Business english writing - Masterclass International School 2020

Some observations about language

When studying a language, especially at an advanced level, it is necessary to consider words from a new perspective, a broader viewpoint with regard to the following aspects: basic meaning, polysemy, synonymy, collocation, connotation and register as well as the geographical variety of the language, e.g. British English, American English, etc.

Every word has a basic meaning, so if we were to analyse a sentence such as Along with our customers, the main asset of the company is that we are a highly motivated, committed and capable force and we didn’t understand the meaning of a word, of course we could look it up in a dictionary where we could find the explanation. Let us suppose that the unknown word is asset; the dictionary would give the following definition: anything valuable or useful (English), or another word with a similar meaning: possession (English).

This is the basic meaning of the word, but more often than not words can have other meanings, and this is what we call polysemy. A polysemous word has multiple meanings, just like the word asset which also means stock (2), advantage (3), resource (4). The meaning (1) is often found in the plural form assets, that is any property owned by a person or firm (English). This is just an example of how many different meanings words can have and this is true for other lexical items in the sentence we have taken into consideration. Of course, the context is often helpful in understanding the word when spoken or in a piece of writing.

Another characteristic of words is synonymy. Synonyms are words with a very similar but slightly differing meaning. For example, the word customer has some synonyms in client, patron, consumer, shopper, buyer, user. Sometimes these words are interchangeable, so you can decide to use one or another, but this is not always true. While customer and client are now very similar — someone who buys products or services - the word patron is mostly used for habitual customers of bars and restaurants. But in spite of the fact that the word customer can always replace the word patron, the opposite is not true.

Another typical aspect of words is that they are often accompanied by a fixed set of words, so they are used with each other more frequently. Collocations are common word combinations. For example the adjective motivated is often accompanied by extremely, highly, strongly, very, well. This is the reason why new vocabulary should not be learned as an isolated part of the language, but together with the word with which it is associated.

Connotation has to do with the associations that are linked to a certain word, the emotional aspect that word evokes, which opposes the literal meaning of the word, called denotation or the dictionary definition. For example, the word rose refers to a specific type of flower, but symbolically it can recall love and passion. Another example may be given by adjectives. If you wish to describe someone as refusing to comply or agree, which of the following adjectives would you use? stubborn, unyielding, headstrong, obstinate, dogged, resolute, adamant, pertinacious, pig-headed, persistent, unwavering, resolute, firm. And which of the above adjectives would you use to define someone who has determination or strength? Be careful! Words may have a similar denotation but a different connotation.

Another important language aspect is register. It is the style related the purpose, audience and social context where communication takes place. It has to do with the degree of formality in use, so a formal register would require something like Mr. Smith, would you like a cup of tea?, whereas in friendly, informal context we could just say Paul, want some tea? The context regulates register which will basically be formal or informal.

As for the geographical variety of the language, we should remember that what is commonly said in Britain may differ from what is said in America, in Canada or in Australia as well as in other English speaking countries. American English tends to be the most dominant variety in the world nowadays and some American words are also used or understood by speakers of other varieties of the language, but sometimes this does not happen. Barrister, biscuit and flyover are British English; the same words in American English are attorney, cookie and overpass. Apart from lexical differences between AmE and BrE, there are also spelling differences which will be dealt with in the next paragraph.