1. Give the definition of homonyms. Give examples.

Homonyms are words

different in meaning but identical in sound or spelling, or both in sound and
spelling. e.g. sea - to see, piece - peace
2. What can be the sources of homonyms? Give examples. Sources of
homonyms:
1) result of the split of polysemy,
2) result of leveling grammar inflexions
e.g. care from caru and care from carian.
3) They can be also formed by means of conversion
e.g. to slim from slim, to water from water.
4) They can be formed with the help of the same suffix from the same stem
e.g-reader (a person who reads and a book for reading).
5) Homonyms can also appear in the language accidentally, when two words
coincide in their development
e.g. to bear from beran (= to carry) and bear from bera ( = an animal). 6)
Homonyms can develop through shortening of different words
e.g. cab from cabriolet, cabbage, cabin.
3. Name the scholars who worked out the classifications of homonyms. W.
Skeat's classification, A.I. Smirnitsky's classification, I.V. Arnold's classification
4. Speak about Walter Skeat's classification of homonyms. Give examples.
Walter Skeat classified homonyms according to their spelling and sound forms
and he pointed out three groups:
1. perfect homonyms are words identical in sound and spelling, such as:
school - косяк рыбы and школа;
2. homographs are words with the same spelling but pronounced differently,
e.g. bow -/bau/ - поклон and /bou/ - лук:
3. homophones are words pronounced identically but spelled differently, e.g.
night - ночь and knight - рыцарь.
5. Speak about A.I. Smirnitskiy's classification of homonyms. Give examples.
He subdivided the group of perfect homonyms in Skeat's classification into
two types of homonyms:
1. perfect which are identical in their spelling, pronunciation and their
grammar form, such as: spring in the meanings - the season of the year, a
leap, a source,
2. homoforms which coincide in their spelling and pronunciation but have
different grammatical meaning, e.g. reading - Present Participle, Gerund,
Verbal noun, to lobby - lobby.
6. Speak about I.V.Arnold's classification of homonyms. Give examples.
She classified only perfect homonyms and pointed out the following groups:
1. homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings, basic forms and
paradigms but different in their lexical meanings, e.g. board in the meanings a
council and a piece of wood sawn thin;
2. homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings and basic forms, but
different in their lexical meanings and paradigms, e.g. to lie - lied - lied. and to
lie - lay - lain;
3. homonyms different in their lexical meanings, grammatical meanings,
paradigms, but coinciding in their basic forms, e.g. light /lights/, light / lighter,
lightest/;
4. homonyms different in their lexical meanings, grammatical meanings, in
their basic forms and paradigms, but coinciding in one of the forms of their
paradigms, e.g. a bit and bit (from to bite).
7. What criteria did A.I. Smirnitskiy add to Walter Skeat's classification of
homonyms? grammatical meaning
8. What criteria did I.V.Arnold suggest for classifying perfect homonyms?
lexical meaning, grammatical meaning, basic forms and paradigms.
9. What are perfect homonyms? Give examples. perfect homonyms are words
identical in sound and spelling, such as: school - косяк рыбы and школа;
10. What are homographs? Give examples. homographs are words with the
same spelling but pronounced differently
e.g. bow -/bau/ - поклон and /bou/ - лук:
11. What are homophones? Give examples. homophones are words
pronounced identically but spelled differently
e.g. night - ночь and knight - рыцарь.
12. What are patterned homonyms? Give examples? These homonyms are
different in their grammar meanings, in their paradigms, identical in their
basic forms e.g. warm - to warm.
13. How can patterned homonyms be formed? Patterned homonyms formed
either by means of conversion, or by leveling of grammar inflexions.
14. What are unchangeable patterned homonyms? they have identical basic
forms, different grammatical meanings, a common component in their lexical
meanings e.g. before an adverb, a conjunction, a preposition.
15. Give the definition of synonyms. Give examples. Synonyms are words
different in their outer aspects, but identical or similar in their inner aspects.
e.g. homeland, motherland
16. Why are there a lot of synonyms in English? Give examples. In English
there are a lot of synonyms, because there are many borrowings
e.g. hearty /native/ - cordial /borrowing/
17. What are absolute synonyms? Give examples. They have exactly the same
meaning and belong to the same style e.g. to moan, to groan
18. What are semantic synonyms? Give examples. In cases of
desynonymization one of the absolute synonyms can specialize in its meaning
and we get semantic synonyms e.g. city /borrowed/, town /native/
19. What are stylistic synonyms? Give examples. Sometimes one of the
absolute synonyms is specialized in its usage and we get stylistic synonyms
e.g. to begin /native/, to commence /French borrowing/
20. What kind of synonyms can appear by means of abbreviation? Give
examples Stylistic synonyms e.g. examination, exam.
