Boris IomdinRussian Language Institute,

Russian Academy of Sciencesiomdin@ruslang.ru

Lecture 9. PlanHomonymy and synonymy as the

fundamental features of the linguistic signAbility to paraphrase and select as part of

linguistic competenceCriteria of synonymySources of synonymyTypes of co-occurrence differencesDictionaries of synonymsNew Explanatory Dictionary of Russian

Synonyms: history, principles and structure

Asymmetric dualism of the linguistic signS. Kartsevski, Du dualisme asymétrique du

signe linguistique, Travaux du Cercle linguistique de Prague 1, 1929

We speak and comprehend only “approximately”, without even noticing it

Most words have several different meanings, and most meanings can be expressed by several different words.

Homonymy and synonymyOne signifier, several signifieds: homonymy

English: table, bear, miss, type, lieRussian: пол (‘floor’ / ‘sex’)

One signified, several signifiers: synonymyEnglish: speak, talk, utter, say, verbalise, …Czech: mluvit, řečnit, říct, povědět, hovořit, …

Lexical semantics mostly deals with synonyms, computational linguistics mostly deals with homonymy and its resolution

Linguistic competenceSemantic precision: selecting those items of

lexicon and grammar which exactly express speaker’s thoughts

Idiomatic usage: ability to observe lexical and syntactic co-occurrence constraints

Flexibility: ability to paraphrase, express an idea in a wide variety of ways while leaving the content unchanged

Selective ability: capacity to select from a large number of ways of expressing an idea the one which is the most appropriate for the situation

Paraphrasing abilityBoris is a lecturer of lexical semanticsBoris gives lectures on lexical semantics

The students study semantics with BorisBoris teaches semantics to the students

Some students are always present at the lectures

Some students are never absent at the lectures

Paraphrasing and synonymsCan synonyms replace each other?Exact synonymsInexact synonyms

if their semantic distinctions are neutralizable

if their co-occurrence characteristics are similar

Exact synonymsshortsightedness – nearsightedness – myopialawyer – attorneydoctor – physician

Language usually does not retain exact synonyms. Non-functional difference is avoided

Regional differences: flat – apartmentcouch – sofa – chesterfield – divan

In some metalinguistic contexts, even exact synonyms are non interchangeable:Myopia has 6 letters – Shortsightedness has 6 letters

Criteria of synonymySame explicationSame role structure

study ≠ teachbuy ≠ sell

Same part of speechquick ≠ quickly(a) support ≠ (to) support

Sources of synonymyEach language constantly changes its vocabularyExpressive lexicon is especially liable to synonymySynonymic derivation: words X and Y have a

meaning ‘A’. Word X develops a meaning ‘B’, then word Y develops meaning ‘B’, too French: comprendre – piger ‘understand’, polir –

fourbir – nettoyer ‘steal’Word formation synonymy: absurdity – absurdnessLoanwords: bull – beef, jail – prison, shoe – boot

Co-occurrence differencesSemantic co-occurrenceLexical co-occurrenceMorphosyntactical co-occurrence

Exact match Containment Intersection No match

3 4 = 12 types of differences

Partial co-occurenceEgo slova dostigli celi

His words achieved their aim*Ego slova dobilis’ celi

*His words gained their aim

For achieve, the subject can be not only human, but also words, deeds, qualities, …

For gain, only humans

DictionariesFirst dictionary of

English synonyms:John Trusler, Gabriel Girard. Difference between Words Esteemed Synonymous in the English Language, and the Proper Choice of them Determined, 1766

Dictionaries of synonymsMore than 350 dictionaries of English

synonyms have been published since 1766Webster’s New Dictionary of Synonyms, one

of the most comprehensive and detailedVarious types, including:

inventories (wordlists)bilingual, trilingual, …explanatory dictionaries

DisadvantagesSynonymy is often regarded as a rather

incomplete correspondence of sensesSynonymic relationship often established

between whole polysemous words, not individual lexemes

As a rule, only direct and primary meanings included

Only semantic distinctions are regarded (but not collocational, stylistic, syntactic, grammatical…)

Low style vocabulary often disregardedNo formal metalanguage used

Russian dictionaries1. Abramov (1915)2. Pavlov-Shishkin and Stefanovsky (1931)3. Klyueva (1961)4. Aleksandrova (1989) 5. Evgenyeva (1970-1971)

1,2,3: Wordlists, very few comments, direct meanings only

4: Not explanatory, differences not elucidated, no examples

5: Rather archaic, based on texts of XIX century, few modern words. Differences not enough explained

New idea: first implementationJu.D.Apresjan et al. English-Russian Dictionary of

Synonyms. 1979Explication of the shared part of meaning of

synonyms in a special metalanguageUsing universal semantic featuresAll similarities and differences at all levels of

language describedNeutralization conditionsExamples from literatureLinguistic experiments (consideration of different

words in same context and judgment on their grammaticality)

New Explanatory DictionaryNew Explanatory Dictionary of Russian

Synonyms. Project started by Jurij Apresjan and his colleagues at the Russian Language Institute in 1990

Three issues: 1997: 132 entries2000: 117 entries2003: 105 entries

2004: complete and revised edition

NED: new editionNovyj ob”jasnitelnyj

slovar’ sinonimov russkogo jazyka [New Explanatory Dictionary of Russian Synonyms], 2nd edition, Moscow–Wien, Jazyki slavjanskoj kul’tury – Wiener Slawistischer Almanach, 2004. 1488 p.

