Transcript Business English - North Seattle College

Reference Skills
Objectives
• Describe types of dictionaries.
• Use a dictionary confidently to
determine spelling, meaning,
pronunciation, syllabication, accent,
word usage, and word history.
• Select a dictionary to suit your
needs.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 2
Reference Skills
• Anticipate what information is
included in dictionaries and what
information is not.
• Understand the value of reference
manuals.
• Use an electronic dictionary with
confidence.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 3
Becoming an Expert
You can become a business
communication expert by learning
where to find answers. You will
need these books:
• A good reference manual
• Your textbook
• A current college-level dictionary
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 4
Types of Dictionaries
Pocket Dictionaries
• May contain up to 75,000 entries
• Serve as handy — but incomplete —
references
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 5
Types of Dictionaries
College-level or Desk Dictionaries
• May contain over 170,000 entries
• Are abridged (shortened)
• Often include extra features such as
geographical, biographical, measurement,
and language data
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 6
Types of Dictionaries
Unabridged Dictionaries
(complete)
• May include over 450,000 entries
• Used by professional writers and scholars
• Found in libraries, schools, editorial offices
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 7
Check your skill . . .
Which of the these types of
dictionaries would be best for your
use in homework assignments?
a. Pocket dictionary
b. College-level/desk dictionary
c. Unabridged dictionary
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 8
Check your skill . . .
Which of the these types of
dictionaries would be best for your
use in homework assignments?
a. Pocket dictionary
b. College-level/desk dictionary
c. Unabridged dictionary
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 9
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
1. Read the introduction to
your dictionary.
Are all dictionaries identical when
determining order of definitions?
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 10
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
2. Use the guide words at the
tops of the pages to locate
words quickly.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 11
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
3. Learn to distinguish among:
• Syllable breaks shown by centered dots
• Hyphens that show hyphenated words
• Spaces left between words that indicate
separate words
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 12
Check your skill . . .
What would you assume if you
looked up the word parttime and
could not find it in a college-level
dictionary?
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 13
Check your skill . . .
What would you assume if you
looked up the word parttime and
could not find it in a college-level
dictionary?
You would assume it is two words (part
time).
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 14
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
4. Use diacritical marks to help
you pronounce a word
correctly.
A summary of these special symbols
is usually found at the bottom of each
set of dictionary pages.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 15
Check your skill . . .
How would you pronounce this
word?
i r a t e
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 16
Check your skill . . .
How would you pronounce this
word?
__
__
i r a t e
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 17
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
5. Study a word’s accent marks to
learn which syllable to stress.
Primary accent marks may
precede or follow a stressed
syllable.
ob ser ‘va tion
(Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
ob ser va’ tion
(American Heritage College Dictionary)
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 18
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
Secondary accent marks may
be printed in lighter type or may
be lowered.
ob’ ser va’ tion
(American Heritage College Dictionary)
,ob ser ‘va tion
(Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 19
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
6. Learn to recognize a word’s
etymology (history).
• A dictionary that emphasizes etymology
places it before the defined word’s
definition.
• Square brackets ([ ]) enclose the word’s
history.
• Don’t confuse etymological definitions
with actual word definitions.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 20
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
7. Use your dictionary to learn a
word’s part of speech.
• Parts of speech are usually italicized or
boldfaced.
• Knowing a word’s part of speech helps
you use it correctly.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 21
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 22
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 23
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
adjective
n
prep
v t or tr. v.
conj
interj
pron
v or vb
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 24
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 25
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
n
adv
conj
adverb
prep pron
v t or tr. v.
interj
v or vb
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 26
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 27
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
n
prep
v t or tr. v.
conj
interj
conjunction
pron
v or vb
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 28
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 29
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
n
prep
pron
v t or tr. v.
interj
interjection
v or vb
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 30
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 31
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
n
prep
noun
v t or tr. v.
conj
interj
pron
v or vb
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 32
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 33
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep pron
v or vb
preposition
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 34
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 35
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
pronoun
v i or intr. v.
v t or tr. v.
interj
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 36
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 37
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
n
prep
pron
v t or tr. v.
interj
v or vb
verb
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 38
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 39
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
transitive verb
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 40
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 41
Check your skill . . .
What do you think these
abbreviations mean?
adj
adv
conj
interj
n
prep
pron
v or vb
v t or tr. v.
v i or intr. v.
intransitive verb
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 42
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
8. Check to see whether your
dictionary uses labels.
• Labels warn readers about
inappropriate usage.
• Labels are used infrequently today.
• Lexicographers describe, rather than
prescribe, usage.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 43
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
Common labels:
• Colloquial or Informal — used in casual
writing or conversation
• Obsolete — no longer in use
• Slang — very informal language, but
may be used for effect
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 44
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
• Nonstandard or Substandard — not
conforming to usage among educated
speakers
• Dialect (dial., Brit., West., Scot.) —
used in certain regions
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 45
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
• Labels are used less frequently
today, particularly in the MerriamWebster dictionaries.
• Lexicographers consider their
task to be that of describing all
usage rather than prescribing
standards of usage.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 46
Check your skill . . .
If you were compiling a
dictionary, would you include the
following words?
gunk
ain’t
glitzy
wanna-be
What would you label them?
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 47
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
9. Recognize inflected forms.
• Nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives
that change their form with change of
use are said to be inflected.
