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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=875183622-12042005>It is my pet
peeve as a Bible translation consultant when teams answer to my
question</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=875183622-12042005>about the
meaning of two ""synonymous"" words "they mean the same." I speak
one</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=875183622-12042005>African
language fluently and have no problem to convince speakers of this
language</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=875183622-12042005>that certain
words do not mean the same, by generating examples in which
one</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=875183622-12042005>word has to
be used over another. But this becomes a challenge in other
languages</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=875183622-12042005>which I do
not know when the translators say "no, they are just the same."
What</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=875183622-12042005>usually helps
is to use an example from a common language (national or
trade</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=875183622-12042005>language)
which shows how so-called "synonyms" differ connotatively.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=875183622-12042005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=875183622-12042005>FWIW,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=875183622-12042005>Fritz
Goerling</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2></FONT> </DIV><TT><BR>Wayne
wrote:<BR><BR> What kinds of experiences have
you all had when trying to elicit<BR>
synonyms<BR> from speakers of a
language?<BR><BR> Do you sometimes get a
response something like, "Oh, there is a<BR>
little<BR> difference between those words,"
confirming what many lexicographers<BR>
and<BR> semanticians has claimed, that there are
seldom true synonyms in a<BR>
language?<BR><BR>
Wayne<BR>
-----<BR> Wayne
Leman<BR> Cheyenne website: <A
href="http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language">http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language</A><BR><BR>I'd
think more likely would be "no, they are just the same." That's what
I<BR>might answer for English "own" and "possess", for example. But then
you<BR>start investigating their actual usage, and you find that they are
not<BR>completely substitutable for each other. Then the fun begins to find
out<BR>why.<BR><BR>Mike Cahill<BR><BR></TT>
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