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Language in Text & Reading Comprehension

Language in Text & Reading Comprehension. Synonymy. Synonymy is identity of meaning. But, these are not synonyms. happily. glad. cheerfulness. sadness. unhappily. sorrowful. These, however, are synonyms:. happy : glad : cheerful. happiness : gladness : cheerfulness.

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Language in Text & Reading Comprehension

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  1. Language in Text &Reading Comprehension Synonymy

  2. Synonymy isidentity of meaning

  3. But, these are not synonyms. happily glad cheerfulness sadness unhappily sorrowful

  4. These, however, are synonyms: happy : glad : cheerful happiness : gladness : cheerfulness happily: gladly: cherfully unhappy : sad: sorrowful unhappiness : sadness : sorrowfulness unhappily : sadly : sorrowfully

  5. Types

  6. 1. Absolute Synonymy • The lexemes should have “the same distribution” and should be “completely synonymous in all their meanings and contexts of occurrence.”(Lyons 148) • Absolutely synonymous lexemes are nearly non-existant. • This type is “restricted to highly specialized vocabulary” such as medicine or biology. (ibid.)(example 1)

  7. Example 1 caecitis = typhlitis inflammation of the blind gut

  8. What about the following pairs? 1. radio / wireless 2. aerodrome / airfield Are they absolutely synonymous?

  9. 2. Complete Synonymy • The synonyms should have “the same descriptive, expressive and social meaning.”(ibid.) • Completely synonymous lexemes are rare. Example 2: nearly : almost

  10. What about the following? 1. broad / wide 2. lavatory / toilet / loo / WC Are they completely synonymous?

  11. 3. Descriptive Synonymy • It is referred to as cognitive synonymy or referential synonymy. • It stands for lexemes that have approximately the same meaning. Example 3: father / dad / daddy / pop

  12. Conclusion 1. Synonymy = descriptive synonymy = referential synonymy = cognitive synonymy 2. Complete synonymy: rare 3. Absolute synonymy: almost non-existant

  13. Works Consulted • Leech, Geoffrey. Semantics: The Study of Meaning. London: Penguin Books, 1981. • Lyons, John. Language and Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 1992.

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