Synonyms are words that are close or identical in meaning and differ in expressiveness and stylistic features. They come in different forms, for example, linguistic, stylistic. There are also contextual synonyms.
In a broader definition, these are words that have close or identical meanings, expressing one concept, emphasizing its various signs, differing in this with expressive stylistic features, compatibility. This understanding is characteristic of modern linguists and has developed in almost all European languages.
Synonyms and parts of speech
Linguistic and contextual synonyms are also characterized by the fact that they always refer to the same part of speech. The conditions of morphological community are necessary in their definition. Thus, in Russian, the words moment and moment , jelly and aspic , enormous and enormous , can be attributed to them, lying and lying , as if and so on.
Types of synonyms
In the Russian language, there are more than ten thousand synonymous series, and various types are distinguished on the basis of a meaningful criterion.
- Doublets are absolute synonyms, that is, words that are completely identical in meaning ( hippo and hippo , linguistics and linguistics ).
There are few pure doublets in the language. The words hippopotamus and hippo differ in terms of scientific and unscientific, their own and alien. The problem arises when concepts are close in meaning. Native speakers quite easily determine the stylistic difference between them intuitively. It is more difficult when it comes to semantic synonyms: house and building - the unit “house” is used only when talking about where people live. This is a generic inclusion relationship.
- Conceptual, ideographic or semantic synonyms are words that characterize different degrees of manifestation of a sign. For example: beautiful and beautiful .
- Stylistic synonyms - words that give different emotional and evaluative characteristics of the signified: to run away , flee or escape ; eyes , eyes, or countersinks .
- mixed type - semantic-stylistic synonyms that differ both in part of conceptual meaning and connotations. For example: fearful , fearful , cowardly .
Linguistic and contextual synonyms
Synonyms enshrined in linguistic practice, and having common semes as part of the conceptual macro component, regardless of context, are called linguistic: scarlet , bright red , crimson, and so on. Such words always remain synonymous, regardless of the context in which they are used. Special dictionaries are compiled for them.
Speech or contextual synonyms reveal the closeness of meanings only in a specific text and do not have common sem in the language. To bring them closer, a conceptual correlation is sufficient, that is, they can become words that cause certain associations in the consciousness of the speaker or writer. Absolutely different concepts can enter into synonymous relations, mean the same thing and freely replace each other in a certain context, but only within it. They are not recorded in dictionaries.