Dialectal synonyms

importance.Here, in this paper, I mainly talk about the distinction between synonyms in five aspects: difference in meaning, difference in style, difference in emotive colouring, difference in dialects, difference in collocation and distribution. Key words: synonym origin distinction

Synonyms are traditionally defined as words different in sound and spelling but identical or similar in meaning.English has not only the largest vocabulary, but also the most synonyms of any language in the world. English is particularly rich in synonyms for the historical reason that its vacubulary has come from two origins: from Anglo-Saxon on the one hand, fromLatin,Greek or French on the other hand. Because of their different origins, there are often subtle differences between these synonyms.The distinctions mainly reflect in the following five aspects:difference in meaning, difference in style, difference in emotive colouring, difference in dialects and difference in collocation and distribution.

Semantically different synonyms- difference in meaning

There are synonyms that differ slightly in what they mean.For example,amaze and astound form a pair of synonyms.Both sugget great wonder or bewilderment in the face of something that seems impossible or highly improbable.but they differ in degree of wonder or bewilderment. “Amaze”denotes difficulty of belief and

“astound“”extreme difficulty of belief ,as can be seen in the following two sentences: “A teacher was a amazed to find that a lazy student had gained a mark of 100 in an important test. “

“A woman may be astounded to learn that her dearest friend has been spreading malicious gossip about her. ”

In fact,there are no two words in english that are inter changeable in all contexts, moreover most English words are polysemic words.It is impossible that polysemic words could be synonymous in all their meaning .For example: the word“ head” is synonymous with such words as:ruler,leader,especially headmaster when it refers to a person who leads or is in advance of others,wherease the word head is synonymous with such words as:talent,orability as in the sentence \"He has a good head for mathematics\"

There are many reasons give rise to the semantic distinctions.Here are some examples we often see in our dailylife.Firstly,the difference of degree or intensity may bring about the consequence.Someone have said a sentence like this\"I have always liked you very much,I admire your talent,but, forgive me-I could never love you as a wife should lovd her husband.\"In this sentence, like admire love are different in the love degree.Secondly,duration also contri bute to the semantic distinction,for example, to shudder and to shiver represent tremble in meaning,but to shudder is a short duration of tremble.On the contrary, shiver is a long duration.Finally,talking from different angles can lead to the semantic difference.Both country, state and nation are the same

in meaning,but country stress on geographic concept, state pay particular emphasis on political concept,and nation pay more attemtion to national concept. Dialectal synonyms-difference in regional dialects.

These are words with more or less the same meaning used in different regional dialects.British English and American English are the two major geographical

varieties of theEnglish language.It is not difficult to find examples of saying the same thing but using different words in the two dialects: British English American English Lift elevator Luggage baggage Lorry truck petrol gasoline flat apartment windscreen windshield

torch flashlight

The dialectal synonyms can also be found within British English,or American English itself. For example,\"girl\"is called lass or lassie in Scottish dialect, and liquor is called whiskey in Irish dialect.What we should pay more attention is that British and American

usages and different,although they are sometimes the same meaning.the term fall is used in the united states and in some western countries of britain,whereas autumn is more often used in england.in american english,sick is the word normally used in talking about bad health,in british,both sick and ill are used.sick is used attributively(before a noun)ilk is generally used predicatively(after a subject and verb)the minister is sick(ae)he has been ill for a long time(be)she spent many years looking after her sick father-be.

collocational synonyms-difference in collocation and distribution.

some words are collocationally restricted,they occure only in conjunction with other words or in the words they go together with. this is a matter of usage.For

example,when we want to say that someone has done something wrong or even criminal,we can use accuse,charge,rebuke,but they are followed by different

prepositions-accuse-of ,charge-with,rebuke-for.another example is the word we use to describe food that has gone bad and is not fit for eating.different adjectives are used for different kinds of food,like rotten tomatoes,addle eggs,rancid bacon or butter,sour milk.some phrases which convey the same idea “a group of”appear in different forms according to the words they are collocated with :a flock of sheep,a herd of cows,a school of whales,a pride of lions.in english some mazed to find adjectives are used as pre-modifiers and others are used as post-modifiers.they occure in different places at a sentence level.a convenient example is the pair of adjectives alive and living:he is the greatest novelist alive in england.he is the greatest living novelist in england. stylistic synonyms-difference in style

some words convey the same idea but differ in stylistic reference.these words are known as stylistic synonyms.these words having the same meaning may differ in style,or degree of formality.in other words,some words tends to be more formal,other casual,and still others neutial in style.to die,to pass away and to kibk the bucket are relative synonyms,the word die is the simplest word of this group and stylistically neutral.to pass away is a euphemistic word used in the formal contest.the phrase to kick the bucket is a slang expression used on very informal occasions.in fact according to the stylistic distinction,synonyms can comprise:colloquial,slang dialect,written,learned,poetic,terminological,archaic and so on.we must pay our attention to the stylistic difference when distinguish synonyms.for

instance:gril,lass,skirt,maiden,damsel.meal:snack,snap,feast.to leave:to be off,to hoof it,to depart.

emotional synonyms-

these are words that bear the same meaning but express different emotions of the user,indicating the attitude or bias of the user toward what he is talking

about.according to this,the words which have the same meaning can be divided into commendatory words,derogatory words and

neutral one.notorious conveys derogatory colouring and celebrated own

commendatory meaning.we often say a notoriour murderer,robber,swindler,a

celebrated scholar,aitist,man-of-letters.another example,the two words collaborator and accowplice are synonymous in that they share the meaning of \"a person who helps another but they differ in that a callaborator helps another in doing something gond,while an accomplice helps another in a criminal act.the words negro,nigger and black are relative synonyms,they differ in their emotive meaning.negro is a neutral word in a somewhat derogatory sense.nigger is a derogatory term used in an impolite

way.black is often used in a good sense,it is a commendatory term.collocational synonyms.some words are collocationally restricted,they only occur

Conclusion:

we all know that a good knowledge of synonyms will help us to use words correctly in expressing ourselves in speech and writing.to choose words wrongly is to leave a mistaken impression on the reader and hearer.to choose words well is to communicate with one another

successfully.therefore,the study of synonyms is not only interestry in itself but alse helps us to master the language,to use it well in different situations.

bibliography:汪榕培王之江英语词汇学上海上海外语教育出版社，林承璋英语词汇学引论，武汉武汉大学出版社戴炜栋何兆熊新编简明英语语言学教程陆国强现代英语词汇学