Synonymy

Synonymy. Paronymy. Euphemisms

1. Paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations in the language.

Syntagmatic relations are the relationships that a linguistic unit has with other units in the stretch of language in which it occurs. They define the meaning the word possesses when it is used in combination with other words. SR are linear (simultaneous) relationships b/w words. Meaning can be understood from the context,

Paradigmatic relations are the relationships that a linguistic unit has with units by which it may be related. PR exist b/w words which make up one of the subgroups of vocabulary units. PR define the meaning the word possesses through its interrelation with other members of the subgroup. PR are associtive (non-simultaneous) relationships. The meaning can be understood in comparison.

2. The features of synonymy, its sources.

Synonyms are words belonging to one part of speech, close in meaning and interchangeable at least in some contexts. They are characterized by the semantic relations of proximity or equivalence.

The highest degree of semantic proximity is observed when the denotational meanings are similar, but the connotational (famous - notorious) or the pragmatic (fatherly - paternal) meanings differ.

Synonymic dominant - the most general tern potentially containing the specific features rendered by all other members of the synonymic group.

Sources: borrowing, word-building (lab - laboratory), phrasal verbs and set expressions, euphemisms – a shift of unpleasant meaning of a word to a more pleasant or milder one (naked – in one’s birthday suit, battle fatigue - PTSD, die - pass away)

3. Classifications of synonyms (Western and Russian theories).

Stylistic S. - no interchangeability in context, because the underlying situations are different (teens - adolescents).

Ideographic S. - differences in denotational meaning (forest - wood).

Ideographic-stylystic S. - the lowest degree of semantic proximity, differ both in D. and C. and/or P. meanings (ask - inquire).

Dialectal S. (lift - elevator)

Contextual S. - similar in meaning only under certain conditions

Absolute S. - completely the same in meaning (stops - plosives)

4. Political correctness. Euphemisms.

5. Lexical variants.

Lexical variants are those variations of the word which are not conditioned by contextual environment, but are optional with the individual speaker (whoever - whosoever, directly [i] - [ai], whisky - whiskey. LV are different from S, because they are characterized by similarity in phonetically or spelling form and identity of both meaning and distribution.

6. Paronyms.

Paronyms are words with similar pronunciations but different spellings and meanings. For example:

accept – verb – to take or receive that which is offered

except – preposition – excluding

Antonymy

1. Semantic and functional characteristics of antonyms.

Antonyms – a class of words grouped together on the basis of the semantic relations of opposition. Antonyms are words belonging to one part of speech sharing certain common semantic characteristics and in this respect they are similar to such semantic classes as synonyms, lexical sets, lexico-semantic groups.

2. Antonymy and polysemy.

A polysemantic word may have an antonym for each of its meanings

e.g. dull – interesting, amusing, entertaining

dull – clever, bright, capable

dull - active

3. Classifications of antonyms (semantic, morphological).

M:

• the same root (derivational) (useful – useless)

• different roots (small – big)

S:

• contradictories (complementary) — mutually opposed, deny one another // dead - alive, single – married, do – undo, male - female

• contraries - can be arranged into a series according to the increasing difference in one of their qualities (gradable antonyms) // cold – cool – warm – hot

• incompatibles - relations of exclusion // winter - not spring, not summer, not autumn

• conversives – the same thing but viewed from different POVs // buy – sell, left – right

• reversives – the opposite things // fall – rise, up – down

Homonymy. Hyponymy

1. Homonymy as a linguistic phenomenon.

Homonyms are words identical in sound and spelling, but different in meaning, distribution and, in many cases, origin.

2. Sources of homonyms.

Convergent sound development. Word of different origin, due to undergoing certain sound changes, eventually accidentally coincide in their sound form (knight – night).

Divergent meaning development. Two meanings of one polysemous word become too far from each other and any connections are lost.

Heteronyms – after conversion (google – to google)

Shortening – rep (reputation, representative).

3. Classifications of homonyms (formal, semantic).

F:

• homophones – words identical in sound form but different in spelling // son : : sun, sea : : see

• homographs – words identical in spelling but different in sound form and meaning // lead [li:d] ‘guide’ – lead [led] ‘soft, easily melting metal’

• proper homonyms (full, absolute) - words identical in sound and graphic form but different meaning // case – 1. smth that happens, 2. a box

S:

• lexical homonyms - words of the same part of speech, differing in their lexical meanings: bank 1:: bank 2, ball 1:: ball 2; piece :: peace, knight :: night, air :: heir and many others.

• lexico-grammatical homonyms differ in lexical and part-of-speech meanings, i.e. they belong to different parts of speech: sea, n. :: see, v., red, a. :: read, v., mean, a. :: mean, v., paw, n. :: pour, v. etc.

• grammatical homonyms - word-forms belonging to the same paradigm, differing in their grammatical meanings: brothers, pl. - brother's, sing. possessive case - brothers', pl. possess.

А.I.Smirnitsky singled out two big classes of homonyms: I. full and II. partial homonyms [1956]. To full homonyms refer words coinciding in all grammar forms, i.e. having identical paradigms. It implies that full homonyms either belong to the same part of speech as, for instance, pupil1 and pupil 2: pupil - pupil’s - pupils - pupils’, or have no paradigms: too :: too :: to.

• partial homonyms fall into three subgroups:

  • А. simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms - words of the same part of speech. Their paradigms have words with identical sound and/or graphic forms (differing in meanings). // (to) found, v. (Infinitive) :: found, v. (Past Indef., Past Part. of to find);

• Б. complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms - words of different parts of speech, having identical sound and/or graphic forms, differing in meanings // rose, n. :: rose, v. (Past Indef., Past Part. of to rise);

• В. partial lexical homonyms - words of the same part of speech, identical in sound and/or graphic form used in the same grammar form, differing in lexical meanings // to hang (hung, hung), v., ‘висеть’ :: to hang (hanged, hanged), v., ‘вешать’;

4. Hyponymic features.

Hyponymy (=subordination, superordination) is a semantic relationship of inclusion. The hierarchical relationship between the meaning of the general and individual terms.

1. Hyponymy is transitive. A hyponym inherits all the features of the more generative concepts and adds at least one feature that distinguishes it from the higher concept and from any other hyponym of that group. The hyperonym transfers some of the characteristics to the hyponym.

2. The hyponymic relations are asymmetrical because one hyperonym can have many hyponyms but not vice versa. Also in speech a hyperonym term may be used instead of its hyponym, but not vice versa. e.g.: He owed a canary but the bird didn’t sing. (‘canary’ may be placed at the beginning of the sentence). The bird – an anaphoric noun; a canary – its antecedent.

5. Types of hyponymic relations.

Within nouns:

Meronymy. Meronym – a part, holonym – the whole.

Hyperonym (more general term) – hyponym (more specific term).

Within verbs:

Entailment:

1. temporal inclusion – one of verbs includes the other:

a) troponymy or co-extensiveness – a manner of doing, they happen at the same time (drive – ride, limp-walk),

b) proper inclusion – hyponym takes only part of the time of a hypernym (snore – sleep);

2. temporal exclusion – actions do not coincide in time:

a) backward presupposition (reversives) (fail/succeed – try, untie – tie),

b) cause – the same action from different point of view (give - have)