Peculiarities of etymology and lexis
The lexis of texts in international exams is extremely multifarious and covers different spheres of life. Speaking of analysis of the texts, we have to turn to such notions as etymology and lexicology.
1.4.1 Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. By extension, the term "the etymology (of a word)" means the origin of the particular word. When talking about place names, there is a specific term, toponymy.
For a language such as Greek with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during earlier periods of their history and when they entered the languages in question. Etymologists also apply the methods of comparative linguistics to reconstruct information about languages that are too old for any direct information to be available.
By analyzing related languages with a technique known as the comparative method, linguists can make inferences about their shared parent language and its vocabulary. In this way, word roots have been found that can be traced all the way back to the origin of, for instance, the Indo-European language family.
Even though etymological research originally grew from the philological tradition, much current etymological research is done on language families where little or no early documentation is available, such as Uralic and Austronesian.
The word etymology derives from the Greek word ἐτυμολογία (etumología), itself from ἔτυμον (étumon), meaning "true sense", and the suffix -logia, denoting "the study of".
In linguistics, the term etymon refers to a word or morpheme (e.g., stem or root) from which a later word derives. For example, the Latin word candidus, which means "white", is the etymon of English candid.
There are certain structural features that allow us to identify certain words as borrowed, and even to establish the language from which they were borrowed. We have found out that the combination of the letters "sk" at the beginning of the word usually indicates its Scandinavian origin. You can also identify words of Latin and French origin for certain suffixes, prefixes and endings. Below are examples of typical and frequent use of structural elements of Latin and French borrowings.
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Latin affixes of nouns:
Suffix (-ion): legion, opinion
The suffix (-tion): relation, temptation
Latin affixes of verbs:
Suffix (-ate): appreciate, create, congratulate
Suffix (-ute): attribute, distribute
Suffix (-ct): act, collect, conduct
The prefix (dis-): disable, disagree
Latin affixes of adjectives:
The suffix (-able): detestable, curable
Suffix (-ate): accurate, graduate
Suffix (-ant): constant, important
The suffix (-ent): absent, evident
Suffix (-or): major, senior
The suffix (-al): final, maternal
Suffix (-ar): solar, familiar
French affixes of nouns:
Suffix (-ance): endurance, hindrance
The suffix (-ence): consequence, patience
The suffix (-ment): appointment, development
Suffix (-age): courage, marriage, village
Suffix (-ess): actress, adventuress
French affixes of verbs:
Prefix (en-): enable, enact, enslave
French affixes of adjectives:
Suffix (-ous): curious, dangerous
1.4.2 Foreign language influences in English
The core of English language descends from Old English, the language brought with the Angles, Saxon, and Jutish settlers to what was to be called England in and after the 500s. The bulk of the language in spoken and written texts is from this source. As a statistical rule, around 70 percent of words in any text are Anglo-Saxon. Moreover, the grammar is largely Anglo-Saxon.
A significant portion of the English vocabulary comes from Romance and Latinate sources. Estimates of native words (derived from Old English) range from 20%–33%, with the rest made up of outside borrowings. A portion of these borrowings come directly from Latin, or through one of the Romance languages, particularly Anglo-Norman and French, but some also from Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish; or from other languages (such as Gothic, Frankish or Greek) into Latin and then into English. The influence of Latin in English, therefore, is primarily lexical in nature, being confined mainly to words derived from Latin roots.
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While some new words enter English as slang, most do not. Some words are adopted from other languages; some are mixtures of existing words (portmanteau words), and some are new creations made of roots from dead languages: e.g., thanatopsis.
1.4.3 Lexis
A lexis or lexicon is the complete set of all possible words in a language (vocabulary). In this sense, child, children, child's and children's are four different words in the English lexicon. In systemic-functional linguistics, a lexis or lexical item is the way one calls a particular thing or a type of phenomenon. Since a lexis from a systemic-functional perspective is a way of calling, it can be realised by multiple grammatical words such as "The White House", "New York City" or "heart attack". Moreover, since a lexis is a way of calling, different words such as child, children, child's and children's may realise the same lexical item.
1.4.4 Lexicology
Lexicology is the part of linguistics which studies words. This may include their nature and function as symbols, their meaning, the relationship of their meaning to epistemology in general, and the rules of their composition from smaller elements (morphemes such as the English -ed marker for past or un- for negation; and phonemes as basic sound units). Lexicology also involves relations between words, which may involve semantics (for example, love vs. affection), derivation (for example, fathom vs. unfathomably), use and sociolinguistic distinctions (for example, flesh vs. meat), and any other issues involved in analyzing the whole lexicon of a language.
The term first appeared in the 1970s, though there were lexicologists in essence before the term was coined. Computational lexicology is a related field (in the same way that computational linguistics is related to linguistics) that deals with the computational study of dictionaries and their contents.
An allied science to lexicology is lexicography, which also studies words, but primarily in relation with dictionaries – it is concerned with the inclusion of words in dictionaries and from that perspective with the whole lexicon. Sometimes lexicography is considered to be a part or a branch of lexicology, but properly speaking, only lexicologists who actually write dictionaries are lexicographers. Some consider this a distinction of theory vs. practice.
