[Lexicog] Synonymy

Tue Apr 26 05:27:10 UTC 2005

Hi John,

I didn't have any great expectation of their being a nice checklist out
there, but one can always hope.

If you don't mind, allow me to slightly reanalyze your data. Many words are
distinguished by whether they are done by or used by one person/thing or
more than one person/thing. For instance in tennis we have 'singles' and
'doubles'. The word 'convoy' involves the fact that there must be more than
one vehicle. Also the singular/plural distinction between 'chair' and 'sofa'
is not idiosyncratic for these two words, but applies to two sets of words
within the domain of 'structure for sitting' as well as many words in other
domains. So I would give "one person vs. more than one person" as a
characteristic feature for this domain.

We can also generalize a factor of 'purpose' from your data. A sofa is
designed for comfort, while a bench is not. You give 'lying or sitting' as
the purpose of 'couch', although this might be better labeled as 'what a
person does with the object', i.e. 'use' or 'function'. Within the domain of
'tools' we would also distinguish many words on the basis of their purpose
or use. In fact just about any man-made item involves some purpose. This is
not quite what I would call a 'semantic component'. We certainly would not
want to give a plus/minus value to the purpose of an object as if it was a
binary feature. Instead I would say that what a person does with an object
is often an important factor in understanding how we use the word, and
therefore in how we should define it.

The 'shape' of an object is also often a diagnostic feature. The presence or
absence of a back distinguishes 'chair' from 'stool' although the purpose of
both is similar. The purpose is slightly different because of the form. I
wouldn't want to sit long on a stool. So purpose and form interact. But in
the case of a phillips screwdriver and a flathead screwdriver, the purpose
is for all practical purposes the same. Even the form is almost identical.
But the shape of the head is crucial.

Material composition is also important. Whether something is upholstered
distinguishes 'bench' from 'sofa'. You could have a wooden or rubber mallet,
but I've never heard of a wooden hammer or a rubber hammer. You could have a
metal or marble statue, but not a metal carving.

The location of an object is another feature. You could have a park bench,
but never a park couch. You would only find a pew in a church. You could
have a wilderness road or path, but not a wilderness avenue. Billboards are
always outside. Libraries are always inside. A barn in a subdivision would
be an anomaly. Nor would you find a cul-de-sac on a farm. In the US
policemen belong to a city, sheriffs to a county, troopers to a state, and
marshalls to the country. Although we might not put the typical or expected
location of an item into a dictionary definition, we use the words
consistently with the scenario to which they belong.

Although I'm listing these features as if they were independent semantic
components, I don't think of them as such. The shape, material composition,
purpose, and location of an object are all tied together. A phillips head
screwdriver is kept in a toolbox (that's where I would look for mine), made
out of metal (at least the head), has a particularly shaped head (X-shaped
when viewed from the head end), and has a particular purpose (turning
phillips screws). All of these features are related in an integrated whole.
In the same way we make a couch so that more than one person can sit on it,
perhaps to talk or watch TV together. It has a back and is upholstered and
cushioned because we want to be comfortable and sit on it for a long time.
It can be covered in cloth or leather because we keep it inside out of the
weather. We make benches out of wood or metal because we keep them outside
or in a public place where they will be subject to the weather or to heavy
use by lots of people. We don't expect people to use a bench for a long
time.

Your examples of 'carry' words are also subject to the same kind of
analysis. Although we don't have a lot of 'body part' words in English, we
do have a few, such as 'to shoulder (a load)'. You generally 'pack'
something on your back. You 'cradle' something in your arms. The part of the
body which is used in an action is not limited to carry words. You can
'elbow' someone, 'knee' them, 'punch' them with your fist, or 'butt' them
with your head. Your Greek examples are more typical of the 'directionality'
of many English movement verbs. 'Bring' and 'remove' are typical examples.
But direction (in relation to a reference point) also shows up in 'come',
'go', 'advance', and 'retreat'.  The 'weight' of the object distinguishes
'lug' and also shows up in 'sledge hammer'. You 'drag' something that is too
heavy or large to get off the ground.

