What's in a Word, and What's in a Dictionary?
A workshop exploring the description of meanings of everyday words
How would you describe the meanings of everyday English words such as rose, aunt, or giggle? You have probably come across words in one language that have several translations in another – how can that be? How do dictionaries define words? What about idioms such as spill the beans? How do children (or adults!) learn meanings of words without looking them up in dictionaries? Our language activity, run by members of the department of Linguistics and English Language at The University of Manchester, centres around the description of meanings of everyday words and idiomatic phrases. We will use dictionaries to prompt questions about the best way to define meanings. You will have the opportunity to teach others about the meanings of words from your home languages, and even write your own dictionary entries.
Presented by the Linguistic Diversity Collective and Creative Manchester as part of the Manchester City of Literature Festival of Libraries 2025.
A workshop exploring the description of meanings of everyday words
How would you describe the meanings of everyday English words such as rose, aunt, or giggle? You have probably come across words in one language that have several translations in another – how can that be? How do dictionaries define words? What about idioms such as spill the beans? How do children (or adults!) learn meanings of words without looking them up in dictionaries? Our language activity, run by members of the department of Linguistics and English Language at The University of Manchester, centres around the description of meanings of everyday words and idiomatic phrases. We will use dictionaries to prompt questions about the best way to define meanings. You will have the opportunity to teach others about the meanings of words from your home languages, and even write your own dictionary entries.
Presented by the Linguistic Diversity Collective and Creative Manchester as part of the Manchester City of Literature Festival of Libraries 2025.