英语词汇学教程(练习答案)(1)

《英语词汇学教程》（2004 年版）练习答案

Chapter 1

7. Choose the standard meaning from the list on the right to match each of the slang words on the left.

a. tart: loose woman

b. bloke: fellow

c. gat: pistol

d. swell: great

e. chicken: coward

f. blue: fight

g. smoky: police

h. full: drunk

i. dame: woman

j. beaver: girl

8. Give the modern equivalents for the following archaic words.

haply = perhaps

albeit = although

methinks = it seems to me

eke = also

sooth = truth

morn = morning

troth = pledge

ere = before

quoth = said

hallowed = holy

billow = wave / the sea

bade = bid

12. Categorize the following borrowed words into denizens, aliens, translation loans, and semantic loans.

Denizens: kettle, die, wall, skirt, husband

Aliens: confrere, pro patria, Wunderkind, mikado, parvenu

Translation loans: chopstick, typhoon, black humour, long time no see

Semantic loans: dream

Chapter 2

1. Why should students of English lexicology study the Indo-European Language Family?

The Indo-European Language Family is one of the most important language families in the world. It is made up of most of the languages of Europe, the Near East and India. English belongs to this family and the other members of the Indo-European have more or less influence on English vocabulary. Knowledge of the Indo-European Language Family will help us understand English words better and use them more appropriately.

2. Make a tree diagram to show the family relations of the modern languages given below.

Indo-European Language Family

Balto-Slavic Indo-Iranian Celtic Italian Hellenic Germanic Roumanian Hindi Breton Spanish Greek English

Lithuanian Persian Scottish French Swedish

Prussian Irish Italian German

Polish Portuguese Norweigian

Slavenian Icelandic

Russian Danish

Bulgarian Dutch

6. Here is a text chosen from the Declaration of Independence.

“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Pick out all the words of Greek or Latin origin from the text and see of what origin are the words left. What insight does this exercise give you with reference to the borrowings from Greek and Latin?

“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Most of the content words are either of Greek or Latin origin. What are left are mostly functional words. This shows that Greek and Latin play a very important part in the English vocabulary.

8. Tell the different elements that make up the following hybrids.

eventful [Latin + English]

falsehood [ Latin + English]

saxophone [German + Greek]

joss house [ Portuguese + English]

hydroplane [Greek + Latin]

pacifist [Latin + Greek]

heirloom [ French + English]

television [Greek + Latin]

9. Put the following French loan words into two groups, one being early borrowings and the other late ones.

amateur (late)

finacé (late)

empire (early)

peace (E)

courage (E)

garage (L)