CHAPTER 2: WORDS OF DIFFERENT SORTS OF UTTERANCES

 We are not going to spend any more time talking preliminaries. We ideate and associate ideas  without further delay.  

For a start, we begin with a problem of Antonyms. 

Let’s learn new, unfamiliar, words and their uses and associations as we examine the problem. Also, remember that the words appearing in Antonyms can as well be turned into  problems of Analogies  So, be ready. 

Here comes the first problem: 
We have to pick from the choices a word or phrase that is against the idea of the headword.  

1.MUTTER 

A.please oneself 

B. resolve conflict 

C. speak distinctly 

D. digress randomly 

E. omit willingly  

See the close connection between MUTTER and UTTER. 

To utter is to speak. 

To mutter is to speak in a muted tone, to talk in such a low tone that the talk becomes indistinct or unclear. So, the idea opposed to mutter is to speak distinctly or clearly. 

When we speak clearly we ARTICULATE. Or, we can say we ENUNCIATE. 

To enunciate is to make each of our words very distinct.  

Let's recap what we just read.

   

To UTTER = To Speak 

To MUTTER = To Speak Unclearly 

To ARTICULATE = To Speak Clearly 

To ENUNCIATE = To speak Clearly  

Elsewhere, we will face these words in problems of Analogies.
In these problems we get a pair of words that are connected with some idea.
We have to pick from among the choices a pair of words that are connected with the same idea. For example, once the following pair was presented as a question:

  ENUNCIATE : WORDS  

WE know that to enunciate is to speak distinctly, the act of which makes our words very distinct. The linking idea between the two terms is that of making things distinct. The answer choice for this problem was 

 LIMN : LINES  

To limn is to draw or sketch very clearly, the act of which makes our lines very clear. The linking idea between the terms is again the same as in the question pair, that of making things distinct. Just as when we enunciate our words become clear, when we limn our lines stand out clearly. 

Another way of putting it is: 

If, when we enunciate we limn, then our words become lines. Hence,  

ENUNCIATE : WORDS

just as

LIMN: LINES 

Now, let's go back to 'MUTTER'. 

The words 'MUMBLE', 'WHISPER' and 'MURMUR' also mean 'MUTTER'. When we 'mutter', 'mumble', 'whisper', or 'murmur', we speak in low tones. The intensity of our sound gets reduced. Our sound gets 'muffle'd. To muffle is to reduce the intensity of sound, just as to mute is to reduce the intensity of the light. Hence,  

SOUND : MUFFLED

is the same as  

LIGHT : MUTED  

Muttering is one way of speaking, just as shouting is another way. Droning is yet another way. When we 'drone' we speak monotonously, i. e., in a single tone. When we speak clearly, as we have already seen, we articulate. Hence, 

MUTTER : INDISTINCTLY

is the same as  
SHOUT : LOUDLY

is the same as 
DRONE : MONOTONOUSLY
is the same as  

 ARTICULATE : DISTINCTLY  

These analogies can be given in the following manner too:  

MUTTER : DISTINCT 

When we mutter, our words are not distinct. 

ARTICULATE : UNCLEAR 

When we articulate, our words are  not unclear.