Unit 2 (Written Output/Activity)

Answer the following questions in every lesson (Lesson 1-7)

Lesson 1

1) Some features common to all natural languages have been mentioned in the notes.
Can you think of some additional properties that unite all languages? 5pts.

•Arbitrariness •Cultural transmission •Discreteness •Displacement •Duality

•Productivity

2) If a researcher decided to analyze the English language of the period when

Shakespeare wrote his most famous tragedies, would it be a synchronic or diachronic
linguistic analysis? 5pts.

•Both Diachronic and Synchronic linguistic analysis would be used. The study of
languages from the perspective of their historical evolution is known as dichronic
analysis. Synchronic linguistic research, on the other hand, focuses on a single
point in time. I believe that both linguistic and historical analyses are required
because Shakespeare's leg endings cannot be recorded in a single chronology.
The worth of such a literary work can be accurately assessed; it is simply limited
to being analyzed at one moment in time. As a literary phenomenon, it must be
given respect across several timelines because it cannot be placed in a box at
any moment in time.

3) Explain how you understand prescriptiveness in linguistics. In your opinion, is it a

positive or a negative approach? 5pts.

•Language prescriptiveness is a desirable approach in my opinion. Language

should not be used solely in the classroom; it should also be utilized as a tool to
determine the correct values of children, particularly those still in school. The
educational institution's responsibility extends beyond intellectual development
to the construction of moral principles, which are required to mold a child as a
valued entity in modern society. As a result, it must be permitted to employ
linguistics in its prescriptive form as a method of instruction in educational
institutions.

4) Give expressions, both in English and Lithuanian, which would be examples of the
phatic function of language. 5pts.

•Phatic communication, often known as small chat, is the non-referential use of

language to convey feelings or develop a sociable mood rather than to
communicate information or ideas. Further, Phatic expressions are also used on
different communication platforms on the internet such as social media networks
where certain platforms require and prompt certain actions to be made between
users to communicate or implicate certain messages between people without
direct utterances. Examples for this would be: 'likes', comments/replies,
shares/re-blogs, emoji use, etc.

5) Can you think of examples of utterances where the expressive function would be
much more prominent than the communicative one? 5pts.

•Examples: “I miss you”, “I hate you”, “I love you”, “Phatic (Hello?)”, “Poetic
(Smurf)”

6) How do you understand the innateness of language? 5pts.

•According to Noam Chomsky, innateness of language means that language is

inherent in people from birth. In contrast to the principle that language is
acquired and learnt, the doctrine of innateness of language states that language
is inherent in every human being from birth. Humans have the ability to
communicate even before they are educated, and they were intended to do so in a
facultative manner.

7) Does synonymy illustrate paradigmatic or syntagmatic relations in language? 5pts.

•Syntagmatic linguistics examines the process through which small fragments of

language combine to generate bigger meaningful parts. A paradigmatic relation is
a form of semantic relation between words that can be replaced by another word
from the same category. As a result, word synonymy exemplifies the
paradigmatic relationships of language.

8) Think about your usual working day. Do you speak more or do you write more? In
this connection, would you give priority to spoken or written language? 5pts.

•I prefer to speak rather than write. However, my focus is not solely on spoken
language. I also prioritize writing since I've been keeping a notebook to record my
emotions. As a result, both spoken and written language take precedence.

9) (Advanced) If someone you know says to you over a glass of wine on a Saturday
evening “I love you”, how would you interpret the utterance? In other words, can the
utterance have other interpretations apart from its direct meaning and how some
interpretations may depend on the context of the situation? 5pts.

•This one appears to have been discharged as a result of sensual love so I’d say
the same thing to him.
Yes, utterances take on different meanings depending on the situation. The same
must be applied to the conditions in which the language was spoken.

Lesson 2

Exercise 1

How many speech sounds are there in the following words? You can use a dictionary to
check your answers.

Example: cat – 3; book – 3; rattle – 4.

1) porch – 5

2) universal – 8

3) sculptures – 9

4) group – 4

5) cure – 3

6) mathematics – 9

7) surgeon - 5

8) word - 4

9) argue - 5

10) wrap - 3

11) sergeant - 7

12) psalmist - 6

13) mailbox - 7

14) prudential - 9

15) starring - 7
Exercise 2

Questions and tasks:

1. What conclusion can you make about the relationship between the number of letters
and the number of speech sounds in the analyzed English words? 5pts.

