Word Use
39 Using the Dictionary
The dictionary is a valuable tool. To take advantage of it, you need to understand the main kinds of information that a dictionary gives about a word. Look at the information provided for the word murder in the following entry from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language:*
mur•der (mûr2d@r) n. The unlawful killing of one human being by an- other, esp. with premeditated malice. —v. 1. To kill (a human being) unlawfully. 2. To mar or spoil by ineptness: murder the English language. 3. Slang. To defeat decisively. [< OE morthor.] — mur2der•er n. — mur2der•ess n.
Spelling
The first bit of information, in the boldface (heavy-type) entry itself, is the spelling of murder. You probably already know the spelling of murder, but if you didn't, you could find it by pronouncing the syllables in the word carefully and then looking it up in the dictionary.
Use your dictionary to correct the spelling of the following words:
compatable insite
althogh troble
aksident untill
embelish easyer
systimatise prepostrous
shedule comotion
attenshun Vasaline
wierd fatel
hurryed busines
alright jenocide
fony poluted
kriterion perpose
hetirosexual chalange
Syllabication
The second bit of information that the dictionary gives, also in the boldface entry, is the syllabication of murder. Note that a dot separates the syllables.
Use your dictionary to mark the syllable divisions in the following words. Also indicate how many syllables are in each word.
j i t t e r (__________ syllables)
m o t i v a t e (__________ syllables)
o r a n g u t a n (__________ syllables)
i n c o n t r o v e r t i b l e (__________ syllables)
Noting syllable divisions will enable you to hyphenate a word: divide it at the end of one line of writing and complete it at the beginning of the next line. You can correctly hyphenate a word only at a syllable division, and you may have to check your dictionary to make sure of the syllable divisions.
Pronunciation
The third bit of information in the dictionary entry is the pronunciation of murder: (murder). You already know how to pronounce murder, but if you didn't, the information within the parentheses would serve as your guide. Use your dictionary to complete the following exercises that relate to pronunciation.
Vowel Sounds
You will probably use the pronunciation key in your dictionary mainly as a guide to pronouncing different vowel sounds (vowels are the letters a, e, i, o, and u). Here is a part of the pronunciation key in the American Heritage Dictionary:
a% pat / a$ way / e% pet / e$ bee / K% pit / K$ pie
This key tells you, for example, that the sound of the short a is like the a in pat, the sound of the long a is like the a in way, and the sound of the short e is like the e in pet.
Now look at the pronunciation key in your own dictionary. The key is probably located in the front of the dictionary or at the bottom of alternate pages. What common word in the key tells you how to pronounce each of the following sounds?
K$ u%
o% oo‡
o$ oo__
(Note that a long vowel always has the sound of its own name.)
The Schwa (@)
The symbol @ looks like an upside-down e. It is called a schwa, and it stands for the unaccented sound in such words as ago, item, easily, gallop, and circus. More approximately, it stands for the sound uh—like the uh that speakers sometimes make when they hesitate. Perhaps it would help to remember that uh, as well as @, could be used to represent the schwa sound.
Here are some of the many words in which the schwa sound appears: imitation (im-uh-ta$2shuhn or im-@-ta$2sh@n); elevate (el2uh-va$t or el2@-va$t); horizon (huh-rK$2zuhn or h@-rK$2z@n). Open your dictionary to any page, and you will almost surely be able to find three words that make use of the schwa in the pronunciation in parentheses after the main entry.
In the spaces below, write three words that make use of the schwa, and their pronunciations.
1. ___________________ (___________________)
2. ___________________ (___________________)
3. ___________________ (___________________)
Accent Marks
Some words contain both a primary accent, shown by a heavy stroke (2), and a secondary accent, shown by a lighter stroke (2). For example, in the word controversy (kon2tr@ vûr2se), the stress, or accent, goes chiefly on the first syllable (kon2), and, to a lesser extent, on the third syllable (vûr2).
Use your dictionary to add stress marks to the following words:
preclude (pri kloo__d)
atrophy (at r@ fe$)
inveigle (in va$ g@l)
ubiquitous (yoo__ bik wi t@s)
prognosticate (prog nos ti ka$t)
Full Pronunciation
Use your dictionary to write the full pronunciation (the information given in parentheses) for each of the following words.
