Contextual Vocabulary Acquisition: passages

• Nouns:

  1. adstrate:
     The present work responds to this lack of research on N[ative]E[speranto] by presenting a preliminary survey of the natural speech of 8 NE speakers, all children who participated in the Infana Kongreseto (Children's Congress) in Sommiéres, France, in August of 1998. These children had a variety of adstrate languages and ranged in age from six to fourteen. Their adstrates (and ages) were: Hebrew (ages 10 and 13), Slovak (ages 9 and 11), French (age 6), Swiss German (age 9), Russian (age 14), and Croatian (age 11) (Mean = 10.4, s.d. = 2.5). All children were raised in households in which one parent addressed them primarily in Esperanto. (p.577)

     Finally, we investigate some possible motivations for the differences between NE, S[tandard]E, and L2E. We hypothesize that there might be influence from (1) the children's adstrate (i.e. the effects of bilingualism), (2) adstrate influence on the parent's Esperanto (learned as an L2), and (3) from pure nativization effects (cf. Mühlhäuser, 1980; Sankoff & Laberge, 1980; Versteegh, 1993; Samarin, 1994). This study is limited in scope in two ways. First, eight children representing six adstrate languages clearly do not represent the world's languages. (p.578)

     NE will be shown below to differ from SE and from L2E in the following ways: (2.1) NE uses no compound tenses nor aspectual affixes; (2.2) it undergoes a good deal of phonological reduction, especially in grammatical suffixes and other unstressed syllables; (2.3) its sentences are mostly SVO, but both verb and object (or complement) fronting do occur; (2.4) it uses the accusative in only approximately half of its &lsquot;appropriate&rsquot; contexts; and (2.5) its stress is not always penultimate as in SE, but rather varies radically depending on the adstrate language of the NE speaker. (p.578)

     [And numerous occurrences thereafter.]

     Bergen, Benjamin K. (2001), "Nativization Processes in L1 Esperanto", Journal of Child Language 28: 575–595; available in PDF from Rapaport.

  2. artifact:
     After the duck had a chance to get warm I carried her gently to the door and urged her out, feeling her small bones. She didn't want to go. She can't be an indoor duck because she leaves green duck artifacts everywhere in her excitement.
     • Baker, Nicholson (2003), A Box of Matches (New York: Random House): 99.
     • NB: a familiar word is used in a new way.

  3. capital:
     For an emerging nation to become economically productive, sources of ready capital (i.e., money to be invested) must be available.
     Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

  4. * ceilidh:
     [continued from the end of the "oam" passage] It had been a long time since his last ceilidh and Tobar had changed greatly. ... As they ate, Tobar told of his past year .... Then all too soon, their brief ceilidh over, Tobar walked over to touch his mother's arm and quickly left.
     Sternberg, Robert J., & Powell, Janet S. (1983), "Comprehending Verbal Comprehension", American Psychologist 38: 878-893.
     • There are several other occurrences in passages from Carson McCullough's The Thorn Birds

  5. commensal:
     The oral cavity is home to an ecosystem of oral microbes, both the good commensals and the bad pathogens. Adherence of bacteria to host tissues, often an essential step in infections, is also a necessary step for commensals in order to initialize colonization of the mouth. ... Bacterial colonization of the oral cavity occurs in a progression—early settlers are the first to establish themselves on the surfaces, and include species like actinomyces and streptococci, which are usually harmless. Late colonizers include other commensals, as well as pathogenic species such as P.gingivalis and T.forsythia.
     Thamadilok, Supaporn (2009), "The Interplay between "Spit" and Oral Micro-Flora", UB Scientist 1(1) (December): 1-2; quote from p.1.

  6. commotion:
     When the cat pounced on the dog, he leapt up, yelping, and knocked down a shelf of books. The animals ran past Wendy, tripping her. She cried out and fell to the floor. As the noise and confusion mounted, Mother hollered upstairs, "What's all that commotion?".
     Beck, Isabel L.; McKeown, Margaret G.; & McCaslin, Ellen S. (1983), "Vocabulary Development: All Contexts Are Not Created Equal", Elementary School Journal 83(3): 177-181; word on p. 179.
     • This is allegedly a "directive" context.

