1 DICTIONARIES
TO BE EXAMINED
2 CONNOTATION
3 A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO WORD STUDY
4 A CONTEXTUAL APPROACH TO WORD STUDY
Some dictionaries
you may want to examine:
American College
Dictionary
Random House
College
Dictionary Concise Oxford
Webster
Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
Longman's
Dictionary of Contemporary English (Advanced Learners' Dictionary)
(4.1) Information Available in Some Dictionaries
1. Spelling (and various
acceptable spellings, when there is more than one of these for a given word
[e.g. color, colour])
2a. Various related Usages
should be indicated — i.e. , usages that are closely related to each other so
that they can be listed together — (usually in the order of the frequency with
which they are used) under a single entry (e.g. «radical» as used in political
science or in mathematics or linguistics) .
2b. Examples should be given
of each usage (sentences or phrases in each of which the given word is used
differently: i.e., has a slightly different «meaning»). E.g. «discipline» as
«training» or «punishment», or as «an area of instruction».
3. Homographs — there may be
separate listings for words that are spelled alike but are different in other
ways. They may be pronounced differently, they may belong to different word
classes (e.g., noun, verb, adjective, etc....) or they may be completely
different in meaning.
(e.g. flock (noun) — a group
of animals or people
flock (verb) — to gather in
large numbers
flock (noun) — (1) small
pieces of wool, cotton, etc., used for filling cushions. (2) soft material that
forms decorated patterns on the surface of wallpaper, curtains, etc.
4. Abbreviations — there may
be a separate listing for the abbreviated form of a word (e.g., «Dr.» and
«Doctor») (See also: Abbreviations, Unit 3 of WP Appendix, [Section X]).
5. Capitalization — there
may be separate listings for the capitalized and uncapitalized forms of certain
words that have a specific meaning when they are written with a capital letter.
e.g. reformation — the act
of improving something
Reformation — a 16th century
European religious movement
6. Syllabification — there
may be an indication of the correct way to divide the word. This information
is necessary in writing, when we have room for only part of the word at the end
of a line. It also helps us too see what parts the word is made of (which is
useful for guessing its meaning).
Divide the words anonymous
and anthropology according to the divisions indicated in your dictionary. What
symbol does your dictionary use to indicate how this is to be done?
7. Pronunciation — Look up
the pronunciation of the following words: (a.) «ancillary» (b.) «harass». What
symbols are used to indicate how to pronounce these words? Where are these
symbols explained? Sometimes a word is spelled the same way, but pronounced
differently, for each of its different grammatical roles. (E.g., «estimate»,
as a noun; «estimate», as a verb.) Look up the word «estimate» to see how it is
pronounced in each of its roles.
8. Parts of Speech — For
each word there should be an indication of its Word classes or parts of speech:
(e.g., verb (v.); noun (n.); adjective (adj.); adverb (adv.) etc. It's useful
to know that the same form of the word can serve more than one function (i.e. ,
fill more than one position in the sentence). Look up the word «form» in a good
dictionary. What different functions can it serve? (See also «Parts of speech»,
Unit I of section V in Part II.)
9. Other information about
verbs:-
A. There should be an
indication of whether a verb is trans. (transitive) or intr. (intransitive),
i.e., whether or not it is followed by a direct object. You may find that some
verbs (like «guess») can be used either way (trans. and intr.) B. Irregular
inflections of verbs should be indicated; e.g. irregular forms of the past and
past perfect; swim, swam; put, put; to be — am, is, are, was, were. C.
Information about Phrasal Verbs is useful. Sometimes called two-part verbs,
these consist of a verb and a specific adverb (e.g. to give out) or preposition
(e.g. to look after). These have a different meaning from the meaning of the
verb alone (e.g. to give or to look), and they may have separate listings.
10
. Other information about nouns:
A. There should be an
indication of what type of Noun it is i.e., Countable (C), or Uncountable (U)).
This is useful for deciding whether to use it with a singular or plural verb;
what determiner (the, a, much, many, etc.) to use with it; and with what
pronoun (sing. or plural) to replace it. B. Irregular inflections of nouns
should be indicated: e.g., irregular plural forms such as «child», «children»;
«candy», «candies»; «phenomenon», «phenomena»; «datum», «data».
