Notes 5 Module 3 Vocabulary

Module 3

Notes 5

Questions and Answers 1-10
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1. Mention any four methods of word formation.
Answer:
There are a number of methods of word formation.
1.Derivation
2.Compounding
3.Blending
4.Acronym
1. Derivation: Derivation in general means the formation of a word from another word or base and the relation of a word to its base or root.
2. Compounding: It means a word that consists of more than one stem. Compounding occurs when two or more words are joined to make one longer word. The component stems of a compound may be of the same part of speech—as in the case of the English word footpath, composed of the two nouns foot and path. They may belong to different parts of speech, as in the case of the English word blackbird, composed of the adjective black and the noun bird.
3. Blending: a blend word is one formed from parts of two or more other words. These parts are called morphemes (the smallest grammatical unit in a language).
cat + -s = the two morpheme units.
Formation
Most blends are formed by one of the following methods:
The end of one word is appended to the beginning of the other
smoke (1) + fog (1) → smog (1)
4. Acronyms: An acronym is a word or name formed as an abbreviation from the initial components in a phrase or a word, usually individual letters (as in NATO or laser) and sometimes syllables.
Acronyms are pronounced as a word, containing only initial letters
 NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
 GIF: Graphics Interchange Format
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2. Write a few lines on ‘root words’ in English.
Answer:
A root is the basic unit of a word. It is the form of a word after all affixes are removed.  It's what's left after you remove all the affixes — the prefixes like "un-" or "anti-" and suffixes such as "-able" and "-tion."  There are many root words that can be used on their own or as parts of other common words in the English language. These are also referred to as base words.
Act  - means to move or do. Acting
Ego - mean "I". Egotist
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3. Mention any six root words taken from foreign languages.
Answer:
Root Words from foreign languages
Here are some more examples of roots, their meanings and other words that are formed by adding prefixes and/or suffixes to these language building blocks:
1.Ambul - means move or walk. Amble, ambulant, ambulate
2.Auto - means self or same. Autocrat, automatic
3.Bene - means good. Benefactor, benevolent
4.Cardio - means heart. Cardiovascular, cardiology
5.Cede - means go, yield. Intercede, recede, concede
6.Counter - means against or opposite. Counteract, counterpoint, counterargument
7.Dem - means people. Democracy, democrat, demographic
8.Derm - means skin. Dermatology, epidermis
9.Equi - means equal. Equity, equilateral, equidistant
10.Hypno - means sleep. Hypnosis, hypnotic
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4. Write any three prefixes and three suffixes that are used to form new words.
Answer: 
Prefixes to form new words:
1. Multi - means many. Multiple, multifaceted, multilingual
2. Omni - means all. Omnipotent, omnipresent, omnivore
3. Poly - means many. Polygamous, polychrome, polytheist

Suffixes to form new words:
1.adjective-to-noun: -ness (slow → eg: slowness)
2.verb-to-adjective: -able (pot → eg: potable)
3.verb-to-noun:  -er (to write → eg: writer)
4. adjective-to-adverb: -ly (personal → eg: personally)
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5. Mention any two synonyms of the following words:
Answer: 
a) Vacant - empty, unoccupied, deserted
b) True - actual, proper, real
c) Polite - respectful, civilized, sophisticated
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6. Mention the antonyms of the following words:
Answer:
a) Generous - selfish or unkind
b) Marvelous -  ordinary
c) Professional - Amateur
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7. Explain the meaning of the word ‘abbreviation’
Answer:
Abbreviations are short forms of lengthy expressions. Abbreviations are in use in almost every discipline and area of life.
Written and verbal communication often includes these abbreviations:
1.R.S.V.P. – This acronym means "Répondez s'il vous plait," French for "respond, if you please." It is often used on invitations to parties and special events, and is intended (as it says) to be responded to with a "yes, we will attend," or "no, we will not."
2.P.S. – Means "post script." At the end of a letter, people will often include a P.S. to include an extra thought that was intended to be included in the letter, but forgotten. Using a P.S. was more common in typewritten letters, when you couldn’t go back and add a sentence in the body of a letter.
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8. Give  any four examples of mostly used abbreviations
Answer:
1. P.S. – Means "post script." At the end of a letter, people will often include a P.S. to include an extra thought that was intended to be included in the letter, but forgotten. Using a P.S. was more common in typewritten letters, when you couldn’t go back and add a sentence in the body of a letter.
2. A.S.A.P. – "As soon as possible," used when encouraging someone to respond to a request without delay.
3. E.T.A. – This acronym means "estimated time of arrival," and is used as a guess for when one expects to arrive while traveling.
4. D.I.Y. – This acronym stands for "do it yourself," which means creating something on your own.  It is often used for crafts and home repairs.
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9. Write a short note on idioms.
Answer:
An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words. English has thousands of idioms. Most of English idioms are informal. Idioms are a group of words used for more effective use of language. These words are not interpreted by their literal meaning but by their indicative meaning. Their effective use brings the command over the language.
Eg:
 A bitter pill A situation or information that is unpleasant but must be accepted.
 A hot potato A controversial issue or situation that is awkward or unpleasant to deal with.
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10. Write any four examples of idioms and phrases each.
Answer:
Idioms: An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words.
Examples:
1. ‘See eye to eye’ – this means agreeing with someone.
“They finally saw eye to eye on the business deal.”
2. ‘Once in a blue moon’ – an event that happens infrequently.
“I only go to the cinema once in a blue moon.”
3. Let the cat out of the bag’ – to accidentally reveal a secret.
“I let the cat out of the bag about their wedding plans.”
4. ‘To feel under the weather’ – to not feel well.
 “I’m really feeling under the weather today; I have a terrible cold.”
5. ‘A piece of cake’– something is very easy.
“The English test was a piece of cake.”

