ORAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Ch.1: translation task 1.6.1.

Question 1: Give one example of an inflected word and analyse it.
Inflections are one type of affixes (the other one is derivational affixes) and are always suffixes, they signal a
grammatical relationship or a grammatical category (person, tense, aspect, number…). An example on an
inflected word is DESKS which is composed of a free morpheme [desk] and the suffix -s which indicates the
plural form.
Question 2: Explain and exemplify one type of word formation in the English language.
Affixation and compounding are two major types of world formation in English. (affixation involves forming
new words by adding prefixes and/or suffixes to existing words. The process of affixation gives rise to
derivates.) Compounding involves combining two or more existing words and gives rise to compounds. Some
compounds are written as single words, such as boyfriend, mailbox; some as a series of separate words like
business class, work of art; and other with hyphens such as laid-back, profit-making, stay-at-home-mom.

Ch.2: translation task 2.6.1b.

Question 1: explain the difference between lexical and sense relations.
lexical relations and sense relations are principles that organize words and are language specific. Lexical
relations concern the co-occurrence of words that may be semantically unrelated; sense relations are
concerned with how words relate to each other in terms of their meaning (that is how similar or different or
general or specific they are to one another).
Question 2: give one example of each of the lexical and sense relations presented in Ch.2. a type of lexical
relation is collocation, which is the tendency of certain words to occur together regularly. The word that are
bound together by collocations are called collocates. For example, words used for talking about quantities such
as amount, number and quantity collocate differently with words denoting size such as large and great. In fact,
amount, number and quantity strongly collocate with large, but only number and quantity collocate with great.
Synonymy is a type of sense relation. This is the relationship that links words that have the same or almost the
same meaning in a particular contest. Synonyms cannot always be substituted for one another given that
lexical meaning is not an unitary notion but is made up of several components: propositional meaning of a
word which relate to what a word refers to in a concrete or abstract word; expressive meaning of a word that
relates to the speaker’s feelings and attitudes; evoked meaning that arises from variation in dialect and
register. Dialect is a variety of a language that is used in a particular geographical area, I different periods in the
history of a language, or by a particular social class. Register is a variety of language that a speaker or writer
considers appropriate in a particular situational context, whose relevant components are field of discourse,
tenor of discourse and mode of discourse. Filed of discourse refers to what is going on in the situational
contest. Tenor of discourse refers to the interpersonal and social relationship between the people taking part
in the situational context. Mode of discourse refers to the role the language is playing and the means of
transmission. Polysemic words (words that express more than one propositional meaning) have different
synonyms, at least one for each sense they express. For the adjective light, there are many synonyms: bright,
pale, weightless, sparse, delicate, gentle, enjoyable, easy.

Ch.3: translation task 3.6.1.

Question 1: Give one example of each of the sense relations presented in Ch.3.
Other types of sense relations are homonymy and polysemy. Homonymy is the relationship that links
homonyms, that is words that have the same sound and spelling but different meanings. For example the word
bank can have three different meaning: 1) a financial institution that people or businesses can keep their
money in or borrow money from (the Royal Bank of Scotland); 2) a raised area of land along the side of a river
(the east bank of the river Severn); 3) a large number of pieces in a row, especially pieces of equipment (a bank
of TV monitors).
Polysemy is the term used to refer to the different meanings conveyed by the same word. An example of
polysemy is given by the noun model that has different meanings: 1) a small copy of something such as a
building, vehicle or machine; 2) something that is so goo that people should copy; 3)someone or something
that is a good example of a particular quality; 4) someone whose job is to show clothes, make-up, hairstyle,
ecc.
Question 2: define metaphor and wordplay and give one example of each of them.
Metaphor is an implicit figurative expression that enables us to talk about one thing, which represents the
topic, in terms of another, that is the vehicle. For example, in the sentence “I’m crazy about him” LOVE is the
topic, MADNESS is the vehicle.
Wordplay is a witticism that relies for its effect on playing with different levels of linguistic analysis
(morphology, orthography, syntax, semantics). For instance, a wordplay can relies on the homonymy between
spring meaning “a long thin piece of metal in the shape of a coil” and spring meaning “the season of the year
between winter and summer”.

Ch.4: translation task 4.6.1a.