11. Other Information about
Usage:— Become familiar with the labels used in your dictionary to give
information about the use or function of the word in the language. What do you
think the following labels indicate about the word?
standard/ non-standard;
Brit./ Am., colloq. (colloquial), slang; obs. (obsolete); arch. (archaic);
Black
English; abbrev.
(abbreviation). (See «Abbreviations»,Unit 2 of WP Appendix, [Section X]).
Without bothering to look
these up, how do you think a good dictionary might label the following:
a. «You're gonna make it hot
for us.»
b. theater, theatre; color,
colour; favor, favour
c. Thine honour has been
ruined.
d. Ain't you pretty!?
e. Have a «nash»?
12. Compound words — these
are separate words that have a special meaning when they appear together
(without a hyphen — ) and hence may be listed as a single entry under the first
of the two words. E.g. hot air; hot dog; hot plate; hot pot; hot line
Sometimes the two words are
actually joined together, and you will learn this from the fact that they are
listed as a single word e.g. hothouse, hotfoot, hothead.
Sometimes the two words are
joined by a hyphen, and this too, will be indicated by the form of the
dictionary entry: e.g. hot-blooded.
13. Synonyms and Antonyms —
A good dictionary will also list words that are similar in meaning to, or
opposite in meaning from, the word you have looked up (i.e., its synonyms and
antonyms). Some dictionaries list the synonyms and antonyms under the most
frequently used word. E.g., under «injury» the American College Dictionary
lists the following synonyms (syn.): hurt, wound, and the following antonym
(ant.), benefit.
14. Etymology, or word
derivations— It is sometimes useful to know whether the word was originally
Latin, Greek, German, French, Spanish, etc., and when it came into the English
language). (Most college-level dictionaries supply this information.) E.g. if
you look up the word «refusenik» which is listed in some dictionaries published
after 1974, you will learn that «refusenik» is a new formation from «refuse»
and the Slavic suffix «-nik».(See also «nudnik»). See also «It's All Greek» in
part III below.
(4.2)
Learning how to get most out of a Dictionary
Dictionary Exercise:
1. Words of high and low
frequency (in terms of usage). Is it enough for you to just deal with words
that are common (of high frequency) or does your bibliographical and college
level reading also require you to be familiar with words of lower frequency
(words that are not commonly used)? Does your dictionary list words that are
rarely used, or that are technical terms peculiar to certain areas of
knowledge? Does it include rare usages under commonly used words?
(a) Check the word «radical»
in your dictionary. Do you find a mathematical and chemical or scientific
meaning of the word as well as a meaning from the area of political science?
(b) Check the following
(rarely used) words and see if they are in your dictionary
(i)
aardvark
(ii) eleemosynary
2. Range of Definitions
Does your dictionary make
available to you a range of meanings i.e. words which may be used in a
technical /non-technical sense? See example of «radical» above. Judging by
what you found under «radical», would you say your dictionary provides a
broad, or narrow, range of definitions?
3. Order of Listings
How are different meanings
of the word indicated in your dictionary? Does your dictionary follow any
particular order in listing different meanings? I.e. does it give the most
common or most typical meaning first?
4. Multi-meaning Words
How does your dictionary
enter multi-meaning words? — as one entry, with several different meanings?
with several different entries? (a) How many meanings does your dictionary
have for the word «hold»? (b) what is the meaning of the word «hold» in each of
the following?
a.
to hold hands
b. Hold the
merchandise for me, please.
c. The call is on
hold.
d.
His performance can hold them spellbound.
e.
We will hold the meeting on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
f.
Will you hold back on that publication, please?
g.
Who holds the major political offices? the minor ones?
h.
This bottle holds 8 c.c.
i.
I hold these truths to be self-evident. J. I hold him to be the best applicant.
k.
He managed to hold the hostage for 18 hours before releasing him.
Does your dictionary contain
all of these meanings or did you have to work out the meanings from the
context?
