1. 1. Classification of synonyms.
2. Sources of synonyms.
3. Antonyms. Types of antonyms.
4. Homonyms: words of the same form.
5. Sources of homonyms.
6. Paronyms.
Lecture 5. SEMANTIC GROUPS OF WORDS
2. 1. Classification of synonyms.
Synonyms (Gr. synonymous “of like meaning”, syn – “with”,
onyma – “name”) are words belonging to the same part of
speech, differing in sound form, and possessing one or more
identical or nearly identical (similar) denotational
meanings.
3. Synonyms are divided into the following groups
ideographic
stylistic
contextual
total
phraseological
synonyms.
4. Ideographic synonyms denote different shades of meaning or degrees of a
given quality. They sometimes called relative synonyms
e.g. beautiful, fine, handsome, pretty, pleasant / different, various / large, great, huge,
tremendous, colossal
Stylistic synonyms differ in usage and style.
e.g. doctor (official), doc (familiar) / examination (official), exam (coll.) / to
commence (official), to begin (coll.)
Contextual (context-dependent) synonyms are similar in meaning in certain context.
e.g. I’ll go to the shop and buy some bread/ I’ll go to the shop and get some bread.
5. Total synonyms can replace each other in any given context without the slightest
alteration in denotative or emotional meaning and connotations.
Phraseological synonyms. It can be observed on the example of different
dialect names for the same plant, animal, etc.
Examples of this type can be found in special literature among terms belonging to this
or that branch of knowledge noun and substantive, functional affix, flexion.
Thus, the cornflower is so called because it grows in cornfields; some people call it
bluebottle according to the shape and colour of its petals.
6. 2. Sources of synonyms
Borrowings from French, Latin and Greek are the most numerous, e.g. to question (Fr.) – to
interrogate (L) – to ask (native); devoid (Fr.) – vacuous (L) – empty (native), etc.
Dialectical words which come from local dialects and are used in the English vocabulary as regular,
e.g. girl: lass, lassie; radio:: wireless; long ago:: long syne, etc.
Word-forming process which is productive in the language at a given time of its history. The words
already existing in the language develop new meanings and are formed by affixation, conversion,
compounding, shortening and form synonyms to those already in use, e.g. to enter – to come in
(phrasal verbs), to verbalize – to word (conversion), popular – pop (shortening).
Euphemisms and vulgarisms employed for certain stylistic purposes, e.g. in one’s birthday suit
(naked), in the family way (pregnant) – euphemisms; mug (face), bloody (devilish) – vulgarisms.
Synonyms connected with the non-literal figurative use of words in pictorial language, e.g. walk
of life (occupation, profession), star-gazer (dreamer).
7. 3. Antonyms. Types of antonyms.
Antonyms are defined as words of the same category of parts of speech which have
contrasting meaning,
e.g. hot – cold, light – dark, up-down, happiness – sorrow.
Antonyms fall into two main groups:
Root or absolute antonyms
e.g. He was alive – not dead (Shaw) You will see if you were right or wrong
Derivational antonyms (affixal).
e.g. appear – disappear, happiness – unhappiness, logical – illogical, pleasant –
unpleasant.
The difference between absolute and derivational antonyms is not only morphological
but semantic as well.
8. 4. Homonyms: words of the same form.
Homonyms are words which are identical in sound and
spelling or, at least at one of these aspects, but different in
their meaning and distribution.
e.g. bank, n – a shore / bank, n – an institution for receiving,
lending, exchanging, and safe guarding money.// fit, n –
perfectly fitting clothes / fit, n – a nervous spasm
9. There are several classifications of homonyms. The traditional formal classification
of homonyms is as follows:
1. Homonyms proper (Absolute homonyms) are words identical in pronunciation
and spelling,
e. g. Ball (м’яч) – ball (бал), to bore (свердлити) – bore (нудна людина), to bark
(гавкати) – bark (кора)
2. Partial homonyms subdivided into:
homographs - words different in sound and in meaning but accidentally identical
in spelling, e.g. bow (лук) – bow (ніс корабля), lead (свинець) – to lead (вести),
row (ряд) – row (прогулянка на лодці), tear (розрив) – tear (сльоза).
homophones – words of the same sound but of different spelling and meaning, e.g.
night (ніч) – knight (лицар), piece (шматочок) – peace (мир), rite (звичай, обряд)
– to write (писати) – right (правильно),
10. 1. Phonetic changes which words undergo in the course of their historical
development. Night and knight,
2. Borrowing. A borrowed word may, in the final stage of its phonetic
adaptation, duplicate in form either a native word or another borrowing. rite,
n. – to write, v.- right, adj. the second and third words are of native origin
whereas rite is a Latin borrowing (< Lat. ritus).
3. Conversion – comb, n.- to comb, v., pale, adj.- to pale, v., to make, v,-
make, n. Homonyms of this type, which are the same in sound and spelling
but refer to different categories of parts of speech, are called lexico-
grammatical homonyms.
5. Sources of homonyms.
11. 4. Shortening. E.g. fan, n. in the sense of “an enthusiastic admirer of some
kind of sport or of an actor, singer, etc.” is a shortening produced from fanatic.
5. Words made by sound-imitation can also form pairs of homonyms with other
words: e,g. bang, n. (“a loud, sudden, explosive noise”) – bang, n. (“a fringe of
hair combed over the forehead”).
6. Split polosemy. Two or more homonyms can “originate from different meanings
of the same word when, for some reason, the semantic structure of the word breaks
into several parts. This type of formation of homonyms is called split polysemy:
Board – a long and thin piece of timber / Board – daily meals especially provided
for pay / Board – an official group of persons who direct or supervise some activity.
A board of directors. All the meanings developed from the meaning ” a table”.
12. 6. Paronyms
Paronyms are words with similar pronunciations but different spellings and
meanings.
For example: accept /əkˈsept/ – verb – to take or receive that which is
offered, except /ɪkˈsept/ – preposition – excluding
My mom must accept that my brother likes all vegetables except for turnips.
collision – noun – crash, clash, conflict
collusion – noun – a secret agreement that is oftentimes illegal
The collision resulted from the collusion over traffic signs.
