs which are mutually dependent

8.Write a dictionary definition of the words bank and eye with examples to show different meanings:

  • eye bank

10.Can you think of two or more different meanings of the following?

mail pupil ear face tongue key charge run

If you were writing a dictionary would you classify these words as polysemous or as homonyms?

LESSON 12
CONNECTED SPEECH

1.Strong and weak syllables

a.Can you identify the weak vowels in these words:

fatherhappythank youopen photograph radioinfluence

b.Can you identify the week consonants in these words:

bottleparcelthreatensevenhappen

2.Strong and weak forms

a.Weak or strong?shut the doorwait for the end

I hate that doghe said that he hated the dog

yes, there isthere it is

yes, they canthey can wait

most had gone homeI thought we had

so you shouldI should forget it

he certainly musthe must go

when does he arriveyes, he does

why am I herehe’s not as old as I am

3.Where is the weak form? What is it?

read a bookeat an applecome and seesad but true

better than evertake her homewhat’s your name?what do you think?

leave them herehe’s from Marsmost of allas much as possible

have some tea

4.Assimilation and elision

interestdifferentcollectivepoliticalminister

two to threeback to Londonto meetafter allthis afternoon

going to bemeat piebright colour

EXTRA PRATICE MATERIAL (VERY IMPORTANT FOR PASSING YOUR EXAM!!!)

Go to this website address:

- sign in the guest book

- click on Aspects of connected speech (on the left of the screen towards the top)

- work your way through the explanations and exercises for weak forms, assimilation of place of

articulation, yod coalescence, elision, assimilation of voicing

- do exercise 1 and exercise 2

- look at the section on practical examples

- do the dictation exercises

LESSON 13

WORD FORMATION 2

1.What do these English words mean and what languages are they taken from:

alcoholbosscroissantlilacpiano

robottycoonyoghurtzebrapretzel

Why do we use words from other languages? Why are so many English words used in Italian?

2.What do these words mean and what language are they used in

a.ofiskhobbiboykot

b.rajiokonpyu-takissusuupaamaaketto

c.le zappingle midwifele showbiz

3.What is this process of word formation called?

4.Which came first?

  • French le grattaciel or English skyscraper
  • German Ubermensch or English superman
  • Spanish perros calientes or English hot dogs
  • English boyfriend or Chinese nan (male) pengyu (friend) or Japanese boifurendo

5.Complete the table with the plural forms of these words, as used in English and Italian:

Singular form / Plural in Italian / Plural in English
pizza
hamburger
walkman
panino

6.What do these words mean now and what did they use to mean?

a.thingcompanionbroadcast

b.meatwife

c.villainnotoriousvulgar

d.mischievous

7.How is it possible for word change to come about?

  • Consider the Old English word dogge, which referred to a particular kind of dog. It now has a generic meaning (it refers to all types of dogs). How is this change possible?
  • Consider the word crane (gru) which refers to a bird and the same word crane which now refers to a piece of machinery. How has this kind of polysemy come about?

8.What one thing do these words refer to?What is this kind of language use called?

career change opportunitycoerced transitiondestaffingdownsizingoutplacement

Connect the following

after a long illnesslie

be economical with the truthcancer

adult videostrike

industrial actionpornography

9.What is “politically correct” language?

LESSON 14

SYNTAX 2

Please bring your analysis of these sentences to lesson 12 (see Syntax 1 lesson if you do not know how to do them).

  1. He gave her a kiss
  1. She rewarded him with a kiss.
  1. She paid the money to the cashier.
  1. The porter called George a taxi
  1. The medicine made her ill.
  1. Those unhappy students failed the final exam.
  1. The dog bit the old man on the nose
  1. The woman on the bus told me the story of her life.
  1. He saw the girl in the green park
  1. He saw the girl in the blue dress.

LESSON 15

STRESS

1.When you are listening to speech, how do you know when a syllable is stressed?

2.Can you say these sequences

a.ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:

b. ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:(ba: louder than the others)

c.ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:(ba: longer than the others)

d.ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:(ba: higher or lower than the others)

e.ba:ba:ba:bi:ba:ba:

3.Transcribe:photograph

photographic

photography

Mark the stressed syllables

4.Quiz – mark the stress on these words

applyenterarriveJapanenvyattractassist

equalopenmoneyproductestateballoonhollow

correctentertain

5.Mark the stress

smart cardcar parkswimming poolairbagnightclub

Explain the rule

6.Mark the stress

record (disco)protest (protesta)escort (scorta)import (import)desert (deserto)

record (registrare)protest (protestare)escort (scortare)import (importare)desert (disertare)

Explain the rule

7.Practise

2 seconds

Whatdoyoudo ?

Whatare you going to do ?

What do you think you are going todo ?

LESSON 16

LEXICAL SEMANTICS 2 (Collocation)

1.

a.Which of these lexical combinations is/are acceptable?

commit a murdercommit a taskcommit an investigation

monumental brilliancemonumental stupiditymonumental mistake

high househigh boyhigh mountain

tall housetall boytall building

blond girlblond hairblond door

deep waterprofound water

tremble with feartremble with excitement

quiver with fearquiver with excitement

stiff windstiff breeze

bright daylightbroad daylightnarrow darkness

b.Why are some of these combinations acceptable and not others?

2.

a.Which of these words collocate with pretty and which with handsome?

girlboyovercoatflowervillagetypewriter

airlinecolourcargardenman woman

b.What do the following collocations mean:

green on the jobwhite man

green fruitwhite wine

green with envywhite noise

white coffee

c.Is the meaning of the words green and white different in each case?

d.Why do we say white wine and not yellow wine?

3.Which single word collocates with break/broken, closed, integrated, printed, short

4.Translate the following:

how do you do?

I’m under the weather

to wear your heart on your sleeve

red herring

6.How would you define an idiom? Is it different from a collocation?

LESSON 17

INTONATION

1.“It’s not what he said but the way that he said it”.

2:What is the meaning of these words?

pitchrangetonerisingfallingloudness

2.“Will you marry me?”“Yes”

“Yes”fall“Yes”rise

“Yes”level

“Yes”fall-rise“Yes”rise-fall

3.she was wearing a green dress

she was wearing a green dress not a red one

the Conservatives, who like the proposal, are pleased

the Conservatives who like the proposal are pleased

I’ve got to take the dog for a walk

I’ve got to take the dog to the vet

4.utterancetonetone unittonic syllablehead

pre-headsyllable

a.thesegive me theseg.can you help me?

Bill called to give me theseh.red, brown, yellow

b.they’re coming on Tuesday, aren’t they? i.it won’t hurt

c.in a little less than an hourj.you may be right

d.in an hourk.will you lend it to me

e.in a little less than an hour or twol.all of them

f.that is the end of the newsm.wow!

EXTRA PRATICE MATERIAL (VERY IMPORTANT FOR PASSING YOUR EXAM!!!)

Go to this website address:

- sign in the guest book

- click on Intonation (on the left of the screen towards the top)

- do the exercise on pitch contours