Gn com-lect 2

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LECTURE 2

What Words can do?

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DICTION

Diction entails two distinct skills:• Choice of words, especially with regard to correctness,

appropriateness, or effectiveness. Etymology: Latin dictio – speaking, style, from dicere

‘to say’. Effectiveness in communication is to a great extent a

function of the words that you choose to put your point across.

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SUCCESS WITH WORDS

I. Accuracy

II. Suitability

III. Effectiveness All three of the above entail choices about the verbal

possibilities – in other words, diction. Before we examine these parameters of word choice, let

us look into the question of how words mean.

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DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

Denotation: The primary associations of a word for its users.

Objective relation between the word and reality. Connotation: Secondary associations for one or more

members, these may be uniform across a community of users, or based on subjective, individual experience, subgroup experience, attitudinal or affective associations that words call forth.

Cognitive and affective meanings, in other words.

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(CONT . . .)

Words are used denotatively as well as connotatively. When we speak of accuracy, appropriateness and

effectiveness in word choice, we have to have both the denotative and connotative uses of words in mind.

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I. ACCURACY

To say anything, you could opt for so many words. Take the verb ‘say’ itself:

Say (express), state (express formally), assert (express strongly), suggest (present for consideration), claim (express as being true), maintain (uphold), declare (make known), proclaim (say publicly), affirm (say supportively), and many more . . .

The best writing, and even the speaking, we are told, uses accurate words.

Though in speaking, hunt for accuracy has its pitfalls, unless a laborious preparation has gone into the act.

What does accuracy entail? Calling things by the right names -

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INACCURATE WORDS A rich assortment of jokes based on Malapropisms, or

those tip of the tongue experiences which most of us have had, which do not always end up with silence, but in uttering the wrong word.

For example, Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals, a Sheridian play.

Supercilious vanity and verbal ineptitude – her haughtiness is always punctured by verbal gaffes, and she gives to the English language a word – malapropism – an inaccurate word.

An example from Mrs. Malaprop’s speech:“but the point we would request of you is, that you will promise to forget this fellow – no, illiterate him, I say, quite from your memory”

(obliterate)

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SOME MALAPROPISMS FROM STUDENT WRITINGS:

• harassing solar energy.• incoherent with each other.• lucrative language.• the technical recourse.

(harnessing, incompatible,/inconsistent, innovative, discourse)

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2. Misplaced Modifiers: Examples:• He only ran a mile. (He ran only a mile)• The team didn’t even score once. (The team didn’t

score even once).• She almost read the whole book. (She read almost

the whole book).

3. Inaccuracy in Indian English: Examples:• I came by walk. • He is pulling my legs.• To make a long story short . . .

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II. APPROPRIATENESS

Suitability or propriety of verbal choices to your role as the writer/speaker, the subject matter and the potential audience.

Formal/informal/colloquial/slang Not discrete categories – language is constantly

changing and so is this categorization getting constantly reformulated – today’s slang is tomorrow’s colloquial idiom and informal speech of the day after.

The shifts that take place in this continuum are a word watcher’s paradise.

And they pose rather ticklish problems from the point of view of the language user.

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SLANG

Clear cases of slang – those that bear the unmistakable stamp of the group that uses them. They are like membership badges which the users bear.

Telu, chaapu, maggu, etc. and so many more vivid expressions in your own slang.

If you didn’t have a group slang in your younger days, you have missed out on something in life.

Slang – extreme form of colloquial idiom, language at its creative best, yielding to ever new possibilities of expression.

Social attitudes to slang range from mild tolerance to complete intolerance.

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Still inappropriate in formal discourse just as ‘casual dress style’ is inappropriate at ‘an evening of official dinner’ - Language with its sleeves rolled up, its shirt tails dangling, and shoes covered with mud, etc.

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SLANG IS . . .

Language at its creative best. Metaphorisation at its best:• Wall-flower: socially neglected person• Zig-zag: drunken• Clock-watcher: good for nothing (1994 college slang in

the US)• peeps: parents• bump: skip a class• dog: a friendly person• mamaflage: to hide something from elders

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(CONT . . .) Clever, fun, sham, banter, mob, stingy – began life as

slang, and have lost their slanginess over time. Long standing slang: cash, dough, dibs, bucks, for money Slang – from the point of view of communication – fills

expressive gaps in language, we wouldn’t know how to send across an intended meaning without expressions such as barge in, windbag, full of beans – strong connotations, or attitudinal meanings, very often absent in the formal idiom.

