The Vocabulary of Vocabulary

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The Vocabulary of Vocabulary

• Useful Words We Use to Describe and Identify Words

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Denotation Connotation

• Denotation The denotation of a word is its
  specific dictionary meaning.
• Connotation The connotation of a word is its
  tone that is the emotions or associations it
  normally arouses in people using, hearing, or
  reading it.
• A word may be favorable (positive) or unfavorable
  (negative, pejorative).

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Connotation

• A word that does not normally evoke strong
  feelings of any kind has a neutral connotation.
• Examples
• Word Connotation
• bereft unfavorable
• adroit favorable
• swerve neutral

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Literal and Figurative Usage

• Word used in a Literal Sense
• strict dictionary meaning
• Makes sense from purely logical/realistic point
  of view
• Yesterday I read an old tale about a knight who
  slew a fire-breathing dragon.
• In this sentence, fire-breathing is employed
  literally.
• The dragon is pictured as breathing real fire.

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Literal and Figurative Usage

• Figurative or Metaphorical Usage
• Words are used in a symbolic or non-literal way.
• Situations do NOT make sense from a purely
  logical or realistic point of view.
• Example
• Suddenly my boss rushed into my office, breathing
  fire.

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Figurative Language

• In the previous sentence, breathing fire is NOT
  being used in a literal sense
• The boss was not actually breathing fire out of
  his nostrils.
• The expression is intended to convey (show)
  graphically that the boss was very angry.

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Synonyms Antonyms

• A synonym is a word that has the same or almost
  the same meaning as another word.
• An antonym is a word that means the opposite of
  or almost the opposite of another word.

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Vocabulary Strategy Using Context

• Context of a Word
• The printed text of which that word is a part
• By studying the context, we may find clues that
  lead us to its meaning
• We might find clues in the immediate sentence or
  phrase in which the word appears.
• We might find clues in the physical features of a
  page itself. (Photographs, illustrations, charts,
  graphs, captions, and headings are examples).

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Using Context

• When you do the various word omission exercises
  in the book, look for context clues built into
  the sentence or passage to guide you to the
  correct answer.
• Three types of context clues appear in the
  exercises in the vocabulary workshop book.
• Restatement clues
• Contrast clues
• Inference clues

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Restatement Clues

• Consists of a synonym for, or a definition of,
  the missing word.
• The summer humidity seemed to make everything
  wilt, and I could feel the ______ in the air.
• a. wetness b. pollen c. excitement

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Contrast Clues

• A contrast clue consists of an antonym for, or a
  phrase that means the opposite of, the missing
  word.
• Though she was exhausted, she worked on the
  production with admirable (energy, lethargy).
• In this sentence, exhausted is in contrast with
  the missing word, energy. This is confirmed by
  the presence of the word though.
• Exhausted thus functions as a contrast clue for
  energy.

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Inference Clue

• An inference clue implies but does not directly
  state the meaning of the missing word or words.
• It took a great deal of _____________ to keep up
  with the rest of the pack as they sped across the
  broken and hilly ____________ that separated them
  from the finish line in the cross country race.
• a. dispatchapparel c. staminaterrain
• b. misgiving.repast d. diversitybarrage

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Inference Clue

• In the previous sentence, there are several
  inference clues.
• Keep up with the rest of the pack suggests the
  word stamina because people who keep up must by
  definition have stamina.
• The word sped suggests the same thing
• The words broken and hilly suggest terrain
  because they are both terms that describe
  terrain.
• All of these words are inference clues because
  they suggest or imply, but do not directly state,
  the missing word or words.