Synonyms
Words that have similar definitions are known as synonyms.
We use synonyms constantly in speech and in writing. These are the words that
can be used interchangeably, but the meaning of the message remains the same.
For example, look at these two sentences:
- The long baseball game lasted over four hours
- The lengthy baseball game lasted over four hours.
Which word was changed in the second sentence?
'Lengthy' replaced the word 'long.' But did the meaning of the sentence change?
No, it did not, because 'long' and 'lengthy' are synonyms; they have similar
definitions. Synonyms can generally be used interchangeably without a change in
meaning of the overall message.
Many synonyms are very useful because they can show
different variations of the same understanding. To show this, let's look at the
word 'good.' We all know the meaning of 'good.' It is one of the first
understandings you come to as a child, and you learn quickly what it means to
be a good kid. Generally speaking, 'good' can be defined as something correct
or pleasant and enjoyable. There are numerous synonyms for good: okay, well,
fine, great, excellent, magnificent and wonderful. All these words are describing
a positive event or experience, but the variations can show a clearer
understanding. For example, an 'okay day' is not as good as an 'excellent day.'
But a 'wonderful day' is just about the same as a 'magnificent day.' The range
of synonyms can give the audience or reader a better understanding of the
speaker's exact intentions.
Antonym
A word that has
the exact opposite meaning of another word is its antonym. Life is full
of antonyms, from the "stop" and "go" of a traffic
signal to side-by-side restroom doors labeled "men" and
"women."
Most antonyms are
pretty obvious, like "good" and "bad," or "black"
and "white." Some words can be transformed into their antonyms
simply by adding the prefixes "un," "in," or
"non," as when "likable" is changed into its antonym,
"unlikable." The word antonym itself takes the Greek word anti,
meaning "opposite," and adds it to -onym, which comes from the
Greek onoma, or "name." So antonym literally means
"opposite-name."
Homonyms
Homonyms are two or more words that have the
same sound or spelling but differ in
meaning. Adjectives: homonymic and homonymous.
Generally,
the term homonym
refers both to homophones (words that are pronounced the same but have different
meanings, such as pair
and pear) and
to homographs (words that are
spelled the same but have different meanings, such as "bow your head" and
"tied in a bow").
Note
that some dictionaries and textbooks define and distinguish these three terms
in different ways. Some equate homonyms only with homophones (words that sound
the same). Others equate homonymns only with homographs (words that look the
same). See the observations below by Tom McArthur and David Rothwell. Also see Homophones and Homographs: An
American Dictionary, 4th ed., by James B. Hobbs (McFarland &
Company, 2006).
Hyphonym
In linguistics,
a hyponym is a
specific term used to designate a member of a broader class. For instance, daisy and rose are hyponyms of flower. Also called
a subtype or
a subordinate term.
Adjective: hyponymic.
Words that are hyponyms of
the same broader term (that is, a hypernym)
are called co-hyponyms.
The semantic relationship between each of the more specific words (e.g., daisy and rose) and the broader
term (flower) is
called hyponymy
or inclusion.
Examples
and Observations
- "Hyponymy is a less familiar term to
most people than either synonymy or antonymy, but it
refers to a much more important sense relation. It describes what happens
when we say 'An X is a kind of Y'--A daffodil is a kind of flower,
or simply, A daffodil is a flower."
(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2003)
Collocation
I
want to concentrate in this article on the problems non-native speakers may
have with English vocabulary use - in particular with the appropriate
combinations of words. This is an aspect of language called collocation.
An example of collocation that many learners of English may be familiar with is
the different adjectives that are used to describe a good-looking man and a
good-looking woman. We talk of a beautiful woman and of a handsome man, but
rarely of a beautiful man or a handsome woman.
(It
is quite possible, in fact, to describe a woman as handsome. However, this
implies that she is not beautiful at all in the traditional sense of female
beauty, but rather that she is mature in age, has large features and a certain
strength of character. Similarly, a man could be described as beautiful, but
this would usually imply that he had feminine features. Calling a man pretty is
most often done perjoratively to suggest effeminacy. *)
In
another familiar example of collocation, we talk of high mountains and tall
trees, but not usually of tall mountains and high trees. Similarly a man can be
tall but never high (except in the sense of being intoxicated!), whereas a
ceiling can only be high, not tall. A window can be both tall or high, but a
tall window is not the same as a high window. We get old and tired, but we go
bald or grey. We get sick but we fall ill. A big house, a large house and a
great house have the same meaning, but a great man is not the same as a big man
or a large man. You can make a big mistake or a great mistake, but you cannot
make a large mistake. You can be a little sad but not a little happy. We say
very pleased and very tiny, but we do not say very delighted or very huge. And
so on - there are endless examples of this kind of difficulty!
The
problem for the learner of English is that there are no collocation rules that
can be learned. The native English speaker intuitively makes the correct
collocation, based on a lifetime’s experience of hearing and reading the words
in set combinations. The non-native speaker has a more limited
experience and may frequently collocate words in a way that sounds odd to the
native speaker.
Here
are some questions to test your knowledge of collocations:
- What is the difference between a high window and a tall window?
- Look at the following pairs of phrases and in each case choose the most usual collocation:
- strong tea / powerful tea
- a strong car / a powerful car
- a strong computer / a powerful computer
- a strong drug /a powerful drug
- Now look at the following words and phrases and decide if we do them or make them. For example, do we do a mess or make a mess?
a mess
|
a mistake
|
the housework
|
the beds
|
a noise
|
a wish
|
a test
|
a promise
|
a job
|
someone a favour
|
your best
|
a speech
|
the shopping
|
damage
|
a telephone call
|
your hair (i.e. comb it
or make it tidy
|
http://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/hyponymterm.htm
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