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Kovalenko_lexicology

2.6 Synonymy Definition of Synonymy and Synonyms / Types of Synonyms / The Basic Semantic Functions of Synonyms / Synonym Paradigms / Non-Lexical Synonymy /

Synonymy is a type of semantic relations between language units, which consists in either full or partial coincidence of their meanings (Новиков, 1998, с.446-447).

Synonyms (in ancient Greek syn 'συν' = plus and onoma 'όνομα' = name) are words whose meanings coincide either fully or partially. Synonyms can also be described as words and word-combinations that have the same meaning in some or in any contexts (Жарковская, 2006).

There exist several approaches to the research of synonymy, which put in the center of their attention:

    1. the equivalence of meanings;

    2. a full or partial ability of the synonyms to interchange in the text;

    3. the evaluative, stylistic qualities of the synonyms.

From the semantic point of view (with regard to the equivalence of meaning) synonyms can be described as full or partial.

Full synonyms are those, whose semantic contents coincide completely. For example, both words cat and feline describe any member of the family Felidae.

Partial synonyms are words only parts of whose meanings coincide, which means that they become synonyms only when used in one of their meanings or in certain combinations. For instance, the words student and pupil are synonyms only in the meaning a person who is being taught, and at the same time the word pupil as the small round black area at the centre of the eye is not synonymous with student. In the word-combinations a long time and an extended time, long and extended become synonyms. A polysemantic word, thus, may enter several paradigms of synonyms at once.

There are two basic types of synonymy: semantic (ideographic) synonymy and stylistic synonymy.

Semantic synonyms:

Stylistic synonyms are used in different communicative styles: insane and loony are synonymous, but the former is formal and the latter is informal. Salt and sodium chloride are synonymous, but the former is everyday and the latter is technical. Stylistic synonyms may have different evaluative quality (compare horse and steed).

Some synonyms differ in both semantic content and stylistic colouring, like to eat and to pig (i.e. to eat greedily).

Besides, there may be:

The basic semantic functions of synonyms are substitution and specification.

Substitution can often be observed in the text parts which follow each other. Semantically adequate lexical units interchange in order to avoid monotony:

Specification serves to unfold the qualities and various characteristic features of the denoted objects or phenomena. This function is usually realized within one sentence, when partially equivalent words are situated near each other and give a more particular, precise description of an object or phenomenon.

There are two possible types of contexts in this case. In the neutralizing context, the differences between synonyms are not crucial for the content of the utterance. The differing semes of the synonymous lexical units are summed up as additional characteristics of the signified:

In the differenciating context the differences in the semantic content of the synonyms are in the center of attention. The differing semes are opposed to each other, making the expressed ideas more precise:

Mobile Homes are a certain type of caravans, fit to be dwelled in permanently, and in the context they are opposed to the caravans of smaller sizes. The author makes it a point that the larger silvery caravans deserve this name, while the smaller ones do not.

In the above example, the verbs of motion possess different semes that indicate speed, thus putting the quick motion of a young man in an opposition to the slow motion of a woman. In this case, the synonymic lexical units in fact fulfill the function close to that of antonyms.

The evaluative function and the function of the stylistic organization of the text are two basic functions of stylistic synonymy.

Emotional evaluation is based upon different stylistic colouring of the marked synonyms:

      1. higher than neutral (high, poetic, bookish, etc.);

      2. lower than neutral (colloquial, jargon, etc.).

The stylistic colouring becomes the basis of the positive or negative evaluation of an object:

While a life guard is just neutral a profession title, the word life-saver possesses positive connotation, which implies the speaker’s positive evaluation of the fact that he is going to work in this position.

'Here she comes,' said Hopper. 'Two-Ton Tessie. Get the lifeboat out.'

In this case, the storyteller uses rather neutral adjectives (fat, thick) to describe the woman’s appearance, while one of the characters – a teenager called Hopper – applies a famous catch phrase Two-Ton Tessie5, (a synonym to the word-combination fat woman), which acquires quite a negative connotation in the context of the stoty.

The function of the stylistic organization of the text is realized, when stylistically marked synonyms coordinate stylistically and semantically with the whole text. In the following example the author of the short story creates the atmosphere of a teenager conversation by using besides the stylistically neutral noun girls its slangy equivalent:

'Girls,' said Hopper. 'They're all waiting for it. Just waiting for it, they are. I soon found that out, at our place.' […]

'What else?' Jimmy asked. 'I've a job to do’.

'Oh, do me a favour,' said Hopper. He snig­gered again. 'Your job is to walk around and make the birds feel good. You'll never have to rescue anybody.'

Synonymic words form synonym paradigms that consist of numbers of words with similar or identical meanings. Every synonym paradigm has a central, or domineering, member whose meaning is the simplest semantically, the most neutral stylistically and the least fixed syntagmatically. For example, in the paradigm big, large, ample, sizeable, bulky, capacious, colossal, giant, enormous, extensive, gigantic, great, huge, immense, vast, large-scale, massive, oversize, rangy, super, titanic, volumed, voluminous, whacking, broad, spacious, wide the word big is evidently the central member.

There are also contextual synonyms. In the figurative sense, two words may be said to be synonymous if they have the same connotation: "a widespread impression that … Hollywood was synonymous with immorality" (Doris Kearns Goodwin) (Wikipedia, 2009).

Sometimes a word may be synonymous to a word-combination, e.g. to hitch – to get a free ride.

Beside lexical synonymy, several types of non-lexical synonymy can be observed in language:

        1. Phraseological synonymy occurs, when two or several phraseological units denote the same object, phenomenon or idea: to hit the target = to reach one’s ends; to lose one’s nerve = to go to pieces, etc.

        2. Derivational synonymy consists in the semantic equivalence of morphemes, for example prefixes un- and in- both express the absence of a quality: unable, incapable.

        3. Grammatical synonymy is understood as the sense equivalence of functionally equal grammatical forms: We used to talk a lot in the quiet evenings. We would talk a lot in the quiet evenings.

        4. Under syntactic synonymy we understand the sense equivalence between two sentences with different syntactic structure: We close the store at 5 p.m. The store is closed at 5 p.m.

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