Lexical parallels in the Russian and English languages.

Contents:

Introduction…………………………………………………………………….3

Main body……………………………………………………………………3

The words with absolute sound likeness…………………………………..3

The words with partial sound likeness……………………………………3

«False friend»……………………………………………………………..5

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………6

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………7

Appendix №1…………………………………………………………………8

Appendix №2…………………………………………………………………10

Appendix №3…………………………………………………………………10

Lexical parallels in the Russian and English languages.

Introduction

I like to learn English. I learn it at school and with my private teacher. At my English lessons our teacher paid our attention to the fact that some English words look like Russian words. One day my mother bought me the English book

«The Jungle book» Р.Киплинга. I found out that many English words looked like Russian words (Appendix №1). For example, jungle – джунгли, panther – пантера, tiger – тигр, etc. I became interested and decided to pay special attention to the choice of words, which look like Russian words. The aim of my work is to find lexical parallels in the Russian and English languages for making my English vocabulary rich.

Main body

I have read 10 books (Appendix №2). I have chosen the words which have absolute or partial likeness in two languages (Appendix №3). I divided these words into some groups and subgroups.

So, I could:

see common features of the words;

learn that a new word can give interesting information about Britain;

understand that learning a new word can give a chance to learn more words.

Тhe words with absolute sound likeness.

We read these words in the same way in Russian and English and understand them at once.

For example:

stop – стоп, остановиться

tennis – теннис

jam – джем

text – текст

film – фильм

The words with partial sound likeness.

We cannot read these words in the same way in Russian and English because there are specific rules of reading in the English language. But we can hear some sound likeness.

chocolate – шоколад

rice – рис

tiger – тигр

sister – сестра

These groups can be divided into some subgroups:

The words which came into Russian from English and are used together with our native Russian words:

present- презент, подарок;

airplane- аэроплан, самолёт;

sandwich- сандвич, бутерброд(из нем.);

puzzle- пазл, головоломка;

pilot- пилот, лётчик;

show- шоу, показ.

The compound words which came into Russian from English and help us not only learn a new word but some new words:

football- футбол = foot-ступня + ball- мяч;

bulldog- бульдог = bull- бык + dog- собака;

cowboy- пастух = cow- корова + boy- мальчик;

gentleman- джентльмен = gentle- вежливый, знатный + man- человек;

butterfly- бабочка = butter- масло + fly- муха.

The words which came from English into Russian and help us learn not only a new word but also some information about the countries of the English speaking world:

badminton

- бадминтон + название города в Англии, где эта игра зародилась;

Whatman

- ватман + имя английского бизнесмена Дж. Ватман;

coca-cola

- напиток + листья коки (кустарник) и плоды колы (дерево).

I found out some common features of borrowed English words:

сombination «дж» can not be met in Russian words.

jumper-джемпер, gentleman-джентльмен, jungle-джунгли, jeep-джип, image-имидж

aspirate «h» is not known in the Russian phonetics and we pronounce the sound «х» or «г».

hockey – хоккей, hobby – хобби, hall – холл.

suffix -er in nouns.

sweater-свитер, cracker- крекер, thriller-триллер, hamburger- гамбургер.

ending - ing.

rating-рейтинг, meeting-митинг.

- man in compound words.

businessman-бизнесмен, sportsman-спортсмен, policeman-полисмен, showman-шоумен.

3. «False friends».

A group of words which have a sound likeness with some Russian words but their translation is different:

magazine- журнал;

artist- художник;

biscuit- сухое печенье;

velvet- бархат

We should remember these words!

1.Тhe words with absolute sound likeness.

2. The words with partial sound likeness.

3. «False friends».

c) The words which came from English into Russian and help us not only learn a new word but also some information about the countries of the English speaking world

Conclusion

This separation of words into the groups helps find their common features and so to remember a lot of new English words quickly. It makes a process of studying English faster and more interesting.

I made some rules:

- We should read English words attentively.

- We should look at the English words carefully.

- We should use the knowledge about the word formation.

- We should have a wish to learn English.

So, I can make a conclusion:

1. There are many words in English which look like Russian words ( I have made the dictionary of these words. My work will be continued).

2. People of different nations borrowed and borrow many words from other languages.

3. I think that we can find words which look like Russian and English ones in many other languages. That’s why studying one more language will not be difficult.

Selected bibliography.

Chicken Run, Level 2, retold Nonia W.Dodd

Beauty and the Beast

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, adapted for ELT by Joanne Swan

Pat’s picture, level 2, by Ben Smith

Little Red Riding Hood,

Oliver Twist, by Charls Dickens

Jennings and his friend, by Antony Buckeridge

The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling

The Mummy: Against the Elements, by Greg Klein and Tom Pugsley

Английский в фокусе 2,3,4, Н.Быкова и др.

Контрольные задания к учебнику «Английский в фокусе»

3000 примеров по английскому языку, автор О. В. Терентьева

news.bbc.co.uc./hi/Russian/lern_english

Appendix №1.