Dialectal synonyms

DialectalsynonymsAbstract:Inourdailaylife,wecanoftenfindmanysynonymsnomatterwhenwearespeakingorwriting.Thenhowtodistinctandusethemproperlyisofgreatimportance.Here,inthispaper,Imainlytalkaboutthedistinctionbetweensynonymsinfiveaspects:differenceinmeaning,differenceinstyle,differenceinemotivecolouring,differenceindialects,differenceincollocationanddistribution.Keywords:synonymorigindistinctionSynonymsaretraditionallydefinedaswordsdifferentinsoundandspellingbutidenticalorsimilarinmeaning.Englishhasnotonlythelargestvocabulary,butalsothemostsynonymsofanylanguageintheworld.Englishisparticularlyrichinsynonymsforthehistoricalreasonthatitsvacubularyhascomefromtwoorigins:fromAnglo-Saxonontheonehand,fromLatin,GreekorFrenchontheotherhand.Becauseoftheirdifferentorigins,thereareoftensubtledifferencesbetweenthesesynonyms.Thedistinctionsmainlyreflectinthefollowingfiveaspects:differenceinmeaning,differenceinstyle,differenceinemotivecolouring,differenceindialectsanddifferenceincollocationanddistribution.Semanticallydifferentsynonyms-differenceinmeaningTherearesynonymsthatdifferslightlyinwhattheymean.Forexample,amazeandastoundformapairofsynonyms.Bothsuggetgreatwonderorbewildermentinthefaceofsomethingthatseemsimpossibleorhighlyimprobable.buttheydifferindegreeofwonderorbewilderment.“Amaze”denotesdifficultyofbeliefand“astound“”extremedifficultyofbelief,ascanbeseeninthefollowingtwosentences:“Ateacherwasaamazedtofindthatalazystudenthadgainedamarkof100inanimportanttest.““Awomanmaybeastoundedtolearnthatherdearestfriendhasbeenspreadingmaliciousgossipabouther.”Infact,therearenotwowordsinenglishthatareinterchangeableinallcontexts,moreovermostEnglishwordsarepolysemicwords.Itisimpossiblethatpolysemicwordscouldbesynonymousinalltheirmeaning.Forexample:theword“head”issynonymouswithsuchwordsas:ruler,leader,especiallyheadmasterwhenitreferstoapersonwholeadsorisinadvanceofothers,whereasethewordheadissynonymouswithsuchwordsas:talent,orabilityasinthesentence"Hehasagoodheadformathematics"Therearemanyreasonsgiverisetothesemanticdistinctions.Herearesomeexamplesweoftenseeinourdailylife.Firstly,thedifferenceofdegreeorintensitymaybringabouttheconsequence.Someonehavesaidasentencelikethis"Ihavealwayslikedyouverymuch,Iadmireyourtalent,but,forgiveme-Icouldneverloveyouasawifeshouldlovdherhusband."Inthissentence,likeadmirelovearedifferentinthelovedegree.Secondly,durationalsocontributetothesemanticdistinction,forexample,toshudderandtoshiverrepresenttrembleinmeaning,buttoshudderisashortdurationoftremble.Onthecontrary,shiverisalongduration.Finally,talkingfromdifferentanglescanleadtothesemanticdifference.Bothcountry,stateandnationarethesameinmeaning,butcountrystressongeographicconcept,statepayparticularemphasisonpoliticalconcept,andnationpaymoreattemtiontonationalconcept.Dialectalsynonyms-differenceinregionaldialects.Thesearewordswithmoreorlessthesamemeaningusedindifferentregionaldialects.BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglisharethetwomajorgeographicalvarietiesoftheEnglishlanguage.Itisnotdifficulttofindexamplesofsayingthesamethingbutusingdifferentwordsinthetwodialects:BritishEnglish        AmericanEnglishLiftelevatorLuggagebaggageLorrytruckpetrolgasolineflatapartmentwindscreenwindshieldtorch               flashlight             