What freshmen should know
Posted on Sat, May. 17, 2004
A meditation on phloem and xylem and the fertile tree of English
JAMES J. KILPATRICK, Universal Press Syndicate
A slim book came the other day from the editors of American Heritage dictionaries. It was provocatively titled, 100 Words Every High School Freshman Should Know.
The test is not for high school seniors.
This challenge is for grades nine and ten.
James Kilpatrick, the writer of this article, showed it to a Phi Beta Kappa college graduate whom he knows.
She missed two of the 100.
She drew a blank on “phloem” and “xylem” (and was fuzzy on “symbiosis”).
The nouns “phloem” and “xylem” come from the world of botany.
“Phloem” is “a complex tissue in the vascular system that consists mainly of sieve tubes and elongated parenchy- ma.”
Its close cousin “xylem” is “a complex system in the vascular system of higher plants that consists of vessels, trache- ids, or both, usually together with wood fibers and parenchyma cells.”
Now you know what they mean, right?
Although Kilpatrick told his readers to look it up, “symbiosis” refers to “a cooperative, mutually beneficial rela- tionship between people; or a close association of animals or plants of different species that is often, but not always, of mutual benefit.”
If you have learned a few roots from Latin and Greek, then you know that the word literally means “living toge- ther”.
Kilpatrick goes on to say that today’s theme lies in the infinite variety of our specialized vocabularies.
-
His friend, a graduate in law, was stumped
on the vocabulary of biology and botany; however, the probabilities
are that many a graduate in the sciences would be hard pressed
to define a “tort” or “chancery”.
Kilpatrick suggests that we live much of our lives in separate worlds of words.
He further says, “we who write for a living, or merely love the written word, have a vocabulary all our own.”
“I have to assume my readers under- stand such elementary terms as noun, verb, direct object and dangling par- ticiple; but should I define ‘comma splice’ by a specific example? These are judgment calls. Every writer has to make them every day.”
Written and oral communication are dependent on vocabulary skills.
|
|
Kilpatrick continues: Back to the little book from American Heritage. The list of 100 words begins with “ac- centuate,” and continues with alliter- ation, analogy, antibody and aspire.
Does your fourteen-year-old know; in fact, do you know “ellipse, embargo, exponent, fallacy, gargoyle, hologram, inference, laconic, lichen, marsupial, nebula, polygon, solstice, suffrage” and “undulate”?
The editors at American Heritage have set a high bar for high school freshmen.
Ah, but these hypothetical freshmen probably swim easily in a sea that swarms with “abs, blog, Botox, brewski, chad, chick lit, cyborg, emo, freak, fuzz, hottie, hoodie, indie, mosh pit, newbie, spam, wedgie” and “zit”.
The fecund tree of English is always sprouting new leaves and casting off dead ones.
In Madison, Wisconsin, the editors of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) are winding up their lexicographic triumph.
They have published four volumes of words and phrases drawn from our myriad vocabularies.
In the rural South they captured “savagerious” (fierce, violent).
In New England they netted “scrid” (a lump, piece, morsel).
Did you know that a “quandy” is a sea duck and a “puttylegs” is a black duck?
In Vermont, a “sollacker” is a whopper.
In North Carolina, a “pipjenny” is a pimple.
In parts of Texas, if you’re “proddy” you’re ill-tempered.
Let word lovers be on the watch. DARE’s final Volume 5 will appear next year.
James J. Kilpatrick is a syndicated columnist and author of books on language. Write him at 2555 Pennsylvania Ave., Apt. 902, Washington, DC 20037 or at kilpatjj@aol.com.
|
The nonsense of expecting 9th and 10th graders to know such difficult and generally useless words should be com- pared with the more pragmatic idea that they would benefit much more by learning English elements from Latin and Greek sources. With this approach, they can determine the meanings of many more applicable English words.
In fact, knowing Latin and Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes; provides a far greater knowledge of English voca- bulary than the memorization of lists of unrelated words. To learn more about where you may access the mother-lode of English words derived from Latin and Greek sources, visit this Cross-Refs Search area so you can find out how you and others may take advantage of this vast wealth of vocabulary proficiency. |
|
