|
|
The exact number of english words is not known. the large dictionaries have
over half a million entries, but many of these are compound words (schoolroom,
sugar bowl) or different derivatives of the same word (rare—rarely, rarefy), and
a good many are obsolete words to help us read older literature. dictionaries do
not attempt to cover completely words that we can draon: the informal
vocabulary, especially slang, localism, the terms of various occupations and
professions; words use only occasionally by scientists and specialists in many
fields; foreign words borrowed for use in english; or many new words or new
senses of words that come into use every year and that may or may not be used
long enough to warrant being included. it would be conservative to say that
there are over a million english words that any of us might meet in our
listening and reading and that we may draw on in our speaking and writing.
Professor seashore concluded that first graders enter school with at least
2,000 words and add 5,000 each year so that they leave high school with at least
80,000. these figures are for recognition vocabulary, the words we understand
when we read or hear them. our active vocabulary, the words we use in speaking
and writing, is considerably smaller.
you cannot always produce a word exactly when you want it. but consciously
using the words you recognize in reading will help get them into your active
vocabulary. occasionally in your reading pay particular attention to these
words, especially when the subject is one that you might well write or talk
about. underline or make a list of words that you feel a need for and look up
the less familiar ones in a dictionary. and then before very long find a way to
use some of them.
once you know how they are pronounced and what they stand for, you can
safely use them.
|
|