ThedialectalsynonymscanalsobefoundwithinBritishEnglish,orAmericanEnglishitself.Forexample,"girl"iscalledlassorlassieinScottishdialect,andliquoriscalledwhiskeyinIrishdialect.WhatweshouldpaymoreattentionisthatBritishandAmericanusagesanddifferent,althoughtheyaresometimesthesamemeaning.thetermfallisusedintheunitedstatesandinsomewesterncountriesofbritain,whereasautumnismoreoftenusedinengland.inamericanenglish,sickisthewordnormallyusedintalkingaboutbadhealth,inbritish,bothsickandillareused.sickisusedattributively(beforeanoun)ilkisgenerallyusedpredicatively(afterasubjectandverb)theministerissick(ae)hehasbeenillforalongtime(be)shespentmanyyearslookingafterhersickfather-be.collocationalsynonyms-differenceincollocationanddistribution.somewordsarecollocationally restricted,theyoccureonlyinconjunctionwithotherwordsorinthewordstheygotogetherwith.thisisamatterofusage.Forexample,whenwewanttosaythatsomeonehasdonesomethingwrongorevencriminal,wecanuseaccuse,charge,rebuke,buttheyarefollowedbydifferentprepositions-accuse-of,charge-with,rebuke-for.anotherexampleisthewordweusetodescribefoodthathasgonebadandisnotfitforeating.differentadjectivesareusedfordifferentkindsoffood,likerottentomatoes,addleeggs,rancidbaconorbutter,sourmilk.somephraseswhichconveythesameidea“agroupof”appearindifferentformsaccordingtothewordstheyarecollocatedwith:aflockofsheep,aherdofcows,aschoolofwhales,aprideoflions.inenglishsomemazedtofindadjectivesareusedaspre-modifiersandothersareusedaspost-modifiers.theyoccureindifferentplacesatasentencelevel.aconvenientexampleisthepairofadjectivesaliveandliving:heisthegreatestnovelistaliveinengland.heisthegreatestlivingnovelistinengland.stylisticsynonyms-differenceinstylesomewordsconveythesameideabutdifferinstylisticreference.thesewordsareknownasstylisticsynonyms.thesewordshavingthesamemeaningmaydifferinstyle,ordegreeofformality.inotherwords,somewordstendstobemoreformal,othercasual,andstillothersneutialinstyle.todie,topassawayandtokibkthebucketarerelativesynonyms,theworddieisthesimplestwordofthisgroupandstylisticallyneutral.topassawayisaeuphemisticwordusedintheformalcontest.thephrasetokickthebucketisaslangexpressionusedonveryinformaloccasions.infactaccordingtothestylisticdistinction,synonymscancomprise:colloquial,slangdialect,written,learned,poetic,terminological,archaicandsoon.wemustpayourattentiontothestylisticdifferencewhendistinguishsynonyms.forinstance:gril,lass,skirt,maiden,damsel.meal:snack,snap,feast.toleave:tobeoff,tohoofit,todepart.emotionalsynonyms-thesearewordsthatbearthesamemeaningbutexpressdifferentemotionsoftheuser,indicatingtheattitudeorbiasoftheusertowardwhatheistalkingabout.accordingtothis,thewordswhichhavethesamemeaningcanbedividedintocommendatorywords,derogatorywordsandneutralone.notoriousconveysderogatorycolouringandcelebratedowncommendatorymeaning.weoftensayanotoriourmurderer,robber,swindler,acelebratedscholar,aitist,man-of-letters.anotherexample,thetwowordscollaboratorandaccowplicearesynonymousinthattheysharethemeaningof"apersonwhohelpsanotherbuttheydifferinthatacallaboratorhelpsanotherindoingsomethinggond,whileanaccomplicehelpsanotherinacriminalact.thewordsnegro,niggerandblackarerelativesynonyms,theydifferintheiremotivemeaning.negroisaneutralwordinasomewhatderogatorysense.niggerisaderogatorytermusedinanimpoliteway.blackisoftenusedinagoodsense,itisacommendatoryterm.collocationalsynonyms.somewordsarecollocationallyrestricted,theyonlyoccurConclusion:weallknowthatagoodknowledgeofsynonymswillhelpustousewordscorrectlyinexpressingourselvesinspeechandwriting.tochoosewordswronglyistoleaveamistakenimpressiononthereaderandhearer.tochoosewordswellistocommunicatewithoneanothersuccessfully.therefore,thestudyofsynonymsisnotonlyinterestryinitselfbutalsehelpsustomasterthelanguage,touseitwellindifferentsituations.bibliography:汪榕培王之江英语词汇学上海上海外语教育出版社，林承璋英语词汇学引论，武汉武汉大学出版社戴炜栋何兆熊新编简明英语语言学教程陆国强现代英语词汇学