5. Find one of each of the
following types of dictionaries:
a. a bilingual dictionary
(English-Russian, English French, etc.)
b. an English — English
Learners' Dictionary c. an English — English College Dictionary Look up the
underlined words in the following sentences in each of these dictionaries. Note
the differences in the entries of the various dictionaries for the same word.
(Be prepared to find that some dictionaries do not list them at all.)
1. The University
cannot function on eleemosynary
contributions alone.
2. The number of
civil service posts held by people of indigenous origin was small.
3. Students are
often recalcitrant about paying
their fees.
4. NATO is an organization that serves
many countries.
(4.3) Dictionary Questionnaire*
and some
First-year Student Responses
* from: Appendix C in Abigail Newback and Andrew D. Cohen, «Processing Strategies and Problems Encountered in the Use of Dictionaries». Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America, No. 10, 1988.
(A) 1.
What is your general attitude toward the use of dictionaries?
— «I try not to
use a dictionary a lot because that is a way to test myself and see if I can
manage without using it.»
2. Do you like
using dictionaries?
— «I hate using a
dictionary because it takes me out of concentration and I hate searching for
the words.»
3. Do you feel
that dictionaries help you?
— «Yes. The
dictionary helps me most of the time, because I use it only when I really need
it.»
4. When do you
usually feel that you need the assistance of a dictionary?
— «Impossible I
prefer using the context of the sentence itself to define an unknown word in
that sentence. However, when this does not work the assistance of a dictionary
is O.K.»
5. Do you have
any special difficulties while using a dictionary?
— «Sometimes the
definitions of one word are too subtly different.»
— «The only
difficulty I have while using a dictionary is when there is more than one
meaning to the word and I can't pick the best one.»
6. Which type of
dictionary do you prefer? Why?
— «I prefer
thinking in English while studying English, so I use an English — English
dictionary.»
—
«I prefer the English — Russian dictionary because
it's the easiest. But I use the English — English because it's the best way to
learn.»
(B)
How would you respond to each of the above questions?
Many words have both a
PRIMARY and a SECONDARY meaning. The PRIMARY meaning of a word is its denotation
— i.e., what the word explicitly signifies. The SECONDARY meaning of a word is
its CONNOTATION. This is the ADDITIONAL 'meaning that a word takes on from the
types of contexts in which it is most frequently found. Some word have POSITIVE
CONNOTATIONS, some have NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS, and some are NEUTRAL (i.e.,
they simply denote a concept without coloring it positively or negatively).
Often a writer implies his
attitude or point of view by choosing words that have positive or negative
connotations when there are neutral equivalents that he might have chosen instead.
Conversely, he might express his unwillingness to take sides on an issue by
using neutral terms wherever possible.
Consider the effect of the
words having positive or negative connotations (in contrast to their neutral
equivalents) in the following pairs of statements.
1. He purports to be happy
in his work. (negative, implying a false claim) He claims to be happy in his
work. (neutral)
2. He built himself a house,
(neutral)
He built himself a home.
(positive, implying a place of warmth, comfort and affection)
3. He entered the
studio, (neutral)
He invaded the studio,
(negative, implying an unwelcome intrusion)
4. He was youthful in
appearance, (positive) He was juvenile in appearance, (negative, implying immaturity )
5. He decided to leave his
job. (neutral) He decided to abandon his job. (negative, implying desertion)
6. She dedicated herself to
feeding her family, (neutral) She dedicated herself to nourishing her family,
(positive, implying that the feeder maintains life)
7. He was a profound
thinker. (positive, implying extreme penetration into the subjects of his
thought) He was a deep thinker, (neutral)
Sometimes the same word has
somehow acquired various connotations. The reader must then pay close attention
to the context in which it appears if he wants to infer an implied attitude.
Consider the way in which the change of context changes the connotation of the
underlined words in the sentences below.
8. Hercules was a mythical figure, (neutral).
The story he gave the press was
entirely mythical.
(negative,
implying falsehood)
9. He told a funny story, (neutral)
There's something funny about the letter, (negative, implying cause for suspicion) What connotation
does the underlined word have in the
following sentences?
