28) Classification of homonyms

Homonyms subdivide into: homonyms proper, homophones and homographs. This subdivision isn’t precise, as it doesn’t reflect their status as parts of speech. In this classification 2 homonyms are referred words, belonging both to the same and to different parts of speech. Professor Smirnitsky classified homonyms into 2 large classes: full homonyms and partial homonyms. 1) Full lexical homonyms are words which represent the same part of speech and have the same paradigm. For example, - ‘match’ as a game and ‘match’ as a short piece of wood, used for producing fire. ‘Ball’ as a round rubber thing used for games, ball as a party with dancing.

2) Partial homonyms are subdivided into 3 groups; a)The first is simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms. These are words which belong to the same category of parts of speech. Their paradigms have only one identical form but it’s never the same form. For example – to found (which means основывать) and ‘found’ (which is the past indefinite and past participle forms of the verb ‘to find’) b) Complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words of different parts of speech having one identical forms in their paradigms. – for example – rose (as a noun роза) and rose (as the past indefinite form of the verb to ride), another example – one (as a numeral) and ‘won’ (as the simple past and past participle forms of the verb ‘to win’). c) Partial lexical homonyms are words of the same part of speech which are identical only in their corresponding forms. For example – to lie (lay,lain) – which means лежать, and to lie (laid, laid) which means лгать. Another example is to can (canned, canned) which means запечатывать в банки, and can (could) which means мочь.

29) Types of connotations of groups of synonyms

There are 9 connotations of groups of synonyms – the connotation of degree or intensity, the connotation of duration, the emotive connotation, the evaluative connotation, the causative connotation, the connotation of manner, the connotation of attendant circumstances, the connotation of attendant features and the stylistic connotation.

1) The connotation of degree or intensity. Here belong such groups of synonyms as ‘to surprise – to astonish – to amaze – to astound. Also such group of synonyms as ‘to like – to admire – to love- to adore – to worship’. Another example – to stout – to yell – to bellow – to roar.

2) The connotation of duration. Here belong such groups of synonyms as ‘to stare’(which means уставиться), ‘to glare’ ( which means уставиться), ‘to gaze’ (which means любоваться), to glance(взглянуть), to peep (подглядывать) and to peer (вглядываться). The word ‘to stare’ means ‘to look steadily lastingly in surprise or curiosity’. The word ‘to glare’ means ‘to look steadily lastingly in anger, rage or fury’. The word ‘to gaze’ means ‘to look steadily lastingly in tenderness, admiration or wonder’. The to glance means to look briefly, in passing. The word to peep means to look steadily lastingly and by stealth, through an opening location. The word to peer means to look steadily lastingly with difficulty or strain. All these synonyms denote a lasting act of looking at somebody or something, only ‘glance’ describes a brief, passing look.

3) The emotive connotation. These synonyms differ from each by the nature of emotion they imply. Here belong such groups of synonyms as ‘alone, single, lonely, solitary’. ‘Alone’ means ‘один’ and implies the absence of company. ‘Single’ is also ‘один, единственный’ or ‘незамужний, холостой’. The implied meaning is not 2 or more. Lonely which means ‘одинокий’ implies a feeling of melancholy, desolation, resulting from being alone. Solitary means укромный, уединенный.

4) The evaluative connotation conveys the speaker’s attitude to the referent labeling it as good or bad. Here belong such groups of synonyms as ‘well-known, famous, notorious, celebrated.’ ‘Notorious’ bears a negative evaluative connotation. Celebrated bears a positive evaluative connotation. Another group of synonyms is ‘to produce, to create, to manufacture, to fabricate’. To create characterizes the process as inspired and noble. To manufacture means to produce in a mechanical way without inspiration or originality. To fabricate has got a negative evaluative meaning of producing false things.

5) The causative connotation. The causative connotation encodes in the semantic structure of words the cause of the act or a process. Here belong such groups of synonyms as ‘to shiver – to shudder – to blush – to redden. To shiver means to tremble with cold, from a chill, because of the frost. To shudder means ‘to tremble with fear, horror, disgust.’ To blush means to redden with modesty, shame or embarrassment. To redden means to become red with anger or indignation.

6) The connotation of manner. Here belong such groups of synonyms as ‘to stroll – to stride – to trot – to pace – to swagger – to stagger – to stumble’. All these synonyms denote different ways and types of walking: the length of pace, tempo, gate and courage, purposefulness or lack of purpose. Such synonyms as ‘to like – to admire – to love – to adore – to worship’ are different not only by the connotation of intensity, but also by the connotation of manner.

7) The connotation of attendant circumstances. In order to understand this case let’s consider a pair of synonyms – ‘to peep and to peer’ To peep means to look at something or somebody through a hole, crack or opening, from behind a half-closed door, a book, a fan etc. It seems as if a whole set of scenery were built within the word’s meaning. To peer means to look at somebody or something in darkness, through the fog, from a great distance. So in the semantic structure of the word to peep are encoded circumstances, preventing one from seeing clearly.

8) The connotation of attendant features. The synonyms ‘pretty’, handsome, beautiful’ are more or less interchangeable , yet each of them describes a special type of human beauty. Beautiful is mostly associated with classical features and a perfect figure. Handsome with tall stature, a certain robustness and fine proportions. Pretty with small delicate features and a fresh complexion.

9) Stylistic connotation. Some scholars do not regard the word’s stylistic characteristic as a connotative component of its semantic structure. Stylistic connotations are subject to further classification: colloquial, slang, dialect, learned, poetic, terminological, archaic etc. Here belong such groups of synonyms as ‘snack, bite, snap, repast, refreshment, feast’. – their denotative component is meal. Snack and bite are colloquial, snap – dialectal, repast, refreshment and feast – formal. These synonyms besides stylistic connotation have connotations of attendant features. Snack, bite, snap denote a frugal meal, taken in a hurry. Refreshment is a light meal, but not in a hurry. Feast is a rich or abundant meal.

The above examples show that synonymic groups contain words which can be differentiated by some connotations at once. More than that different layers of language can be regarded as sources of synonyms. For example – afraid is a neutral, fearful is elevated, mellow is colloquial, fancy is slang, afeared is archaic. Face is neutral, countenance is elevated, phiz is colloquial, mug is slang, favor is archaic. Girl is neutral, maiden is elevated, lass is colloquial, skirt is slang, damsel is archaic. Child is neutral, infant is elevated, kid is colloquial. Father is neutral, parent is elevated, daddy is colloquial. Drunk is neutral, intoxicated is elevated, tipsy is colloquial, screwed is slang

30) Translation loans The term loan-word is equivalent to borrowing. By translation-loans we indicate borrowings of a special kind. They are not taken into the vocabulary of another language more or less in the same phonemic shape in which they have been functioning in their own language, but undergo the process of translation. It is quite obvious that it is only compound words (i. e. words of two or more stems) which can be subjected to such an operation, each stem being translated separately: masterpiece (from Germ. Meisterstück), wonder child (from Germ. Wunderkind), first dancer (from Ital. prima-ballerina), collective farm (from R. колхоз), five-year plan (from R. пятилетка). The Russian колхоз was borrowed twice, by way of translation-loan (collective farm) and by way of direct borrowing (kolkhoz).The case is not unique. During the 2nd World War the German word Blitzkrieg was also borrowed into English in two different forms: the translation-loan lightning-war and the direct borrowings blitzkrieg and blitz.