1. DICTIONARY USE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY DR GHEEVARGHESE 1

2. USES NUMEROUS MAJOR USES – DEFINITIONS (MEANINGS) – PRONUNCIATION – WORD FAMILIES (beauty, beautiful, beautify) – WORD CLASSES (noun, adjective, verb, adverb) – ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (SYN, OPP, IDM) – ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS – WT, VISUAL VOCABULARY, IRREGULAR VERBS 2

3. DEFINITIONS A word may have different meanings. One has to choose the appropriate (suitable) meaning. Apparent AW adj. 1. obviousIt was apparent from her face that she had failed the test. 2. seeming/may not be true – Tom was confused at my apparent lack of interest in him. The apparent movement of the sun …, – The apparent movement of a bus … 3

4. The apparent movement of the stationary train confused the passengers. Which meaning is relevant here? 1, 2 (p.537) Fast /fa:st/ adj., adv, verb, noun – Adj.;adv.;verbnoun – We were driving through the mud. Suddenly we realized that we were stuck fast. – Which meaning? 4

5. PRONUNCIATION English is not a phonetic language. Second language users normally struggle with the pronunciation of words. – Task: try to pronounce (say) the word ‘victuals’ without referring to the dictionary. Then check if you had got the correct pronunciation. One may refer to the dictionary for the correct pronunciation. Pronunciation is written in IPA. One needs to master the IPA for this purpose. There is a question on this item. IPA is given in your dictionary on R45 (page) IPA = International Phonetic Alphabet 5

6. WORD CLASSES Stable adj.; noun; verb The word belongs to three word classes. Each word class is dealt with a special sign adj 1. firmly fixed; not likely to move (stable prices/stable relationships) SYN steady 2. calm and reasonable (mentally) SYN balanced Noun 1. The place where horses are kept at night Verb – keep a horse in a stable. Have you stabled the horse? WORD FAMILY Stable antonym (opposite)unstable Stability(opposite)-- stability Another verb from ‘stable’ = stabilize 6

7. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (SYN, OPP, IDM) TOO MANY WORDS IN ENGLISH. WE CANNOT MASTER ALL. IN FACT, NO ONE HAS EVER DONE THAT. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS GIVEN AS AW (ACADEMIC WORD), OALD 3000 (SYMBOL OF KEY) – THESE WORDS ARE VERY USEFUL FOR A UNIVERSITY STUDENT. SYN – SYNONYM (NOTE DIFFERENT CONTEXTS – DIFFERENT SYNONYMS) stable – steady; balanced OPP - ANTONYM 7

8. ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS – WT, VISUAL VOCABULARY, IRREGULAR VERBS WRITING TUTOR – WT1 to WT32 VISUAL VOCABULARY – V1 to V64 LOOK UP THE WORD – PHEASANT (P. 1097) – End – VISUAL VOCAB PAGE V10 8

9. Vocabulary /vǝ’kᴂbjǝlǝri Pizza – pi:tsǝ Schizophrenia – skitsǝ’fri:niǝ 9

10. nouns Countable or uncountable Nouns used as uncountable nouns will have the entry like this Equipment AW /I’kwipmǝnt/ noun [u] (p.494) The above entry tells us that the word can only be used as an uncountable noun. Therefore singular. New equipments are needed in the lab. New equipment is needed in the lab. 10

11. Countable nouns Countable nouns have both singular and plural forms. Look at the entry Deadline /dedlain/ noun (p.372) Not indicated whether it is a countable noun or an uncountable noun. It is a countable noun and we can use the noun both as a singular noun = deadline and as a plural noun = deadlines 11

12. REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS ALL VERBS HAVE FIVE FORMS (ONLY THREE ARE SHOWN IN THE DICTIONARY) EXCEPTION ‘BE’ – AM/IS/ARE; WAS/WERE; BEEN; BEING; BE All regular verbs have the same past tense and past participle forms (Adding –ed to the infinitive/lexical/dictionary form). Irregular verbs – past tense and past participle are formed differently. 12

13. REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS STOPSTOPSSTOPPED STOPPING CRYCRIESCRIED CRYING STUDYSTUDIESSTUDIED STUDYING PASSPASSESPASSED PASSING TESTTESTSTESTED TESTING 13 So these verbs (regular verbs) are also called –ed verbs Most of the verbs in English are regular verbs. Irregular verbs are listed in the Dictionary on pages R2 - R4. eateatsateeateneating speakspeaksspokespokenspeaking writewriteswrotewrittenwriting readreadsread reading beginbeginsbeganbegunbeginning 283

14. IMPORTANCE OF MASTERING THE IRREGULAR FORMS The verb form after have/has/had is always the past participle form. We have to say/write The test has (begin). It (begin) ten minutes ago. [ The test has begun (begin, begins, began, begun,.). I have not (write) such an easy test.[I have not written (write, writes, wrote, written )… 14

15. TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS Transitive verbs are marked [T] verb + what? (Verb + a noun as object). Some verbs are both transitive and intransitive. Intransitive verbs do not take an object (another noun after the verb). Intransitive [I] (self). They slept 10 hours a week. Start / / verb, noun Verb [T, I] I started at 7 O’ clock. [?] = [i]- no noun after the verb. He just started a new job. [?]= (t). There is a noun/object [a new job] after the verb –started.[ He began the engine before driving off. The audience raised when the president arrived. The audience rose when the president arrived. 15