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JARGON Jargon is itself a loaded word. The dictionary definition: ‘the technical vocabulary or

idiom of a special activity or group’ – neat and neutral But this sense is almost completely overshadowed by

another: ‘obscure and often pretentious language marked by a roundabout way of expression and use of long words’.

We cannot say definitively whether a particular word or phrase is jargon.

E.g., ‘reconfigure your browser to reject all cookies except those from trusted sources . . .’ is jargon only if you are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the technical aspects of the internet.

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(CONT . . .)

There will be occasions when we have to use jargon, especially in technical reports, or reports where the primary reader will expect a high level of technical language. In this case, the solution is to provide a glossary explaining the technical language for the more general reader.

However, if there is any danger that your readers won't understand the technical words and phrases you use, don't. Find an alternative, more common or direct word or phrase - the one that your readers themselves would use.

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(CONT . . .)

Communication manuals say: Avoid jargon.  We insist, however, that you must fall back upon your

judgment to decide when to use jargon and when to avoid it. Let your communicative situation guide you.

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III. EFFECTIVENESS

Watch your connotations Watch your tone Use simpler words Use figures carefully Avoid worn out usage

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DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION When a lexeme is highly charged with connotations, we

commonly refer to it as ‘loaded’- the language of politics and religion is full of such loaded expressions: capitalist, fascism, radical, federalism, democracy, bureaucracy, politician; priest, dogma, pagan, orthodox, sect, heresy, fundamentalist.

The language of technical discourse on the other hand would largely attempt to avoid vocabulary that is highly connotative.

In general, the more a domain or topic is controversial, the more it will contain loaded vocabulary, providing people with the lexical ammunition they need to reinforce their point of view.

Connotations are important means of conveying personal attitude and point of view.

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EUPHEMISTIC AND DYSPHEMISTIC LANGUAGE

Bertrand Russell on a BBC programme gave an example of this with the following: ‘I am firm, you are obstinate, and he is a pig-headed fool’.

The idea prompted The New Statesman to set a competition for its readers. Here are some of the published entries:

• I am sparkling. You are usually talkative. He is drunk.• I am a creative writer. You have a journalistic flair. He is a

prosperous hack.• I day dream. You are an escapist. He ought to see a

psychiatrist. Many triplets can be devised that express positive, neutral,

and negative connotations:• Slender/thin/skinny• Frank/blunt/insolent• Overweight/plump/fat

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POTENTIAL OF WORDS

“When an idea is wanting, a word can always be found to take its place” – Goethe

• Illustrates the potential of words to mould/ manipulate thoughts and even reality.

Orwellian Newspeak Non-neutrality of language

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(CONT . . .) Euphemisms are most apt to be noticed when they are

new:• farmers - agriculturists• undertaker-funeral director• money lender-financier • Second hand - preowned

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BIASES

The polarities of euphemistic and dysphemistic language instantiate the outer coating of manipulative potential of words. Most other biases work on us unobtrusively. For Example:

• Notice from a Hotel: We are pleased to confirm your reservation. It will be held on a space available basis.

• Hansie Cronje’s confession: I was not entirely honest.• Ronald Reagan’s: Mistakes have been made.

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BIASED WORDS: ADJECTIVE

The widest spread of hidden bias is in the adjective. It is hard to think of an adjective in common use that does

not bring to mind some biased meaning. A ten minute random search result:

• old - old and worn; • tall - tall and handsome; • plain - plain and tasteless, plain and dumb; • slippery - slippery and unreliable; • rough - rough and uncouth, clumsy uncultured; • green - green and inexperienced;• blue - blue and down hearted; • level - level and judicious.

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(CONT . . .)

The associated adjective is overtly biased but the neutral partner is obviously tilted in the same direction.

• ( Fair trial vs Free trial: When my neighbour commits a murder, I want free trial, but when I commit one, I want fair trial)

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BIASED WORDS: NOUN

Bias in a noun is even more potent, a noun objectifies the way an adjective cannot, it can only qualify.

• (I am not a deserter, I deserted) • x is ungrateful. (attribution of a quality)• x is an ungrateful person. (solidifies the quality)• x is an ingrate. (we have branded x)• x fusses, x is fussy, x is a fussbudget;• x is extravagant, x is a spend thrift; • x takes his time, x is slow, x is a slowpoke;• x is easy, x is a pushover;• x cribs, x is a cribber.

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BIASED WORDS: VERBS

Verbs seem least hospitable to bias; they denote processes and states that are relatively short lived. And yet there is ample scope for bias.