10. That was a fantastic meal. ( )
He was troubled
by fantastic dreams. ( )
Prefixes — Bases — Suffixes
(see Unit 1 of WP Appendix [Section X])
6.1 Decoding the word
correctly (noting exactly how the word looks)
Read aloud each of the
following sets of words and think about the meaning of each word in the set.
What element/s is/ are important for distinguishing between the different
words? Add a word or a pair of words to each set, showing the same element of
difference.
1. boot, booth;
book;__________ (different end consonants)
2. bed;
bud;___________________ (different vowels)
3. scheme —
scene;____________(the addition or omission of a consonant before and/or after
the vowel)
4.
undeveloped-underdeveloped;_______ (a change in the prefix)
underemployed-unemployed;
5.
apprehensive-apprehension _______ (a change in the suffix, indicating a
different part of speech)
6.2 Recognition of Consonant
Blends in English
In the following list,
circle consonant blends that you recognize as being found in English words.
Supply a word using each of the latter blends (i.e. «ph» = phenomenon). bl, br,
bxt, cl, cr, ct, dt, dw, fr, fs, gl, gr, lr, nk, pi, pr, qu, sc, sch, sl, sm,
sn, sp, spl, sq, st, str, sw, tch, thr, tw, wh
Which of the following
combinations may also be found in words used in English? (Use a dictionary, if
you aren't sure, to see if any words begin with them, and if so, how these
words are pronounced.)
kn, psy, mn, pn, gn
6.3 Words have
structure.
Individual
letters > syllables > units of meaning.
A word in English always has
a base, or stem (e.g. establish). It may also have a prefix and a suffix (e.g.
dis establish ment). It may also have more than one prefix: (e.g. un pro
ductive (note that the base is the same as in re ductive; de ductive); un pro
voked (note that the base is the same as in re voked); un per formed (note that
the base is the same as in re formed) . And it may also have more than one
suffix: e.g. profit able ness (in which the base is «profit»).
+/- PREFIXES + BASE +/-
SUFFIXES
A prefix has invariable
meaning or a few constants of meaning. A suffix may also have grammatical
meaning (i.e. it can tell us if the word is used as a verb, noun, adjective, or
adverb) in addition to «meaning» meaning.
Circle the prefix, block out
the base, and underline the suffix in each of the following words . Then decide
what parts of speech the word can be used as (the suffix will tell you) .
Sometimes the same suffix can indicate more than one part of speech (e.g. ,
«explosive,» which can be used as a noun or an adjective).
international induction presupposition detective
homogeneous reproductive unfamiliar
6.4 Invariable
position of word part
Reorder each of
the following sets of word-parts so that each set makes a meaningful word.
Example: -ical,
bio-, auto-, graph = autobiographical
1.
marry, -age, -ity, abil-
2.
on, -ment, -vir-, en-, al, -ism
3.
-sible, -in, -pre-, corn, -hen
6.5 Meaningful prefix or
not?
The first syllable may look
like a detachable English prefix, when actually it is an integral part of the
base (it cannot be separated from the base and analysed for meaning).
Therefore, you must be careful, when trying to guess the meaning of an
unfamiliar word, not to assume automatically that what looks like a prefix is
in fact always that.
In each of the following
sets of words, circle the word that does have a detachable prefix.
disappointment, disciple,
disapproval (dis = showing an opposite or negative)
unanimous, unlawful,
undisguised (un = a negation, a lack, or an opposite)
illegal, illegitimate,
illusion (il = a negation, a lack, or an opposition)
pregnant,
presupposition, predetermined (pre = before)
abnormal, able,
abduction (ab = away from)
religion,
renegotiate, reenact (re = again, or back)
biannual,
bigotted, bilateral (bi = two, twice or double)
6.6 Word
derivation
From
a single word base, you may be able to construct many other words. The following
are derivations of the base «edit». Divide them into noun, verb, and adjectival
categories. edit: edition, editorialize; editor, editorial; editorialization
Nouns
: Verbs : Adjectives :
6.7 Productive
word parts — Chaining
Circle the part
of the word which is repeated in the adjacent word. Explain the meaning of the
word part in the word.
socialism sociology biology
theism biography
theocracy democracy demography
Can you determine
the meaning of the following words by analysing their parts?
atheism,
atypical, specialize, nationalize, synthesize, summarize, bibliography,
chronology, terminology?