Definition:
Phrase means a small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit.
Examples:
1. blow up - explode
eg: The terrorists tried to blow up the railroad station.
2. call off -cancel
eg: They called off this afternoon's meeting
3. find out - discover
eg: My sister found out that her husband had been planning a surprise party for her.
4. give away -give something to someone else for free
eg: The filling station was giving away free gas.
5. make out - hear, understand
eg: He was so far away, we really couldn't make out what he was saying.

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VOCABULARY IS A MATTER OF

WORD-BUILDING

AS WELL AS WORD USING

Three cheers to Vocabulary

Vocabulary

This term is synonymous with the casual expression - word bank. This includes the number of words we know and use during the casual or formal interactions determine our fluency related to a foreign language such as English. 

In general the learning capacity of words or adding new words to our word bank would be higher in our childhood. It decreases as we move on to teens and falls by the time we reach our twenties. By twenty five we would stop adding new words. Thus it shows a falling trend in words for interesting communication

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This leads to some personality flaws. Firstly, it limits our methods of expression. Secondly, repetitive use of words make us sound boring. Thirdly, this stands as a flaw for our fluency of the language.
Finally, language wise, the person suffers inferiority complex.

Here to root words make their presence felt strongly. Knowing the root of a word helps us to retain the memory of words and establish higher levels of vocabulary. Most words in English are based on the root words taken from Greek and Latin. If we take the word 'Vocabulary' - it has the root word 'voc' - means word or name. This Latin root word is present even in words such as 'advocacy' or 'vocal'. This makes things easy for us to learn new words. Keep a note of the root word and its meaning so that the vocabulary grows in spite of the count of the numbers added to our age.

So, why not opt for some methods to add some words to the existing ones and feel the new energy of speaking better, and expressing better.

-- Jayashree Naidu

Brain-O-Metre

We had been through the journey of words. Brain, Mind and an attempt to understand the mechanism called Thinking. We need words to communicate. We learn new words faster during childhood. The child wants to compete with the world around. Looking at the rapid word flow of the elders, the child listens, remembers and practices them without fail. The joy of listening to a child is the best when they narrate stories or the rhymes or tidbits of their adventures.

Let's Enter the World of Vocabulary

Vocabulary in general means all those words known and used by an individual. Words are made and Languages are born.

Words are made in many ways. Many methods are there and the words thus formed are categorised accordingly. 

Here we discuss the first one Root Words. 

The word Vocabulary is formed from the Latine word Vocabulum (refers to the formation rather thn meaning),

In Latin the word "cred" means to believe. So we have the words - Credibility 

Credit - to give our acceptance to someone's invention or 

The credit card from the banks 

In Greek language "phone" means word

So we have the word Phonetics which means a branch of study of sounds in English. 

A Megaphone that we see in the hands of director who shouts "Action" and alerts the team to start the show of emotions. 

Prefixes like un-, dis-, re-, de-

Like - Unlike ( it means not similar and doesn't mean the facebookish unlike :))

Appear - Disappear (Here it formed the antonym.)

Report, Revision - such words add or change the meaning of the root word port and vision. 

Suffixes such as  -ment, -tion, -sion

appoint (verb) changed into a noun appointment

combine (verb) changed into a noun combination

conclude (verb) changed into a noun again - conclusion

So the formation of words changes not only the form but also the nature of the word from verb to noun. We need many words to serve the purpose of making others understand our point of view. So be ready to plunge into the world of Vocabulary dears!

Let's take a break from the dense world of words to refresh in some ideas, and here is a tailored nest of words to prove that we can stich our own garb of communication. Here I have taken the situation of students,exams and a third eye of a narrator. Literature is nothing but a nest of woven words around emotions. Choose your nest, pick the grass of emotions and weave the best!

Brain-O-Meter   

The halls are empty

The corridors clutter

 The tense teens fumble

For the numbers on the notice boards

The faces bear a nowhere look

The tools ready in the boxes to track

Pen, pencil, eraser gathered in the pouches

Tease the teens in secret!

The pride of finding the bench

Settle to smile at your neighbour

Respond with a lame vacuumed stare

Share your fortnight fear.

All Day is an Appointment with Alphabet

Some shrewd

Some crude

and rude too..

You and me call it

A Question Paper!

Bold letters of choice listed laugh at you

Generosity aplenty dear! 

There pops up an innocent sheet

white as snow!

You guessed it right

It’s the Answer Sheet.

A year's out pour

in three hours shrugs

Shrinks further for the score

till the bell strikes!

Bundled wisdom

Perched on the benches

The sages of teaching

Sanctify the alphabet

With a kind mark of red

All is not well under the roof

Eyes merged with fingered pain

The aching back troubles

The numerals tough to decide

One, or two, or three.

Or eight or nine or even a zero

Hail the decision maker!

There goes an empty bunch

of a mind speaking nothing in ink.

Here smiles a level headed script

With a wink in ink

Stands tall for a ninety!

They gather the brainstorm

Pick up the pen

and decide on

adding a NINE or a ONE!

There lay the minds of unseen innocents

Confident to receive the labels

First Class, Second Class or The Third

but praying not to be a failure!

The lamb named "student"

Anxious to search the print

The two figured outcome

is your brain-o-meter measured

Hail the Ruthless Judges!

Glory to the Education!

Both on a mission to

Vanish the Wisdom Possible!

by Jayashree Naidu

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