Synonymy

**Definition:**
According to The Free Dictionary By Farlex, the definition of synonymy is the quality of being synonymous, equivalence of meaning. And according to Wikipedia, synonymy has the definition of synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings Synonymy is frequently used in writing and literary. Words or expressions with the same or similar meanings are said to be synonymous. In other words, synonyms are words or expressions that share common semantic features.

Functions:
Synonyms can be used as a rhetorical device to make the expressions coherent, varied, and more colorful. Its use can renders the sentence to be free of monotonous repetition. English is a language which excludes repetition, so using synonymy may make your listeners feel more fresh and alive when you are talking.

Examples: couch—sofa homely—domestic large—big—enormous

However, in most cases, synonyms may differ in one or more aspects. See as follows. (1)Different in origin In English, there are some pairs of synonyms one of which is developed from the native word while the other is borrowed from another language, som Enlgish synonyms may belong to words of different linguistic origin, some belong to different geographic varieties. e.g. Native words——Borrowed words answer——reply bodily ——corporal friendly—— amicable house—— mansion Aglo-Saxon—— Latin ——French ask ——question ——interrogate belly ——stomach ——abdomen time ——age—— epoch

British English ——American English lift—— elevator perol—— gasoline tube ——subway

(2) Difference in the shades of meaning For example, amaze and astound share the same denotation, but they differ in the degree of incredibility. Amaze ha the semantic feature" difficult of belief" while astound "extreme difficulty of belief."

(3)Difference in socio-expression meaning According to the differences in emotional flavor, synonymys may imply approval, disapproval or neutral attitude of the speaker. e.g. //horse, steed, nag, plug,// and //charger// differs, in socio-expressive meanings: horse is neutral, steed and charger imply aprroval while nag and plug may imply disapproval.

(4)Difference in stylistic meaning Some lexemes can tell us something about the social relaitongship between the speaker and the hear and the context in which they are used. They may be found in formal or literay English at one end and in colloquial, familiar and even slang English at the other.

(5)Differences in collocation and distribution Like the words //charge, rebuke// and //reproach// are synonymous in that they have the common denotative meaning"to blame", but the prepositions co-occurring with them vary like this://accuse...of, charge...with, rebuke...of,reproac...with/for//. See, they are different in collocation. Other synonyms have different distributions. E.g. //similar// and //alike//. They both denote" being almost the same in appearance, quality, character", but similar can be used either as premodifier or a a subjuect complement. We can say //We have similar thoughts// or //Our thoughts are similar,// and we can only say //The twins are very much alike//.

Reference
Yang Xinzhang. //An Introdution to Linguistics.// Beijing: Higher Education Press. [] []

**See also**
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