Can you make up a
new chain?
6.8 Creation of new words
On the basis of your
knowledge of the words in Column I can you make an «educated» guess about the
meaning of the (invented) words alongside them? (It is acceptable to invent a
word when no word exists as yet for the concept you have in mind.)
Column I
1. cafeteria
groceteria, washeteria
2. hierarchy
«lowerarchy»
3. channel chunnel
4. tunnel hamburger pizzaburger, fishburger,
soyaburger
5. shortages
longages*
What do you think «ruburban»
or «comdramatist» might mean?
* See «Filters Against Folly,» in Part III
6.9 Web of
Relationships
Can you access the meaning
of the words in the web in relation to the base word in the center?
apathetic pathology
empathy
pathologist — patho —
sympathy pathogenic pathological pathos apathy
6.10 Word parts —
variable/invariable meaning Prefixes. How many of the following prefixes do you
know? Indicate the meaning of each prefix and suggest a word in which it
appears.
a, ambi, amphi, auto, bene,
by, circu, circum, ñî, col, corn, con, contra, de, dis, dys, e, ex, en,
entre, inter, intra, hyper, hypo, it, im, in, infra, ir, macro, micro, maxi
midi, mini, mis, non, off, out, over, pan, pre, pro, pseudo, quasi, re, retro,
sym, syn, ultra, under, vice, with.
6.11 Who Can Count??? (Word
elements having numerical meaning)*
Identify the numerical
elements in each of the following words. Make a number chart ranging from the
smallest unit to the largest.
* (See also, «Quantitative prefixes» in Unit 1 of WP Appendix, [Section X]).
monarchy, bilateral,
pentagon, septuagint, decade, quadraplegic, centennial, primary, hemisphere,
dichotomy, unified, trimester, quadrant, quintuplet, semicolon, millenium,
octagonal, hexagon, septet, octave, decalogue, trilogy, monopoly, sextet, omnipotent,
polygamous,multiracial, myriad, oligarchy, twilight, twice, twins.
A) Contextual clues to the
meaning of the words in the sentence.
In addition to the Internal
Context of Structure clues for a word, (see Section VI of WP above) readers are
frequently told to find the meaning of an unknown word in the surrounding
context — i.e. from the words or phrases before or after the unknown word «X».
This is wonderful advice if it works: unfortunately, the context does not
always provide the reader with the clues needed. The following exercises are
designed to help you recognize the contextual clues, if and when they exist in
your text.
Deriving
Meaning from Context
(Do
not use a dictionary for these exercises)
7.1 The context can
sometimes help you with the meaning of an unknown word without your having to
go to the dictionary. Although there are severe limits to the meaning the context
alone can give, it can help to reveal meaning in several ways. Try to figure
out the meaning of each of the difficult words in the examples below:
1. The context can help by
re-stating the idea expressed by the word (i.e., by providing a definition).
Most organisms are aerobes; that is, they require oxygen to live.
«aerobe» means:
______________________.
2. The context can help by
restating the idea expressed by the difficult word using several simpler words.
The Germans left the Czech village of Lidice devastated: it was totally destroyed.
«devastated» means:
____________________.
3. The context can help by
providing examples illustrating the meaning of the difficult word: Innards,
such as hearts, kidneys and livers, are eaten more enthusiastically in some
cultures than in others.
«Innards» means:
_____________________.
4. The context can help by
telling us what the word does not mean (here introduced by the word «but»,
signalling a contrasting idea) . The word "sea" usually refers to a
body of water that is saline, but the water in the Sea of Galilee is relatively
sweet.
«saline» means:
______________________.
5. The context can help by
allowing us to infer the meaning of the word from what it tells us about the
concept that the word refers to. The doorway was so low that when he entered
the room he hit his head on the lintel.
«lintel»
means:_______________________.