Available online under http://www.ruslang.ru/agens.php?id=text_noss2_title

NED: a review354 entries (=synonym series)1500 words described in detail10000 words mentioned

(all mentions referred to in the index)Most synonym series are anthropocentric, or

describe the man. The anthropocentric lexicon is very diverse and contains most lexicographical types

Each lexicon entry is a result of a scientific study by one of the 13 authors, thoroughly and comprehensively discussed by the whole team

Principles of NEDActive SystematicIntegralReflects the naïve picture of the worldUses special metalanguage Combines methods of corpus

lexicography and experimental linguisticsIdeographic

Series of synonymsA series of synonyms is an elementary

lexicographic type. The description of each series of synonyms is systematic in 2 aspects:Compared with other series of synonyms and,

when possible, incorporated into a larger fragment of the semantic system of the language

Elements of every series of synonyms compared with each other

In both cases, the comparison is based on the common arsenal of semantic features

Structure of NEDHeadingPreambleMeaningNotesFormSyntaxCo-occurenceExamplesAuxiliary zonesBibliography

HeadingWords-members of the synonym seriesThe dominant: a foreground lexeme which

has the most general meaning in the given series, has the broadest application and co-occurrence, is most neutral

Stylistic labels and grammatical notesExplication of the common component of the

meanings of all lexemes within the series (if it is not a semantic primitive)

PreamblePlace of the synonym series within the set of

other words with close meanings. Described are:

Similarities and distinctions of the given synonym series and other words, groups of words and synonym series

The higher class of hierarchy which includes all the words described within the preamble

The fragment of the NPW to which the given series corresponds

MeaningSynopsis: short guide to the dictionary entry, listing the

semantic and other features which provide basic oppositions within the synonym series

Similarities and distinctions in content between synonyms

Communicative properties of synonymsPragmatic and extranlinguistic conditionsNeutralization conditionsNotes

peripheral synonyms not included in the seriesother close meanings of the words discussedother words with meanings similar to the one considered

pytat’sja, probovat’, starat’sja, silit’sja ‘to attempt’: differencesthe scale and nature of the action the subject wishes to

performthe amount of effort and the objective need for itthe possibility or impossibility of isolating a single

application of effortthe possibility of performing an action and the probability

of achieving a resultthe cause of possible failurethe subject’s readiness to try alternative ways of achieving

the result if the first attempt should failthe motivation for the action and the subject’s attitude to itthe presence of an external observer

nadejat’sja, upovat’, rasschity-vat’, polagat’sja ‘to hope’does the subject’s inner state presuppose emotion?what underlies the state of mind – an opinion, a belief,

reasoning, or trust and previous experience?what is the nature and scale of the force with which the

subject’s hopes are linked?what is the intensity of the expectation?how sure is the subject that the desired event will

come to pass and how far is it removed in time from the moment of observation?

what is the subject’s current situation?what other mental states accompany the given state?

FormDistinctions in the set of grammatical formsDistinctions in the set of grammatical

meanings of a single formSemantic, syntactic, stylistic, and other

specialization of formsProper (prototypical) and non-proper

(shifted) forms

SyntaxDifferences in governmentDifferences in syntactic types of sentenceWord orderSemantic, syntactic, stylistic, and other

specializations of constructions

Co-occurrenceLexico-semantic co-occurrenceMorphological co-occurrenceCommunicative co-occurrenceSemantic specialization of types of co-

occurrence

ExamplesForm the research base and the basis for

conclusions regarding the various properties of the synonyms

Serve an illustrative purpose, showing the real potential of a lexeme in modern language

Based on a large corpus

Auxiliary zonesphraseological synonyms (combinations of two or

more lexemes synonymical to the series)analogues (words whose meanings intersect

substantially with the general meaning of the series, but not enough to be considered synonyms)

conversives (words denoting the same situation but with different role structure, such as buy – sell)

conversives to analoguesexact and inexact antonymsderivatives

BibliographyIn some synonym series, includes references

to theoretical works dealing with one or more of the synonyms considered in drafting the given series

Next lecture

Polysemy and its sources. Regular polysemy. Structure of word meanings (lexemes). Metaphor and metonymy. The lexeme and its uses.