Definition and Examples of Pseudowords

Definition and Examples of Pseudowords A pseudoword is a fake word- that is, a string of letters that resembles a real word (in terms of its orthographic and phonological structure) but doesnt actually exist in the language. Also known as  jibberwacky or a wug word.   Some examples of monosyllabic pseudowords in English are heth, lan, nep, rop, sark, shep, spet,  stip, toin, and  vun. In the study of language acquisition and language disorders, experiments involving the repetition of pseudowords have been used to predict literacy achievement later in life. See Examples and Observations below. Also, see: Ghost WordLiteracyMountweazelNeologismNonce WordNonsense WordStunt Word Examples and Observations Pseudowords are letter strings which have no meaning, but which are pronounceable because they conform to the orthography of the languages include pseudowords such as shum, laip, and cigbet. Pseudowords can be read by application of grapheme-phoneme conversion rules even though the words are not real and have not been encountered in print or in spoken language. Although it has been argued that pseudowords may be read by analogy to words, some awareness of grapheme-phoneme conversion rules and segmentation skills are necessary to read a pseudoword correctly. For example, for a correct reading of the pseudoword dake, it must be segmented into an initial letter d and a rime or word body ake; the latter could be read by analogy to cake, but the sound of d and the segmentation itself are, in fact, phonological processing skills.(Linda S. Siegel, Phonological Processing Deficits and Reading Disabilities. Word Recognition in Beginning Literacy, ed. by Jamie L. Metsala and Linnea C. Ehri. La wrence Erlbaum, 1998) Pseudowords and Brain ActivityIn some studies no differences in brain activation for real words and pseudowords are observed (Bookheimer et al. 1995), indicating that the tasks activate brain regions for orthographic and phonological but not semantic coding. . . . Presenting the same pseudoword repeatedly so that it is no longer an unfamiliar word reduces activity in right lingual gyrus, suggesting that that structure plays a role in learning to recognize familiar words (Frith et al. 1995).(Virginia Wise Berninger and Todd L. Richards, Brain Literacy for Educators and Psychologists. Elsevier Science, 2002) Alternate Spellings: pseudo word, pseudo-word

