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Glite Dictionary
📚 No literary knowledge ✏️ Cannot read or write
nonliteracy

nonliteracy

8.4
A lack of knowledge or interest in books and writers
  • noun
  • /nɒnˈlɪtərəsi/
translation icon : no familiaridad literaria
  • Many children face nonliteracy, which limits their access to important literary works and culture.

Examples

  • Her nonliteracy became apparent when she struggled to discuss the themes of the novels in class.

  • A better appreciation of the psycho-dynamics of primary oral culture and of the transition from nonliteracy to textuality can help us approach the interaction of speech and writing in Lope's play and in the early modern period.

    Academic text (1992)

  • The educational program aims to reduce nonliteracy among students by promoting reading and literary discussions.

Antonyms

literacy
30 3.4

Skill to find, understand, and use information in a specific area like digital media

How Literary

literariness
  • Literature
1 8.4
nonliteracy
8.4

Surface Forms

nonliteracy singular
nonliteracies plural

Morphology

nonliteracy = literacy (semi-transparent) = non + literacy

The negative prefix 'non-' attaches to 'literacy', but sense 1 uses 'literacy' in the narrower sense of familiarity with literary culture rather than general reading/writing ability, making the meaning a specialized extension.

Etymology

Nonliteracy starts with non- meaning 'not' and ends with literacy, which comes from literature and the idea of 'letters' and books. So, nonliteracy here means not being familiar with books or literary culture.