Last week, we said dictionaries are a treasury of linguistic and extra-linguistic information, but most people believe that they are just meant for confirming meanings of words, and nothing more. We added that in a bid to discuss many things in the limited space of a dictionary, dictionary writers often use abbreviations and symbols in the course of illustration. We said but a lot of dictionary users find it difficult using dictionaries effectively, especially the grammar aspect, as a result of lack of knowledge of most of the abbreviations and word-class labels used. We X-rayed some of the symbols last week. We will discuss more this week.
Verbal symbol
… Note that it is possible for a verb having more than a meaning, that is, a polysemous verb, to have [vi,vt] plus [vi] and/or [vt]. That is, one of the meanings of the verb may be used transitively and intransitively; another meaning may be used intransitively; while yet another one may be used transitively if it has about three meanings.
By analytical extension, it is possible for a transitive verb to be used intransitively in passive voice when the doer is implied, e.g. Football is played all over the world. Basically, we know that the phrase By people is omitted in this expression, but in spite of this, it can be taken for granted that it is people that play football. The complete form of the expression is Football is played all over the world by people. By not adding By people, a transitive verb has been used intransitively.
Addition
In short, lack of knowledge of the symbols [vi,vt], [vi] and [vt] may make a dictionary user commit grammatical errors by using the verbs involved in a different way.
Note that in place of the symbols [vi,vt], [vi] and [vt], some dictionaries, e.g. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, use [I,T], [I] and [T] respectively.
Double noun symbol
nn: Apart from the abbreviation n, the double symbol nn is equally used in some dictionaries to reflect two or more nouns. For example, from the verb Govern, Government and Governance are the two words derived from it that can be used as a noun. Also from the adjective Sensitive, Sensitiveness and Sensitivity are nouns that can be realised. In the dictionary, what is usually done is for these two nouns to be written in succession, while the symbol nn will be placed against them to show double nouns.
Adjective
adj: This is another abbreviation used in the dictionary. It is the short for the word Adjective. Therefore, any word that has this grammatical label can be used in the adjectival sense, especially in the dictionary context. Note that the fact that a word is labelled adj does not mean that it cannot be used otherwise. For example, the word Editorial is an adjective thus labelled adj in one grammatical context in the dictionary, but it is equally used as a noun and labelled n in another situation. As a noun, Editorial refers to a piece of writing in a newspaper that gives the editor’s or paper’s opinion about something rather than reporting facts. In a related development, the word Adverbial is an adjective, thereby labelled adj in a grammatical situation in the dictionary, but it is equally functioning as a noun and thus labelled n in another situation. When used as a noun, it simply refers to any word or phrase used as an adverb.
Double adjective symbol
Apart from the above abbreviation, another similar abbreviation used by some lexicographers is adjj. This is employed in a situation where we have two or more derived words (derivatives) functioning as adjectives. For example, Continual and Continuous are two adjectives derivable from the verb Continue. In the dictionary, therefore, what is usually done is that these two words belonging to the same word class will be written in succession, with the label adjj placed against them to show double adjectives.
Adverb symbol
adv: The abbreviation adv represents Adverb. And when it is placed against any word in the dictionary, it means the word is to be used in the adverbial sense in that context. Basically, most of the words taking the label adv in the dictionary are adverbs ending in -ly. However, not all adverbs end in -ly and not all words ending in -ly are adverbs. For example, while we have obscure adjectives like Heavenly, Cowardly, Fatherly, Rascally, etc. ending in -ly, thus sharing structure with adverbs, so also we have obscure adverbs like Late, Wide, Low, etc. sharing structure with adjectives. Additionally, we have temporal adverbs like Today, Tomorrow, etc. that do not end in -ly.
More on obscure adverbs
The obscure adverbs like Late, Wide, Low, etc. already mentioned are equally used in the adjectival sense. But it is through contextual usage that we can distinguish between the adjectival and the adverbial usage. As regards the word Late for example, to distinguish between the two grammatical classes to which this word belongs, we can say It is a late hour (adjective); He always arrives late (adverb). As regards Wide, we have It is a wide margin (adjective); He shot the ball wide (adverb). As applicable to n and adj, when we have two or words forming the derived adverbs of a word, the abbreviation normally employed is advv.
Adverbial participle
adv part: This is the short for Adverbial particle. Examples of adverbial particles are Out, Off, Away, Down, Up, etc. Any of these adverbial particles (as well as prepositions like Upon, Beside, etc.) is combined with a verb to form what is known as a Phrasal verb such as Go out, Get along or Come around.
Affirmative and Anomalous Finite
Affirm: This abbreviation implies Affirmative. Therefore, any word or meaning of a word that it is placed against is to be used in the positive sense in that context.
anom. fin: This is the short form of Anomalous finite. An anomalous finite, also called Special finite, refers to a verb that forms its negative or interrogative without the help of the auxiliary verb Do, technically referred to as Do-support.
• To be continued
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•GOKE ILESANMI, Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is an International Platinum Columnist, Certified Public Speaker/MC, Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker and Career Management Coach. He is also a Book Reviewer, Biographer and Editorial Consultant.
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