Glossary:Synonym: Difference between revisions

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''Comment:''
''Comment:''
With ''denotation'' we mean what the words refer to literally. So, ''truck'' and ''lorry'' refer to the same objects, i.e., they have the same denotation, but there is a regional variation (''truck'' being rather American English, ''lorry'' being British English). There could be other differences at the level of connotations (''horse'' as the neutral term, ''nag'' as a pejorative term), or of collocations (''fast (asleep/*impressed)''-''deeply (asleep/impressed)''). In each of these cases, we consider the items synonyms, since their denotation is the same, even though they can clearly not be freely interchanged in every situation.
With ''denotation'' we mean what the words refer to literally. So, ''truck'' and ''lorry'' refer to the same objects, i.e., they have the same denotation, but there is a regional variation (''truck'' being rather American English, ''lorry'' being British English). There could be other differences at the level of connotations (''horse'' as the neutral term, ''nag'' as a pejorative term), register differences, or differences in the collocational behavior (''fast (asleep/*impressed)''-''deeply (asleep/impressed)''). In each of these cases, we consider the items synonyms, since their denotation is the same, even though they can clearly not be freely interchanged in every situation.


== Examples ==
== Examples ==

Revision as of 20:08, 23 October 2012

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Synonym

Definition

Synonym ([ˈsɪnɘnɪm]): Synonyms are words that have the same denotation.

Comment: With denotation we mean what the words refer to literally. So, truck and lorry refer to the same objects, i.e., they have the same denotation, but there is a regional variation (truck being rather American English, lorry being British English). There could be other differences at the level of connotations (horse as the neutral term, nag as a pejorative term), register differences, or differences in the collocational behavior (fast (asleep/*impressed)-deeply (asleep/impressed)). In each of these cases, we consider the items synonyms, since their denotation is the same, even though they can clearly not be freely interchanged in every situation.

Examples

dad - father
buy - purchase
truck - lorry

Related terms

References and links