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What are the major types of synonyms in English?

高老师2年前 (2024-03-28)现代语言学(00830)17

What are the major types of synonyms in English?

What are the major types of synonyms in English?
Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms. English is rich in synonyms for historical reasons. According to the way they differ, synonyms can be divided into the following groups:

A.Dialectal synonyms--synonyms used in different regional dialects
These are words with more or less the same meaning used in different regional dialects. British English and American English are the two major geographical varieties of the English language. For example:
British English American English
autumn fall
lift elevator
luggage baggage
petrol gasoline
flat apartment

B.Stylistic synonyms--synonyms differing in style
Words having the same meaning may differ in style, or degree of formality. In other words, some words tend to more formal, others casual, and still others neutral in style. For example:
old man, daddy, dad, father, male parent
start, begin, commence
kid, child, offspring
room, chamber

C.Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning
These are words that bear the same meaning but express different emotions of the user, indicating the attitude or bias of the user toward what he is talking about. For example:
economical, frugal, thrifty, mean, miserly, stingy
like, love, admire, adore, worship

D.Collocational synonyms
Some synonyms differ in their collocation, i.e., in the words they go together with. For example:accuse, charge, rebuke. They are followed by different prepositions--accuse...of, charge...with, rebuke...for.

E.Semantically different synonyms
These are synonyms that differ slightly in what they mean. For example: “amaze” and “astonish” are very close in meaning to the word “surprise”, but have very subtle differences. While “amaze” suggests confusion and bewilderment, “astonish” suggests difficulty in believing.

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