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Chapter 2
Analysis of the test
In the practical part of the course work the following points will be analysed: lexis (nouns, different types of verbs), etymology (whether the word is of Latin, Greek or Anglo Saxon orgin), word building (suffixes, preffixes). The texts that are to be analysed: "Studying black bears", "The origin of language" and "Training sport champions".
In Part 1 a small text is presented to a test taker who must choose one right answer out of four. The exam taker should read the text and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. The first text is entitled "Studying black bears" and dedicated to the scientific study of black bears living in North America. The text is rather short, contains three paragraphs and consists of ten sentences. The text is devoted to wild nature and animals, as words like “black bears”, “wildlife”, “biologist” in the first sentence signify it.
After years studying North America's black bears in the (0) .. way, wildlife biologist Luke Robertson felt no closer to understanding the creatures.
In the utterance there are four variants: a) straight b) common c) everyday d) conventional. In question 0 the answer is already given. It is the variant d, which is “conventional”. Since the text is concerned with the scientific research of black bears, it implies the use of formal scientific words. The word “conventional” is of Latin origin and is rather formal. Such choice may also be explained by the fact that this word is used in connection with psychology.
He realised that he had to (1) .. their trust.
1. a) catch b) winc) achieve d) receive
The variants “catch” and “receive” imply physical action, “win” is the correct answer in this sentence.
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Abandoning scientific detachment, he took the daring step of forming relationships with the animals, bringing them food to gain their acceptance. The (2) .. this has given him into their behaviour has allowed him to dispel certain myths about bears.
2. a) perception b) awareness c) insightd) vision
In this example, insight is more relevant as it implies more deep understanding of bears’ behsviour.
(3) .. to popular belief, he contends that bears do not (4) .. as much for fruit as previously supposed.
3. a) Opposite b) Opposed c) Contraryd) Contradictory
Question 3 is rather easy if an exam taker is acquianted with the expression "contrary to" as well as the point 4:
4. a) care b) bother c) desire d) hope
The verb "to care" may be used with several prepositions, e.g. “about”, which is usually used when the object of caring is animate and “for”, which is respectively used when we mean something unanimate, like “fruits”. Answer “care” would be the right choice.
He also (5) .. claims that they are ferocious.
5. a) concludes b) disputesc) reasons d) argues
The verb “to dispute” has a more complete meaning than all the other verbs listed above, therefore, it fits as the answer.
He says that people should not be (6) .. by behaviour such as swatting paws on the ground, as this is a defensive, rather than an aggressive, act.
6. a) misguided b) misled c) misdirected d) misinformed
In question 6, we are presented with the range of adjectives with the prefix mis- and the task is to define which adjective fits by implication. Obviously, the word “misled” is the most negative here.
However, Robertson is no sentimentalist. After devoting years of his life to the bears, he is under no (7) .. about their feelings for him.
7. a) error b) doubt c) illusiond) impression
The word "however" creates the feeling of contradiction. If one picks the variants "error" or "doubt", it will contradict the idea of the previous sentence. Two other variants are left: illusion and impression. The word “illusion” expresses the skeptical attitude of a scientist better than the word “impression”.
It is clear that their interest in him does not (8) .. beyond the food he brings.
8. a) expand b) spread c) widen d) extend
The final paragraph of the text should be read attentively as the both sentences of which the paragraph consists of are linked reasonably. The second sentence gives us a reason why the test taker should choose the answer in question 7. The right choice of the answer in question 8 could be rather complicated as we are given four words which are close in their meaning, but the variant “extend” suits the best.
"Extend" is what happens what something long becomes longer. E.g., extend a hand, extend the rod, extend the cord, extend the selfie stick, etc.
"Expand" is what happens when a bigger area is acquired or covered. When boundaries are pushed, expansion happens. The sky expands over the ocean. The river expands into a lake. I am expanding my empire.
"Spread" is what you do when you want many copies of the same thing to be found everywhere (I use the word "copy" very loosely). You can spread disease, spread butter on toast, spread the word (tell people about something), spread the news, etc.
In Part 2 of the module Reading and use of English of CAE exam paper the short text is offered. The exam taker should think of the word which best fits each gap and only one word is allowed to use. The text is entitled "The origin of language".
The truth is nobody really knows how language first began. Did we all start talking at around the same time because of the manner in which our brains had begun to develop? Although there is a lack of clear evidence, people have come up with various theories about the origins of language. One recent theory is that human beings have evolved in (10) .. a way that we are programmed for language from the moment of birth.
The indefinite article with the noun "way" and the following that-clause give a clue that the best option in this sentence is the word "such".
In (11) .. words, language came about as a result of an evolutionary change in our brains at some stage.
The collocation "in other words" is rather frequent in the English speech.
Language (12) .. well be programmed into the brain but, (13) .. this, people still need stimulus from others around them.
In question 12, The presence of the verb "to be" alongside with the verb "program" in the passive form signifies that it is necessary to use the modal verb. And, indeed, among possible variants are modal verbs “could”, “may” and “might”. Here they all expresses different degrees of possibility. As for question 13, we observe a contradiction (the conjunction “but” is an indication) and the word “despite” is the best what comes to mind.
