1 курс / English For Philology Students

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Non-standard English is the English used by the people with little or no education, it is nearly always spoken, seldom written, except in fiction which reproduces this type of speech. It is characterized by the misuse of words, the use of non-standard words, and the corruption of what is now considered a correct or conventional grammatical form. Another characteristic of non-standard English is its limited vocabulary. Slang is an important part of non-standard English and, indeed, of language in general. Most slang is, however, by its very nature3, short-lived.

Within the area of standard English three levels are generally recognized now: they are called formal English, informal English and colloquial English.

Formal English is the English, more often written than spoken, used by highly educated people in formal situations. One finds examples of formal English in scholarly articles and theses, in formal letters and public addresses4, and poetry. Contractions and colloquial expressions are avoided in formal style, grammar and usage are generally conservative. A wide and exact vocabulary is an important characteristic of formal English.

Informal English is the English most commonly written or spoken by educated people. Lectures for unspecialized audiences, informal essays, business letters and most current novels, short stories and plays are written in informal English. In vocabulary and sentence style informal English is less formal and elaborate than formal English, its sentences being shorter and simpler.

Colloquial English is conversational English, more often spoken than written. It has short sentences and casual constructions and vocabulary of the everyday relaxed speech of educated people. Colloquial English is personal and familiar in tone.

Notes:

1)ranging from ... to – от ... до

2)English we use – английский язык, которым мы пользуемся

3)by its very nature – по самой своей природе

4)public addresses – публичные выступления

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Varieties of English

English is not a single language, it varies according to forms of communication (spoken or written), speech situations (formal – informal), functional styles (language of science – literary language), geographical areas (British English (BE) – American English (AE)).

In writing we usually have time to plan our message, to think about it carefully and revise it if necessary. The language of science belongs mostly to formal written communication, it is usually objective1, precise and unemotional. Some of the common features of the language of science are passive constructions, sentences beginning with introductory “it” (e.g. It is important to remember.)

Formal language is the type of language we use publicly for some serious purpose, for example, in official reports and business letters. Informal language is the language of private conversation, of popular newspapers, of personal letters. In English there are many differences of vocabulary between formal and informal language. Much of the vocabulary of formal English is of French, Latin and Greek origin. Many phrasal and prepositional verbs are characteristic of informal style:

находить, открывать	to discover/to find out
записывать	to write/to put down
исследовать	to investigate/to look into

English is spoken as a native language by nearly three hundred million people. The varieties of English used in the USA and Great Britain are the most important in terms of2 population and influence.

The British first came to the American continent at the beginning of the 17-th century. As time went on Americans began to use different

English words for the same things. For example, instead of “petrol” Americans use “gas”, instead of “child” they use “kid”. One of the differences is the spelling of words. Americans stopped using “u” in words like “colour”, “honour”, but the British kept using it. The grammatical differences between two varieties of English are not very great. Here is one example:

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I have got a sister. – BE

Have you got a sister? – BE

Do you have a sister? – AE

There are many suggestions to simplify English by changing the spelling system. But people think that there are too many problems connected with the change of the spelling rules.

Notes:

1.it (the language of science) is objective – он

(язык науки) беспристрастен 2.in terms of – с точки зрения

12. Read the text and name all the differences between British and American English.

Some Specific Features of American English

The pronunciation of American English and the pronunciation of British English are similar. The general impression of American English pronunciation is as follows:

American English intonation does not rise or fall as much as that of British English, it sounds more monotonous.

American voices usually have a higher pitch. That is why American English often seems too emphatic and American voices seem louder than those of British speakers.

American pronunciation is more nasalized.

There are certain differences in the pronunciation of vowels and

consonants.

Though British and American spelling is the same in most cases, it differs in a few details, which sometimes leads an unexperienced student to failures in his attempts to find some unknown words in the dictionary.

If a student looks for the word “reflexion” in a small dictionary, he may be unable to identify the word, unless he recollects that there may be some differences in spelling, and that the American “exion” looks “ection” in the British usage.

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The changes introduced into the American variety of English are to be found in grammar and structure as well, but they are especially evident in the vocabulary. Some English words have developed new meanings, and many of these are traceable to the development of American institutions and American ways of life. Yet the striking feature of American English innovations is their close correspondence to characteristics of the temperament and the ways of life of the people who developed them.

British English	American English
minister	secretary
car	automobile
secondary school	high school
biscuits	cookies
flat	apartment
form (school)	grade
lift	elevator
post	mail
pavement	sidewalk
lorry	truck
tram	street-car
petrol	gasoline (gas)
wash up	do the dishes
wash your hands	wash up

There are many lists of equivalent British and American words, but they must not be taken too seriously. On the American side of the page will be many words and phrases perfectly well understood, many of them in use, in Britain. Thus, most of them would not cause any serious confusion on either side.