  7. fragility:
     Since fragility would render the raft usesless, it was to be constructed of the stoutest, heaviest, materials possible.
     Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

  8. hydrophone:
     His voice crackled briskly through the hydrophone, as strong and clear as if he'd been right on the surface.
     Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

  9. hydrotherapy:
     It was now time for his hydrotherapy session, and so he was gently lowered into the pool.
     Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

  10. impasse:
      All chances for agreement were now gone, and compromise would now be impossible; in short, an impasse had been reached.
      Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

  11. kurtosis:
      • The distribution of scores for Passage Read was found to approximate the normal distribution (values of skewness and kurtosis were less than 1), while the distribution of scores for Passage Not Read was found to be positively skewed (values of skewness and kurtosis were larger than 1).
      • [T]he distributions of Target Word Pretest, Target Word Posttest, Comprehension, Enabling Concept Pretest, and Enabling Concept Posttest did not appear to deviate from normality (values of skewness and kurtosis were less than 1).
        • Diakidoy, Irene-Anna N. (1993), "The Role of Reading Comprehension and Local Context Characteristics in Word Meaning Acquisition during Reading" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) UMI Order No. 9329013, pp. 46, 53.
        • See also Rapaport & Kibby 2002b.

  12. leviathan:
      Strength and size seemed to be the key qualities needed; therefore, a leviathan of a man was chosen.
      Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

  13. muntin:
      Here there are five windows with thin white curtains, and each window has twelve panes of glass. The muntins—those little wooden pieces that hold the panes—look narrow and fragile, but they've been there for a long time.
      • Baker, Nicholson (2003), A Box of Matches (New York: Random House): 45.
      • NB: the co-text includes the definition.

  14. obverse:
      The reason I need a dictionary is to help me understand something that another person said or wrote that used something from his lexicon, or hers, and which I do not have in mine. I turn to the dictionary in the hope that the lexicographer, who is professionally committed to having a large lexicon and to writing it down, will be able to supply my lack. The obverse of this, of course, is the situation in which I am the one trying to communicate and suspect that there is lexical material known to other speakers of my language that would either clarify my message or impress my audience. ... One [question] concerns the extent to which we should expect to profit from abstract dictionaries in the enterprise of creating the concrete lexicon. And the other is the obverse of that: to what extent could abstract, and hence concrete, dictionaries be improved by causing them to be the nearest things we can make to the concrete lexicon?
      • Kay, Martin (1989), "The Concrete Lexicon and the Abstract Dictionary", Proceedings of the 5th Conference on Dictionaries in the Electronic Age (St. Catherine's College, Oxford) (Waterloo, Canada: University of Waterloo Centre for the New Oxford English Dictionary): 35-41; quotes from pp. 35,36.

  15. * red:
      After operating slightly in the red* for many months, the struggling young firm finally landed a large government contract.
      
      *at a loss
      Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.
      • see land

  16. weir:
      The weir, a fence-like device placed in the river to lead the fish into a trap, provided a ready landmark for measuring the canoe's progress upstream.
      Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

• Verbs:
  1. commend:
     All the students made very good grades on the tests, so their teacher commended them for doing so well.
     Beck, Isabel L.; McKeown, Margaret G.; & McCaslin, Ellen S. (1983), "Vocabulary Development: All Contexts Are Not Created Equal", Elementary School Journal 83(3): 177-181; word on p. 178.

  2. foist:
     • I was to look for a watch that I knew he hadn't lost, and was to receive 200 pounds if I found it. It seemed to him to be a very good bargain, as, indeed, it was, from his point of view, feeling, as he did, that there never having been any such watch, it could not be recovered, and little suspecting that two could play at his little game of deception, and that under any circumstances I could foist a ten-shilling watch upon him for two hundred pounds. This business concluded, he started to go.

     • They had their little argument. I lit a cigarette and let them argue. In such cases, every married couple has its own queer and private and particular and idiosyncratic way of coming to an agreement. The third party who tries to foist on it his own suggestion of a way is an imbecile.
       See: Becker, Chris (2004), "Contextual Vocabulary Acquisition; Contextual Information in Verb Contexts: From Analysis to Algorithm" [postscript]

  3. land:
     After operating slightly in the red for many months, the struggling young firm finally landed* a large government contract.
     
     *negotiated or was given
     Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.
     • see red

  4. restrict:
     At the present time, the world has plentiful supplies of stored-source energy, but a natural resource such as oil will be seriously diminished by the end of the century. Furthermore, the supplies of natural gas cannot be expected to last indefinitely, and although there seems to be plenty of coal left, the rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will soon restrict its use.
     Clarke, D.F., & Nation, I.S.P. (1980), "Guessing the Meanings of Words from Context: Strategy and Techniques", System 8: 211-220.
     • see "diminish"

  5. tune:
     "...location is only one of the several feature dimensions to which such neurons may be tuned." [Plus numerous later occurrences of "tune", none with a definition.]
     Edelman, Shimon (2008), Computing the Mind: How the Mind Really Works (New York: Oxford University Press): 42.

