Definition of Proverb

Proverb is a brief, simple and popular saying, or a phrase that gives advice and effectively embodies a commonplace truth based on practical experience or common sense. A proverb may have an allegorical message behind its odd appearance. The reason of popularity is due to its usage in spoken language as well as in the folk literature. Some authors twist and bend proverbs and create anti-proverbs to add literary effects to their works. However, in poetry, poets use proverbs strategically by employing some parts of them in poems’ titles such as Lord Kennet has written a poem, A Bird in the Bush, which is a popular proverb. Some poems contain multiple proverbs like Paul Muldoon’s poem Symposium.

Examples of Proverbs from Literature

Example 1

From Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart:

“If a child washes his hands he could eat with kings.”

If you remove the dirt of your ancestors, you can have a better future. Everyone can build his/her own fame.

“A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing.”

Everything happens for a reason and for something not for nothingness.

“A child’s fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm.”

Children who obey their mothers are not punished.

Definition of Idiom

An idiom is an expression that takes on a figurative meaning when certain words are combined which is different from the literal definition of the individual words. For example, let's say I said: 'Don't worry, driving out to your house is a piece of cake.' We would understand that the expression 'piece of cake' means that it's easy. Normally, we obviously wouldn't associate the word 'cake' when it is on its own as anything other than dessert. But in this context, it's a well-known idiom.

Examples of Idioms

There are tens of thousands of idioms used in the English language. As we can probably understand, idioms are difficult for people whose first language is not English. Actually, even native English speakers in the Motherland of England have a hard time with American idioms. Americans know them because they're common expressions. We're used to hearing them in our homes, at school, and in our favorite television programs.
Sometimes American idioms make their way around the world, and sometimes an expression doesn't even make it out of a particular state. Here a few of the most commonly used idioms in the United States and their likely origins. (Note that these origins may be in dispute.)
'As happy as a clam'
Mary was happy as a clam on the day of her wedding.
Meaning: Pleased, very content
Origin: So why in the world would a clam ever be happy? They're shellfish, they don't have feelings. The expression most likely began because when a clam's shell is opened up, it does look like the clam is smiling.

More Examples of Idioms

Here are some more examples of idioms:

• He was just a flash in the pan.
(The idiom a flash in the pan means something which shows potential at the start but fails thereafter.)
• He is trying to be a good Samaritan.
(A good Samaritan is a person who helps someone in need with no thought of a reward.)

Homonyms

Homonyms, or multiple meaning words, are words that share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings. For example, bear.

• A bear (the animal) can bear (tolerate) very cold temperatures.


• The driver turned left (opposite of right) and left (departed from) the main road.

Homophones, also known as sound-alike words, are words that are pronounced identically although they have different meanings and often have different spellings as well. These words are a very common source of confusion when writing. Common examples of sets of homophones include: to, too, and two; they're and their; bee and be; sun and son; which and witch; and plain and plane. VocabularySpellingCity is a particularly useful tool for learning to correctly use and spell the soundalike words.

Homographs

Homographs are words that are spelled the same, but have different meanings and are often pronounced differently as well. Some examples of homographs are:

• bass as in fish vs bass as in music


• bow as in arrow vs bow as in bending or taking a bow at the end of a performance


• close as in next to vs close as in shut the door


• desert as in dry climate vs desert as in leaving alone.

Currently, VocabularySpellingCity cannot distinguish between homographs, as we are unable to have two pronounciations for the exact same word. We are looking for possibilities in the future.

MORPHOLOGY CONVERSION

What is Antonomasia?

Antonomasia (pronounced an-tuh-nuh–mey-zhuh) is a literary term in which a descriptive phrase replaces a person’s name.  Antonomasia can range from lighthearted nicknames to epic names.
The phrase antonomasia is derived from the Greek phrase antonomazein meaning “to name differently.”

II. Examples of Antonomasia

Oftentimes, antonomasia is used to call attention to a certain characteristic.
Example 1
Imagine that you have a friend who is a fantastic chef, and you want to say hello.
Normal sentence:

“Oh, look! Sam’s arrived!”

Sentence with Antonomasia:

“Oh, look! The great chef has arrived!”

Here, the use of antonomasia allows you to greet your friend with a nickname which also reveals something about his character: he’s a great chef.