There are also many domains that involve 'scales', including your examples
of haziness and bigness. All the dimension and size domains are scales.
Temperature is a scale. Even 'solid/liquid/gas' can be thought of as a
scale. Many emotion and human character trait domains are scales, e.g.
'blue, down, sad, depressed, grief stricken, swallowed up in sorrow (I just
had to work that in), the black pit of despair'.

So I find certain factors occurring over and over in various domains to
distinguish very different kinds of words. These factors also show up in
unrelated languages. On the other hand I also find odd words with odd
idiosyncratic components. So I don't take a strong view on either extreme.

Ron Moe

-----Original Message-----
From: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
[mailto:lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of John Roberts
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 4:35 PM
To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Lexicog] Synonymy

Ron,

I am not sure if you will find a 'lexicographer's checklist' anywhere. In my
experience separating synonyms based on components of meaning is
idiosyncratic to each pair you are analysing.

Svensén, Bo (1993) Practical Lexicography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Svensén (1993) shows how to use a componential analysis to distinguish sets
of synonyms with a common meaning of 'structure for sitting'. The principle
is that you use whatever component of meaning that helps to make a
distinction, as below.

Structure for sitting: Seat, Chair, Bench, Form, Stool, Sofa, Settee, Couch,
For one person: Chair, Stool,
For several people: Bench, Form, Sofa, Settee, Couch,
Movable or fixed: Bench,
Movable: Chair, Form, Stool, Sofa, Settee, Couch,
Upholstered: Sofa, Settee, Couch,
Unupholstered: Bench, Form,
Either: Chair, Stool,
Backless: Form, Stool,
With a back: Chair, Bench, Sofa, Settee, Couch,
Indoors: Form, Sofa, Settee, Couch,
Outdoors:
Either: Chair, Bench, Stool,
Lying or sitting: Couch
Functional: Bench, Form, Stool,
For comfort: Sofa, Settee, Couch,
Either: Chair

There are, in fact, two words in this listing that are not distinguished by
the semantic features given, i.e. 'sofa' and 'settee'. These two items
appear to be distinguished on the basis of their historical origins in the
English language. 'Sofa' comes from the Arabic 'suffah' and probably entered
the English language at the time of the Crusades. 'Settee' probably comes
from the Old English word 'setl' meaning 'seat' and is the older term of the
two. The contrast between these two words is that for some speakers 'sofa'
is more informal and 'settee' is more formal.

Cf. also the following synonyms for 'carry' in Amele and NT Greek. In each
case there are a range of different semantic components in each language.

Amele synonyms for 'carry':
be awec           'carry around neck'
cacudoc           'carry over shoulder'
camuhuldoc     'carry slowly, patiently' 'bear, bear with'
esec                 (1) 'carry on head', (2) 'support something about to
fall'
gahidoc            'carry on shoulder'
gugudoc          'carry on head or neck'
guhadoc           'carry on shoulder, back, head'
gulu qoc          'carry a heavy load'
hewi nuec        'carry in hand(s)'
qada qoc          'carry in mouth'
sol mec            'carry a pole with something slung from it'

Koine Greek synonyms for 'carry' (Sorry my Greek characters did not
transfer):
airw               'carry away, bear away, take away'
apoferw        'carry away, bear away, take away'
bastazw        'carry, bear'
diaferw         'more value, better, carry (only one instance, Mk 11.16)'
elaunw          'drive along, carry along'
sugkomizw    'carry (only one instance, Ac 8.2)'
ferw               'bring, carry'
periferw       'carry about'
apagw            'carry away, lead away'
apaferw       'carry away'
metoikizw     'carry away, remove'
ekferw          'carry forth, carry out'
metatiqhmi   'carry over, transfer'
anaferw        'carry up, lead up, bring up'

One factor that may be common across different classes of synonyms is
comparative degree. E.g.

Nouns:
least transparent < smog  -  fog  -  mist  -  haze > most transparent

Adjectives:
big > huge > enormous > gigantic -> greater in size

John Roberts

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