Курс лекций по лексикологии английского языка для студентов факультетов иностранных языков

Lecture V. Working Definitions of Principal Concepts 
Synonymy is the coincidence in the essential meaning of words which usually 
preserve their differences in connotations and stylistic characteristics. 
Synonyms are two or more words belonging to the same part of speech and 
possessing one or more identical or nearly identical denotational meanings, 
interchangeable in some contexts. These words are distinguished by different shades 
of meaning, connotations and stylistic features. 
The synonymic dominant is the most general term potentially containing the 
specific features rendered by all the other members of the group. The words face, 
visage, countenance have a common denotational meaning "the front of the head" 
which makes them close synonyms. Face is the dominant, the most general word; 
countenance is the same part of the head with the reference to the expression it bears; 
visage is a formal word, chiefly literary, for face or countenance. 
In the series leave, depart, quit, retire, clear out the verb leave, being general 
and most neutral term can stand for each of the other four terms. 
One must bear in mind that the majority of frequent words are polysemantic 
and it is precisely the frequent words that have many synonyms. The result is that a 
polysemantic word may belong in its various meanings to several different synonymic 
groups. Kharitonchic Z. gives the example of 9 synonymic groups the word part 
enters as the result of a very wide polysemy: 
1) piece, parcel, section, segment, fragment, etc; 2) member, organ, constituent, 
element, component, etc; 3) share, portion, lot; 4) concern, interest, participation; 5) 
allotment, lot, dividend, apportionment; 6) business, charge, duty, office, function, 
work; 7) side, party, interest, concern, faction; 8) character, role, cue, lines; 9) portion, 
passage, clause, paragraph. 

The semantic structures of two polysemantic words sometimes coincide in 
more than one meaning, but never completely. L. Bloomfield and E. Nida suppose 
even that there are no actual synonyms, i.e. forms which have identical meanings. 
In a great number of cases the semantic difference between two or more 
synonyms is supported by the difference in valency. An example of this is offered by 
the verbs win and gain both may be used in combination with the noun victory: to win 
a victory, to gain a victory. But with the word war only win is possible: to win a war. 
Criteria of synonymity is interchangeability. It should be pointed out that 
neither the traditional definition of synonyms nor the new version provide for any 
objective criterion of similarity of meaning. It is solely based on the linguistic 
intuition of the analyst. 
Recently there has been introduced into the definition of synonymity the 
criterion of interchangeability in linguistic contexts that is synonyms are supposed to 
be words which can replace each other in a given context without the slightest 
alteration either in the denotational or connotational meaning. 
But this is possible only in some contexts, in others their meanings may not 
coincide, e.g. the comparison of the sentences "the rainfall in April was abnormal" 
and "the rainfall in April was exceptional" may give us grounds for assuming that 
exceptional and abnormal are synonyms. The same adjectives in a different context 
are by no means synonymous, as we may see by comparing "my son is exceptional" 
and "my son is abnormal" (B. Quirk, the Use of English, London 1962, p. 129) 
Peace and tranquillity are ordinarily listed as synonyms, but they are far from 
being identical in meaning. One may speak of a peace conference, but not tranquillity 
conference. (E.Nida, The Descriptive analysis of words). 

жүктеу/скачать 0,7 Mb.

Достарыңызбен бөлісу: