5. ENGLISH VOCABULARY AS A SYSTEM.

HOMONYMS. SYNONYMS. ANTONYMS.

Problems for discussion:

1. Homonyms and their classification.

2. The sources of homonyms.

3. Polysemy and homonymy

4. Synonyms and their classification.

5. The sources of synonyms.

6. Antonyms and their classification.

Homonyms.

Two or more words identical in sound and spelling, but different in meaning, distribution
and (in many cases) origin are called homonyms The term s derived from Greek ("homos" -
"similar" and "onoma" - "name").

Ex.: ball-бал, ball-мяч;

toast-поджаривать хлеб, toast-провозглашать тост

Homonyms must be studied diachronieally and synchronically Diachrotnically we study

the origin of homonyms, the sources of homonyms the time of their appearance in the
language. Synchronically we analyse the present pecularities of homonyms, their classification,
etc.

Homonyms are classified into:

1. Homonyms proper,

2. Homophones,

3. Homographs.

Homonyms proper are words identical in pronunciation and spelling and different in meaning.

Ex.: fast-quickly, fast- to do smth, quickly;

back-назад, back-спина,

spring-пружина, spring-весна, spring-родник.

Homophones are words of the same sound form but of' different spelling and meaning. Ex.:

air-воздух, heir-наследник:

pail-ведро, pale-бледный:
 son-сын, sun-солнце,

hymn-him,

knight-night,

peace-piece,

write-right,

see-sea,

read-reed.

Homographs are words which are different in sound and in meaning but identical in spelling.
Ex.: lead [li: d] - lead [ledJ;

tear [tea] -tear [tia]

wind [wind] - wind [waind]

Prof. Smirnitsky has suggested his classification of homonyms based on the

lexico-grammatical principle:

1. Lexical homonyms are those words which belong to one part of speech but they differ
only in their lexical meaning.

Ex.: seal - a sea animal,

seal - a design printed on paper stamp;

hair — hare.

ball-ball.

2. Lexico-grammatical homonyms are those words which differ in their lexical and
grammatical meanings.

Ex.: sea-to see.

seal - a sea animal,

to seal - to close tightly,

work - to work,

well - adverb,

well - колодец.

3. Grammatical bomonymy is the homonymy of different word forms of one and the
same word (part of speech)

Ex.: boys - boy's,

asked - past tense,

 asked - parlicipal II.

There are some sources of homonyms. They are:

1. Divergent meaning is development of one polysemantic word. Different meanings of the

same word move so far away from each other ( differ from each other ) and they become two
different words.

Ex.: spring-пружина,

spring-родник,

spring-весна:

Can be etymologically traced back to the same source, "flower" and "flour"

Which originally was one word (M.E. flour)?

2. Many homonyms came as a result of converging sound development.

Ex.: OE ic and OE ase have become identical in pronunciation. 1 (pron.) and eye (n.).
love (v.) — love n ( OE lufulufian).

3. Many homonyms arose from conversion, they have related meanings.

Ex.: paper - to paper,

support - to support.

4. The formation of different grammatical forms may cause homonyms' girl's -

girls .

5. Barrowed words may become homonyms as a result of phonetic

convergience.

Ex.: Scandinavian "ras" and French "rase" are homonyms in English:

race - состязание, race - рейс: case - падеж, case - чемодан, case - случай.

Homonymy and polysemy are different categories. In polysemy we deal with the different
meanings of the same word. In homonymy we have different words which have their own
meanings.

In modern English homonyms are widely spread. Homonymic relation can be

found not only in words but also:

1. Between morphemes. Ex.: It's raining. Flattering won't help. Fill your

glasses. All is well that ends well.

2. Between words and morphemes. Ex.: He couldn't get over the shock. The watch is
shockproof

3. Between words and word-combinations. Ex.: Don't run away. The runaway was caught.
 4. Between words and sentences. Ex.: I don't care . Look and I don't care attitude.

Homonyms differ in their wordformational activity. Ex.: "affect" 1 - has 8 derivatives, whereas,
“affect” 2- has 3.

Synonyms.

Grouping of words is based upon similarities and contrasts. The similarity of meanings is
found in synonymic groups.

Synonyms arc words belonging to the same part of speech, different in morphemic
composition and phonetic shape, but identical or similar in meaning and interchangeable at
least in some contexts.

Ex.: jump, hop, leap, spring, defend, protect, guard, shield: go, leave, depart; error
mistake. Complete synonyms do not exist. Bloomfield says each linguistic form has a constant
and specific meaning.

The basis of a synonymic opposition is formed by the first of the above named
components, i.e. the denotational component. It will be remembered that the term opposition
means the relationship of partial difference between two partially similar elements of a
language. A common denotational component brings the words together into a synonymic
group.

Each synonymic group contains one word the meaning of which has no additional
connotations (it can be used in different styles). This word is called a svnonvmic dominant. Ex.:
in the group: change, alter, vary, modify the word "change" is the synonymic dominant.

The synonymic dominant should not be confused with a generic term. A generic term is
relative. It serves as the name for the notion of the genus as distinguished from the names of
the species. For instance, animal is a generic term as compared to the specific names dog. wolf
or mouse (which are not synonyms). DOG. in its turn , may serve as a generic term for different
breeds such as bull-dog, collie, poodle, etc.

Synonyms may also differ in emotional coloring which may be present in one element of the
group and absolute in all or some of the others.

Synonyms may be divided into:

1. Ideographic synonyms,

2. Stylistic synonyms.

Synonyms which differ in their denotational meanings are called ideographic synonyms.
If the difference lies in their stylistic difference the synonyms are said to be stylistic. Ex.:
beautiful (usually about girls) and handsome (usually about men). These are ideographic
synonyms but " to die - to pass away", " to begin - to commence", " to sell - to behold": " to end
- to complete", " horse - steed" are stylistic synonyms.

