Лексикология английского языка

Lecture 8. What is “Meaning”?

Exercises

I. Define the meanings of the words in the following sen­tences. Say how the meanings of the same word are asso­ciated one with another.

1. I walked into Hyde Park, fell flat upon the grass and almost immediately fell asleep. 2. a) 'Hello', I said, and thrust my hand through the bars, whereon the dog became silent and licked me prodigiously, b) At the end of the long bar, leaning against the counter was a slim pale individual wearing a red bow-tie. 3. a) I began to search the flat, looking in drawers and boxes to see if I could find a key. b) I tumbled with a sort of splash upon the keys of a ghostly piano, c) Now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music and the opera of voices pitches a key higher, d) Someone with a positive man­ner, perhaps a detective, used the expression 'madman' as he bent over Welson's body that afternoon, and the authority of his voice set the key for the newspaper re­ port next morning. 4. a) Her mouth opened crookedly half an inch, and she shot a few words at one like peb­bles, b) Would you like me to come to the mouth of the river with you? 5. a) I sat down for a few minutes with my head in my hands, until I heard the phone taken up inside and the butler's voice calling a taxi, b) The minute hand of the electric clock jumped on to figure twelve, and, simultaneously, the steeple of St. Mary's whose vicar always kept his clock by the wireless began its feeble imitation of Big Ben. 6. a) My head felt as if it were on a string and someone were trying to pull it off. b) G. Quartermain, board chairman and chief executive of Supernational Corporation was a bull of a man who possessed more power than many heads of the state and exercised it like a king.

II. Copy out the following pairs of words grouping togeth­er the ones which represent the same meaning of each word. Explain the different meanings and the different us­ages, giving reasons for your answer. Use dictionaries if necessary.

smart, adj.

smart clothes, a smart answer, a smart house, a smart garden, a smart repartee, a smart officer, a smart blow, a smart punishment

stubborn, adj.

a stubborn child, a stubborn look, a stubborn horse, stubborn resistance, a stubborn fighting, a stubborn cough, stubborn depression

sound, adj.

sound lungs, a sound scholar, a sound tennis-player, sound views, sound advice, sound criticism, a sound ship, a sound whipping

root, n.

edible roots, the root of the tooth, the root of the matter, the root of all evil, square root, cube root

perform, v.

to perform one's duty, to perform an operation, to perform a dance, to perform a play

kick, v.

to kick the ball, to kick the dog, to kick off one's slip­pers, to kick smb. downstairs

III. The verb "to take" is highly polysemantic in Modern English. On which meanings of the verb are the following jokes based? Give your own examples to illustrate the other meanings of the word.

1. "Where have you been for the last four years?"
"At college taking medicine."

"And did you finally get well?"

2. "Doctor, what should a woman take when she is run down?"

"The license number, madame, the license number."

3. Proctor (exceedingly angry): So you confess that this unfortunate Freshman was carried to this frog pond and drenched. Now what part did you take in this disgraceful affair?

Sophomore (meekly): The right leg, sir.