WORDS, SENTENCES AND DICTIONARIES

MEETING 3

Please read the material carefuly

1. Words as Meaningful Building-Blocks of Language

The word is the basic unit of language such as sleep, eat, book and so forth. According to you, can you understand something without saying the complete sentence?

It like when the baby speaks, the baby cannot give the complete sentence for others. Can you understand all the baby expression?  Sometimes, the baby gives their expression through their body language like crying, laughing and etc. Basically, the words could give the clear instructions it is call as the building-block of language.

Example:

1. Warning shouts, such as “FIRE!”
2. Conventional commands, such as “One… Two… Three….!” Or “Camera… Action!”

2. Words as Types and Words as Tokens

 Sherly will go to STKIP PGRI Nganuk next year, and she studies on there during four year.

In generally, there are seventeen words in the sentence above. But, if you analyzed again, it just consist of sixteen. Both of seventeen and sixteen, we call it as distinct tokens (of the single type).

A distinct token is relevant to the notion ‘word’ which is spoken and written. Unfortunately, the sentence above could be not as distinct tokens. Eventough the all the words above described/listed in the dictionary, it was not distinct token (it was another token) and it was not building block of sentences (but it was a building block with a meaning unpredictable example: how the words saying, unbelievable etc.)

The word “year” of the sentence above was absurd (impossible) to suggest that each occurrence (time happening).

So, the sentence about could be say as the A distinct token when the sentence about saying with the clear time. It cannot say A distinct token when the sentences above difficult to understand.

According to you both of distinct token and building block of sentences have relationship? Yes, both of them have the correlation.

·         Building block of sentences made from distinct token. It means that Building block of sentences is part of distinct token.

3. Words with Predictable Meanings

Basically the words have meaning in natural or predictable. The meaning of words can be worked out on the basis of the sounds or combinations that make them up.

There are kinds of words with predictable meaning, namely:

a.    The words has different meaning (cannot explained in the vocabulary), example:

• My little blackly barks such as bow bow (English)
• My little blackly sound like gug gug. (Indonesia)

Both of bow and gug actually has the same meaning (the sounds of dogs’ bark) but in different written (English and Indonesia).  Those sounds are not explained in the vocabulary but in English for general.

b.   In linguistic, there are some words which has sound seems reflects their meaning fairly directly it called as onomatopoeic, example:

• The dog bows his head. (the word bow indicate menundukkan kepala not the bark’s sound) 
• My lovely kitten has beautiful sounds, “miaow = meow” (in the vocabulary it is explain that meong)

c.    Sound symbolism is sets of words in which some similarity in sound. It sees to reflect a vague similarity in meaning, example:

• smoothness or wetness
• slip, slop, slurp, slide, slither, sleek, slick, slaver, slug

d.   The baby or children sounds who are just learn talking

·                                 Ma…. (ma it could be mama, makan, main, …..) in Indonesia

·                                 Nyam… (nyam it could be yummy, mummy,… ) in English

·                                 Tupu- tupu.. (tupu-tupu means kupu-kupu)

There some words that cannot explain in the vocabulary because of some reason (It can be special knowledge ex: in biology aspect, healthy etc)

e.    Word predictable base on logical or fact

·         Ginkgo trees reproduce dioeciously. (dioeciously can you find the meaning in the vocabulary?

·         There are many words that need not be listed in dictionaries, because their meanings are completely predictable such as unbelieveable. This word cannot be listed, simply because they may rare or never have been used such as antirehabilitationist, unladylike and so forth. (using English- part of speech)

4. Non Words with Unpredictable Meaning

The possibility of linguistic item is being the basic syntax. It means eventhough the sentences have meaning but it was unpredictable.

I keep notes on all my expenditure.

Note is something that we used to write down something. Sometimes, the people also used their tabs. The meaning of the first sentence is the writer keeps her/his expenditure through his/her note.

I keep tabs on all my expenditure.

The meaning was different with the first sentence, even the function of note or tabs was the same.

“Keep tabs” is the puzzled statement/ ambiguity

The meaning of the second sentence could be

1.       The writer save her tabs (bill or buy) in her expenditure.

2.      She/he attaches small flaps to all the notes and coins that she/he spend’?

3.      Pay close attention to’ or ‘monitor carefully.

 WORDS , SENTENCE AND DICTIONARY

Based on the material above, please answer the questions which serves in the video above.