•There are 26 written letters in standard English, however there are 44 sounds.
There are 24 consonants and 20 vowels in these phonemes. The consonants
mostly correlate to the letters they represent (‘b,' ‘d,' ‘f,' etc.), although some
distinguish between the various sounds that ‘th,' for example, can make (e.g., in
‘the' and ‘thanks'). In English, phonemes are used to express sounds that are not
represented by individual letters, such as the ‘zh' sound in words like vision and
leisure. Short sounds (like the ‘a' in ‘cat' or the ‘o' in ‘hot'), long sounds (like the
sound in the center of phrases like ‘wall,' ‘farm,' ‘horse,' ‘room,' etc.) and
diphthongs (or gliding vowels) in words like ‘sound,' ‘chair,' ‘ear,' etc.) make up
the vowel phonemes. This suggests that pronunciation is a major stumbling
block for English as a second language students, particularly with vowel sounds,
where a single letter can be pronounced in a variety of ways and the
pronunciation of a word is rarely inferred from its spelling - cough, rough,
though, thought, through, and so on.

2. What is the role of phonetic transcription? Why is it important to have a standardized

phonetic alphabet like the International Phonetic Alphabet? 5pts.

•Primarily, the purpose of a "standardized phonetic alphabet," as you describe it,

is to provide a basic set of symbols that can be used to represent sounds in such
a way that the symbols always represent those sounds, providing a stable base
of pronunciation and making it easier for people of various lingual backgrounds.
However, the International Phonetic Alphabet intended to reflect only the aspects
of speech that are not part of written language; examples include phones,
phonemes, intonation, and the separation of words and syllables. This could also
indicate additional features of speech such as tooth gnashing during speech,
lisping, and noises created with a cleft lip and cleft palate, which is a more
extensive collection of symbols. The sound represented by an IPA symbol is
frequently interpreted by the sound's place of articulation and mode of
articulation.

3. Describe the sound producing system. 5pts.

•The process of converting thoughts into speech. This comprises the selection of
words, the structuring of important grammatical forms, and the motor system's
articulation of the resulting sounds via the vocal apparatus.
4. What is the main difference in articulating voiced and voiceless speech sounds? 5pts.

•When articulating voiced sounds, the vocal folds in the larynx are activated. For
voiceless speech sounds, the vocal folds aren’t stimulated.

5. (Advanced) Diacritics are additional markings on the written symbols in phonetic    

transcription. Why are they necessary?  5pts.

•Diacritics are used in various writing systems, not just International Phonetic
Alphabet. The "basic" International Phonetic Alphabet is relatively accurate,
however it cannot capture all conceivable pronunciation variations. When
appropriate, diacritics are employed to offer more "precise" information. Specific
articulation/co-articulation traits, consonant release, or phonation features are
only a few examples.

Lesson 3

Answer the following questions.

1. Which of the following words could make minimal pairs? 5pts.

flesh, map, park, tool, Ben, cut, tale, knack, pale, dark, screen, dare, fleet, fresh,
ban, nap, scream, cat, tail

•flesh-fresh, map-nap, park-dark, cut-cat, tale-tail,

2. What is the difference between an allophone and a phoneme? 5pts.

•A phoneme is when different sounds are placed in the same context and the
meaning of the word changes, whereas an allophone is when different sounds are
placed in the same environment but the meaning of the word does not change.

3. Why is aspiration not a distinctive feature in English? 5pts.

•Aspiration is not a distinctive feature because adding aspiration to /k/ does not
result in a new phoneme as in with voicing. Phonemes can be expressed in either
phonemic or phonetic form.

4. Explain the difference between accidental and systematic gaps in the inventory of
possible English words. Think of your own examples of accidental and/or systematic
gaps both in English and Lithuanian. 5pts.
•Systematic gaps and accidental gaps are not the same thing. The former are
words that do not exist in one language because to the parameters set by a
language's morphological, phonological, and other norms. Because the criteria
for word creation in English need a mix of vowels and consonants, a word like
/pfnk/ cannot be included in the English vocabulary. However, this is a systematic
rather than a lexical gap. The string /pek/ meets English word construction
standards, however it is not recognized an English word. In theory, this should be
a term, but it isn't in the English language, indicating an accidental or lexical gap.

Example of accidental gaps: deforestation - kirtimas/deginimas (miðko tam

tikrame rajone)

Example of systematic gaps: obstruent - mob

5. (Advanced) Contrasts of phonemes are language-specific. Find examples of

phoneme contrasts from different languages that are not found in English. 5pts.

•Example: -On a laissé la fenêtre ouverte. (French) Meaning : "We left the window
open."

-Kauia, Maui, Samoa (Polynesian phonemes)

Lesson 4

Exercise 1

What parts of speech are formed with the following derivational affixes? Give an
example with each affix.

1) – ful •(hopeful)

2)   in – •(incapable)

3) – able  •(floatable)

4)   re – •(reenact)

5) – ize •(publicize)

6)   ex – •(exstipulate)

7) – ly •(likely)

8)   im– •(imperfect)
9) – en •(golden)

10) un – •(unable)

Exercise 2

Indicate prefixes and suffixes in the given words.

