Re: Classification of Abstract Words

In a message dated 1/29/2007 10:14:09 PM Central Standard Time,
hmiller@IO.COM writes:


> Classification, as in putting words into categories according to their
> meaning? Good luck! However you end up splitting the categories, there
> are likely to be some words that can end up in more than one of them. Is
> "communication" primarily a social activity or in the realm of
> knowledge? It crosses over into different areas.
>
Probably most English words have multiple meanings, so asking if
"communication" is primarily a social activity or in the realm of knowledge simply misses
the point.  It's in both categories, and probably many more besides.  One of
the advantages of using a classification system is that the words practically
define themselves.  The challenge is to then assign a suitable English
translation.

> In other cases, like "justice" or "love", you might be dealing with
> words that have a range of different meanings. Some meanings of
> "justice" might fit into the general category of "government", while
> other meanings would be better included in "feelings and emotions".
> "Love" has a range of meanings that all might fit into a "feelings and
> emotions" category, but some overlap with other categories such as "family".
>
> The thing to keep in mind is that if you're starting with English
> vocabulary out of context, you'll end up with a lot of words that won't
> fit a radically different semantic system. Translation exercises might
> be helpful; you have a specific context for the word to be translated,
> which can help narrow down the meaning.
>
stevo