Basic and Minor Meanings

Synchronically we understand polysemy as the coexistence of different meanings of the same word at a certain historical period of the development of the English language. Here the problems are as follows: are all the meanings equal in the semantic structure of this word? Is the order in which the mean­ings are enumerated in dictionaries arbitrary, or does it reflect the comparative value of individual meanings?

By synchronic approach we must distinguish the basic (the central) mean­ing of the word and the minor meanings. The basic meaning of the word is representative of the word in isolation, while the minor meanings are observed only in certain contexts, e.g.: table - «a piece of furniture» (central meaning). All the other meanings are minor.

A proper objective criterion of the comparative value of individual mean­ings is the frequency of their occurence in speech, which may be different:

table 1) стол (52% of all the uses of the word);

2) таблица (35% of all the uses of the word);

3) all the other meanings (13%).

Of great importance is the stylistic stratification of meanings of a polysemantic word because not only words but individual meanings too may differ in their stylistic reference, e.g., there is nothing colloquial in the word yellow in the meaning «a certain colour», but when yellow is used in the mean­ing of «sensational», it is both slang and American.

The semantic structure of words is never static, and the relationship be­tween the diachronic and synchronic evaluation of individual meanings may be different in different periods of the historical development of language.

Thus, the primary meaning of the word may become synchronically one of the minor meanings, and diachronically a secondary meaning may function as the central meaning of the word, e.g., revolution in 1600 in the meaning «revolving motion» (восстание) was both primary (diachronically) and central (synchronically), while the meaning «a complete overthrow of the established government» (свержение) and other meanings were minor ones. In Modern English the meaning «revolving motion» is primary diachronically, but it is no longer synchronically central, as the arrangement of meanings in the semantic structure of the word «revolution» has greatly changed, and the most frequent meaning is «a complete overthrow of the established government or regime».

SYNONYMS

1. The definition of synonyms.

2. The synonymic dominant.

3. Classification of synonyms.

4. Types of connotations.

5. Sources of synonymy.

The Definition of Synonyms

Synonymy is one of the most difficult and controversial problems, and the most controversial point is the problem of criteria of synonymy and the definition of synonyms.

Traditional linguistics solved the problem with the notional criterion and defined synonyms as words of the same part of speech conveying the same notion but differing either in shades of meaning or in stylistic characteristics.

Some aspects of this definition have been criticised. It has been pointed out that linguistic phenomena should be defined in linguistic terms and the term «notion» makes this an extralinguistic definition.

In contemporary linguistics the semantic criterion of synonymy is fre­quently used. In terms of componental analysis synonyms may be defined as words with the same or nearly the same denotation (or the denotative compo­nents) but differing in connotations (in emotive charge or in stylistic character­istics).

to begin - to start - to commence (stylistic reference),

to put - to place - to lay - to set - to deposite (shades of meaning),

to tremble - to shiver - to shudder (shades of meaning),

to like - to admire - to love (emotive charge).

The verbs to like - to admire - to love describe feelings of attraction, fondness, but each of them describes it in its own way:

to like - certain warm feeling;

to admire - a stronger emotive charge;

to love - the strongest feeling.

denotation connotations

to like - to like (warm feeling)

to admire - to like (warmer feeling)

to love - to like (the strongest possible emotion)

to stare - tolook (lastingly, in surprise, curiosity)

to gaze - to look (lastingly, in admiration, wonder)

to glare - to look (lastingly, in anger, fury)

to glance - to look (briefly, in passing)

to peep - to look (lastingly, stealingly through an opening or from a concealed location)

to peer - to look (lastingly, with difficulty or strain)

The common denotation convincingly shows that according to the semantic criterion, these words are synonyms. The connotative components are different.

to look

to glance - to look quickly, suddenly,

to glimpse - to look still quicker, to have a momentary look.

In great number of cases the semantic difference between two or more synonyms is supported by the difference in their valency, syntactical or lexical. Valency denotes the combining power or typical co-occurrence of a linguistic element.

to tremble - to shiver from cold, to shudder from disgust;

high tree - tall man;

beautiful woman - handsome man;

to answer a question - to reply to a question;

to say something to somebody - to tell somebody;

to finish school - to graduate from university;

to offer a concrete thing - to suggest an idea: going; that he go.

The Synonymic Dominant

Each synonymic group has a dominant element. The synonymic dominant is the most general term potentially containing the specific features rendered by all other members of the group.

to look - to stare - to gaze - to glance - to peep;

to leave - to depart - to retire - to clear out;

to ask - to inquire - to question - to interrogate.

The synonymic dominant is characterized by the following features:

- high frequency of usage;

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

- broad general meaning;

- lack of connotations.

The synonymic dominant should not be confused with a generic term. It is relative and serves as the name for the notion of the genus as dintinguished from the names of the kinds, e.g.: the -word furniture is a generic term for a table, a chair, a stool, a bookcase, a wardrobe, etc.

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