On the issue of synonymic definitions acceptability in English monolingual lexicography

Boris Soldatov,Natalya Soldatova,I.V Abakumova,E.V Vorobyova

doi:10.1051/shsconf/20197004004

Boris Soldatov, Natalya Soldatova + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20197004004

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Abstract

The purpose of the present article was to examine the advantages and disadvantages of using synonymous words to define the meaning of a headword in English monolingual lexicography. The topicality of the study lies in the fact that, despite different opinions on the feasibility of this definition method, the latter has been widely used in English dictionaries for several centuries and is currently used. The authors proceeded from the Russian linguists’ point of view, treating synonyms not as equivalent words, but as lexical units belonging to the same thematic group and so similar in meaning that their correct use in speech is impossible without accurate knowledge of their distinctive(semantic, stylistic, contextual) features. Synonymic definition has been considered as a kind of the language metalinguistic function implementation. The authors of the article highlight one of the ways to implement the metalinguistic function – synonymous intra-linguistic translation.

Highlights

The present article deals with the advantages and disadvantages of using synonymous words to define the meaning of the headword in English monolingual lexicography
Synonymic intra-linguistic translation in the experimental material is presented in two types: 1) simple intra-linguistic translation, i.e. complete equalization of a word with its synonymic definition, for example: laundress, n — washerwoman [10, p. 235]; 2) complicated intra-linguistic translation, when the right part of the entry is complicated by other lexicographic techniques
Due to the absence of absolutely identical lexical units in the language, the definition by means of simple intra-linguistic translation, i.e. complete identification of synonyms in the dictionary entry can’t be considered as absolutely accurate, because it does not correspond to all three principles of linguistic semiotics

Summary

Introduction

The present article deals with the advantages and disadvantages of using synonymous words to define the meaning of the headword in English monolingual lexicography. Contrary to different opinions on the appropriateness of the present definition method, the latter has been widely used in English dictionaries for several centuries and is currently being used. Two points of view on synonyms as a phenomenon of lexical equivalence can be distinguished: identity and difference. The first point of view is generally accepted in British philological tradition The majority of Russian linguists support a completely different point of view. The comparison of synonymous words emphasizes the common in their meanings, and the shades of meanings distinguishing the words being studied from each other

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