I.1 translate the following phrases.

A linguistic sign; a lexical meaning; common to all the words; the field of grammar; the given class; when speaking about; one must always bear in mind; some points; a great amount of words; the same thing; something about 300,000 words/ something about three, four, or may be five thousand words; to use only some of them, about our everyday affairs; to understand quite perfectly well; not near to hand; they are filed away in the less immediately accessible reaches of the mind; these words are said to be; a part of our "passive vocabulary"; their meanings may be more or less clear to us; to provide passable definition; no straight part and no angles; to know the meanings of such words truly; to be able to use them appropriately; in a large variety of contexts; the second point is the following; words are usually polysemantic; it means; they have some meanings; let us take the word …; is used both as a noun and a verb; to be of transitive character or intransitive; it also gets some additional meanings; when used as a part of the phrasal verb it means; a part of a compound noun; when used as a noun it means….

Text A Vocabulary as it is

Read the text, & be ready to dis­cuss it in the class.

(1) Language means 1. use of words in an agreed way as a method of human communication. 2. system of words of a particular community or country. 3. a) faculty of speech, b) style of expression. 4. system of symbols and rules for writing computer programs. 5. any method of communication. 6. professional or specialized vocabulary. When we speak about a language, no matter native or foreign, first of all we con­sider words. But words are not simple units of a language. They possess defi­nite structure and consist of some smaller units – roots, prefixes, suffixes and endings or inflections - called morphemes. Morphemes, in their turn, consist of speech-sounds (phonemes).

(2) On the other hand, in order to express our thoughts we combine words into phrases and sentences. In spite of all, words are the most important units of a language. Words are linguistic signs, i.e. they are two-sided units, possessing form, represented by the combination of speech-sounds (or letters in writing), and meaning (lexical meaning). Words also possess grammatical meanings when they are involved in a sentence. But these meanings - grammatical meanings - belong not to single words but are common to all the words of the given class, and it is the field of grammar.

(3) When speaking about words one must always bear in mind some points.

· First, each language possesses a great amount of words, hundreds of thousands of them. For instance, in The Oxford English Dictionary we find something about 300,000 words. The same thing we have in Russian, German, Spanish, etc. But in our everyday life we do not use all the words. We use only some of them, something about three, four, or maybe five thousand words when we speak about our everyday affairs. Naturally, there are many words which we understand quite well, but don't use them when we speak. We don't use them because they are not near to hand – they are filed away in the less immediately accessible reaches of the mind. These words are said to be a part of our "passive vocabulary" and their meanings may be more or less clear to us. We could provide passable definition of, say, curve as meaning " a line which has no straight part and no angles ". To know the meanings of such words truly we must be able to use them appropriately in a large variety of contexts.

· (4) The second point is the following: words are usually polysemantic. It means they have not one meaning but usually some meanings. For instance, let us take the word set. First of all, this word is used both as a noun and a verb. As a verb, it may be of transitive or intransitive character. It also gets some additional meanings when used as a part of the phrasal verb or a part of a compound noun. For example, when the word set is used as a noun it means: 1. a number of things of the same kind, considered as a group (as in a set of tools, words, commands, etc.); 2. a group of persons, who associate, who have similar opinions, tastes, etc. (as in literary set of the town); 3. an apparatus (as in radio set ); 4. a series of games forming a unit in a match (e.g. in tennis), 5. a series of electrical circuits or components arranged so that the same current passes through each successively, etc.

· (5) There are words in a language which we use in a specific way. These are terms. The main feature of these units is their monosemantic character. Terms are not special words invented to denote something. Usually they are common words but used in one definite meaning in this or that field of human activity or science. We know each science owns definite amount of notions which constitute the basis of it and this system of notions must be expressed by words or word-combinations conventionally used in strictly definite meanings. Put simply, each term must possess only one definite meaning in order not to be confused with something else. So we can say that terms are words expressing definite objects, ideas, or notions, especially the ones in use in a particular branch of study or profession.

· (6) There is one thing more. We must always be aware of the fact that one and the same word may be used as a term in different sciences and professions in different meanings but always only in one strictly definite meaning in this particular science. For instance, the word drum in music, medicine, and technology is used to denote different things. In music it means " a musical in­strument played by beating with drumsticks ". In medicine it denotes " the hollow part of the middle ear dividing the inner and outer ear ". In technology it is " a cylinder on which rope or wire is wound ".

· (7) Surely, Computer Science is a very young one but it has already devel­oped rathercomplicated system of terminology. For instance, the latest IBM Dictionary of Computing contains more than 22.000 terms selected from the full range of IBM's hardware and software products in information, processing, communication, personal computers and office systems. Many terms, used in Computing, are common words and each of them has its own definite meaning. For instance, let us take the word mouse. Hornby’s The Ad­vanced Learner's Dictionary gives the following definition of mouse: " an animal similar but smaller than a rat. ". In Computing this word denotes " a device connected by a wire to the computer ". The mouse owes its name to its physi­cal appearance: it looks like a creature with a tail. The mouse's tail is a cable that connects the device to the computer. When the mouse is moved, the cur­sor will move along the screen in the same direction in which the mouse is being moved. The term window in Computing means " an onscreen frame that surrounds an application or document, setting it apart from other applications or documents".

i.2 using the references given in the brackets (), find in text A words/phrases having the similar meaning to:a) clear, not doubtful or uncertain (1); b) join together (2); c) an idea, a notion, an opinion (2); d) business of any kind (3); e) to carry (3); f) easy to understand, free from doubt (3); g) to mean (5); h) be conscious of, understand (6); j) not the same, not alike (6); k) knowledge (7); l) treating in special way (7); m) 1. message, 2. roads, railways (7); n) belonging to one person / individual / private machine (7); o) service complex (7).

i.3 Find in text A the definitions for: a language; a computer language; a morpheme; a word; a term; the passive vocabulary; a polysemantic word; a monosemantic word, a mouse, a window.

i.4 Do you agree with the statements below? Correct the wrong ones.

1. Many terms used in computing are common words and each of them possesses its own definite meaning, for instance, mouse, window, disk, etc. 2. Computer Science is a very ancient one and it has already devel­oped rathercomplicated system of terminology. 3. For instance, the latest IBM Dictionary of Computing contains more than 300.000 terms. 4. The mouse owes its name to its colour. 5. The mouse's tail is a cable that connects the device to the computer. 6. When the mouse is moved, the cur­sor will move along the screen in the different direction in which the mouse is being moved. 7. The term window in Computing means " an onscreen frame that surrounds an application or document, setting it apart from other applications or documents".