Examples of Antonomasia in Literature

Antonomasia is important in literature, as it can tell more about characters just by their titles. Consider a few examples:
Example 1
One instance of antonomasia is the treatment of Voldemort in J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. Rather than calling the dangerous man by name, all must call him “You-Know-Who” or “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” This usage of antonomasia emphasizes just how dangerous the man is, as most wizards and witches are too afraid to say his actual name aloud.

examples Of Antonomasia

Antonomasia Examples

• You must pray to heaven's guardian for relief.
• Excuse me Tarzan, could you please come down from that tree.
• "When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always." - by Rita Rudner
• The answer for this question can be given only by Mr. Know-it-all.
• "Jerry: The guy who runs the place is a little temperamental, especially about the ordering procedure. He's secretly referred to as the Soup Nazi. Elaine: Why? What happens if you don't order right? Jerry: He yells and you don't get your soup." - by Seinfeld
• He proved a Judas to the cause.
• Easy, you coward!
  
  
  
  
  

MORPHOLOGY CONVERSION

Conversion

w  Conversion: this process is also known as zero-derivation. This process changes the part of speech and meaning of an existing root without producing any change in pronunciation or spelling and without adding any affix.

w  Process where by an item is adopted or converted to a new word class without the addition of an affix.

Conversion to noun:
            de- verbal:                            'state'                                    love, want, desire
                                                            'event/activity'                  laugh, fall, search
                                                            'object of V'                         answer, find

            De-adjectival: there is no very productive pattern of adjective-noun conversion. Examples:
                                                I'd like two pints of bitter [=type of beer].
                                                They're running in the final [=final race].
                                               

Conversion to verb:
            De- nominal:                       'to put in/on N'                 bottle, garage
                                                'to give N', 'to provide with N' coat, mask, oil, plaster
                                                'to send/go by N'               mail, telegraph, bicycle, boat

            De-adjectival:           (transitive verbs) 'to make adj'
                                                                           or 'to make more adj' calm, dry, dirty
                                                (intransitive verbs) 'to become adj' empty, narrow, yellow
Conversion to adjective:
            De- nominal:                        a brick garage                      ~ the garage is brick
                                    reproduction furniture       ~ this furniture is reproduction

Types of Conversion

w  From Verb to Noun

to attack à attack

to hope à hope

to cover à cover

w  From Noun to Verb

comb à to comb

sand à to sand

party à to party

w  From Name to Verb

Harpo  à to Harpo

Houdini à to Houdini

w  From Adjective to Verb

dirty  à to dirty

slow  à to slow

w  From Preposition to Verb

out  à to out

In some cases, conversion is accompanied by a change in the stress pattern known as stress shift.

transpórt (V) à tránsport (N)

rewríte (V) à réwrite (N) 

condúct (V) à cónduct (N) 

subjéct (V) à súbject (N)

Examples

I need someone to come to the blackboard.

Is there a volunteer?

Someone has to volunteer.

Otherwise, I will volunteer someone.

Onomatopoeia Definition

Onomatopoeia is defined as a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing. It creates a sound effect that mimics the thing described, making the description more expressive and interesting.

For instance, saying, “The gushing stream flows in the forest” is a more meaningful description than just saying, “The stream flows in the forest.” The reader is drawn to hear the sound of a “gushing stream” which makes the expression more effective.
In addition to the sound they represent, many onomatopoeic words have developed meanings of their own. For example, “whisper” not only represents the sound of people talking quietly, but also describes the action of people talking quietly.

Examples of Onomatopoeia

• The buzzing bee flew away.
• The sack fell into the river with a splash.
• The books fell on the table with a loud thump.
• He looked at the roaring sky.
• The rustling leaves kept me awake.

The different sounds of animals are also considered as examples of onomatopoeia. You will recognize the following sounds easily:

• Meow
• Moo
• Neigh
• Tweet
• Oink
• Baa

Onomatopoeia Examples in Literature

Onomatopoeia is frequently employed in literature. Below, a few Onomatopoeia examples are highlighted in bold letters:

Example #1

“The moan of doves in immemorial elms,
And murmuring of innumerable bees…”

Onomatopoeia and Phanopoeia

Onomatopoeia, in its more complicated use, takes the form of phanopoeia. Phanopoeia is a form of onomatopoeia that describes the sense of things rather than their natural sounds. D.H Lawrence in his poem “Snake” illustrates the use of this form:

“He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the
edge of the stone trough
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,
And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness
He sipped with his straight mouth,…”

The rhythm and length of the above lines, along with the use of “hissing” sounds, create a picture of a snake in the minds of the readers.