Example: sing, sang, sung
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 48
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
Most dictionaries show only
irregular changes in nouns,
verbs, and adjectives.
Noun: child, children
Verb: write, wrote, written
Adjective: good, better, best
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 49
Check your skill . . .
Would you expect to find the
following forms in most
dictionaries?
a. Plural of book
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 50
Check your skill . . .
Would you expect to find the
following forms in most
dictionaries?
a. Plural of book
No — books
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 51
Check your skill . . .
Would you expect to find the
following forms in most
dictionaries?
a. Plural of book
b. Plural of wife
No — books
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 52
Check your skill . . .
Would you expect to find the
following forms in most
dictionaries?
a. Plural of book
b. Plural of wife
No — books
Yes — wives
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 53
Check your skill . . .
Would you expect to find the
following forms in most
dictionaries?
a. Plural of book
b. Plural of wife
c. Past tense of bring
No — books
Yes — wives
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 54
Check your skill . . .
Would you expect to find the
following forms in most
dictionaries?
a. Plural of book
b. Plural of wife
c. Past tense of bring
No — books
Yes — wives
Yes — brought
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 55
Check your skill . . .
Would you expect to find the
following forms in most
dictionaries?
a. Plural of book
b. Plural of wife
c. Past tense of bring
d. Past tense of look
No — books
Yes — wives
Yes — brought
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 56
Check your skill . . .
Would you expect to find the
following forms in most
dictionaries?
a. Plural of book
b. Plural of wife
c. Past tense of bring
d. Past tense of look
No — books
Yes — wives
Yes — brought
No — looked
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 57
Ten Important Points in
Using Your Dictionary
10. Look for synonyms and
antonyms.
• Synonyms are words with similar
meanings: ignorant — unaware
• Antonyms are words with opposite
meanings: condemn — exonerate
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 58
Reference Manuals
Reference manuals contain helpful
information not found in
dictionaries.
• Punctuation is explained in rules
accompanied by many examples.
• Hyphenation rules are provided for
dividing words and for constructing
compound adjectives.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 59
Reference Manuals
• Capitalization rules are stated and
illustrated.
• Number style is shown.
• For example, which is correct:
5th Avenue or Fifth Avenue?
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 60
Reference Manuals
• Capitalization rules are stated and
illustrated.
• Number style is shown.
• For example, which is correct:
5th Avenue or Fifth Avenue?
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 61
Electronic Dictionaries
•
•
•
•
•
Use on the Web or on CD-ROM
Find words quickly and easily
Pay nothing
Find most current information
May include pronunciations
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 62
Electronic Dictionaries
Word Processing Dictionary
Programs (Spell Checkers)
• Highlight misspelled words
• Identify typos
• Insert suggested corrections where
appropriate
Problem: Spell checkers cannot distinguish
among confusing words. Only the writer can.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 63
Electronic Dictionaries
Word Processing Thesaurus
Programs
• Help find synonyms
• May suggest antonyms
• Can be used to increase writer’s
vocabulary
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 64
Chapter 1 - Quiz
1. Reference manuals provide rules for
dividing words.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 65
Chapter 1 - Quiz
1. Reference manuals provide rules for
dividing words.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 66
Chapter 1 - Quiz
2. You could logically expect to find the
spelling of the past tense of the verb
search in most dictionaries.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 67
Chapter 1 - Quiz
2. You could logically expect to find the
spelling of the past tense of the verb
search in most dictionaries.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 68
Chapter 1 - Quiz
3. Words cannot be divided at all
syllable breaks, even if the breaks
are shown in a dictionary.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 69
Chapter 1 - Quiz
3. Words cannot be divided at all
syllable breaks, even if the breaks
are shown in a dictionary.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 70
Chapter 1 - Quiz
4. When searching for an entry, look
only at the guide words until you
reach the desired entry.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 71
Chapter 1 - Quiz
4. When searching for an entry, look
only at the guide words until you
reach the desired entry.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 72
Chapter 1 - Quiz
5. The best dictionary for a college
student to carry to class is an
unabridged one.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 73
Chapter 1 - Quiz
5. The best dictionary for a college
student to carry to class is an
unabridged one.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 74
Chapter 1 - Quiz
6. The label obsolete means that a
word is no longer in use.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 75
Chapter 1 - Quiz
6. The label obsolete means that a
word is no longer in use.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 76
Chapter 1 - Quiz
7.
Most dictionaries use centered
dots to divide words into syllables.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 77
Chapter 1 - Quiz
7.
Most dictionaries use centered
dots to divide words into syllables.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 78
Chapter 1 - Quiz
8. In a reference manual you could
logically expect to find, among other
things, rules for expressing numbers.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 79
Chapter 1 - Quiz
8. In a reference manual you could
logically expect to find, among other
things, rules for expressing numbers.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 80
Chapter 1 - Quiz
9.
An online dictionary is easy to
use but expensive.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 81
Chapter 1 - Quiz
9.
An online dictionary is easy to
use but expensive.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 82
Chapter 1 - Quiz
10. A spell checker finds all errors
and automatically corrects them.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 83
Chapter 1 - Quiz
10. A spell checker finds all errors
and automatically corrects them.
a. True
b. False
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 8e
Ch. 1 - 84
END