How to learn vocabulary (using the example of Russian)
I believe it is really helpful to learn new words in connection with their cognate words: the root of the word can tell a lot.
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A word “Собор” (Cathedral) came from the verb “собирать” which is widespread in the Russian language in the meaning “to gather”, “to collect”, “to join all elements together”:
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Собирать данные // to collect data
Собирать семью за круглым столом // to make the family gather round the table
Собираться с друзьями // to get together with the friends
Собирать волю в кулак // to get a grip on oneself
Собирать ребёнка в школу // to get a child ready for school
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Собор is called “Собор”, because the worship in it is performed by the clergy of several Orthodox churches, it is joint celebration of worship, co-serving.
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Another word “Собрание”:
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The 1st meaning is “meeting” or “assembly”, depends on how large the organization conducting the occasion when people come together to discuss or decide smth is:
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Собрания в компании проводятся по понедельникам // Company meetings are held on every Monday
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Органом законодательной власти в Российской Федерации является Федеральное собрание // The legislature authority of the Russian Federation is the Federal Assembly
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The 2nd meaning is “collection”:
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Почти в каждой российской семье есть полное собрание сочинений Пушкина // Almost every family in Russia has the complete works of Pushkin
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Собрание итальянской живописи нашего музея насчитывает более пятисот произведений // The collection of Italian painting in our museum has over five hundred works
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*Going deeper into the origin of “собирать”, it is formed with prefix “со-” (it brings the approximate meaning “together with”, “co-”) and a verb “брать” (“take”)
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Learning new vocabulary, look at the root of the words and find their cognates.
March 29, 2019
