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Essay 2

2009-01-07T22:05:00.001+03:30

People using language only to convey information are usually indifferent to the sounds of the words and may feel frustrated by their connotations and multiple denotations. They would rather confine each word to a single, exact meaning. They use, one might say, a fraction of the word and throw away the rest. Poets, on the other hand, use as much of the word as possible. They are interested in connotation and use it to enrich and convey meaning. And they may rely on more than one denotation. Perhaps the purest form of practical language is scientific language. Scientists need a precise language to convey information precisely. The existence of multiple denotations and various overtones of meaning may interfere with this purpose. As a result of this, scientists have even devised special "language" such as the following:
SO2 + H2O = H2SO3
In such a statement the symbols are entirely unambiguous; they have been stripped of all connotations and of all denotations but one. The word sulfurous, if it occurred in poetry, might have all kinds of connotations: fire, smoke, brimstone, hell, damnation. But H2SO3 means one thing and one thing only: sulfurous acid.
The ambiguity and multiplicity of meanings possessed by words might be an obstacle to the scientist, but they are advantage for the poet who seeks richness of meaning. One resource for that is a multidimensional language using a multidimensional vocabulary, in which the dimensions of connotation and sound are added to the dimension of denotation.
The poet, we may say, plays on many-stringed instrument and sounds more than one note at a time.
The first task in reading poetry, therefore, as in reading any kind of literature, is to develop a sense of language, a feeling for words. One needs to become acquainted with their shape, their color, and their flavor. Two of the ways of doing this are extensive use of the dictionary and extensive reading.

Word history of English

2009-01-04T19:03:00.002+03:30

Word History: English is derived from England, one would think. But in fact the language name is found long before the country name. The latter first appears as Englaland around the year 1000, and means “the land of the Engle,” that is, the Angles. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were the three Germanic tribes who emigrated from what is now Denmark and northern Germany and settled in England beginning about the fourth century A.D. Early on, the Angles enjoyed a rise to power that must have made them seem more important than the other two tribes, for all three tribes are indiscriminately referred to in early documents as Angles. The speech of the three tribes was conflated in the same way: they all spoke what would have been called *Anglisc, or “Anglish,” as it were. By the earliest recorded Old English, this had changed to Englisc. In Middle English, the first vowel had already changed further to the familiar (ĭ) of today, as reflected in the occasional spellings Ingland and Inglish. Thus the record shows that the Germanic residents of what Shakespeare called “this sceptered isle” knew that they were speaking English long before they were aware that they were living in England.

English Grammar
Adjectives
Adverbs
Articles
Primary Auxiliary Verbs
Modal Auxiliary Verbs
Conjunctions
Degrees of comparison
Determiners
Common Prepositions: usage
-ing forms
Complements
Copular-verbs
Countable and Uncountable nouns
If clauses
Infinitives
Negative structures
Participles
Nouns
Pronouns
Prepositions
Active and Passive voice
Tenses
Personal pronouns
Exclamations
Direct and indirect speech
Sentences
Sentence agreement
Adverb clauses
Adjective clause
Noun clauses
Phrases
Verbs
Sequence of tenses
Verb patterns
Transformation of sentences
Synthesis of sentences

An online library of literature:
http://www.literature.org/

2009-01-04T18:48:00.002+03:30

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http://www.english-step.blogfa.com
It includes Grammar, literature, vocab, and etc.

Gaza in blood

2009-01-03T03:07:00.005+03:30

Denotation, Connotation, Sound

2009-01-03T02:14:00.000+03:30

In the name of Allah
Here are some of the important words that are confused to be chosen by users:
Imply verb (implies, implying, implied) indicate by suggestion rather than explicit reference.
Infer verb (infers, inferring, inferred) deduce from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements.
A writer or speaker implies; a reader or listener infers. An implication is a meaning hinted at but not stated outright. An inference is a conclusion drawn from evidence not complete enough for proof.
e.g: If you imply that I am a snob, I may infer that you do not like me.
According to the proverb “Some people believe what they just see.”

((Be as an intransitive verb)) ===> Inference
Is used to equal in meaning: have the same connotation (inferred meaning) as:
●SYMBOLIZE●
For example: ==> Love is a symbol for believing or understanding God.
Concept:
According to the inference, that is a conclusion drawn from evidence. The mentioned sentence has been narrow-mindedly made by humans. That is to say there has been just 99 attributes made by humans.

Or: According to evidences.
In Persian, this usage is said ‘اضافه ی اقتران’ :
For instance: دست (به نشان) دریغ <== دست دریغ
symbolizes به نشان = (نشان پردازی کردن)
CAUSE + verb ‘to be’ + EFFECT
((Some sentences can be implied or stated)) ===> Implication
For example:
Stated: Our friends were late for the concert last night.
Implied: Our friends were late for the concert. (The concert refers to a special event. A special event is understood to be held at a specific time.)

Denotation, Connotation, Sound
A primary distinction between the practical use of language and the literary use is that in literature, especially in poetry, a fuller use is made of individual word.
Sound
The average word has three component parts: Denotation
Connotation

It begins as a combination of tones and noises, uttered by the lips, tongue, and throat, for which the written word is a notation. But it differs from a musical tone or a noise in that it has a meaning attached to it. The basic part of this meaning is its denotation or denotations: that is, the dictionary meaning or meanings of the word. Beyond its denotations, a word may also have connotations. The connotations are what it suggests beyond what it expresses: its overtones of meaning. It acquires these connotations from its past history and associations, from the way and the circumstances in which it has been used. The word home, for instance, by denotation means only a place where one lives, but by connotation it suggests security, love, comfort, and family. The words Childlike and Childish both mean “characteristic of a child” but Childlike suggests meekness, innocence, and wide-eyed wonder, while Childish suggests pettiness, will fullness and temper tantrums. If we list the name of different coins:
Nickel, peso, lira, shilling, sen, doubloon
The word doubloon, to four out of five readers, immediately will suggest pirates though a dictionary definition includes nothing about pirates. Pirates are part of its connotation.
Connotation is very important in poetry, for it is one of the means by which the poet concentrate or enrich meaning _say more in fewer words.
So, the dictionary meanings give denotation, but Connotation is made by what a reader or listener infers. That is, connotation equals to circumstantial evidence. It can be used in poetry. Some poets such as Akhavan Saales, Nima Yushij, use natural elements. They use tree, sky, sun, and others similar to refer to unorganized circumstances and impasses occurred at their time period.

Structure:
connotation : con + notation = reading carefully as a result of a tendency to understand more by notation.
Denotation : de + notation = independence of notation in order to limit understanding

A poetry from Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886)
There is no frigate like a book
There’s no Frigate like a book
To take us lands away
Nor any coursers like a page.
Of prancing poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll –
How frugal is the chariot
That bears the human soul

What is your survey about the poetry?

Writer: Morteza Torabi
http://www.english-step.blogfa.com
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