• Approval / disapproval:• They solved the problem/they stumbled upon the

problem.• He is protesting/he is complaining.• He persists/ he doesn't give up.• She is resting/she is loafing.

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(CONT . . .)

Entailment : verbs entail the speakers view of the truth or falsity of what he is saying.

• She claimed/ said that the signature was genuine. (I, as the speaker, doubt it)

• He claimed that ... (doubt)• He regretted that ... (acceptance)• He pointed out that ... (sympathetic)• He indicated that ... (unsympathetic)• I thought that ... (no entailment)• I realized that ... ( entailment that it is bound to be so) We don’t discriminate. We simply exclude certain types.

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BIASED WORDS: ADVERBS Adverbs quietly nudge the hearer into adopting this or

that attitude to what the speaker is reporting, and a little reflection would make you see what the language is trying to conceal. For Example:

• It costs ten rupees – a statement of fact

It costs only ten rupees - that the amount is small.

It costs all of ten rupees - that the amount is big.

It actually costs ten rupees - that the fact is true despite contrary assumptions.

Sure enough, it costs ten rupees - it confirms what was claimed or predicted

It even costs ten rupees - that makes the fact more unacceptable than we supposed it to be.

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(CONT . . .)

• She roundly berated him. (she did it thoroughly and I relished it.)

She soundly berated him. (she did it thoroughly and I relished it and she was right.)

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• Passive Sentence: (The report has been submitted)

Evasion, understatement, etc. in both advertising and news reporting - non committal proposition.

• Rhetorical question : hides a strong assertion.

Examples: Who would not want to do well professionally?

• Suffixes -able, -ible as in likeable, readable, detestable, abominable.

• We want no undesirables here. (An attitude is given the force of a universal assertion)

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TONE Good writers or speakers try to choose the tone best

suited to their subject and audience. Tone expresses attitudes – positive, negative or neutral

or feelings – of compassion, anger, levity, humility, congeniality, and so on.

Euphemism, dysphemism - selective use of one or the other can set the tone of your writing.

Decide what you want to opt for in any given communication situation.

• Ironical tone: India’s is the friendliest new ball attack in the world.

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CHURCHILL’ BEST KNOWN SPEECH: End of the address to the British parliament in the summer of

1940, during the darkest days of the War, when the British expected to be invaded by German armies riding the horse of victory in France – a time when most observers believed Britain was about to be crushed by the German military power.

“We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight . . . on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God’s good time the New World, with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old.”

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(CONT . . .) The point of this speech was to charge up the courage of the

British people – to strengthen their resolve to fight in the face of terrible odds – and the tone of his speech accomplished precisely that.

How? Underline the emotionally charged words. Categorize them. The reiterative use of We shall fight - Spirit of combat, further

underlined by words like defend, struggle, armed, guarded. Cautious optimism: growing confidence, growing strength,

never surrender, liberation. The determination to carry on until the victory is achieved:

we shall not flag, we shall go on, we shall fight, we shall defend . . .

Confidence: New World with its power and might . . .

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USE SHORT WORDS WHENEVER YOU CAN

Although no absolute standards exist for the ideal word - One man’s pedantry is another man’s purism - it is well known that unfamiliar words have a negative effect.

Short, easy-to-read words help your writing to ‘flow’ - long words interrupt the reader's concentration, especially if there are a lot of them. For example, the words in the following sentence are, individually, probably familiar to you.

In accordance with the Government’s and the organization’s agreement regarding the future sustainability of the middle-hill irrigation projects, continuing assistance will be given by the organizations concerned with project implementation until such time as the feasibility of returning ownership to the project beneficiaries with a reasonable guarantee of sustainability, long-term economic benefit and local participation in the decision making process has been established.

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(CONT . . .)

(In other words, ‘Project funding will continue until we are sure we can hand the project over to the local users safely’.)

All these long words together simply give the reader a headache.

You can use long words, but you should use them sparingly, because that is when they will add variety and impact to your writing. But too many long words have no impact, and the example sentence above is the kind of writing seen all too frequently and best avoided.

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FIGURES OF SPEECH

Figurative language: a language which does not mean what it says.

Language which means or intends to mean what it says is literal.

Figurative language is a deliberate interference with the system of literal usage. This interference takes the form of transference.

