Synonyms. A synonymic group and its dominant member

VOCABULARY AS A SYSTEM

Synonyms are two or more words belonging to the same part of speech and possessing one or more identical or nearly identical meanings, interchangeable in some contexts. These words are distinguished by different shades of meaning, connotations and stylistic features. Words that have a common meaning in their semantics are united in synonymic groups (nests).

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 are synonyms as they 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 literally, for face or countenance.

All (or at least most) synonymic groups have a “central” word of this kind whose meaning is equal to the denotation common to all the synonymic group, cf.:

to surprise- to astonish- to amaze- to astound

to shout- to yell- to bellow- to roar

to shine- to flash- to blaze- to gleam- to glisten- to sparkle- tp glitter- to shimmer- to glimmer

to tremble- to shiver –to shudder- to shake

The dominant synonym expresses the notion common to all synonyms of the group in the most general way, without contributing any additional information as to the manner, intensity, duration or any attending feature of the referent. So, any dominant synonym is a typical basic-vocabulary word. Its meaning, which is broad and generalized, more or less covers the meaning of the rest of the synonyms, so that it may be substituted for any of them. Yet, such substitution would mean an irreparable loss of the additional information supplied by connotative components of each synonym.

The following characteristic features of the dominant synonym can be underlined:

1) high frequency of use;

2) broad combinability, i.e. the ability to be used in combinations with various classes of words;

3) broad general meaning;

4) lack of connotations, (this goes for stylistic connotations as well, so that neutrality as to style is also a typical feature of the dominant synonym).

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, e.g.:

1) Piece, parcel, section, segment, fragment;

2) member, organ, constituent, element, component.

The semantic structure of two polysemantic words sometimes coincide in more than one meaning, but never completely. In a great number of cases the semantic difference between two or more synonyms is supported by the difference in valency (валентность. Вале́нтность в синтаксисе — способность слов сочетаться с другими элементами. Термин заимствован из химии (ср. валентность (химия)). Валентность слова определяется его лексическим значением, частью речи, к которой оно относится, а также грамматической формой.

У глагола значением валентности является количество типов актантов, которые он может присоединить. Например, у безличного глагола светает валентность нулевая, у непереходного глагола спать валентность 1 (на подлежащее), у глагола купить валентность 3 или 4 (кто, что, у кого; в ряде трактовок также — за сколько).

Термин «валентность» в лингвистике используется также для обозначения особенностей того или иного глагола вступать с зависимыми словами в определенную грамматическую связь. Так, например, у глагола покупать валентность на винительный падеж (покупать кого? что?), а у глагола помогать — на дательный (помогать кому? чему?)..).

As many words have a broad semantics they can join several synonymic groups. For example the English word great enters such synonymic groups:

a) in the meaning of unusually large it enters the group immense, enormous, gigantic, huge, vast, grand;

b) in the meaning of notable it enters the group remarkable, exceptional, outstanding, noteworthy;

c) in the meaning of important it enters the group significant, consequential, weighty, serious, momentous, vital, critical.

In Ukrainian the adjective великий also enters different semantic groups:

a) великий, чималий, немалий, величезний, велетенський, гігантський, колосальний, грандіозний, могутній, потужний, здоровий, здоровезний, порядний, отакенний;

в) великий, монументальний, капітальний, масивний, громіздкий, об'ємний, рослий;

с) великий, дорослий;

d) великий, видатний, славетний.

Synonyms are one of the language’s most important expressive means. The principal function of synonyms is to represent the same phenomenon in different aspects, shades and variations. Synonyms add precision to each detail of description and the correct choice o a word from a group of synonyms may colour the whole text. The duality of synonyms is, probably, their most confusing feature.

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