Part 4 Temporal Orientating Names

Temporal orientating names denote temporal coordinates of human activity. With respect to the regularity of their use with articles they are divided into absolute, which have no article in all positions (§ 1), relative, having no article in some patterns (§ 2).

§ 1. Absolute Temporal Names

No article is used with absolute temporal names in their primary function. These nouns comprise:

1. names of days of the week, e.g. Saturday;

2. names of months, e.g. January;

3. names of holidays and festivals, e.g. Christmas, etc.;

4. names of universal temporal notions, e.g. Greenwich Mean Time,British Summer Time.

Note: Articles with absolute temporal names render meanings common for other countable nouns:

a) the definite article singles out a day/a month of a particular week/year:

e.g. It must have been the Wednesday he came to see you.

b) the indefinite article denotes universal features of a day or a month: e.g. He felt that hunting on a Monday - a working day - not a holiday in anybody's book- was a waste (M.Bragg).

Exercises

Exercise 47.

Read what is common to do on different holidays in England and compare it with what you do on those holidays.

• Model:

  On Mother's Day people send cards to their mothers.

• On Women's Day I send a card to my mother.

1. At Christmas nearly everyone sends cards to friends and relations.

2. It's common to give flowers on Mother's Day.

3. It's common to give chocolate eggs at Easter.

4. It's common to send cards on St.Valentine's Day.

5. A Christmas tree stands in everybody's living-room at Christmas.

6. All English children hang a stocking in everybody's living room at Christmas.

7. On April Fool's Day people play practical jokes or small tricks on their friends.

8. People bake hot cross buns on Easter.

Exercise 48. Ask your friend:

1. what students usually organise on April Fool's Day;

2. how Englishmen prepare for Christmas;

3. why Easter is kept on different dates every year;

4. why people send cards on St.Valentine's Day;

5. what race takes place on Shrove Tuesday;

6. what he knows about St.David's Day;

7. when Mothering Day is kept in Great Britain.

Exercise 49. a) Do you know what is the principal festival of the Christian Church Year?

b)Read the passage about Easter and comment on people's usual preparations for Easter.

Easter is the principal festival of the Christian Church Year marking the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third year after his Crucification. It is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after March 21. Easter is preceded by the period of preparation called Lent.

c) Calculate on what date Easter falls this year.

Exercise 50. a) Have you read Susan Hill's novel 'The Woman in Black'? Discuss on what holiday the events described in this book may have taken place judging from the title.

b)Read the following review of Susan Hill's novel 'The Woman in Black' and decide why it's a good tale for Christmas Eve.

'It is Christmas Eve, and the children are telling ghost stories. They ask their stepfather, Arthur Kipps, to contribute a story but he declines, and becomes quite angry when they persist. Arthur does not consider ghost stories an amusing diversion. He recalls a harrowing episode 30 years earlier, when as a young lawyer, he was sent to the remote Eel Marsh House to sort out affairs of the recently deceased Mr. Drablow. As soon as he arrived he sensed a mystery at Eel Marsh House and the encounter with the Woman in Black showed that ghosts were no laughing matter (LC).

c) Decide what may have happened at Eel Marsh House.

Exercise 51. a) Do you like or dislike April Fool's Day?

b)Read the passage about April Fool's Day and decide why this holiday is still observed.

In the 16th century in France the start of the new year was observed on April 1. In 1562 when Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar the new year fell on January 1. People made fun of the 'April fools' who continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. They even played tricks on them, often sending them on a 'fool's errand' or silly task (ELD).

3. Decide how you will observe April Fool's Day this year.

4. Discuss what kind people may dislike April Fool's Day.

Exercise 52. Speak on the following situations.

1. Make up a list of most popular British holidays. Compare them with the holidays in this country.

2. Ask each of your friends about his favourite holiday and explain their preferences.

3. Try to guess what holidays your teacher usually looks forward to. Ask the teacher if you are right in your conjecture.

4. Point out the most difficult day of the week for you and your fellow-students.

5. Decide with one of your friends what new holidays should be established in this country.

6. Discuss what holiday Canadians may celebrate on Discovery Day.

7. According to Oxford English Dictionary the first recorded written use of the word 'teenager' was in Popular Science Monthly in 1941. Point out three other new words that have appeared since World War II.