Instruction 1-3
Idioms, Analogies, Metaphors and Similes | Roots and Affixes | Word Meanings | Summary
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Word Meanings |
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| In our last instruction, you learned that one way to discover the meaning
of an unfamiliar word is to analyze its roots and affixes. That's how you
learned that "chthonic" means "from the Greek mythological underworld." And
that "dyspnea" means "difficulty in breathing."
Another way is to look at the word in context. Context means reading a whole sentence and deriving a word's meaning from the whole sentence. Let's say you read this in a book report:
What do you think the word "protagonist" means? Well, since it is obvious
from the context that Jim Chee solves crimes in Or take this context question from a quiz. The sentence reads, "The addax was seen grazing in the grass off in the distance." You are then asked to choose one of these definitions for addax: (a) medieval calculating tool, (b) a long-horned desert antelope of North Africa, or (c) a blank page in a book before the title page. Since a calculating tool or book page are unlikely to be seen grazing anywhere, the answer must be: (b) a long-horned desert antelope of North Africa. Context is especially important in figuring out a word with several meanings. The word "tongue," for example, can mean "language," "an organ of speech," or "the flaps under shoe laces." But if you read the sentence, "Mr. Carter speaks in many tongues," only one of those meanings applies. That meaning is "language." Read the following: "The matter was of no consequence to the ambassador." "Consequence" has several meanings, but in this context. It doesn't have anything to do with cause and effect. It means "importance." In the sentence "Kathryn's report traced the source of English Christmas customs," the word traced doesn't mean "to copy" or "to form letters," it means "to uncover by investigation." Words with multiple meanings are tricky. Take the word "shade," for example. "The dress is a beautiful shade of red," is quite different from "Let's sit in the shade and cool off." Looking at the word "caught" you see that, "He caught a fish," is not the same as "the house caught on fire." Also "notes" - "Don't write notes in class," and "She can't sing the high notes," have very different meanings. Context counts! As we said at the beginning of this lesson, words are the way humans communicate. Have you ever heard the old saying, "sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me?" It's not true. Words can hurt, but they can also help and heal, teach and entertain us. So it's important to learn as much about words as possible. Video Instruction Now let's do Practice Exercise 1-3 (top).
You have now completed Lesson 1 on Word Analysis, Fluency and Vocabulary Development. You are ready to do the Problem and Test sections. You may wish to review any or all of the topics before answering the questions that follow. You may also wish to obtain additional material from the links below before answering the questions. Good luck! http://www.eltnewsletter.com/back/June2000/art152000.shtml (Idioms) http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/rootaffix.html (Roots vs. Affixes)
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many of Hillerman's books,
protagonist must mean "continuing character" or "hero."