6. The context can help by
telling us what facts lying in the storehouse of our general knowledge we
should call on for help.
Of all the five senses, the
one dogs depend upon most is the olfactory sense.
«Olfactory»
means:_____________________.
Exercise B:
Determine the meaning of
each underlined word from the context. You may write the meanings in Russian.
1. Insect fecundity is
frightening: many kinds of insects lay hundreds or even thousands of eggs at
one time. «fecundity» means»:_____________________.
2. Mozart
manifested his dislike of Salzburg by choosing to live much of his life outside
that city.
«to manifest» means:____________________.
3. Many works of art were
salvaged from the flood in Florence in 1966, but Cimabue's «Crucifix» was very
badly damaged.
«to salvage»
means:_____________________.
4. Dr. Burns's research
sounded much more impressive when he described it as petrology rather than
simply the study of rocks.
«petrology»
means:_____________________.
5. Scientists rejected first
the idea of a geocentric universe and then of a heliocentric one as they
discovered that neither the earth nor the sun is at the center of the universe.
«geocentric» means:
_____________________.
«heliocentric»
means: _____________________.
6. The terminal
points of the Egged bus lines 9 and 28 are Mt. Scopus and Givat Ram.
«Terminal» means:
_____________________.
7. Through Conan
Doyle's stories the character of Sherlock Holmes has taken on so much
verisimilitude that we tend to forget that, in reality, there was no such
person.
«verisimilitude»
means:__________________.
8. One characteristic
property of gases is their thermal expansion: all gases increase in volume
when their temperature is raised.
«thermal»
means:______________________.
9. Psychologists also study
normal behavior, but they are particularly concerned with behavior that is
deviant.
«deviant»
means:______________________.
10. The best
example of a true social isolate would be a feral child, provided a child could
actually be found who had had no contact whatsoever with human society, and had
been reared in the wilderness by animals.
«isolate» means
:______________________.
«feral» means
:_______________________.
11. The theme of
a novel may be primarily didactic, and this teaching may be moral or social.
«didactic» means:
_____________________.
7.2. Use of words indicating
Spatial (Alternative spelling: «Spacial» ) Orientation or Movement
These words can be used both
literally (to indicate an actual movement or position in space), or
metaphorically (to indicate something like movement or position). Determine
whether the use of the underlined spatial words is Literal (L) or Metaphorical
(M) in each of the following sentences.
__ 1. But since the boundaries of Islam extend far beyond those of Iran what
constitutes Iran's «self-defence» becomes highly ambiguous.
__ 2. Iran protested the
next day , contending that its plane had been attacked over «international waters», while the Saudis said that the plane
had been downed in «Saudi» territorial
waters.
__ 3. It was not until much
later that pan-Turkism and pre-Arabism appeared on the political horizon and, even then, there is some
doubt as to what they really signified.
__ 4. The barrier separating the rich and the
poor is seldom crossed.
__ 5. He was deeply in debt.
__ 6. Prices soared sky-high.
__ 7. He followed
the ups and downs of the stock market.
__ 8. He arrived at a landmark decision during his first year as a judge.
B) Value Clues. You may find
contextual clues relating to the worth or desirability of, or to the affect or
emotion aroused by, the difficult word.
a. Indicate whether the
underlined words in the following sentences convey a positive or a negative
meaning.
b. Underline the other words
in the sentence that serve as value clues to the meaning of the difficult word.
1. The critic commended the work for its
intellectual honesty.
2. Domestic effluents destroyed the formerly beautiful environment.
3. The sonorous bells awakened the villagers to another peaceful Sunday.
4. Beware of predatory men.
5. She was
insulted by his condescension.
C. Function Clues:
Function clues relate to
what someone or something does; how it, s/he functions.
7.3 In each of the following
sentences, indicate the words or phrases which help us to understand how the
underlined word functions.
1. The
foundation provides grants and scholarships to deserving students.
2. The minister was incarcerated in the Tower of London,
where they held him until he was brought to trial.
3. They respected
his anonymity by refusing to reveal
his name and address.
4. The effect of
his chicanery was to make everybody
distrust everything he ever said or did thereafter.