What are content words primarily characterized by?

Content words are primarily characterized by their independent, real-world meanings, which are essential for conveying the main ideas and information in a sentence. These include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, which provide specific details and context. Because they carry significant semantic weight, content words help listeners or readers understand the core meaning of a message.

For instance, in the sentence "The dog barked loudly," the words "dog," "barked," and "loudly" tell us exactly what action is happening and the subject involved, thereby contributing to the overall meaning. This contrasts with function words, such as conjunctions or prepositions, which primarily serve grammatical purposes and do not hold significant meaning on their own.

The other options do not accurately encapsulate the defining features of content words. While contextual meanings and conversion between classes might apply to some degree in different linguistic scenarios, they do not fundamentally characterize content words. Additionally, content words are not limited to conversational use, as they are present in written forms as well.