Americans do not usually say “first floor” for “second floor”, they do not call a “trillion” a “billion”. But most educated Americans are quite aware of the British equivalents. Valid differences in the use of words are not really very numerous or very significant.

13. Look through the day descriptions by an American and a British girl, spot all the differences in the language used.

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Judith (USA)

I got up at seven-thirty. I put on my bath robe, went into the bathroom and turned on the bath-tub faucets. After my bath I ate breakfast with my parents on the deck. Our apartment‟s on the fifteenth floor, so the view‟s terrific. At eight o‟clock my mom and I took the elevator to the parking lot underneath our apartment block. First we stopped for gas, then she drove me to school. The freeway was really busy – automobiles everywhere. When I got to school it was raining. Luckily I‟d brought my galoshes and an umbrella, so I didn‟t get wet.

School was OK except that we had a math test before recess. I think I flunked it. Anyway, after school I took a bus downtown to meet my sister, Susan. She became a grade school teacher after she left college last year. We ate out at a Chinese restaurant. Personally I don‟t like rice, so I ordered French-fries instead. Susan disapproved. After dessert and coffee we paid the check and left. It had stopped raining, but the sidewalks were still wet. Susan gave me a ride home, then I did a history assignment for the next day, watched a movie on TV and went to bed around 11:30. I was pooped!

Kathy (Great Britain)

I got up at half past seven. I put on my dressing gown, went into the bathroom and turned on the bath taps. After my bath I had breakfast with my parents on the terrace. Our flat‟s on the fifteenth floor, so the view‟s terrific. At eight o‟clock my mum and I took the lift to the car park under our block of flats. First we stopped for petrol, then she drove me to school. The motorway was really busy – cars everywhere. When I got to school it was raining. Luckily, I‟d brought my Wellington boots and an umbrella, so I didn‟t get wet.

School was OK, except that we had a maths exam before break. I think I failed it. Anyway, after school I took a bus to the city centre to meet my sister, Susan. She became a primary school teacher after she left university last year. We went out for dinner to a Chinese restaurant.

Personally I don‟t like rice, so I ordered chips instead. Susan disapproved. After sweet and coffee we paid the bill and left. It had stopped raining but the pavements were still wet. Susan gave me a lift home, then I did some history homework for the next day, watched a film on TV and went to bed at about half past eleven. I was really tired.

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14.Choose any point of the following and speak on it.

1)English as a worldwide language.

2)The origin and history of the English language.

3)Basic characteristics of English.

4)Varieties of English.

5)The necessity for studying English and problems of learning it.

15.Read the text and translate it into Russian. Choose one passage to translate it in writing.

Dialects of English

A nasty shock awaits many visitors to Britain. Imagine that you have learnt English for years, you can read newspapers and you have no problem following the television, but when you go into a fish and chip shop in Newcastle, you can not understand a word they are saying. The language has been standardized for a very long time, and regional dialects in Britain have largely died out – far more so than in Italy or Germany, for example. That is to say, the vocabulary of the dialects has died out, but the accents and a few bits of distinctive grammar remain. It is the accent which gives the visitor a problem in the fish and chip shop. Some accents are so strong that they present problems for British people, too. Variations within Britain are so great that accents from New York or Texas are often easier to follow than ones from Liverpool or Glasgow.

It is mostly the vowels which differ from one dialect to another. In Manchester, shut rhymes with put, and in the south it rhymes with but. Intonation patterns also differ between regions.

There is a kind of standard British English pronunciation, based in a confusing way on class and geography. It is the accent of the south-east, but not that of London itself. It could be said that the upper classes have the dialect of their own, with a pronunciation known as RP (Received Pronunciation). The majority of middle-class people speak a sort of classless, democratic version of RP, with a slight admixture of the local regional accents.

People‟s attitudes to the various regional accents depend on a whole range of historical and social factors. The Birmingham accent is consi-

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dered ugly, cockney is associated with criminals, Scottish is thought of as serious and sensible, Irish as poetic. An interesting case is that of the so-called Westcountry accent. This comes from the south and west, which is the least industrial region; consequently the accent is identified with farm-workers, sometimes considered stupid by city folk. While all other varieties of English have been increasingly accepted on mainstream television and radio, Westcountry remains the Cinderella among accents, confined to comedy and gardening programmes.

To see the likely direction of change for the future, we need to look at the speech of young people. Here we find several interesting developments. One is a spread of a light London accent over much of the country – especially in areas like the West Country where it replaces the lowprestige local accent. Another is an openness, through the media, to American and Australian influences. The Australian effect is quite recent, and results from the huge popularity of Australian TV soap operas Neighbours and Home and Away. Strangely enough, this does not usually mean the adoption of vocabulary: nobody says sidewalk instead of pavement, or gas instead of petrol, however many American films they watch. It is rather the phrases, idioms and grammatical forms which are contagious. No way has caught on, as in the form: “No way am I going to go out with him”. The use of the word like as a sentence-filler has become very common: “She was like really upset, and she just like walked out”.

