Course Code: Mr.

Azan Khalid
Course Title English-III (Technical Business Report Writing)
Section: A
Instructor: Mr. Azan Khalid

Technical Writing
Technical Vocabulary is the specialized vocabulary of any field which evolves due to the need
for experts in a field to communicate with clarity, precision, relevance and brevity. Prior to
developing your technical vocabulary, to improve your general vocabulary in English is very
essential. The thirst to learn new words, should be a continuous process; whenever you learn
new words, try your best to use them while you communicate so that the words register in your
mind.
There are different strategies you can adopt to learn the words. Learn by knowing their origin. A
dictionary is an invaluable tool to build your vocabulary. Sometimes you infer the meaning of a
word from the context; but the meaning may not be exact. Only the dictionary would provide
with the exact meaning.
Denotational Meaning: The denotation of a word or expression is its explicit or direct meaning,
as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it. Simply put, a
word's denotation is what that word means or directly represents.  Dictionary meaning
The denotation of hot is having or giving off heat.

Connotational Meaning: Connotation refers to the subjective interpretation of terms and

objects. It suggests meaning of a word apart from the thing it explicitly names or describes. For
example, blue is a color, but it is also a word used to describe a feeling of sadness, as in: “She's
feeling blue.” Connotations can be either positive, negative, or neutral.
Once you have learnt to use the dictionary, you can improve your vocabulary in various ways.
The most important one is word formation. Some of the methods of word formation are
blending, compounding, coinage, borrowing clipping, etc.
It is only in the process of derivation, the form of the word changes. This derivation takes place
with the help of affixes. Small bits of the English language are affixed to root words. Some of
the affixes are un, mis, pre, ful, less, etc. Affixes can be divided into two categories:
 Prefixes
 Suffixes
 Word Formation
How words are formed?
Words are formed from existing ones by adding smaller units either at the beginning (prefix) or
at the end (suffix) of an existing word.
Principles of Word Formation:
• Affixation – Adding a unit/smaller word at the beginning (prefix) or end (suffix) of an existing
word.
• Conversion
• Compounding
Suffix:
Suffixation is adding a new unit/word at the end of an existing word. Suffix often alters the
word class of the base word.
For e.g. “KIND” (root word – adjective) becomes “KINDNESS”(abstract noun) on adding „ - ness‟
as a suffix.
Noun to Noun:
-ster – gang/gangster
-er- teenage/teenager
-eer – profiteer (profit)
-eer – profiteer (profit)

Verbs to Nouns:
-er – work – worker
-ing – drive – driving
-age – cover – coverage

Nouns to Verbs:
-en – length – lengthen
-fy – beauty – beautify
-ze – apology – apologize

Noun to Adjective:
-ful – cheer – cheerful
-less – care – careless
-ish – child – childish

Adjectives to Nouns:
-ness – bitter- bitterness
-th – deep – depth
-ce – distant – distance

Verbs to Adjectives:
-ent – obey – obedient
-ant – please – pleasant
-tive – attend – attentive

Less Common Suffixes:

Less common suffixes associated with abstract nouns include:
-ship – own – ownership
-dom – free – freedom
-th – deep – depth
-hood – adult – adulthood

Compound Adjectives:
Adjectives made up of two parts, usually written with a hyphen. Examples – „well-dressed‟,
„never-ending. Its meaning is clear from the word it combines. The second part of the word is
usually a present or past participle. A large number of compound adjectives are used to
describe personal appearances and characters. (blue-eyed, curly- haired, easy-going, good-
natured). In some compound adjectives, the second word is often a preposition. For e.g a
broken-down bus, a well-off gentleman.

Conversion:
Conversions from adjectives to nouns and vice versa are both very common and unnotable in
English; much more remarked upon is the creation of a verb by converting a noun or other
word (e.g., the adjective clean becomes the verb to clean).
In linguistics, conversion, also called zero derivation or null derivation, is a kind of word
formation involving the creation of a word from an existing word without any change in form,
which is to say, derivation using only zero. For example, the noun green in golf is derived
ultimately from the adjective green.

Compounding:
In grammar, compounding, also called composition, is when two or more words are combined
together to form a new word. For example, the word underground is a combination of the
words under and ground.
 Noun-Noun compounds include: doghouse
 Adjective-Noun compounds include: greenhouse
 Verb-Noun compounds include: breakwater
 Noun-Adjective compounds include: trustworthy
 Adjective-Adjective compounds include: purebred
 Noun-Verb compounds include: browbeat
 Adjective-Verb compounds include: blacklist
 Jargon
Jargon refers to the specialized language of a professional or occupational group. While this
language is often useful or necessary for those within the group, it is usually meaningless to
outsiders. Some professions have so much jargon of their own that it has its own name; for
example, lawyers use legalese, while academics use academese. A passage of text that is full of
jargon is said to be jargony.

Key Takeaways: Jargon

 Jargon is the complex language used by experts in a certain discipline or field. This
language often helps experts communicate with clarity and precision.
 Jargon is different from slang, which is the casual language used by a particular group of
people.
 Critics of jargon believe such language does more to obscure than clarify; they argue
that most jargon can be replaced with simple, direct language without sacrificing
meaning.

Supporters of jargon believe such language is necessary for navigating the intricacies of certain
professions. In scientific fields, for instance, researchers explore difficult subjects that most
laypeople would not be able to understand. The language the researchers use must be precise
because they are dealing with complex concepts (molecular biology, for example, or nuclear
physics) and simplifying the language might cause confusion or create room for error. The
proper use of jargon is both necessary and unobjectionable. Critics of jargon, however, say such
language is needlessly complicated and in some cases even deliberately designed to exclude
outsiders.

Jargon Vs Slang:
Jargon should not be confused with slang, which is informal, colloquial language sometimes
used by a group (or groups) of people. The main difference is one of register; jargon is formal
language unique to a specific discipline or field, while slang is common, informal language that
is more likely to be spoken than written. A lawyer discussing an "amicus curiae brief" is an
example of jargon. A teen talking about "making dough" is an example of slang.

List of Jargon Words:

Jargon can be found in a variety of fields, from law to education to engineering. Some examples
of jargon include:

 Due diligence: A business term, "due diligence" refers to the research that should be
done before making an important business decision.
 AWOL: Short for "absent without leave," AWOL is military jargon used to describe a
person whose whereabouts are unknown.
 Hard copy: A common term in business, academia, and other fields, a "hard copy" is a
physical printout of a document (as opposed to an electronic copy).
 Cache: In computing, "cache" refers to a place for short-term memory storage.
 Dek: A journalism term for a subheading, usually one or two sentences long, that
provides a brief summary of the article that follows.
 Stat: This is a term, usually used in a medical context, that means "immediately." (As in,
"Call the doctor, stat!")
 Phospholipid bilayer: This is a complex term for a layer of fat molecules surrounding a
cell. A simpler term is "cell membrane."
 Detritivore: A detritivore is an organism that feeds on detritus or dead matter. Examples
of detritivores include earthworms, sea cucumbers, and millipedes.
 Holistic: Another word for "comprehensive" or "complete," "holistic" is often used by
educational professionals in reference to curriculum that focuses on social and
emotional learning in addition to traditional lessons.
 Magic bullet: This is a term for a simple solution that solves a complex problem. (It is
usually used derisively, as in "I don't think this plan you've come up with is a magic
bullet.")
 Best practice: In business, a "best practice" is one that should be adopted because it has
proven effectiveness.