1) implant (V)  •im-

2) controllable (Adj) •-able

3) verbal (Adj)  •-al

4)  preschooler (N) •pre-

5) thoughtful (Adj)  •-ful

6) reschedule (V) •re-

7) slowly (Adv)  •-ly

8)  thirsty (Adj) •-y

9) co-star (N)  •co-

10) stuffing (N) •-ing

11) cookie(N)  •-ie

12)  disobey (V) •dis-

13) cooker (N)  •-er

14)  underground (N) •under-

15) cookery (N)  •-ery

Exercise 3

1. Compare English and Lithuanian inflections. What can you say about their numbers?
What kinds of inflections exist in Lithuanian but are absent in English? 5pts.

•Modern Lithuanian is defined by two loanword usage tendencies: active use of

existing and accepted loanwords and introduction of new loanwords from West
European languages, the majority of which come from English. According to the
findings, Lithuanian has taken a large number of English loanwords. The
loanword examples show that when a loanword arises in the target language, it
begins to be used and usually adapts to the phonological and morphological
systems of the Lithuanian language. Non-typical foreign word inflections are
deleted, while some Lithuanian inflections are frequently added. Many English
feminine and masculine noun loanwords have been introduced into the
Lithuanian language. In Lithuanian, male loanwords from English have the
inflections -as, -is. Foreign masculine loanwords are declined according to the
first declension. Furthermore, masculine nouns are declinable words that can be
declined in seven different ways. Foreign feminine loanwords acquire ends such
as -a, - and are declined according to the second declension.

2. Conversion is very productive in present-day English but not in Lithuanian. Why?

5pts.

•The 3rd person is no longer considered to have an ending by modern Lithuanian

grammarians; instead, it is now referred to as the "final stem vowel," to which a
personal ending is connected to form the 1st and 2nd persons. In practice,
however, attaching the appropriate ending to the 3rd person stem is not
straightforward and necessitates extra conversion; for example, if the 3rd person
stem ends in -a, attaching the ending -u to make the 1st person form results in -u
rather than the expected -au. Furthermore, in the third person, many important
forms have deleted the final vowel (future tense, conditional mood), although the
forms for other people are still formed with the stem vowel in mind (dirbti to work,
dirbs he will work, dirbsime we will work).

3. Using a dictionary, find five examples of clipping and five examples of blending. Write
your answers below. 5pts.

•example of clipping: (Mathematics – math, Examination – exam, Gasoline – gas,

Alligator – gator, Advertisement – ad)

•example of blending: (Emoticon – emotion and icon, Brunch – breakfast and lunch,
Smog – smoke and fog, Frenemy – friend and enemy, Sitcom – situation and comedy)

4. Find five less known onomatopoeic words and ask your friends to guess their
meanings. 5pts.

•crash, gurgle, boom, growl, whack

 Lesson 5

Determine what part of speech each word in the given sentences represents.
1) A woman was injured in the accident and was taken to hospital. (5pts.)

•woman, hospital – noun, was injured, was taken – verb, to – preposition, and –
conjunction

2) If you commit a serious crime, you could be sent to prison. (5pts.)

•if – conjunction, you – pronoun, commit, could be sent – verb, to – preposition,

prison – noun

3) A couple were drinking tea at a table by the window. (5pts)

•A, the – determiner, couple – noun, were drinking – verb, at, by – preposition,
table, window – noun,

4) Susan gave an amused laugh. (5pts.)

•Susan – noun, gave – verb, an – determiner, amused laugh - adverb

5) We got there at about five o’clock. (5pts.)

•We, five – noun, got – verb, there – adverb, at, about– preposition, o’clock – adverb

6) He got into the car quickly and drove off. (5pts.)

•He, car – noun, got, drove off – verb, into – preposition, the – determiner,
quickly – adverb, and – conjunction

7) The tourists left the lake and climbed higher. (5pts.)

•The – determiner, tourists, lake – noun, left, climbed – verb, and – conjunction,
higher - adverb

8) The girl who came into the room was small and slender. (5pts.)

•The – determiner, girl – noun, who – pronoun, came, was – verb, into – preposition,
small, slender – adjective, and - conjunction

9) The older men couldn’t find a job if they left the village. (5pts.)

•The, a – determiner, men, job, village – noun, older - adjective, couldn’t – adverb,
find, left – verb, if – conjunction, they – pronoun,

10) Stay with me until I go. (5pts.)

•Stay, go – verb, with – preposition, me, I – pronoun, until – preposition

 Lesson 6

Exercise 1

Determine whether the given pairs of words represent synonymy or antonymy.