Americans and Australians sometimes use a rising, question-type intonation on statements, often in the middle or at the end of sentences: “I spoke with my teacher (rising intonation), and he said I had to redo the test”. This is used to engage the attention of the listener; it means “Do you remember my teacher?” or “Are you listening?” To the great dismay of the older generation, this intonation is becoming very popular in Britain.

Conversational formulas

Opinion

I believe (think) that … – Я полагаю (думаю), что …

In my opinion … – По моему мнению …

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I am convinced that … – Я убежден, что …

It seems to me that … – Мне кажется, что …

There‟s no doubt that … – Нет сомнения, что …

I‟d like to point out that … – Хотелось бы отметить, что …

16.Interview your partner and find out:

a)about his/ her way of learning languages;

b)about his/ her suggestions for effective learning;

c)about the most important things in his/ her learning English.

17.Discuss the similarities and differences in grammar of the Russian and English languages.

18.Give a talk on the topic “The English We Learn”.

Word Formation

The most common word suffixes to form nouns are the following: Verb Noun

-er (or) – someone or something that does (is doing)something;

-ation (ion) – the act, result or state of doing something;

-ment – the act, cause, means, or result of doing something;

Adjective Noun

-ity (ty) – the quality or an example of being…;

-ness – the condition, quality, or degree of being …;

19. Make the derivatives from the following words. Translate them into Russian.

Agree, require, argue, improve, enlarge, teach, edit, educate, familiar, rich, possible, popular, regular, individual, pure, clean, bright, open, happy, flexible, polite, write, report, observe, speak, indicate, collect, admire, associate, examine, organize, discuss, impress, narrate, graduate, compose.

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Grammar

Simple Tenses

20. Define the tense form of the verbs and translate the following sentences into Russian. (Consult the Grammar Support if you have any difficulties).

1. She studies foreign literature. 2. English is spoken by lots of people. 3. He went to Australia on holiday. 4. She will take part in the discussion, won‟t she? 5. All the lectures are given in English. 6. When will the novel be published? 7. His poetry was much spoken about. 8. He doesn‟t usually listen to the lectures attentively. 9. Are these scholars invited to the conference? 10. Special attention will be focused on the history of the Russian language. 11. We don‟t analyse these literary works.

12. This article was written in Japanese. 13. They read a book on folklore last time, didn‟t they? 14. Does he study drama or poetry? 15.

Were the magazines taken from him? 16. She is usually listened to with great interest.

21. Translate the following sentences paying special attention to the prepositions.

1. They had left before the hour of the next meeting was agreed upon. 2. She was laughed at by everybody. 3. They were listened to with great surprise. 4. Tell him he is waited for. 5. He was smiled at by the girls. 6. This article was often referred to. 7. This novel is much spoken about. 8. At last an agreement was arrived at.

22. Make the following sentences passive.

1. Someone wrote this romance in the 19th century. 2. People speak English all over the world. 3. He gave me the textbook. 4. We will borrow the book from the library. 5. He published this story last year. 6. People admire such pictures. 7. She will write essays for this magazine. 8. She introduced her friend to her parents. 9. Everybody likes her. 10. They spoke much about this novel.

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23. Open the brackets putting the verbs into the correct form.

1. When Gogol (to write) his tales, he used popular legends. 2. I (to read) this essay yesterday. 3. Special subjects (to study) next year. 4. He (to become) a good journalist in the future. 5. He (to know) many poems by heart in his childhood. 6. She (to be) five years younger than her sister. 7. A very interesting article (to bring) to me yesterday. 8. I (to finish) my work tomorrow. 9. The students (not to pay) money for education some years ago. 10. Books by this author (to sell) in great amounts.

24. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Студенты изучают английский язык. 2. Эта история была рассказана мне моей бабушкой. 3. Он навестит вас завтра. 4. Эту картину купили вчера. 5. Он говорит на английском и французском языках. 6. Он учит английские слова каждый день. 7. Это выражение редко используется в письмах. 8. Статья будет переведена в понедельник. 9. Вчера утром он ушел из дома в 8 часов. 10. Этот текст был написан в 16-м веке.

It’s Interesting to Know

Dying Languages

There are approximately 6,000 languages spoken in the world today, but many of these are quickly dying out. (A language is described as

“dead” when there are no native speakers left.)

On the island of New Guinea, 3 million people speak a total of 740 languages between them. Even more amazingly, there are perhaps 260 Australian Aborigine languages, spoken by a total of only 450,000 people. Most of these languages are spoken by no more than a few hundred people, and with each generation the number of speakers decreases. Sadly, some Papuan and Aborigine languages may already be dead, and others will certainly die soon.