English Matters

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Ansuya, Dec 20, 2008.

  1. lakshmi1945

    lakshmi1945 Silver IL'ite

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    Hi Bujji I too like bagel. Nice to know of its origin.
    I came across the word 'HENDIADYS'
    Merriam's dictionary calls it 'one through two' meaning that it it is the expression of an idea by the use of usually two independent words connected by 'and'. ex. nice and warm,instead of the usual combination of independent word and its modifier as in nicely warm.
    I would like to know if we can get more HENDIADYS words.
    Lakshmi
     
  2. Jyothisri

    Jyothisri Bronze IL'ite

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    Bujji, it's interesting to learn that Bagel has a Yiddish origin. Like I said in one of the previous posts, learning new words and their origins is what makes the English language so interesting for me. There are just so many words and so many different origins!

    I missed watching the Spelling Bee but read in the news about it. Those kids have managed to spell some tough words! Oeillade is an interesting word too. Now I know what to say when I get an oeillade while walking down the street in India!

    Lakshmi1945, I love the sound of Hendiadys! It's an amazing feeling to learn a word for something that one has been using in one's day to day language. I found some examples here:

    Hendiadys |

    I'm surprised there are not many other examples listed on the internet. However, during this search, I came across a list of linguistic devices used in writing, similar to an hendiadys. Have a look, it's really interesting.

    Linguistic Phenomena/Devices

    I also found Hendiatris. It is a figure of speech similar to hendiadys; only, here, three words are used to express one idea. Some of my own examples are:

    I, me, myself.

    Holy Trinity - Father, son, and the holy spirit

    Hindu Trinity - Brahma, Vishnu, Siva

    Indian democracy - of the people, by the people, for the people

    It is interesting to learn this word and its meaning, because just this morning, I got an article in my mail about the power of three in speech and writing. I read that article first thing in the morning, and now, thanks to Lakshmi1945, I know a word to describe the 'power of three'!
     
  3. tikka

    tikka Gold IL'ite

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    Oeillade is a wonderful word - what a nice way to say someone is looking you up and down :thumbsup
    It is very interesting to read how people write. I think as a writer, I need to be a lot more conscious of the various constructs. Thanks for sharing this with me, ladies.
     
  4. Jyothisri

    Jyothisri Bronze IL'ite

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    I'm having second thoughts about my example of the description of the Indian democracy. I'm not sure if that can be considered an hendiatris. I guess I got too carried away!
     
  5. lakshmi1945

    lakshmi1945 Silver IL'ite

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    I had an opportunity to see the film Akila the Bee. When we look at the words these children know when they prepare for the spelling bee I feel so small to think that the world of English vocabulary is so vast.
    Lakshmi
     
  6. ish_nalini

    ish_nalini Senior IL'ite

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    Hi all,
    Once again I am before you with a basic doubt.
    I got result today, and thought of sending SMS to my friends.
    There arosed a doubt.
    Is that "The result has published" or "The result has been published" ?
    Has is perfect - Used once an action got completed successfully
    Has been is perfect continous - Used once an action was being performed for long duration(past+present) and may or may not proceed in future.
    If I am according to the rule then I should use the 1st sentence. But it sounds odd. Please help me with this.
     
  7. Sabitha_K

    Sabitha_K Gold IL'ite

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    Nalini,

    In the below sentence,

    The result has published.

    Result - subject
    published - verb
    Has - linking verb

    This sentence is used when Result is the subject and the doer of the verb someone/something called 'result' has published something [ which is the object of the sentence not mentioned].

    Result has published ______.

    Whereas,

    The result has been published

    Result- object
    Published- verb
    Has- linking verb

    This sentence is used when someone published something called 'result'.


    Result has been published by _______.


    The reason why result is object instead of subject in the above sentence is because the form of the sentence is passive form unlike the first sentence in active form.

    The difference between active and passive form is that in active form subject[Who/What/Doer] is at the beginning of the sentence whereas in passive form the object[Recipient] is at the beginning of the sentence.When in doubt question yourself,

    What /Who has published ? If your answer to this question is the sentence in doubt then you are in active form.

    What has been published - the result of the publication ? If your answer to this question is the sentence in doubt then you are in passive form.Try to convert the sentence into question form and see which of the above forms is it taking.

    Coming to your original query , 'The result has been published' is correct because you want to convey that someone [ the subject which you are not interested in] has published something called 'result'.The complete sentence would be 'The result has been published by board of directors' but if you have a lecturer called result who has published something then you may say 'The result[ :crazyhere the nickname of the lecturer] has published few essays in the paper.

    Hope I haven't confused you..:hide:.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2009
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  8. Sabitha_K

    Sabitha_K Gold IL'ite

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    Nalini , probably your confusion is on the usage of 'was' and 'has been'.

    The result was published

    (OR)

    The result has been published.

    Use 'was' [simple past] when you are referring to some action in the past with no knowledge in the present.A typical scenario would be results published some time back and no one has any information about it now.No one cares now what happened to them and it is just a vague reference that something has happened sometime back.

    Use 'has been' to refer to an action which happened in recent past and still has implications in the present like the edition of the newspaper which published the results is still in circulation till the end of the day.You still are discussing the results with your friends and it is topical.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2009
  9. ish_nalini

    ish_nalini Senior IL'ite

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    Dear sabitha,

    Lots of thanks for you to clear my doubts. I am spellbound by the way you explained me..:)) Your explanation is very easy to understand.
    Thanks once again.
    Nalini T
     
  10. Assh

    Assh New IL'ite

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    Hi Ansuya,
    I am Asha from chennai. I need small help from your side. I want to learn spoken english from anglo indians, but i dont know where they are living in chennai, If u know the anyone of anglo indian teachers in chennai. pls tell me.
     

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