21. Do abbreviated forms of synonyms belong to colloquia or neutral style? In
most cases the abbreviated form belongs to the colloquial style
22. Do full forms of synonyms belong to colloquial or neutral style? the full
form belongs to the neutral style
23. What are euphemisms? Give examples. These are words used to
substitute some unpleasant or offensive words e.g the late instead of dead
24. What are phraseological synonyms? Give examples. These words are
identical in their meanings and styles but different in their combining with
other words in the sentence
e.g. to be late for a lecture but to miss the train, to visit museums but to
attend lectures etc.
25. In each group of synonyms there is a word with the most general meaning.
What is the peculiarity of this word? Give examples. It can substitute any word
in the group e.g. piece is the synonymic dominant in the group slice, lump,
morsel.
26. What are the sources of synonyms? Give examples. desynonymization,
abbreviation, and formation of phrasal verbs e.g. to give up - to abandon
27. What are antonyms? Antonyms are words belonging to the same part of
speech, identical in style, expressing contrary or contradictory notions.
28. Which two groups did V.N. Komissarov classify in his dictionary of
antonyms? Name them. absolute or root antonyms and derivational antonyms
29. What are absolute or root antonyms? Give examples. Absolute antonyms
have different roots e.g. late - early (Absolute antonyms express contrary
notions. e.g. late - early)
30. What are derivational antonyms? Give examples. derivational antonyms
have the same roots but different affixes. e.g. to please - to displease
(Derivational antonyms express contradictory notions, one of them excludes
the other e.g. active - inactive.)
31. Name negative prefixes that usually form antonyms. Give examples. In
most cases negative prefixes form antonyms /un-, dis-, non-/.
e.g. unsuccessful, disrespectful
32. Name suffixes that can form antonyms. Give examples. -ful and -less
e.g. useful - useless, careful - careless
33. Do negative prefixes always form antonyms? Give examples. No, they
doesn't. e.g. to disappoint is not an antonym of the word to appoint..
34. Do suffixes -ful and -less always form antonyms? Give examples.
sometimes even if we have a word with one of these suffixes its antonym is
formed not by substituting -ful by less- e.g. successful -unsuccessful, selfless -
selfish.
35. The difference between derivational and root antonyms is not only in their
structure, but in semantics as well. Explain and give examples. Derivational
antonyms express contradictory notions, one of them excludes the other
e.g. active - inactive.
Absolute antonyms express contrary notions
e.g. late - early
36. Do polysemantic words have one antonym or several antonyms? Give
example. If a word is polysemantic it can have several antonyms, e.g. the word
bright has the antonyms dim, dull, sad.
37. Why is there sometime a chance of misunderstanding when a
polysemantic word is used? Because a polysemantic word is used in a certain
meaning but accepted by a listener or reader in another.
38. Does context prevent from any misunderstanding of meanings? Give
examples. Yes, it does. e.g. the adjective "dull", if used out of context, would
mean different things to different people or nothing at all. It is only in
combination with other words that it reveals its actual meaning: "a dull pupil",
"a dull play", "dull weather", etc.
39. Can a minimum context always reveal the meaning of the word? Give
examples. Sometimes a minimum context fails to reveal the meaning of the
word, and it may be correctly interpreted only through a second-degree
context
e.g. "The man was large, but his wife was even fatter". The word 'fatter" here
serves as a kind of indicator pointing that "large" describes a stout man and
not a big one.
40. What is one of the more promising methods of investigating the semantic
structure of a word? by studying the word's linear relationships with other
words in typical contexts, i.e. its combinability or collocability.
41. What is combinability or collocability? Give examples. It's the word's linear
relationships with other words in typical contexts
e.g. "man" - a name of person; "letter" - a name of object. A letter cannot
experience anger, but it can convey the anger of the person who wrote it.
42. What is a good and reliable key to the meaning of the word? Context
43. Is it correct to see a different meaning in every new set of combinations?
Give examples. It's a common error to see a different meaning in every new
set of combinations. e.g. "an angry man", "an angry letter". Is the adjective
"angry" used in the same meaning in both these contexts or in two different
meanings? Some people will say "two" and argue that, on the one hand, the
combinability is different ("man" - a name of person; "letter" - a name of
object). A letter cannot experience anger, but it can convey the anger of the
person who wrote it.