Words beyond Words: Uses of effective words in Writing

PC THOMAS

How many words are there in the English language, how many words generally do we need to get along or how did we get into the ways of using the apt use of words with its structure?  These are questions which are often raised in the context of writing. Almost everyone in the writing career has faced such questions.

English is a language, which is being enriched by new words, phrases and usages every day.  People are always discovering new ideas, places, and things as a result new words come into life. With the newest word additions and definitions the Oxford Dictionary-2018 contains over 8,29,000 words, senses, and compounds.  Every year, it generates more than 1000 new words.  This spiraling growth is due to various ‘attacks’ of other world languages on English.

How many words in English do we need generally? It has been found that with about 5000 words we can just get along. But we require over 25,000 words to express our complex ideas in this cyber age. However, words are power, which we apply in reading, writing, speaking etc. Without this tool we cannot comprehend what is being communicated to us and we cannot respond adequately and appropriately to any communication. By developing our word power we can strengthen the thrust of reading as well as the flair of writing.

While reading, we come across loads of news words.  When we encounter new words, which are unfamiliar to us, usually we may ignore them. If we ignore those words or a word we may not  get the denotation of the sentence, since the meaning of the whole sentence may perhaps be hung on that particular word.  Unknown words appearing in sentences kill the spirit of reading, and cause problems for our understanding of the text.  Therefore, enriching vocabulary everyday is indispensable in the process of learning. One might say we can dispense with difficult words and phrases because simplicity is the rule of the day. Answer to this that we have to understand the views of those who write and talk using words which may be simple to many but difficult for us because we have a poor vocabulary.

We can do much to develop our mastery of writing by paying attention to the apt use of words with its structure. All the way through, our writing becomes concise and attractive.  There is a saying about a man who wrote a long letter because he did not have the time to write a short one. It means, a great faculty is required for clear expression in short and making its meaning wider and it is attained by enriched vocabulary and its proper utility.

Writing in a short and snappy way is a great skill, for which we require a fitting vocabulary and the correct knowledge of structuring sentences.  The necessity of good vocabulary and its usages cannot be overemphasized.  Therefore a constant effort to learn more and more words should be the aim of anyone who uses English for any type of communication.  Increasing word power means to enhance the quality of reading making us feel the real experience of the meaning of words in their context of usage. It can be obtained only thorough devoting a little time regularly for reading.
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Published in Metro Vaartha dated 24.6.20