From studies, we know that (14) .. children are isolated from human contact and have not learnt to construct sentences before they are ten, it is doubtful they will ever do so.
In order not to make a mistake and to choose the correct word in question 14, it is highly recommended that the sentence should be read till the end. The possible answers are the conjunctions “if”, “when”, “whenever”.
This research shows, if (15) .. else, that language is a social activity, not something invented (16) .. isolation.
The word else is often used in combination with the indefinite pronouns such as anyone, someone, nothing etc. The latter one will be the correct answer as it creates the idiom "if nothing else". Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the following definition of this idiom: it is used to say that something is probably the only thing that is true, acceptable, desirable, or certain because there are no better/worse possibilities.
The verb "to invent" is in the form of a passive voice. Verbs in passive forms are often construed with the prepositions after them. In question 16, the preposition "in" will be the correct answer.
Part 3
For questions 17-24, an exam taker should read the text below and use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. The title of the text is "Training sports champions".
In question 0, the answer is again given as a pattern. The noun profession is implied to be changed.
What are the abilities that a (0) .. sports person needs? (PROFESSION)
The collocation "sports person" indicates that the word "profession" should be turned into an adjective by using the suffix - al, namely "professional".
To guarantee that opponents can be (17) .. , speed, stamina and agility are essential, not to mention outstanding natural talent. Both a rigorous and comprehensive (18) .. regime and a highly nutritious diet are vital for top-level performance. (COME/FIT)
In question 17, the verb "to come" is expected to be changed into an adjective or a participle. The verb "to be" after the modal verb "can" indicates at it. The variant "coming" does not seem to be right. Therefore, the exam taker should think not only about possible suffixation of this word, but also about prefixation. Apparently, the verb "to come" could be used with the prefix "over" and in this case the meaning will be "to defeat" or "to conquer", but obviously the participle in the function of an adjective is needed. The occurrence of the verb "to be" implies it. The answer "overcome" with the meaning "defeated" will be correct.
It could be rather complicated to find the suitable answer in the question 18.
The word “regime” may give the exam taker the wrong impression that the word “fit” should be transformed into an adjective, but it is also of paramount importance to remember that nouns can also function as adjectives. So, we can add the suffix “ness” to the word “fit” and we will get the collocation “fitness regime”.
It is carbohydrates, rather than proteins and fat, that provide athletes with the (19) .. they need to compete. (ENDURE)
The definite article before the gap that the exam taker is supposed to trasform the verb "to endure" into a noun by means of the suffix - ance. Hence, the correct answer will be "endurance".
This means that pasta is more (20) .. than eggs or meat. Such a diet enables them to move very energetically when required. (BENEFIT)
The combination of words "more... than" points at the degrees of comparison, hence, the word "benefit" may be turned into beneficial.
Failure to follow a sensible diet can result in the (21) .. to maintain stamina. (ABLE)
In question 21, it is crucial to read the whole sentence as the word "able" can be changed variously, e. g. ability, unable, inability. It is also vital to note the difference in prefixes with the words unable and inability. The exam taker can change the word incorrectly, for instance, ability, whereas the correct variant in this case is inability. The word "failure" points out that inability, not ability is more relevant in this utterance.
Regular training to increase muscular (22) .. is also a vital part of a professionals regime, and this is (23) .. done by exercising with weights. (STRONG/TYPE)
In question 22, the adjective "muscular" indicates that the adjective "strong" must be remodeled into a noun, i. e. strength. As to question 23, the verb "to do" in the passive voice that the word "type" should be changed first into the adjective "typical" and afterwards the suffix of adverbs - ly should be added to this word.
Sports people are prone to injury but a quality training regime can ensure that the (24) .. of these can be minimised. (SEVERE)
The definite article and the preposition "of" should give the exam taker an idea that the adjective "severe" needs to be transformed into the noun "severity".
Conclusion
In the given course paper we have investigated the structural, discoursal and lexical side of one of the international exams in English, namely CAE (Cambridge Advanced English). We have chosen this theme because this exam is one of the most known ones in English which is recognized worldwide. We were interested in its structure, supposing that the thorough analysis of at least one of the parts, namely Read and Use of English, will help us and those who will read this course paper in a preparation to the exam.
We have investigated various phenomena of the exam paper such as lexis, stylistics, themes, word-building, etymology, coming to the understanding that texts in exam are rich lexically, stylistically, they may be concerned with different spheres of life and be etymologically diverse.
It should be noted that in order to pass international exams in English and score a high assessment, one should possess a wide stock of words. It is highly recommended to compose own lists of vocabulary and use various supplementary books that cover different aspects of English: grammar, phrasal verbs, collocations, idioms.
Literature
1. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/advanced/exam-format/
2. Cambridge English Advanced: Handbook for teachers.
3. Common Mistakes at CAE
4. CAE Practice Tests
5. Cambridge Grammar for CAE and CPE
6. Academic Vocabulary in USE
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