Question 1: Explain what an idiom is and give one example.
An idiom is a multi-word unit whose meaning cannot be generally inferred from the meaning of the individuals
words, this is why it is often difficult to understand the sense of an idiomatic expression. Three types of idiom
can easily be recognized: 1) those which refer to unreal events or conditions (it’s raining cats and dogs, storm in
a teacup, which means “a lot of unnecessary anger and worry about a matter that is not important”); 2)those
which do not follow the grammatical rules of the language (to look daggers at somebody “to look angrily at
someone”, trip the light fantastic, that means “to dance, usually ballroom dancing”); 3) those which have a
simile-like structure (as thick as two short planks “exceedingly stupid”). Idioms that are difficult to recognize
are 1)those which have a literal meaning and one or more idiomatic meanings (to go out with somebody, to
pull someone’s leg “tease someone”) and 2) those that have an apparently direct equivalent in the learner’s or
translator’s native language but have a different meaning (be out on the streets means “to have no place
where to live and not “to live in poverty” which is the meaning in Italian for “ritrovarsi in mezzo alla strada”.
Question 2: Explain what a lexical phrase is and give one example.
A lexical phrase is a multi-word unit whose meaning can be generally inferred from the meaning of the
individual words. Lexical phrases are chunks of language of varying length and complexity that are semantically
transparent and perform a number of functions such as expressing time, contrast, or relationship between
ideas. There are four types of lexical phrases: 1) polywords, that are short lexical phrases that allow no
variability and are continuous (by the way -topic shifter- strictly speaking –evaluator- in a nutshell
-summarizer-). 2) institutionalized expressions, lexical phrases of sentence length that are invariable and mostly
continuous. They include proverbs and formulas for social interactions (one bitten twice shy -advice- nice
meeting you -closing- there you go -approval-). 3) Phrasal constraints are short – to medium-length lexical
phrases that allow variation and are mostly continuous (a..year, month.. ago -temporal relator-
good..morning,afternoon -greeting- as far a s I..know, can tell -qualifier-). 4) Sentence builders are lexical
phrases that provide the framework for whole sentences. They allow considerable variation and are both
continuous and discontinuous (I think that X -assertion- not only X, but also Y -relators- I’m a great believer in X-
evaluator-).

Ch.5: translation task 5.6.1.

Question 1: Explain what word class (or part of speech) is.
Word class is a set of words that displays the same morphological, semantic, and syntactic features, they fall
into two main groups: major classes (or open classes) and minor classes (or closed classes). Major classes
include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Minor classes are prepositions, conjunctions,
determiners, and interjections.
Question 2: Give one example of each of the word classes presented in Ch.5.
Nouns refer to concrete and abstract objects as well as people and animals. As far as their inflectional
morphology goes, most English nouns express the grammatical category of number. Plural is expressed by the
suffix – (e)s for example window-s, church-es. Another morphological feature of English nouns is that they can
all occur in the possessive case ‘s for example the gentleman’s watch, the ladies’ books. As regard their
derivational morphology, the most common derivational suffixes are those that form a noun from an adjective
such as {NESS} in happiness or {ITY} in possibility or creativity. As regard their syntactic behaviour, the most
conspicuous feature of nouns is that they can combine with the definite article the to form a complete phrase,
which in turn can combine with a verb to form a complete sentence for example The clock stopped. There are
different categories of nouns: commons and proper nouns and countable and uncountable nouns. Common
nouns are the most typical nouns and can always form a phrase with the article. Proper names are names of
persons, places, organizations, days of the week, month. They have always the capital letter and usually do not
form plural. Countable nouns have the plural form, they can occur with the indefinite article in the singular and
cardinal numbers. Uncountable nouns do not have a plural form and cannot be counted (furniture, milk, water,
rice…). We need to use specific expression if we want to talk about one or more individual units of uncountable
nouns, such as a piece of, a glass of, an article (of clothing). Finally collective nouns refer to a group of people
and can be followed by verb in the singular or in the plural form as in the team is/are close to thee bottom of
the League; the committee is/are concerned about players’ behaviours.
Pronouns are words used to replace nouns to refer to a person, thing, situation, place, or animal that has been
mentioned earlier in the sentence, that is called antecedent. Pronouns can be: personal, indefinite, reflexive,
reciprocal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, and relative.
Personal pronouns are divided in Subject case (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) and Object case (me, you, him, her,
it, us, them).
Some Indefinite pronouns are compound consisting of some, any, every, no combining with thing, one, body for
example everything, anyone, nobody. Other indefinite pronouns like many, more, both, most, some, any,
neither may occur on their own or may be followed by the preposition of + a personal pronoun in the object
case as in John reads several books, but I don’t like any of them. Indefinite pronouns do not have the
antecedent Nobody left the office before 3 o’clock.
Reflexive pronouns are used to replace a noun occurring within the same sentence as in She likes herself very
much. Sometimes they are used for emphasis as in Richard himself knew the truth.
Reciprocal nouns express a two-way relationship and include pronouns such as each other and one another,
they need the antecedent, for example they loved each other.
Possessive pronouns show who something belongs to. The occur alone ad full noun phrase as in That car is
mine.
Demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these, those.
Interrogative pronouns are used to ask question as who, which, what, whom, whose.
Relative pronouns are usually used to replace a noun or a pronoun mentioned in the main clause of a complex
sentence and to introduce a subordinate clause. They can also refer to a whole idea express in the main clause.
They are who, that, which, whom, whose.
Verbs are words referring to actions, processes, states or events. There are two main classes of verbs: auxiliary
verbs and lexical verbs.
Auxiliary verbs accompany a lexical verb and are of two types: modal verbs and primary verbs. Modal verbs
express the speaker’s judgement about the likelihood of a given event, action. They are further divided into
core modals: can-could, may-might, shall-should, will-would, must, and marginal modals dare, need, ought to,
used to. Primary verbs can occur either as lexical verbs or as auxiliary verbs and are be, have and do.
Lexical verbs denote aa clear and independent meaning. They are identified by their inflectional morphology.
The base of a lexical verb corresponds to its entry in a dictionary, so the base form of the verb to tell (which is
called to-infinite form) is tell. The base form is present in the present tense except for the third person singular,
which is formed by adding the suffix -s. Regular verb form the past tense and the past participle adding the
suffix -ed, e the present participle is formed by adding -ing. The to-infinite, the bare infinite, the present
participle and the past participle are all non-finite forms of verb, while all the other forms are called finite.
Adjectives are words denoting qualities or states relating to things like shape, test, size, colour, or judgement.
Typical adjectives are gradable and the inflectional suffixes -er and -est are added to the base form (absolute or
positive form) to express two higher degrees: comparative and superlative. Rich > richer > richest. This happens
with two-syllable adjectives. The two-syllable adjective ending in a consonant + -y, change the -y into -i: happy
> happier > happiest. Adjective of more than two syllables take more in the comparative and most in the
superlative: exhausting > more exhausting > most exhausting, interesting > more interesting > most interesting.
Some one-syllable adjectives have irregular forms for the comparative and the superlatives. They are
good>better>best, bad>worse>worst, far>further>furthest, old>elder>eldest, little>less>least,
much/many>more>most. As regard their derivational morphology, there are several suffixes that form
adjectives from nouns: {FUL} in restful {LESS} in penniless {Y} in rocky {ISH} in childish {ABLE} in considerable,
{IBLE} in reversible. Adjectives are used attributively when they precede a noun I have many dear friends;
predictively when they follow a verb like be, become, look, appear, taste, smell like in Jackie is very kind to me;
postpositively when they follow a noun or an indefinite pronoun like in Mark didn’t say anything important;
the wall is 8 metres high.
Adverbs are word describing a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs of manners answer the question
how?, they are the most common adverbs and can be recognized by their derivational suffix {LY} beautifully,
bravely, wildly. Adverbs of degree answer the question to what extent?, like in Paul is quite interested in that
job. Adverbs of time, frequency, and duration answer to the questions when?, how often?, for how long?, for
example I’ll be back soon; I rarely travel abroad; I’ll stay here indefinitely. Adverbs of place answer the
question where?, I left my glasses here. Adverbs of probability answer the question how sure are we about
something?, He probably knows your address. Liking adverbs show the kind of connection there is between
sentences. They may indicate 1) an addition: beside, moreover, too: 2) a parallel: equally, likewise, similarly; 3)
a contrast or alternative: however, yet, alternatively; 4) a cause: consequently, therefore, hence; 5) a sequence:
firstly, next, finally. Gradable adverbs have comparative and superlative forms. Most adverbs form them with
more and most. One-syllable adverb add -er and-est for the comparative and superlative except for well, badly
and far.