• Adjectives:

  1. diminished:
     At the present time, the world has plentiful supplies of stored-source energy, but a natural resource such as oil will be seriously diminished by the end of the century. Furthermore, the supplies of natural gas cannot be expected to last indefinitely, and although there seems to be plenty of coal left, the rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will soon restrict its use.
     Clarke, D.F., & Nation, I.S.P. (1980), "Guessing the Meanings of Words from Context: Strategy and Techniques", System 8: 211-220.
     • see "restrict"

  2. gregarious:
     Joe and Stan arrived at the party at 7 o'clock. By 9:30 the evening seemed to drag for Stan. But Joe really seemed to be having a good time at the party. "I wish I could be as gregarious as he is," thought Stan.
     Beck, Isabel L.; McKeown, Margaret G.; & McCaslin, Ellen S. (1983), "Vocabulary Development: All Contexts Are Not Created Equal", Elementary School Journal 83(3): 177-181; word on p. 179.
     • Note: This is allegedly a "general" context.

  3. hazy:
     Because of the peat-laden water, not even the powerful lights were sufficient for a clear picture but although the photographs were hazy and indistinct, they did show what appeared to be a diamond-shaped fin and snake-like neck.
     Clarke, D.F., & Nation, I.S.P. (1980), "Guessing the Meanings of Words from Context: Strategy and Techniques", System 8: 211-220.
     • see "indistinct"
     • see "peat-laden"

  4. hieratic:
     My parents were then big fans of oriental rugs—less so now because their interests have changed. Their most extravagant acquisition was a tiger rug—an oriental rug with a life-size hieratic tiger lifting its paw in the middle and incomprehensible designs running around the edge.
     • Baker, Nicholson (2003), A Box of Matches (New York: Random House): 45-46.

  5. indistinct:
     Because of the peat-laden water, not even the powerful lights were sufficient for a clear picture but although the photographs were hazy and indistinct, they did show what appeared to be a diamond-shaped fin and snake-like neck.
     Clarke, D.F., & Nation, I.S.P. (1980), "Guessing the Meanings of Words from Context: Strategy and Techniques", System 8: 211-220.
     • see "hazy"
     • see "peat-laden"

  6. intrepid:
     Because this assignment demanded courage far above the measure of most men, only the intrepid among them were considered for the job.
     Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

  7. lumbering:
     Dan heard the door open and wondered who had arrived. He couldn't make out the voices. Then he recognized the lumbering footsteps on the stairs and knew it was Aunt Grace.
     Beck, Isabel L.; McKeown, Margaret G.; & McCaslin, Ellen S. (1983), "Vocabulary Development: All Contexts Are Not Created Equal", Elementary School Journal 83(3): 177-181; word on p. 178.
     • Note: This is allegedly a "nondirective" context.

  8. parenchymatous:
     Now the sun had risen enough to clear the dense hummock of forest across the creek, and thus sunlight was striking and warming the leaves on this particular tree for the first time since they'd frozen. The night-ice had sheathed the skin, holding the leaf in place, but the freeze had also caused the final rupture in the parenchymatous cells that attached the leaf-stem to its twig: as soon as the ice melted, the leaf fell.
     • Baker, Nicholson (2003), A Box of Matches (New York: Random House): 36.
     • see hummock

  9. peat-laden:
     Because of the peat-laden water, not even the powerful lights were sufficient for a clear picture but although the photographs were hazy and indistinct, they did show what appeared to be a diamond-shaped fin and snake-like neck.
     Clarke, D.F., & Nation, I.S.P. (1980), "Guessing the Meanings of Words from Context: Strategy and Techniques", System 8: 211-220.
     • see "hazy"
     • see "indistinct"

  10. placid:
      Their lives now became regular, routine, and placid, a welcome change after the many days of conflict during the campaign.
      Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

  11. ruddy:
      Soon his pale, sickly appearance changed; his skin took on a healthy, ruddy color.
      Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

  12. syncopated:
      Instead of the even, regular beat usually found in such music, this selection was quite syncopated.
      Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.

• Adverbs:
  1. doggedly:
     Since he was determined that he would finish the task no matter how long it took, he worked doggedly on.
     Dulin, Kenneth L. (1970), "Using Context Clues in Word Recognition and Comprehension", The Reading Teacher 23(5):440-445, 469.
  2. grudgingly:
     Sandra had won the dance contest and the audience's cheers brought her to the stage for an encore. "Every step she takes is so perfect and graceful," Ginny said grudgingly, as she watched Sandra dance.
     Beck, Isabel L.; McKeown, Margaret G.; & McCaslin, Ellen S. (1983), "Vocabulary Development: All Contexts Are Not Created Equal", Elementary School Journal 83(3): 177-181; word on p. 178.
     • Note: This is allegedly a "misdirective" context.