IGNOU CTE-02 - The Structure of English

1. Say whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F). Correct the false statements briefly. i All native speakers of English are mutually intelligible to each other. ii Overt linguistic devices are not necessary to understand the meaning of a text. iii English in India replaced Persian and other languages from the areas of education, administration, trade and business. iv Like RP, Indian English has 11 pure vowels and 6 glides. v Accent and dialect are terms that can be synonymously used. vi There are about 2 billion non-native speakers of English spread over different parts of the world. vii Skimming and scanning help organize writing efficiently. viii English utterances normally carried new information in the predicate. ix Semantics is an independent branch within language study, which has one foot in grammar and the other in discourse. x Textual context or ‘co-text’ is essential for meaningful discourse. 2a Write down the phonetic symbol for the vowel sounds represented by the underlined letters in the following words according to British R. P. i fellow ii women iii brother iv surface v outside 2b Mark the stressed syllable in each sentence: i These excellent novels belong to my grandmother. ii Do you have a pen to lend? iii Open your book to page number 165. iv The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains. v When I reached the station, the train had left. 2c Write a short note on Derivational Suffixes, giving examples wherever necessary. 3a Write a short note on Conversion as a morphological device. 3b Identify the type of negation in the following sentences. Justify your choice in a phrase or sentence. i They aren’t at home. ii Mr. Mittal has misplaced the file. iii None of the singers was up to the mark. iv A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. v Why haven’t they been invited. 4a Form questions about those parts of the statements which are in CAPITAL letters. i NEW DELHI is the capital of India. ii He goes for a walk EARLY IN THE MORNING. iii John went for a film WITH HIS COUSIN. iv He usually goes to the KALKAJI post-office. v I would like some TOAST AND BUTTER for breakfast. 4b Supply question tags to the following statements: i Anju and Rajni are good friends. ii You won’t forget to give my message. iii Stop making that noise. iv He is an athlete. v Rajeev and his friends hid my slippers. 4c Complete the following sentences with appropriate subordinate clauses and state what type of clause each is – i.e. noun, adjective, or adverb clause. i It is clear that……. ii If we run ……. iii My English teacher, who ……. iv The movie which ……. v I don’t know how ……. 4d Fill in the blanks with a/an or the: i This house is very nice. Has it got ............ garden? ii It’s a beautiful day. Let’s sit in ............ garden. iii There isn’t….......airport near where I live. iv nearest airport is 70 kms away. v I’m going away for...........week in September. 5a Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions: Mother Teresa was born ………27th August, 1910……..Yugoslavia.............. the age of twelve she wanted to become a nun. When she was nineteen, she arrived ……India. Some months later, she went…........ Patna to do a course in nursing. 5b Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb given in brackets: Last week, Rahul and Rashid ………. (go) for a film. They ………. not ……(book)the tickets in advance and (have) to face great difficulties. The film, however, ………. (be) good and they.................(be) glad to have seen it. 5c Write a short note on Question Formation in English, giving examples where necessary.

Answer all questions 1. (a) What do you understand by "language community" or "speech community"? (b) In what way is English a language of prestige and power in India? 2. Write short notes on any two of the following: (a) Implicit Negation (b) Rhetorical Questions (c) Possessive Pronouns 3. (a) Identify the root, prefix and suffix in the following words : 5 (i) illegitimately (ii) irresolutely (iii) uneatable (iv) imperfection (v) undistinguished (b) Write the comparative and superlative forms of the following words : 5 (i) good (ii) wise (iii) ugly (iv) expensive (v) graceful (c) Give the plural forms of the following words: 5 (i) tomato (ii) aircraft (iii) leaf (iv) businessman (v) city (d) Given below are some answers. Form wh-questions corresponding to the italicized parts therein. (i) January is the coldest month of the year. (ii) I am planning to go to Mumbai next month. (iii) My brother is in New York these days. (iv) I have two brothers and one sister. (v) I went to Lucknow to attend my friend's marriage. 4. (a) Discuss Conversion as a morphological device (b) Identify the type of negation in the following sentences. Justify your choice in a phrase or sentence. i They aren’t at home. ii Mr. Mittal has misplaced the file. iii None of the singers was up to the mark. iv A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. v Why haven’t they been invited. 5. (a) Describe in detail the consonants of English. (b) What are the factors which led to the Indianisation of English?