Basic Glosses Only?

How can I best learn new vocabulary items? What aids are there and what pitfalls should be avoided? How does a beginner learn to use a lexicon?
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Jesse Goulet
Posts: 87
Joined: October 15th, 2011, 12:48 pm

Basic Glosses Only?

Post by Jesse Goulet »

The way that some vocabulary words are given, they are given with not only the basic gloss but additional usage of it as it might also be frequently used in a given context. For example, in Mounce's textbook (who gets his vocabulary from Klein and a bit from Metzger lists the meaning for καρδία as both "heart" and "inner self." But is learning "inner self" really necessary? Isn't that a metaphorical meaning that one should learn to recognize by reading the word in its context instead of memorizing?

Also, is it recommended to learn some additional synonyms for certain words? For example, instead of learning "I see" is it advisable to also learn "I notice, look at, watch, observe, study, etc." depending on the nuances of the word? Or again is that something one should learn to pick up by the context?
NathanSmith
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Joined: June 10th, 2011, 12:38 am
Location: Portland, OR, USA
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Re: Basic Glosses Only?

Post by NathanSmith »

Jesse Goulet wrote:For example, in Mounce's textbook (who gets his vocabulary from Klein and a bit from Metzger lists the meaning for καρδία as both "heart" and "inner self." But is learning "inner self" really necessary? Isn't that a metaphorical meaning that one should learn to recognize by reading the word in its context instead of memorizing?
This does not really apply to καρδἰα, but it may be useful to list the metaphorical sense if it is different than common English usage and a possible source of confusion.
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