Vocabulary and Literary Terminology: Word Formation, Idiom, Figures of Speech
Word formation
The paper tests how words are built and how they combine.
- Prefixes: un-, dis-, mis-, in-/im-/ir-/il-, over-, under-, re-, pre-, post-, anti- change meaning.
- Suffixes: -ness, -ity, -tion, -ment (nouns); -ous, -ive, -able, -ic (adjectives); -ise/-ize, -ify, -en (verbs).
- Zero derivation: to email, a run - same form, new word class.
- Compounding (sunlight), blending (smog), clipping (photo), acronym (UNESCO).
Idioms and phrasal verbs
Idioms are fixed: word order and articles cannot be altered (in the long run, not in long run). Learn each inside a sentence, because questions ask for meaning in context. Phrasal verbs change meaning with the particle: put off (postpone) versus put up with (tolerate).
Figures of speech that get confused
- Simile uses like/as; metaphor states identity.
- Metonymy: an associated object stands for the thing ('the pen is mightier than the sword').
- Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration; litotes: understatement through a negative ('not bad').
- Euphemism: a softening substitute; oxymoron: two contradictory words joined.
Worked example
'His excuse was met with a stony silence.' Reasoning: no literal stones are present, so hardness is transferred onto the silence - a transferred epithet shading into metaphor. Model answer: 'The silence was cold and unyielding; the word suggests a refusal to respond rather than mere quiet.'
Traps
Reading idioms literally; translating word-for-word from Malayalam to produce 'discuss about' or 'return back'; using comprise with of; confusing fewer (countable) with less; inventing a figure of speech for plain description.