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METAPHOR Metaphor exhibits the basic pattern of transference clearly. All

other figures are versions of this prototype.• An aged man is but a paltry thing,• A tattered coat upon a stick... Careful use of figures, so that they actually have the effect that

we wish them to have - that of enlivening your writing. Unless a figure genuinely enlivens your text, stick to a literal

statement. Misplaced figures: • The ivy stands on the red brick wall like the veins on an

athlete's thigh. (The red bricks are thickly covered with ivy) Be sure that you are not using an incongruous figure: the

devastation unfurling after the event Avoid mixed metaphors: No satire can hold water unless it is

salted with wit.

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(CONT . . .) Exaggerated figures: The car went with the grace of a dancer,

its 300 howling horses like prize fighters under the hood. Strained metaphor - write on a dull subject like taking the

breakfast in the mess using figures, the effect will be bad. Let figures clarify your prose, not fog it up. Clichéd figures could be avoided: the dye is cast, chip of the old

block, throwing the baby with the bathwater.

Now Frazier's face began to lose definition; like lost islands reemerging from the sea, massive bumps rose suddenly around each eye.

An effective figure:“The society that scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.” John Gardner.

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INEFFECTIVE WORDS Vagueness:

The second phase of the operation involves a new concept and a different attitude.

Phase, Operation, concept and attitude Wordiness: • The child’s surgical history in terms of her spinal condition

showed a failure in correction.

Surgery has not helped the child.

• All of the few square huts had been blown away by the strong wind.

All the huts, square in shape and few in number, had actually been blown away by the incredibly strong wind.

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(CONT . . .)

Redundancy: Continue to remain, protrude out, unite together, necessary requirement, original source, more preferable, complete master, habitual custom, new beginner, regularly consistent, projected forecast.

Unnecessary Exaggeration: the honest truth, an all inclusive survey, very furious.

Clichés: hate with a passion, raining cats and dogs, beat about the bush, the scales of justice.

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WHAT ARE CLICHÉS?

In clichés, we see fragments of language apparently dying, yet unable to die. Clichés emerge when expressions outlive their usefulness as conveyors of information – words dying not from underuse (as happens with archaic words) but from overuse. Phrases such as ‘at this moment in time’, and ‘every Tom, Dick and Harry’ have come to be used so frequently that they have lost their power to inform, to enliven, to mean. They have become trite and hackneyed expressions and yet they survive, because people continue to use them.

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PUBLISHED LIST OF CLICHÉS

All the following items have been taken from published lists of clichés in usage manuals. It is doubtful whether everyone would agree that they are all clichés.

• add insult to injury• a blessing in disguise• leave no stone unturned• in this day and age• a memory like a sieve• be that as it may• from time immemorial• it takes all sorts

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DEFENSE FOR USE OF CLICHÉS Pick up a guide on effective communication and it will tell you

to avoid clichés . But here is something to defend them – A very useful instrument in communicative situations when you

want to signal lack of enthusiasm. Fall back on a cliché when an interactant is telling you of a recent woe – such is life!

They can fill an awkward gap in conversations and there is no doubt that there are some conversations which we would rather not have. In such situations clichés are admirable life jackets.

Blanket condemnation of clichés is as futile as unthinking acceptance.

Walter Redfern in Clichés and Coinages (1989): clichés are bad, indispensable, sometimes good. On the one hand, they are ‘a labour saving device’, ‘a line of least resistance’ . . . on the other hand, they are social lubricants, that provide useful padding in interactions.

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NEOLOGISMS There's a word for you...

In fact, there's a new word waiting in your e-mail in box every morning when you subscribe to the Word of the Day.

resistentialism: the belief that inanimate objects have a natural antipathy toward human beings, and therefore it is not people who control things, but things which increasingly control people.

-resistentialist technology-related anxiety: anxiety caused by technology,

particularly computers and computer software. Also: TRA. communal bereavement: when one or more people die, the

widespread feeling of loss or distress among people who did not know the deceased personally.

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(CONT . . .)

Celebriphilia: an abnormally intense desire to have a romantic relationship with a celebrity

celebrity wrangler : a person who negotiates with a celebrity's agent, manager, or publicist to ensure the star's attendance at a social event

slacktivism: activism that seeks projects and causes that require the least amount of effort. -slacktivist n.

hacktivist: a computer hacker who breaks into systems in order to further an activist agenda.

social swarming: the rapid gathering of friends, family, or colleagues using technologies such as cell phones, pagers, and instant messaging.

-social swarm

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(CONT . . .)

stage-phoning: attempting to impress nearby people by talking on a cell phone in an animated, theatrical manner

trustafarian: a jobless person who has access to money - especially a trust fund income - and who affects a laid back, bohemian lifestyle.