how-to-choose-words

StrategiesofDictionDictionmeansthechoiceanduseofwords.SincetheEnglishlangaugehastoolargeavocabularyandwritingnecessarilyinvolvesdiction,itisimportantandnecessarytoknowaboutlevelsofwordsandthemeaningofwordsinappropriatewritingcontext.InthischapterthedictionofEnglishvocabularywillbediscussedinfiveaspects:levelsofwords;meaningofwords;semantictypesofwords;emotionaltypesofwords;andstylistictypesofwords,whicharedominantlyusedinourwriting.1.1MeaningofWordsAsasymbolicunit,awordhasbothformandmeaning.Asarule,therelationbetweentheformandthemeaning,however,isarbitrary.Inotherwords,thereisnoinherentconnectionbetweentheformandthemeaning.Itisimpossibletopredictthemeaningfromtheform,orviceversa.SeeFigure3-1wordform----------------------------meaningFigure1-1RelationofWord,FormandMeaningTherefore,whencarryingoutthetaskofwriting,wemustpayspecialattentiontothefeaturesoftherelationsofword,formandmeaning.Nevertakeitforgrantedthatwecanhavethemeaningfromtheformofaword.Suchas,friendly,andmouthful,theformofthefriendlyappeartobeanadverbbutinfactthewordisadjective,andmouthfultobeanadjective,butonthecontrary,itisanoun.Thus,graspingthemeaningofwordswillbethefirstthingfirst.Themeaningofwordsareoftwogeneraltypes:oneistheconceptualmenaingordenotativemeaning;theotherisassociativemeaningorconnotativemeaning.1.1.1ConceptualmeaningConceptualmeaningordenotivemeaningreferstothecongnitivecontentordenotivecontentofaword.Thistypeofmeaningisthebasicmenaingofaword,itsdefinitioncanbefoundinthedictionaryandisindependentofaparticularlinguisticcontext.Suchas,theword“woman”hastheconceptualmeaningof“femaleadulthumanbeing”;andtheword“man”hastheconceptualmeaningof“maleadulthumanbeing.”1.1.2AssociativemeaningAssociativemeaningorconnotativemeaningreferstothesuggestedmeaningthatiscommunicatedbyvirtueofwhatlanguagerefersto.Forinstance,theword“woman”hastheconnotationof“beingfrail,beingpronetotearsorbeinggentle.”Incontrast,theword“man”“beingstrongmentallyorphysically.”Theword“gold”hastheconnotationof“preciousness,wealth,orvalue.”1.2SemanticTypesofWordsGrammatically,thewordscanbeclassifiedintonouns,verbs,adjectives,adverbs,andsoon.Semantically,thewordscanbeclassifiedintodifferenttypes,suchas,specificvsgeneral,concretevsabstract,dynamicvsstatic,andalsofuzzywordsvshedgeswhichareimportanttocommunication.1.2.1GeneralwordsvsSpecificwordsGeneralwordsarethosethatdenotelargeclasses,categories,orbroadareas，suchas,“animal”,and“people”.Specificwordsarecharacterizedbyindicatingindividualobjects,actions,orqualitiesthatcomposeclasses,categories,orareas.Suchas,birdidageneralworddenotingalargeclass,andsparrowisaspecificworddenotingaspecifickindofbird.Therelationbetweengeneralandspecificwordscanbeillustratedasfollowing.SeeFigure2.AnimalCatdogpighorsecowbearstallionmarefoalFigure2.RelationbetweengeneralandspecificwordsMoreexamples.(1)Hewalkedintotheroom.vsHeshuffledintotheroom.(2)Shecriedsadly.vsSheweepedsadly.(3)Theylaughedheartedly.vsTheyyockedheartedly.(4)Thewindblowsthroughthewoods.vs.Thewindiswhistlingthroughthewoods.(5)Shesmilesatthesightofme.vs.Shegigglesatthesightofme.1.2.2ConcretewordsvsAbstractwordsWordscanbeconcreteorabstractinmeaning.Concretewordsarethosethatdenotephysicalentitiesandoftencreatesensoryimagesinthemindoflanguageusers,suchas“rose”,“chair”,whileabstractwordsarethoseusedtoexpressedideasthatcannotbediscernedbythefivesenses,suchas“democracy”,“politics”,“culture”,“spirit”.Inwriting,concretewordsareusedmoreindescription,narration,orexpositionthaninargumentationoracademicpapers.Andtheabstractnessofawordmaybevariedindifferentcontext.Suchastheword“man”usedinthefollowingexamples.(1)Theboytriedtobeamanandnottocrywhenhiswoundwasdressed.(2)ManisrapidlydestroyingtheEarth.(3)“What’sthesmell?”Iaskedthemanbesidemeinthebus.(4)“Man,gotamatch?”Anobviuoslydrunkbeggarstoppedmeatthestreetcorner.3.2.3DynamicwordsvsStaticwordsDynamicwordsarethosethatdenoteactionsormovementorfulloflifewhileStaticwordsdenotestateofaffairsornatureofthings.Forinstance,theword“have”isstaticwhile“embrace”isdynamic;theword“be”isstaticwhile“clamour”isdynamic.Comparingthefollowingpairs.(1)Iamhungry.vsMystomachclamoursforfood.(2)Therearetwoimportantpointsinhisspeech.vsHisspeechembracestwoimportantpoints.(3)Factsaremoreimportantthanwords.vsFactsspeaklouderthanwords.(4)Theweatherisgoodforourpicnicking.vsTheweatherfavorsourpicnicking.(5)OnceIworkedasateacherofEnglish,adesigneroftheschoolnetwork,anorganizerofthevolunteerforthehomeless.vsOnceItaughtEnglishspeakingandlisteningatahighschool,successfullydesignedtheschoolnetworkforfiveschoolsinHarbin,oftenorgnizedthevolunteerstoassistthosehomelesspeopleinourcity.Theawarenessofusingdynamicwordscanmakeyourwritingvividandenergeticinexpression.Thus,youshuoldtrytousedynamicwordsasoftenasyoucanwhenyouhavethechoiceofselectingdynamicandstaticwords.1.3EmotionalTypesofWordsInEnglish,somewordshaveaffectivemeanings,whichconveytheuser’sattitudetowardsthereferentsofthewords.Thesewordsfallintotwotypes:appreciativewordsandderogatorywords.