The Definition and Usage of Circumlocution

The Definition and Usage of Circumlocution Circumlocution is the use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language to avoid getting to the point. Though circumlocution is usually regarded as a stylistic vice in contemporary prose, it can be used for comic effect, as in the passage below by S. J. Perelman. Examples and Observations Monty Pythons Man Who Says Things in a Roundabout WayInterviewer: Good evening. Well, we have in the studio tonight a man who says things in a very roundabout way. Isnt that so, Mr. Pudifoot?Mr. Pudifoot: Yes.Interviewer: Have you always said things in a very roundabout way?Mr. Pudifoot: Yes.Interviewer: Well, I cant help noticing that, for someone who claims to say things in a very roundabout way, your last two answers have had very little of the discursive quality about them.Mr. Pudifoot: Oh, well, Im not very talkative today. Its a form of defensive response to intense interrogative stimuli. I used to get it badly when I was a boy- well, when I say very badly, in fact, do you remember when there was that fashion for, you know, little poodles with small coats.Interviewer: Ah, now youre beginning to talk in a roundabout way.Mr. Pudifoot: Oh, Im sorry.Interviewer: No, no, no, no. Please do carry on because that is in fact why we wanted you on the show.Mr. Pudifoot: I thought it was b ecause you were interested in me as a human being. (gets up and leaves)(Terry Jones and Graham Chapman, Royal Episode 13: The Toad Elevating Moment. Monty Pythons Flying Circus, Dec. 22, 1970) Fed-Speak: The Circumlocutory Federal Reserve Chairman- [Federal Reserve Chairman Alan] Greenspan went on to suggest raising the retirement age, though he slipped it in using his customary circumlocution: Another possible adjustment relates to the age at which Social Security and Medicare benefits will be provided. Under current law, and even with the so-called normal retirement age for Social Security slated to move up to 67 over the next two decades, the ratio of the number of years that the typical worker will spend in retirement to the number of years he or she works will rise in the long term. In other words people are just living too long.(Dan Ackman, The Passion Of The Fed Chairman. Forbes, Feb. 26, 2004)- As Fed chairman, every time I expressed a view, I added or subtracted 10 basis points from the credit market. That was not helpful. But I nonetheless had to testify before Congress. On questions that were too market-sensitive to answer, no comment was indeed an answer. And s o you construct what we used to call Fed-speak. I would hypothetically think of a little plate in front of my eyes, which was the Washington Post, the following morning’s headline, and I would catch myself in the middle of a sentence. Then, instead of just stopping, I would continue on resolving the sentence in some obscure way which made it incomprehensible. But nobody was quite sure I wasn’t saying something profound when I wasn’t. And that became the so-called Fed-speak which I became an expert on over the years. It’s a self-protection mechanism when you’re in an environment where people are shooting questions at you, and you’ve got to be very careful about the nuances of what you’re going to say and what you don’t say.(Alan Greenspan, quoted by Devin Leonard and Peter Coy. Bloomberg Businessweek, August 13-26, 2012) The Circumlocution OfficeNo public business of any kind could possibly be done at any time without the acquiescence of the Circumlocution Office. Whatever was required to be done, the Circumlocution Office was beforehand with all the public departments in the art of perceiving- HOW NOT TO DO IT.(Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, 1856)Perelmans ProseIn two shakes of a lambs tail- the official signal for aircraft to land in Palm Springs- the plane had landed and a flourish of trumpets greeted its three passengers, two of whom were familiar to any bystander. They were the renowned vedette Elizabeth Taylor and her producer husband, Mike Todd. The third, who bore more than a passing resemblance to the Apollo Belvedere but could not be said, in all justice, to rank with him in intellect, was the present writer. His chief distinction- if one may borrow G.K. Chestertons facility with paradox for a moment- was that he possessed no distinction whatsoever. What startling conjunction of the planet s, what mysterious and inexplicable forces of the I Ching had mingled the destiny of this utter cipher with that of these eminent face cards?(S. J. Perelman, The Hindsight Saga. The Last Laugh, 1981) Iranian CircumlocutionsMr. Ahmadinejads habit of answering every question about Iranian policy with a question about American policy was clearly wearing on some of the members, but at the end they acknowledged that he was about as skillful an interlocutor as they had ever encountered. He is a master of counterpunch, deception, circumlocution, Mr. Scowcroft said, shaking his head. Mr. Blackwill emerged from the conversation wondering how the United States would ever be able to negotiate with this Iranian government.(David Sanger, Irans Leader Relishes 2nd Chance to Make Waves. The New York Times, Sep. 21, 2006)Circumlocution as a First StepWe often take circumlocution as evasion, it neednt be. It might be a first step, a first form, triangulation: talk around something long enough and you can divine its center. Circumlocution. Perigraphs. I am going somewhere.(Kevin McFadden, Hardscrabble. University of Georgia Press, 2008)

E-Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

E-Business - Essay Example store associates were equipped with extensive product training to assist customers on how to do things themselves while clinics were also conducted (Our history, n.d.). It expanded later to Canada, Mexico, China, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the territory of Guam with unprecedented speed (Our history, n.d.) that total more than 2,200 retail outlets (Corporate, n.d.). It was listed in NASDAQ in 1981, New York Stock Exchange three years after (Our history, n.d.), and also traded at Dow Jones and Standard & Poor’s index (Corporate, n.d.). Its inventory of home improvement needs and materials consisted of around 40,000 and can order 250,000 products for customers (Stores, 2006). E-commerce encompasses the â€Å"buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging products, services, and/or information† through the computer and the internet (Turban et al., 2005, as cited in E-business, n.d. p. 3). E-business, a broader term that includes e-commerce, means purchase and sale of goods and services as well as â€Å"servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, conducting e-learning, and processing electronic transactions† (Turban et al., 2005, as cited in E-business, n.d. p. 3). E-commerce transactions are commonly conducted through the internet but may also be done over private interconnection (e.g. value-added networks, local area networks, wide area networks) (Turban et al., 2005, as cited in E-business, n.d. p. 3). The benefits of e-commerce include: a) online search allows consumers comparison for cheaper products, b) selection of more vendors and products, c) 24 hours-7 days a week shopping from any location, d) quick access to necessary detailed data, e) allows users to avail of custom-made products at lower prices, f) enables persons to make a living or earn a degree at home, g) allows electronic auctions that provides advantage to both vendors and buyers, and h) interact and communicate with other consumers for exchange of experiences and views