1) long – short  •antonym

2) lucky – fortunate •synonym

3) casual – informal •synonym

4) free – independent •synonym

5) instantly – immediately •synonym

6) promote – downgrade •antonym

7) rebellious – obedient •antonym

8) above – below •antonym

9) give – take •antonym

10) private – public •antonym

Exercise 2

Linguists say that synonyms are never completely equivalent in their meaning. Check
the definitions of the given synonyms in a dictionary and determine their meaning
differences.

1) look, watch, gaze, stare, scrutinize, peep

•look - to direct your eyes in a particular direction, watch -  look attentively, gaze - to

look steadily, stare - to look fixedly often with wide-open eyes, scrutinize - to
examine closely and minutely, peep - to look cautiously or slyly

2) lazy, idle, sluggish, languid

•lazy - averse or disinclined to work, idle – not working or active, sluggish - indisposed
to action or exertion, languid - lacking in vigor or vitality

3) clever, intelligent, intellectual, brainy, smart, bright

•clever – mentally bright, intelligent - having good understanding or a high mental

capacity, intellectual - of or relating to the ability to think in a logical way, brainy -
having or showing a well-developed intellect, smart - very good at learning or thinking
about things, bright - intelligent and quick-witted

Exercise 3

Mark the following pairs of words as homophones, homographs or homonyms. (Check

the pronunciation of the words).

1) bat (animal) – bat (wooden implement) •homographs

2) route (a way from one place to another) – root (the part of a plant under the ground)
•homophones

3) bow (to bend the top part of your body) – bow (a weapon used for shooting arrows)
•homonyms

4) rose (a flower) – rose (the past tense of rise) •homographs

5) bear (an animal) – beer (a drink) •homophones

6) bear (animal) – bear (to bravely accept a difficult situation) •homonyms

7) race (running) – race (one of the main groups that people can be divided into)
•homographs

Exercise 4

1. English is very rich in synonyms. The fact is related to the English language history.
Can you explain this relationship? (5pts.)

•Primarily as a result of the influence of very different language groups:

Germanic, Romance Languages and Greek.

2. (Advanced) Componential analysis helps to analyze groups of words with related

meanings. But it is not easily applicable to all kinds of words. What words would be
difficult or even impossible to analyze using this method? Why? (5pts.)
•cousin = <PARENT...<>SIBLING...>PARENT since it has multiple meanings
depending on how the statement is used, it will still confuse some of us.

3. (Advanced) Using a dictionary of synonyms, choose a synonymic set of four – five

words and compare their meanings. Then check their typical usage in a dictionary of
collocations. (5pts.)

•beautiful- pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically (We did all we can to make
the room beautiful.)

•attractive- pleasing or appealing to the sensed (She had grown more attractive
with age.)

•pretty- attractive in a delicate way without being truly beautiful or handsome

(What a pretty girl!)

•good looking- attractive (He was tall and quite good-looking.)

4. Sentence semantics is also called truth-conditional semantics. How do you

understand this term? (5pts.)

•Since it is a theory of the meaning of natural language statements and it

considers the language-world relationship to be the primary interest of
semantics, rather than the language mind relationship.

 Lesson 7

Exercise 1

Using a dictionary of slang, find out the meanings of the following words.

1) gink   - a person; fellow.

2) poker face - an impassive expression that hides one's true feelings

3) rumpot - an alcoholic

4) soup - a liquid food

5) ginzo -  a person of Italian extraction

6) wet - covered or saturated with water or another liquid

7) never-was (never-wuz) - A person who has never been great, distinguished, or
useful

8) cotton - to begin to understand something

9) jail bait - A girl too young for sexual advances

10) joy rider - someone who steals cars in order to drive around in them at high
speed

11) dizzy - foolish, silly

12) D and D – Dungeons and Dragons

13) frump – a dowdy unattractive girl or woman

14) cool out – to make or become relaxed, calm

 15) dress to kill – wearing very fancy or attractive clothes

Exercise 2

In the following sentences choose a less formal word. 

1) Tom and Jack (ascended/went up) the hill. •went up

2) He had great difficulty with his (breathing/respiration) as he was lying on the grass.
•breathing

3) I’ve decided to ask my (boss/manager) for a pay rise. •boss

4) It is lunchtime. I feel rather (hungry/peckish). •hungry

5) Their (kids/children) are all really (clever/brainy). •kids, brainy

6) The road conditions are always pretty (risky/dicey) after a sudden frost. •risky

7) I’m busy; please (go away/depart). •go away

8) She’s just (nipped/gone) out to get some milk. •gone

9) He is a very (faint-hearted/pusillanimous) person. •faint-hearted

10) She is (insane/nuts). •insane