1. inveigh
2. diatribe
3. raconteur
4. panacea
5. esophagus
6. cesarean
7. clandestine
8. vicarious
9. quiescent
10. parsimony
11. penchant
12. antipathy
13. capricious
14. schizophrenia
15. euphemism
16. internecine
17. amalgamate
18. quixotic
19. laissez-faire
20. antidisestablishmentarianism (This word is probably not in a paperback dictionary, but if you can say establish and if you break the rest of the word into individual syllables, you should be able to pronounce it.)
Now practice pronouncing each word. Use the pronunciation key in your dictionary as an aid to sounding out each syllable. Do not try to pronounce a word all at once; instead, work on mastering one syllable at a time. When you can pronounce each of the syllables in a word successfully, then say them in sequence, add the accent, and pronounce the entire word.
Parts of Speech
The next bit of information that the dictionary gives about murder is n. This abbreviation means that the meanings of murder as a noun will follow.
Use your dictionary if necessary to fill in the meanings of the following abbreviations:
v. = sing. =
adj. = pl. =
Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs
Murder is a regular verb and forms its principal parts by adding -ed, -ed, and -ing to the stem of the verb. When a verb is irregular, the dictionary lists its principal parts. For example, with give the present tense comes first (the entry itself, give). Next comes the past tense (gave), and then the past participle (given)—the form of the verb used with such helping words as have, had, and was. Then comes the present participle (giving)—the -ing form of the verb.
Look up the principal parts of the following irregular verbs and write them in the spaces provided. The first one has been done for you.
Present Past Past Participle Present Participle
tear _________________ _________________ _________________
go _________________ _________________ _________________
know _________________ _________________ _________________
steal _________________ _________________ _________________
Plural Forms of Irregular Nouns
The dictionary supplies the plural forms of all irregular nouns. (regular nouns like murder form the plural by adding -s or -es). Give the plurals of the following nouns. If two forms are shown, write down both.
analysis
dictionary
criterion
activity
thesis
Meanings
When a word has more than one meaning, the meanings are numbered in the dictionary, as with the verb murder. In many dictionaries, the most common meanings of a word are presented first. The introductory pages of your dictionary will explain the order in which meanings are presented.
Use the sentence context to try to explain the meaning of the underlined word in each of the following sentences. Write your definition in the space provided. Then look up and record the dictionary meaning of the word. Be sure to select the meaning that fits the word as it is used in the sentence.
1. I spend an inordinate amount of time watching television.
Your definition:
Dictionary definition:
2. I appreciated her candid remark that my pants were so baggy they made me look like a clown.
Your definition:
Dictionary definition:
3. The FBI squelched the terrorists' plan to plant a bomb in the White House.
Your definition:
Dictionary definition:
4. One of the cardinal rules in our house was, “Respect other people's privacy.”
Your definition:
Dictionary definition:
5. A special governor prevents the school bus from traveling more than fifty-five miles an hour.
Your definition:
Dictionary definition:
Etymology
Etymology refers to the origin and historical development of a word. Such information is usually enclosed in brackets and is more likely to be present in a hardbound desk dictionary than in a paperback one. Good desk dictionaries include the following:
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Random House College Dictionary
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
Webster's New World Dictionary
A good desk dictionary will tell you, for example, that the word berserk derives from the name of a tribe of Scandanavian warriors who would work themselves into a frenzy during battle. The word is now a general term to describe someone whose actions are frenzied or crazed.
See if your dictionary says anything about the origins of the following words.
bikini
sandwich
tantalize
breakfast
Usage Labels
As a general rule, use only standard English words in your writing. If a word is not standard English (as is the case, for example, with the third meaning of murder as a verb), your dictionary will probably give it a usage label like one of the following: informal, nonstandard, slang, vulgar, obsolete, archaic, rare.
Look up the following words and record how your dictionary labels them. Remember that a recent hardbound desk dictionary will always be the best source of information about usage.
flunk
tough (meaning “unfortunate, too bad”)
creep (meaning “an annoying person”)
ain't
scam
Synonyms
A synonym is a word that is close in meaning to another word. Using synonyms helps you avoid unnecessary repetition of the same word in a paper. A paperback dictionary is not likely to give you synonyms for words, but a good desk dictionary will. (You might also want to own a thesaurus, a book that lists synonyms and antonyms. An antonym is a word approximately opposite in meaning to another word.)
Consult a desk dictionary that gives synonyms for the following words, and write the synonyms in the spaces provided.
heavy
escape
necessary