Neutral words Stylistically colored words

 to see to behold (bookish)

a girl a maiden (poetic)

money dough (colloquial")

food grub (colloquial)

to live to hand out (colloquial)

In a stylistic opposition of synonyms the basis of comparison is again the denotatioual

meaning and the distinctive feature is the presence or absence of a stylistic coloring which may
also be accompanied by a difference in emotional coloring.

The study of synonyms is a borderline province between semantics and stylistics on the
one hand and semantics and phraseology on the other because of the synonymic collocations
serving as a means of emphasis Prof. Aznaurova H.S. points out that stylistic synonyms carry
emotional evaluative information.

Synonyms are distributionally different words. Ex.: "too", "also 1', "as well" are synonyms.
They also occur in different surroundings. The synonyms differ in their collocabihtv Ex: We
compare the collocability of synonyms " to book' and "to buy".

Possible Impossible

to book in advance to buy in advance

to book somebody to buy somebody

to book seats to buy seats

to buy cheaply to book cheaply

to buy from a person to book from a person

In a great number of cases the semantic difference between two or more synonyms is
supported by the difference in valency.

The difference in distribution may be syntactical morphological, lexical and surely

deserves more attention than has been so far given to it.

Lexical difference in distribution is based on the difference in valence.

Ex.: win, gain. Both may be used in combination with the noun "victory": to win victory,
to gain a victory. But with the word '"war" only "win" is possible: to win a war.

Contextual synonyms are similar in meaning only under some specific distributional
conditions. The verbs "bear", "suffer" and "stand" are semantically different and not
interchangeable except when used in the negative form; can't stand is equal to can't bear in the
following words of an officer: I've swallowed too much of the beastly stuff. I can't stand it any
longer. I'm going to the dressing - station. (Aldington).

Total synonymy, i.e. synonymy where the members of a synonymic group can replace
each other in any given context, without the slightest alteration in denotative or emotional
meaning and connotations, is an extremely rare occurrence. Examples of this type can be found
in special literature among technical terms peculiar to this or that branch of knowledge. Ex.: In
linguistics the terms "noun" and "substantive", "functional affix", "flection" and "inflection" are
identical in meaning.

The mam sources of synonyms are :

1. Borrowings: to ask - to question: (K) - to interrogate. (I.) to begin (A.S) - to commence

(F) - to initiate (E - rise (F)) - ascend (E):

2. The formation of verb + adverb ( v+ adv ) combinations like "have a smoke"

to rest - to have a rest

to swim - to have a swim

to smoke - to have a smoke;

3. Shortening: vacation- vac, doctor - doc, sister - sis:

4. Conversion: laughter - laugh;

5 Маny set expressions consisting of a verb with a postpositive element form

synonyms:

Ex.: to choose - to pick out

to continue -to go on

to return - bring back;

6. Euphemisms, i.e. words which are used instead of unpleasant words:

Ex.: drunk - merry

lodger - paying guest

to die - to go away

commandment - command;

7. Slang, i.e. emotionally colored words which are the secondary names of objects.

Ex.: сокрушить - crusher (полицейский)

тюрьма - can (дословно - консервная банка)

убить - to bump off (дословно - пристукнута,)

 казнить - to fry (дословно - зажарить)

Antonyms

Antonyms are words which belong to the same part of speech and have contrary
meanings.

Ex.: kind - cruel, good - bad. big - small, little - much.

Antonyms may be divided into:

1. Root antonyms (absolute): Ex.: good - bad, beautiful - ugly;

2. Derivational antonyms. These antonyms are formed by affixes.

Ex.: kind - unkind, to like - dislike, happy - unhappy

Antonyms are not always interchangeable in certain contexts.

Ex.. " rich voice" can not be changed into ''poor voice". The opposite of a "short person"
is a tall person. "A short thing" - "long thing", "an old book" - "a new book", "an old man" - "a
young man", "a thin man" - "a fat man". Antonyms may" be found among qualitative adjectives
as: good - bad, deep - shallow; nouns as: light -darkness; verbs as: "to give" and "to take";
'adverbs as: quickly - slowly, early - late.

Many antonyms are explained by means of the negative particle "not".

Ex.: clean - not dirty, shallow - not deep.

Antonyms form pairs, not groups like synonyms: bad - good, big - little, old-new.

Polysemantic words may have antonyms in some of their meanings and поп in the
others. Ex.: when the word "criticism" means "blame" its antonym is "praise", when it means
"pencl 13\vi" it has no antonym.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is understood by the term "synonym"? Are there complete synonyms in English?

2. What is the dominant of a synonymic group?

3. What is the difference between ideographic synonyms and stylistic ones?

4 What is the collocability of synonyms?

5. What are the main sources of synonyms?

6. What is a homonym?

7. What is the classification of homonyms?

8. What is a homophone? Homograph?

9. What principle of classification of homonyms was given by Smirnitskv?

10. What are the main sources of homonyms?

11. Whal is the difference between homonymy and polysemy?

12. What is understood by the term ''antonyms"?

13. What is the classification of antonyms?

14. What is the interehangeability of antonyms in context?

RECOMMENDED LITERATURE

1. I.C. Arnold. "The English word",. M., 1986.

2. Э.М. Медникова. «Значение слова и методы его описания»

3. R.S. Ginzburg el. al. "A course in modem English lexicology" M , 1979/

4. Buranov, A. Muminov. "A practical course in English lexicology"' Т., 1990