Ch.6: Translation task 6.6.1.

Question 1: Explain the difference between major word classes and minor word classes.
Major (or open) classes include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. They are more receptive to
new members, so new words can be easily incorporated as the lexical needs of a society change. Minor (or
closed) classes are prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, and interjections. These classes hardly change in
time, no new words are incorporated.
Question 2: Give an example of each of the minor word classes presented in Ch.6.
Prepositions are words expressing a relationship of meaning between two words in the same sentence. The
word following the preposition is called the object of preposition. Thy show how two words of the sentence are
related in space such as in, at, on, above, over or time like after, before, or can express cause because of, or
possession, of. They do not allow variations. There are multi-word prepositions such as near to, in front of, out
of. More preposition can express more than one meaning: over can express the position of something above
something else; a movement across the space; and concerning a particular subject. spoken English often places
a preposition at the end of the sentence, in the position is called a dangling preposition as in Who are you
going out with?.
Conjunctions are words joining words, phrases and clauses. There are two types of conjunctions: coordinators
and subordinators. The first ones link units which have the same grammatical status in the sentence as two
adjectives, two noun phrases, or two main clauses and these are and that express the meaning of addiction;
but, yet that express contrast; or that denotes alternatives. They can be rinforced by other words like either…
or, not only…but also, both…and.
Subordinators link a clause to the main part of the sentence. These are called linking words. Subordinators can
express: time, I was employed by a manufacturing company until I married in 1990; place, I’ve hidden the
money where no one will find it; condition, if we miss the last bus, we’ll have to walk home; concession, though
we are a small country, we have a long and glorious history; purpose, regular checks are required in order that
safety standards are maintained; reason, the hotel’s difficult to find because the road isn’t signposted.
Determiners are words that can be used before a noun to form a noun phrase. They express quantity,
possession, and definiteness. Determiners are the articles, demonstrative determiners this, that, these, those;
wh-determiners which, whose, what; quantificational determiners some, any, much, many, a little, a few,
enough; and possessive determiners my, your, his, her, its, our, their. They can be preceded by pre-determiners
which are all, both, half.