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Spelman Spotlight November 15, 1979 Page 6
A Guide fo a Better You
How to improve
your vocabulary
By Tony Randall
International Paper asked Tony Randall-who is on
The American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel,
and loves words almost as much as acting-to tell
how he has acquired his enormous vocabulary.
Words can make us laugh, cry, go
to war, fall in love.
Rudyard Kipling called words
the most powerful drug of mankind.
If they are, I’m a hopeless addict—
and I hope to get you hooked, too!
Whether you’re still in school
or you head up a corporation, the
better command you have of
words, the better chance you have
of saying exactly what you mean,
of understanding what others
mean—and of getting what you
want in the world.
English is the richest language
— with the largest vocabulary on
earth. Over 1,000,000 words!
You can express shades of
meaning that aren’t even possible
in other languages. (For example,
you can differentiate between
“sky” and “heaven.” The French,
Italians and Spanish cannot.)
Yet, the average adult has a
vocabulary of only 30,000 to
60,000 words. Imagine what we’re
missing!
Here are five pointers that
help me learn—and remember—
whole families of words at a time.
They may not look easy — and
won’t be at first. But if you stick
with them you’ll find they work!
What’s the first thing to do
when you see a word you don’t
know?
1. Try to guess the meaning
of the word
from the way it’s used
You can often get at least part of a
word’s meaning—just from how
it’s used in a sentence.
That’s why it’s so important
to read as much as you can-
different kinds of things: maga-
zines, books, newspapers you
don’t normally read. The more
you expose yourself to new words,
the more words you’ll pick up just
by seeing how they're used. :
For instance, say you run
across the word “manacle”:
“The manacles had been on
John’s wrists for 30 years.
Only one person had a key—
his wife.”
You have a good idea of what
“manacles” are —just from the
context of the sentence.
But let’s find out exactly what
the word means and where it
comes from. The only way to do
this, and to build an extensive
vocabulary fast, is to go to the
dictionary. (How lucky, you can —
Shakespeare couldn’t. There wasn’t
an English dictionary in his day!)
So you go to the dictionary.
(NOTE: Don’t let dictionary
abbreviations put you off. The
front tells you what they mean,
and even has a guide to
pronunciation.)
2. Look it up
Here’s the definition for “manacle”
in The American Heritage Dictionary
of the English Language.
man-a-cle (man'a-kal) n. Usually plural.
1. A device for confining the hands, usually
consisting of two metal rings that are fastened
about the wrists and joined by a metal chain; a
handcuff. 2. Anything that confines or
restrains.-tr.v. manacled, -cling, -cles.
1. To restrain with manacles. 2. To confine
or restrain as if with manacles; shackle; fetter.
[Middle English manicle, from Old French,
from Latin manicula, little hand, handle,
diminutive of manus, hand. See man- 2 in
Appendix.*]
The first definition fits here:
A device for confining the hands,
usually consisting of two metal
rings that are fastened about the
wrists and joined by a metal
chain; a handcuff.
Well, that’s what you thought it
meant. But what’s the idea behind
the word? What are its roots ? To
really understand a word, you
need to know.
3. Dig the meaning out by
the roots
The root is the
basic part of
the word —its
heritage, its
origin. (Most
of our roots
come
from
“‘Emancipate’ has a
Latin root. Learn it and
you’ll know other words
at a glance.”
Latin and Greek
words at least
2,000 years old —
which come from
even earlier
Indo-European
tongues!)
Learning the
roots: 1) Helps us
remember words.
2) Gives us a
deeper under
standing of the
words we already
know. And 3)
allows us to pick
up whole families ofneie words at
a time. That’s why learning the
root is the most important part of
going to the dictionary.
Notice the root of “manacle”
is manus (Latin) meaning “hand.”
Well, that makes sense. Now,
other words with this root, man,
start to make sense, too.
Take manual —something
done “by hand” (manual labor) or
a “handbook.” And manage — to
“handle” something (as a
manager). When you emancipate
someone, you’re taking him “from
the hands of” someone else.
When you manufacture
something, you “make it by hand”
(in its original meaning).
And when you finish your first
novel, your publisher will see your
— originally “handwritten” —
manuscript.
Imagine! A whole new world
of words opens up—just from one
simple root!
The root gives the basic clue to
the meaning of a word. But there’s
another important clue that runs
a close second — the prefix.
4. Get the powerful
prefixes under your belt
A prefix is the part that’s
sometimes attached to the
front of a word. Like —well,
prefix! There aren’t many—
less than 100 major prefixes—
and you’ll learn them in no
time at all just by becoming
more aware of the meanings
of words you already know.
, Here are a few. (Some of the
“How-to” vocabulary-building
books will give you the others.)
PREFIX
MEANING
EXAMPLES
(Lat.) (Gk.)
com. con, sym. syn.
co, col, cor syl
in, im, a. an
il. ir
contra, anti,
i counter ant
with, very,
together
not,
without
against.
opposite
conform
sympathy
innocent
amorphous
contravene
antidote
(Literal sense)
(form with)
(feeling with)
(not wicked)
(without form)
(come against)
(give against)
witness, your story must
corroborate my story.” (The literal
meaning of corroborate is “strength
together!’)
• “You told me one thing—
now you tell me another. Don’t
contradict yourself.” (The literal
meaning of contradict is “say
against”.)
• “Oh, that snake’s not poison
ous. It’s a completely innocuous
little garden snake.” (The literal
meaning of innocuous is “not
harmful”)
Now, you’ve got some new
words. What are you going to do
with them?
5. Put your new words to
work at once
Use them several times the first
day you learn them. Say them out
loud! Write them in sentences.
Should you “use” them on
friends ? Careful —you don’t want
them to think you’re a stuffed
shirt. (It depends on the
situation. You know when a word
sounds natural—and when it
sounds stuffy.)
How about your enemies ? You
have my blessing. Ask one of them
if he’s read that article on pneumo-
noultramicroscopicsilicovol-
canoconiosis. (You really can find
it in the dictionary.) Now, you’re
one up on him.
So what do you do to improve
your vocabulary?
Remember: 1) Try to guess the
meaning of the word from the way
it’s used. 2) Look it up. 3) Dig the
meaning out by the roots. 4) Get
the powerful prefixes under your
belt. 5) Put your new words to
work at once.
That’s all there is to it—you’re
off on your treasure hunt.
Now, do you see why I love
words so much ?
Aristophanes said, “By words,
the mind is excited and the spirit
elated.” It’s as true today as it was
“The more words you know, the more you can use.
What does ‘corroborate’ really mean! See the text.”
when he said it in Athens—2,400
years ago! .
I hope you’re now like me —
hooked on words forever.
/r^
Now, see how the prefix (along
with the context) helps you get the
meaning of the italicized words:
• “If you’re going to be my
£
£ ^ M
IAj
i
Our alphabet evolved from
old Phoenician script.
A
S
C
P