WRIT2250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Elegant Variation, Hyperbole, Sms Language
Lecture 2 – 26/2/18 – How words work
What is a word?
- A single distance meaningful element of speech or writing, used with others or alone to form
a sentence
- The smallest fragment of speech/make up of letters that makes sense on its own
Notional definitions
- Definitions based on ideas of what different words mean
Two categories of classes in English
- Form/open class – verbs, nouns, adjective or adverbs (words are constantly added or
deleted from this category) – 99.9% of English vocabulary
- Structure/closed words – conjunctions, determiners, prepositions, pronouns (smaller class in
which words rarely changes) – 0.1% of vocabulary but 60% of words we actually use
Why do words matter?
- Do a lot of heavy lifting in communication
- Voice
- Style
- Meaning
- Tone
- Ethos + Persona
Affrientice – a peso ou ko too ell to all a auaitae ut dot like eough to all a fied
It doest atte hat ode the lettes of the od ae i, as log as the fist ad last lette of the
word are in the right place
How do words work – theory
- Sign (object)
- Signifier (the word that refers to the sign – often nothing in the word to tell us that it refers
to the sign)
- Signified (what the listener/reader forms in their mind)
Signified
- Sign and signifier are somewhat fixed, signified is fluent
- Tik it ith hoosig ods is that e dot ko hat the ootatio of the od ill
e i the listees/eades id
- All talet fo itig osists, afte all, of othig oe tha hoosig ods. Its peisio
that gives writing power. – Gustave Flambert
How do you choose the right word?
- Who is reading your writing? When, where, why and how are they reading it?
- A word is not a crystal. It is a vessel of thought and may vary greatly over time.
- Aim for words that are FAMILIAR, SPECIFIC in a particular context, APPROPRIATE in a
particular context.
Familiarity
- Avoid jargon (including acronyms and initialisms), idioms, foreign words, abstract or esoteric
words, nominalisation, archaic words, neologisms (self-invented words), portmanteau words
(words glued together to create a new word).
- Beware of buzzwords – create problems because reader may not understand them, they
sound hackneyed, and go out of fashion which makes your writing sound dated
Specificity
- Avoid abstractions and gobbledegooks, aiguous ods if ou ea eause, dot use as
or since), eupheiss, shall, ague poous, dot use this o its o – this what? – and
easel ods ight e up to… – just use is
- Dot use passie oice
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 2 26/2/18 how words work. A single distance meaningful element of speech or writing, used with others or alone to form a sentence. The smallest fragment of speech/make up of letters that makes sense on its own. Definitions based on ideas of what different words mean. Form/open class verbs, nouns, adjective or adverbs (words are constantly added or deleted from this category) 99. 9% of english vocabulary. Structure/closed words conjunctions, determiners, prepositions, pronouns (smaller class in which words rarely changes) 0. 1% of vocabulary but 60% of words we actually use. Do a lot of heavy lifting in communication. Affrientice a pe(cid:396)so(cid:374) (cid:455)ou k(cid:374)o(cid:449) too (cid:449)ell to (cid:272)all a(cid:374) a(cid:272)(cid:395)uai(cid:374)ta(cid:374)(cid:272)e (cid:271)ut do(cid:374)(cid:859)t like e(cid:374)ough to (cid:272)all a f(cid:396)ie(cid:374)d. It does(cid:374)(cid:859)t (cid:373)atte(cid:396) (cid:449)hat o(cid:396)de(cid:396) the lette(cid:396)s of the (cid:449)o(cid:396)d a(cid:396)e i(cid:374), as lo(cid:374)g as the fi(cid:396)st a(cid:374)d last lette(cid:396) of the word are in the right place.
