Introduction to Words in Use

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Introduction to Words in Use

• October 24, 2006

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• This chapter is from a book on lexicography.
• That is, it is intended for people who are
  interested in the making of dictionaries and
  other language reference books.

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• This chapter starts with a section called
  "vocabularies."
• NOTE!
• vocabulary ? word
• vocabularies ? words

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• A vocabulary is a set of words.
• "She has a big vocabulary," means that she knows
  a lot of words.
• We dont say she knows a lot of vocabularies!

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• Usually vocabulary is a singular word the
  vocabulary of English is the set of all the words
  in the English language.
• By using the plural form, the author wants to
  convey the idea that one language has different
  subsets of words within it.

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Core vocabulary vs. Specialist vocabulary

• Core vocabulary is shared in common by everyone
  who speaks a particular language or dialect.
• Specialist vocabulary is restricted in some
  sense--it is used only by certain people or in
  certain circumstances.

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• Look at the diagram on top of page 119.
• Literary vocabulary is used for writing
  (especially literature).
• Colloquial vocabulary is informal, mainly used in
  speaking.

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• There are many dimensions of variation, that is,
  there are many ways in which the language can
  vary.
• Different dimensions show us different kinds of
  specialist vocabularies.

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Historical variation

• Obsolete words
• Archaic words

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Obsolete words - words that are no longer used

• eldfather ... grandfather, ancestor
• hardel ... the back of the hand (the other side
  of the palm)
• lanken ... to grow thin and lean

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Archaic words

• Words that are still used, but sound
  old-fashioned and are disappearing from use

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Archaic examples

• Older forms of verbs like are and have art,
  hath, hast
• Older forms of words for you thee, thou
• whither (to where), whence (from where)

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Geographic Variation

• Geographic varieties are called dialects.

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• Core Vocabulary of World English (also called
  International English), includes the words which
  are common to all dialects of English (for
  example book, eat, country)

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• Specialized Vocabularies of World English
  Vocabularies of particular regions
• For example, veld is a word from South African
  English

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Within one country, there are regional dialects

• Core vocabulary used throughout a country is the
  national variety.
• Each region also has its own specialized
  vocabulary, words used only within that region.
• For example, bubbler is a word in the regional
  vocabulary of Wisconsin English.

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Dimension of Occupation

• Different jobs/different activities/different
  hobbies require different words.
• These specialized vocabularies are sometimes
  called "jargon"

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Social and Cultural groups

• Different groups use different words. There's
  some overlap with Occupation.
• Some of these different vocabularies are referred
  to as "slang.
• Examples snowboarders slang, soccer slang

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Dimension of Formality

• We use different vocabularies for written vs.
  spoken language.
• We chose different words depending on the
  formality of the situation.

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Restricted languages

• Used only in a very narrow setting, such as
  English as used by pilots and air traffic
  controllers.

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For next week

• Read pages 118 to 128 of Words in Use.