[Lexicog] Re: Law of synonyms

[Benjamin Barrett]

Even these might be different, though. Lift has meanings separate from  
elevator, which are surely used in both regions. Similarly, truck has  
multiple meanings other than just lorry.

Finding examples without those problems still leaves the problem that  
the idealized or typical image of a truck is probably different from  
that of a lorry due to differences in the models/sizes of the vehicles  
in the respective countries, etc.

It still might be possible to find perfect synonyms in different  
dialects, but it might prove to be a difficult task. BB

On Oct 17, 2008, at 11:15 PM, rtroike at email.arizona.edu wrote:

>
> One dimension that has been neglected in this discussion is regional
> difference. There are numerous cases in most, probably all, languages
> (provided that they are spoken by more than one person, or perhaps
> one community) where there are regionally different equivalents for
> the same object/activity/condition. British vs American English  
> furnishes
> numerous examples: lorry vs truck, lift vs elevator, etc., etc. Surely
> these are exact synonyms, either abstractly or for those who know  
> both,
> and the contexts of usage would be the same in different speech- 
> communities.
>
>
>

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