Function of Onomatopoeia

Generally, words are used to tell what is happening. Onomatopoeia, on the other hand, helps the readers to hear the sounds the words they reflect. Hence, the reader cannot help but enter the world created by the poet with the aid of these words. The beauty of onomatopoeic words lies in the fact that they are bound to have an effect on the readers’ senses whether they are understood or not. Moreover, a simple plain expression does not have the same emphatic effect that conveys an idea powerfully to the readers. The use of onomatopoeic words helps create emphasis.

 

Compounding

What is 'Compounding'

COMPOUNDING

Compounding is the ability of an asset to generate earnings, which are then reinvested in order to generate their own earnings. In other words, compounding refers to generating earnings from previous earnings.

Compounding is the morphological operation that—in general—puts together two free forms and gives rise to a new word. The importance of compounding stems from the fact that there are probably no languages without compounding, and in some languages (e.g., Chinese) it is the major source of new word formation. Compounds are particularly interesting linguistic constructions for a number of reasons. First, they constitute an anomaly among grammatical constructions because they are “words,” but at the same time exhibit a type of “internal syntax.” Compounds, furthermore, represent a contact point between several crucial linguistic and nonlinguistic notions such as syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships, syntax and morphology, and linguistic knowledge and pragmatic knowledge. As for the relationship between syntax and morphology, it has often been observed that compounds are the morphological constructions that are closest to syntactic constructions, to the extent that there is no general agreement on which component of the grammar is responsible for their formation.

 

 

For example:

noun-noun compound: note + book → notebook
adjective-noun compound: blue + berry → blueberry
verb-noun compound: work + room → workroom
noun-verb compound: breast + feed → breastfeed
verb-verb compound: stir + fry → stir-fry
adjective-verb compound: high + light → highlight
verb-preposition compound: break + up → breakup
preposition-verb compound: out + run → outrun
adjective-adjective compound: bitter + sweet → bittersweet
preposition-preposition compound: in + to → into

Compounds may be compositional, meaning that the meaning of the new word is determined by combining the meanings of the parts, or noncompositional, meaning that the meaning of the new word cannot be determined by combining the meanings of the parts. For example, a blueberry is a berry that is blue. However, a breakup is not a relationship that was severed into pieces in an upward direction.

Compound nouns should not be confused with nouns modified by adjectives, verbs, and other nouns. For example, the adjective black of the noun phrase black bird is different from the adjective black of the compound noun blackbird in that black of black bird functions as a noun phrase modifier while the black of blackbird is an inseparable part of the noun: a black bird also refers to any bird that is black in color while a blackbird is a specific type of bird.

 

CLIPPING

Cl

Clipping is the word formation process in which a word is reduced or shortened without changing the meaning of the word. Clipping differs from back-formation in that the new word retains the meaning of the original word. For example:

advertisement – ad
alligator – gator
examination – exam
gasoline – gas
gymnasium – gym
influenza – flu

laboratory – lab
mathematics – math

The four types of clipping are back clipping, fore-clipping, middle clipping, and complex clipping. Back clipping is removing the end of a word as in gas from gasoline. Fore-clipping is removing the beginning of a word as in gator from alligator. Middle clipping is retaining only the middle of a word as in flu from influenza. Complex clipping is removing multiple parts from multiple words as in sitcom from situation comedy.

 

BlBLENDING

Blending is the word formation process in which parts of two or more words combine to create a new word whose meaning is often a combination of the original words. For example:

advertisement + entertainment → advertainment
biographical + picture → biopic
breakfast + lunch → brunch
chuckle + snort → chortle
cybernetic + organism → cyborg
guess + estimate → guesstimate
hazardous + material → hazmat
motor + hotel → motel
prim + sissy → prissy
simultaneous + broadcast → simulcast
smoke + fog → smog

 

A=ACRONYM

An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of a name (for example, NATO, from North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or by combining initial letters of a series of words (radar, from radio detection and ranging). Adjective: acronymic. Also called a protogram.

Strictly speaking, says lexicographer John Ayto, an acronym "denotes a combination pronounced as a word . . . rather than as just a sequence of letters" (A Century of New Words, 2007).

An anacronym is an acronym (or other initialism) for which the expanded form isn't widely known or used, such as OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).

These acronyms are very widely used, making them some of the most popular to appear in the English language.

 

• RADAR - Radio detecting and ranging
• LASER - Light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation.