Name: Samantha May S.

Pabustan
Year and Course: BSEd – English 1C

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.

Some additional features of the language are the system of systems which means
that it is made up of several systems, such as the word order system in the grammatical
system, and it can also be described as a set of limitless utterances, enabling an individual
to construct an infinite number of messages.

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.

It would use a synchronic linguistic analysis.

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

or a negative approach? 5pts.

On my own understanding, it is a positive function of language. It is a means of

other linguistics in eliminating the corruption in the language system.

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

ENGLISH LITHUANIAN
“hello” “sveiki”
“how are you?” “kaip laikaisi”
“I’m fine” “man viskas gerai”
“see you later” “pasimatysime vėliau”
“goodbye” “atsisveikink”

5) Can you think of examples of utterances where the expressive function would be much
more prominent than the communicative one? 5pts.
 “I hate you”, “for the love of God”, “how dare you?’, “shut up”, “stop it” are one
of the examples of utterances in the expressive function of language.

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

It means that the ability to learn language is species-specific and emphasized the
role of language as a basic means to investigate the human mind.

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

Synonymy illustrates the paradigmatic relations in 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.

In my usual everyday living, I speak more than to write which implies that speaking
is more essential than writing because it is easier way by means of communicating to each
other. In this connection, I would rather give priority to spoken language.

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.

I have received several forms of confessions in my personal life, but with this
example of context, I would interpret the utterance that the person loves me romantically
and wanted to have a deeper relationship and connection with me. Utterance may have
different interpretations depending on the delivery and tone of the person, and the context
of the situation takes place. For instance, if the person says, “I love you” in a bar or night
club, I would think it is not serious because he might just said it by the reason of being
drunk.
 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 - 4

2) universal - 4

3) sculptures - 7

4) group - 4

5) cure - 3

6) mathematics - 7

7) surgeon - 6

8) word - 3

9) argue - 4

10) wrap - 3

11) sergeant- 7

12) psalmist - 6

13) mailbox - 6

14) prudential - 8

15) starring - 6
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.

I concluded that there are words with the same speech sounds and number of
letters. Exceptions were only observed in words that is subjected to sound combination.

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

phonetic alphabet like the International Phonetic Alphabet? 5pts.

The role of phonetics transcription is to identify the proper pronunciation of a word

based on the standardized phonetic alphabet or International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). It
investigates the perception of pitch and loudness of sounds, and acoustic phonetics, which
looks at the physical characteristics of speech sounds.

3. Describe the sound producing system. 5pts.

The sound producing system is viewed as the process of delivering a thought by

produced sounds through the set of air in motion accompanied by the sound production of
the human body.

4. What is the main difference in articulating voiced and voiceless speech sounds? 5pts.

The articulatory voice requires use of vocal cords to produce sounds while the
voiceless speech sound does not.

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

transcription. Why are they necessary? 5pts.

It is necessary because it helps on attaining the correct pronunciation of the specific

foreign words present in English language.
 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
• park-dark
• tale-tail
• map-nap
• cut-cat
• screen-scream
• ben-ban
• fleet-flesh
• tale-pale
• knack-nap

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

Phoneme uses a variety of letters or words but in similar sounds and significant and non-
predictable, while on the other hand, allophone that apply a variety of sounds and are non-
significant and predictable.

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

Aspiration is not a distinctive feature in English because though it adds another audible
breath, it still does not create another phoneme that is distinct or different. For example, between
/p/ and /ph/ does not change meaning.

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.

Accidental gap, also called lexical gap is the gap created by the existing words in a
country that are not present in the other nations. On the other hand, systematic gap looks into the
gap in the systems of language where one creates a distinction by not including the words of the
other country as it is not align with their established syntactic rules. An exampleof the lexical or
accidental gap are words in English such as "jewelry" and "a zoo" that is translated in Lithuanian
as a multi-word expression such as "juvelyriniai dirbiniai" and "zoologijos sodas". This is due to
the words in English that are non-existing on Lithuanian.

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

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

The pronunciation of Japanese to the letters /R/ and /L/ sounds. Another is sound that do
not exist in English such as the clicking sounds in Ju/'hoansi that serve as the consonant of their
language.
 Lesson 4

Exercise 1

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

1) – ful thoughtful adjective

2) in – indecisive adjective

3) – able negotiable adjective

4) re – reschedule verb

5) – ize synthesize verb

6) ex – ex-husband noun

7) – ly faithfully adverb

8) im– immigration noun

9) – en wooden adjective

10) un – unfinished adjective

Exercise 2

Indicate prefixes and suffixes in the given words.

1) implant (V) im- (prefix)

2) controllable (Adj) -able (suffix)

3) verbal (Adj) -al (suffix)

4) preschooler (N) pre- (prefix) ; -er (suffix)

5) thoughtful (Adj) -ful (suffix)

6) reschedule (V) re- (prefix)

7) slowly (Adv) -ly (suffix)

8) thirsty (Adj) -y (suffix)

9) co-star (N) co- (prefix)

10) stuffing (N) -ing (suffix)

11) cookie(N) -ie (suffix)

12) disobey (V) dis- (prefix)

13) cooker (N) -er (prefix)

14) underground (N) under- (prefix)

15) cookery (N) -ery (suffix)

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.

The words in English numbers and in Lithuanian somehow resemble one another
in some pronunciation such as three for "trys" in Lithuanian and six "sesi" in Lithuanian.
But the Lithuanian numbers apply a certain affection such as "lika" in numbers above ten
and less than nineteen, such as "trylika" or thirteen in English and "sesiolika" or sixteen in
English.

2. Conversion is very productive in present-day English but not in Lithuanian. Why? 5pts.

It is because Lithuanian is non-lexical and fixed, thus it does not accept all changes
that are new, which makes its conversion less effective in English.

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

CLIPPINGS BLENDINGS

celebrity – celebs biography + picture = biopic

hippopotamus – hippo gleam + shimmer = glimmer
information – info camera + recorder = camcorder
laboratory – lab smack + mash = smash
rhinoceros – rhino smoke + fog = smog

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

FRIENDS’ GUESSES OF MEANINGS

Boing sound of a huge bell

Whir sound of a strong wind like a tornado

Creak sound of a broken wooden piece such as door or cabinet

Crackle sound of eating a crispy or crunchy food

Screech sound of scream

ACTUAL MEANING

Boing refers to the sound made by a bouncing or springing motion.

Whir to represent a frequently annoying sound, “whir” may call to mind a

mechanical rotation–type sound

Creak to make a high, groaning sound, like a rusty gate swinging shut

Crackle short, dry, sharp sounds made by something such as crackling of a fire

Screech considered even rougher on the ears than a scream, a screech is a hallmark
of horror movie victims but can also be let out by, say, a vengeful bird of
prey.
 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.)

A(article)
woman(noun)
was(auxiliary verb)
injured(verb)
in(preposition)
the(article)
accident(noun)
and(conjunction)
was(auxiliary verb)
taken(verb)
to(preposition)
hospital(noun)

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

If(conjunction)
you(pronoun)
commit(verb)
a(article)
serious(adjective)
crime(noun)
you(pronoun)
could(auxiliary verb)
be(verb)
sent(verb)
to(preposition)
prison(noun)

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

A(article)
couple(noun)
were(auxiliary verb)
drinking(verb)
tea(noun)
at(preposition)
a(article)
table(noun)
by(preposition)
the(article)
window(noun)

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

Susan(noun)
gave(verb)
an(article)
amused(adjective)
laugh(verb)

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

We(pronoun)
got(verb)
there(adverb)
at(preposition)
about(adverb)
five(adjective)
o’clock(noun)

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

He(pronoun)
got(verb)
into(preposition)
the(article)
car(noun)
quickly(adverb)
and(conjunction)
drove(verb)
off(adverb)

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

The(article)
tourists(noun)
left(verb)
the(article)
lake(noun)
and(conjunction)
climbed(verb)
higher(adverb)
 8) The girl who came into the room was small and slender. (5pts.)

