It has been said that ?speech is the logos of thought.? There is nothing truer than this. For, unless thought is expressed in the spoken or written word, how is it to be communicated? This is where lies the importance of a wide and varied vocabulary for communication and comprehension. Without words we can?t express ourselves nor can we understand what we read or listen.

Words are powerful weapons that can be wielded to achieve one?s objectives. If we exclude the use of force, this is the only means we have to convince others to obtain what we want. Throughout history, man has used words to achieve this purpose. The convincing and persuasive power of words are similar to destructive weapons which, when wielded with skills, can produce the desired results. But we must have the right words to convey the exact force of our arguments. The wrong choice of words can misfire and fail to convince. A good command of words will not only help us to trot out our thoughts and ideas sonorously, thus driving home to others our points of view but also help us to understand others better and to take in and appreciate what we read.

Words can move people to tears, make them laugh, spur them on to action, fan the flames of anger and hatred, even stir up riots. Who is the reader who has not been impressed and fascinated by the speech of Mark Antony in Julius Caesar? It is a master piece of dramatic art. It gives us an incisive insight into the power of words. How an orator who has the words and who wields them with skills can win over his audience. When Mark Antony mounted the platform to defend Julius Caesar, he found himself confronted by a hostile and wild crowd against the very man he had come to speak in defence of. He realised that he was standing on a very slippery ground. The least faux-pas in his address could have dire consequences for him. But by a judicious and skilful usage of words, he succeeded in veering the crowd and winning them over to his cause. ?Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.? The power of words! What an eloquent and brilliant speaker can do by using the exact words!

How to acquire words?

To express ourselves and understand others, we need words, i.e, vocabulary. Without vocabulary, there is neither expression nor comprehension. To build up a wide and varied vocabulary, we must read widely and get ourselves exposed to the language as much as possible. Our expression and comprehension skills are largely conditional upon reading. The more we read, the greater will be our stock of words, which will enable us to express ourselves better but and to understand others.

We must read wisely and intelligently. Our vocabulary will depend to a large extent upon the material that we read. We shall not be able to cultivate a solid vocabulary if we keep on reading cheap material. We must be selective in our choice of books. We must read books that will deepen our knowledge and enlarge our vistas of learning. We must have a wholesome reading diet for a healthy expression and appreciation of the language. We must aim at quality reading stuff along with its thorough digestion that will lead us towards wisdom and knowledge.

A good dictionary

The usage of a good dictionary can play a material role in our vocabulary build-up. It is an indispensable tool in the building up of an intelligent and reliable vocabulary and in the learning of the language. Dictionary is light. It drives away our ignorance to make room for knowledge. Why should we remain in darkness when light is available? I do concede that dictionary work may be boring and time-consuming for beginners, but there is no alternative for it if one wants to build up a reliable vocabulary. A shaky vocabulary can prove a serious hurdle to our speech and writing. The tendency to use inappropriate and inexact words will always be there. Whenever we come across or hear a word which has an unfamiliar ring to us, I think it would be wise and intelligent on our part to look it up in the dictionary. The work of dictionary can be both fascinating and adventurous in the sense that as we leaf through the pages of our dictionary we are likely to come across new words and expressions along with the sentences in which these words have been used. We shall find ourselves wandering from word to word, each of which will ignite interest in another, as the stump of one cigarette can be made to ignite the next. The experience will be fascinating and thrilling as we drive into that ocean of words.

A word in its crude sense may have several meanings but in a particular context it has a specific and well-defined connotation which may baffle the reader. It is only the help of the dictionary which can enlighten the reader and bring home to him the exact meaning. Sometimes a single word may prevent us from grasping the meaning of a sentence or cause a whole paragraph to appear foggy and nebulous to us. In that case the dictionary will be the ?can-opener? to help us have the exact picture of the writer?s mind. So an intelligent and purposeful handling of a good dictionary will definitely help to build up a solid word bank.

Today it is sad to note that our students have developed a distaste for dictionary work. They just do parrot reading, passing over words which they don?t understand or do random guess work. Dipping into the dictionary has become a ?veritable corvée? to them and this speaks volume for their negative approach towards dictionary. This is one of the underlying reasons for their anaemic and shaky vocabulary and their inability to express themselves and comprehend what they read and listen. As a result it underlines their poverty at language level.

The avant-garde reader

But on the other hand the avant-garde reader will always look upon the dictionary as a vade-mecum which can assist him whenever he gets bogged down somewhere in his reading. Because no one, however well-educated, can ever be sure that he will not, even when reading a simple statement, suddenly need enlightenment with regard to some word or other, and the well-informed reader who is anxious to remain in the vanguard of intelligentsia will at once proceed to seek that enlightenment in the dictionary. So we can split the reading public into two categories ? those who want to know and those who do not. Those who read to quench their thirst for knowledge and those who do random reading, just to while away the time. Those who are avid for knowledge and those who content themselves with wallowing in ignorance.

Today it is true that the insatiable curiosity about words has lost its grip on the readers. Lack of time or enthusiasm to know more may have been the responsible factor for it. But a reasonable curiosity regarding the real values of our verbal currency should always partner our reading to keep us well-informed. He, who neglects to inform himself and who delights in groping about in darkness when light is available, will be expelled from the community as an undesirable citizen.

Raj PANEKEN