The(article)
girl(noun)
who(pronoun)
came(verb)
into(preposition)
the(article)
room(noun)
was(auxiliary verb)
small(adjective)
and(conjunction)
slender(adjective)

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

The(article)
older(adjective)
men(noun)
couldn’t(auxiliary verb)
find(verb)
a(article)
job(noun)
if(conjunction)
they(pronoun)
left(verb)
the(article)
village(noun)

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

Stay(verb)
with(preposition)
me(pronoun)
until(preposition)
I(pronoun)
go(verb)
 Lesson 6

Exercise 1

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

1) long – short : antonymy

2) lucky – fortunate : synonymy

3) casual – informal : synonymy

4) free – independent : synonymy

5) instantly – immediately : synonymy

6) promote – downgrade : antonymy

7) rebellious – obedient : antonymy

8) above – below : antonymy

9) give – take : antonymy

10) private – public : antonymy

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 means to ascertain by the usage of one's eyes while watch is to observe as a
spectator. On the other hand, gaze means to fix the eyes in a steady intent look often with
eagerness or studious attention and stare means to look fixedly often with wide-open eyes.
Scrutinize means to examine closely and minutely, while peep is to peer through or as if
through a crevice.

2) lazy, idle, sluggish, languid

Lazy means disinclined to activity or exertion while idle means vacancy of works
or no work/employed at all. On the other hand, sluggish means markedly slow in
movement, flow, or growth and languid means drooping or flagging from or as if from
exhaustion.
3) clever, intelligent, intellectual, brainy, smart, bright

Clever means mentally quick and resourceful while intelligent means having or
indicating a high or satisfactory degree of knowledge. On the other hand, intellectual refers
to a person with high intellect that use intelligence in a less emotional way, while brainy
refers to having or showing a well-developed intellect. Smart means having or showing a
high degree of mental ability and bright means an intellectual idea that is rather radiating
and clear and simple intellect.

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) : Homonyms

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) :
Homographs

4) rose (a flower) – rose (the past tense of rise) : Homonyms

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) : Homonyms

Exercise 4

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

English is a language that developed as a result of historical language contact, and

as a result, it frequently borrows terms from other languages and uses multiple words to
explain or symbolize the same concept.
 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.)

It will be difficult, for as explained and mentioned in the module, most words are
not homogenous. Componential analysis only focuses on referential meaning. In other
words, it is only concerned with the relation between the lexical unit and the referent, and
the meanings of lexemes which refer to objects. Means there are words that possess more
than one meaning that makes the words difficult to understand in a simple ways
construction.

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.)

Dark, Gloomy, Bleak, Murky

Dark describes something that is depressing or evil, while gloomy refers to having
a frowning or scowling appearance. Bleak refers to lacking in warmth, like, or kindness,
while murky means something that is not clear and that might involve deception.

4. Sentence semantics is also called truth-conditional semantics. How do you understand this term?
(5pts.)

Truth-conditional semantics is based on the truth-conditioned theory of meaning.

The truth-conditioned theory of meaning is based on the Study of Davidson on 1984 which
states that by truth conditional, the meanings of proposition is given by its truth. The
sentence semantics considers only the actual meaning of the words and sentence without
considering the context.
 Lesson 7

Exercise 1

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

1) gink - a foolish, unworldly, or socially inept man.

2) poker face - an inscrutable face that reveals no hint of a person's thoughts or feelings.

3) rumpot - someone who drinks to excessiveness and becomes increasingly violent with each
drink.

4) soup - having difficulties; in trouble.

5) ginzo - offensive term for a person of Italian descent.

6) wet - someone who has a weak character and does not express any forceful opinions.

7) never-was (never-wuz) - defensive term used when someone accuses you of a foul action or
attribute.

8) cotton - to have a very urgent or desperate need to defecate.

9) jail bait - a term used for an underage person who may seem attractive to people that are
currently the age of consent or above.

10) joy rider - a person who drives fast and dangerously for pleasure, especially in a stolen
vehicle.

11) dizzy - a slang term for crazy or mad.

12) D and D - do not disturb: used as a privacy notification or function for many digital devices
and applications. Dungeons and Dragons.

13) frump - somebody who is unattractive, drab or dowdy.

14) cool out - to make or become relaxed, calm, mollified, etc.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

7) I’m busy; please (go away/depart).

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

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

10) She is (insane/nuts).