Find the dominant synonym in the following groups of synonyms. Explain your choice.

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to glimmer — to glisten — to blaze — to shine — to sparkle — to flash — to gleam;

to glare — to gaze — to peep — to look — to stare — to glance;

to astound — to surprise — to amaze — to puzzle — to astonish;

strange — quaint — odd — queer;

to saunter — to stroll — to wander — to walk — to roam;

scent — perfume — smell — odour — aroma;

to brood — to reflect — to meditate — to think;

to fabricate — to manufacture — to produce — to create — to make;

furious — enraged — angry;

to sob — to weep — to cry;

exact — precise — accurate;

savage — uncivilized — barbarous;

hide — conceal — disguise;

agree — approve — consent;

cry — weep — scream — shriek;

lazy — indolent — idle — vain;

clever — able — intelligent — keen — sharp;

ignorant — illiterate — uneducated — misinformed;

agile — nimble — alert — quick — brisk — active.

Arrange the following ideographic synonyms according to their degree of intensity. Translate them into Russian. Use them in sentences of your own.

Ask, implore, beg.

Longing, desire, wish.

Wither, decay, fade.

Handsome, pretty, beautiful.

Irritate, annoy.

Pierce, penetrate.

Alarmed, frightened, terrified.

Abominable, detestable, execrable.

Happiness, pleasure, delight.

Astonishment, consternation, surprise.

Excuse, pardon, forgive.

Accident, disaster, misfortune.

Malicious, naughty, nasty, wicked.

Genius, capability, talent.

6. Classify the following synonyms in two columns according to:

A. Degree (intensity) of the referent (action);

B. Brief or lengthy duration of the referent (action).

1. gratify, please, exalt, content, satisfy, delight;

2. cry, weep, sob;

3. glance, gaze, glare, stare;

4. tremble, shiver, shudder, shake;

5. worship, love, like, adore, admire;

6. talk, say, tell, speak;

7. roar, shout, cry. bellow, yell;

8. astound, surprise, amaze, astonish;

9. cold, cool, chilly;

10. want, long, yearn, desire, wish;

11. vast, immense, large.

7. Comment on the stylistic usage of the synonyms. Point out euphemistic, archaic, poetical, and dialectal synonyms.

girl — lass

trousers — unmentionables

pretty — bonny

possible — feasible

shut up! — hush!

toothpowder — dentifrice

learned — erudite

good-bye — farewell

stomach — belly

gay — blithe

foolish — unwise

evening — eventide

lodger — paying guest

yes — aye

also — eke

musician — minstrel

lake — mere

country — clime

fighting man — warrior

bomb — device

8. Analyse the reasons for using the euphemisms given below and classify them according to the following groups:

a) superstitious taboos (devil — deuce, dickens);

b) social and moral taboos (to spit — to expectorate, pantaloons — nether garments);

c) the need to soften painful news (to die — to pass away, to be no more);

d) using a learned word which sounds less familiar, hence less offensive (overeating — indigestion).

Translate them into Russian.

To eat — to partake of food, to partake of refreshment, to refresh oneself.

To die — to breathe one's last, to depart this life, to pay one's debt to nature, to go to one's last home, to go the way of all flesh, to kick the bucket, to hop the twig, to join the majority.

Mad — deranged, insane.

Cemetery — memorial park, necropolis.

Sweat — perspiration.

Foolish — unwise.

God — Dear me! Oh, my! Good gracious! Golly! Gosh!

Trousers — inexpressibles, inexplicables, indescribables, unmentionables, unwhisperables, one's mustn't-mention-'ems, one's sit-upons, sine qua non, drawers, pants.

Pawn-shop — loan-office.

Pregnant — in the family way, in an interesting (delicate) condition.

Toilet — water-closet, retiring room, public comfort station, ladies and gents, loo.

Find the euphemistic substitutes for the following words: Write them out into two columns: A. Euphemistic substitutes for social taboos. B. Euphemistic substitutes for superstitious taboos.

Die

drunk

prison

mad

liar

devil

lavatory

god

pregnant

stupid.

10. Compare the following words and sentences and say which of them sound more politically correct. Explain why.

Chairman — chairperson, spokesperson.

Cameraman — cameraoperator.

Foreman — supervisor.

Postman — mail carrier.

Authoress / ladywriter — author, writer.

Headmistress — teacher.

Airline stewardess — flight attendant.

What does he want? — What do they want?

Man / mankind is polluting the Earth. — Humankind is polluting the Earth.

No man has ever done it before. — No one has ever done it before.

This is the largest man-made lake in Europe. — This is the largest artificial lake in Europe.

A manager has a duty towards his employees. — A manager has a duty towards his or her employees.

The fall in prices is great news for housewives. — The fall in prices is great news for consumers / shoppers.

A mother should never leave her baby in the house, she might hurt herself. — Parents should never leave their children in the house; they might hurt themselves.

Give derivational antonyms to the words.

Just, justice, use (adj), use (n), fortunate, fortune, grateful, gratitude, like (v), like (adj), movable, moved, related, relative, complete (v), arrange (v), possible (adj).

Change the sentences so that they express the contrary meaning by using antonyms. State whether they are absolute or derivational.

1. All the seats were occupied.

2. He always wore striped shirts with attached collars.

3. The room was lighted by the strong rays of the sun.

4. He added three hundred to the sum.

5. I came in while you were asleep.

6. A lamp is a necessary thing in this room.

7. The door was closed and locked.

8. Light curtains hung on the dining-room windows, therefore it was light.

9. In the second year of their residence the company seemed especially to increase.

10. The little boy was outside the car.

11. Food and water were scarce during the long summer.

12. He drew two crooked lines.

13. State the hyperonym for the following words:

Asp, birch, chestnut, lime, maple, oak, willow.

How does the semantic field of kinship in English differ from that in Belarusian (Russian)? Find the correspondences and differences.

Additional exercises:

1. Read the following texts and answer the questions:

1. What is understood by semantic (linguistic) field?

2. What is the connection between the theory of lexical fields and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

3. In what is the lexical field of kinship terms in English different from that in Swedish, Russian?

Stephen Ullmann

Semantic universals (universals of language)

Universal principles in the structure of the vocabulary

Lexical fields

One of the most fruitful concepts evolved so far in structural semantics is that of the 'lexical field', closely associated with Jost Trier and his school. So much has been written of late on this subject that it is unnecessary to go into details. It will be sufficient to recall that lexical fields are highly organized and integrated conceptual spheres whose elements mutually delimit each other and derive their significance from the system as a whole. In each field a sphere of experience, concrete or abstract, is analyzed, divided up and classified in a unique way which embodies a scale of values and a peculiar vision of the world. Examples of lexical fields are: the system of colors, the network of family relations; or, among abstract experiences, the terms for intellectual qualities, ethical and aesthetic values, religious and mystical experiences.

The numerous articles and monographs which have recently been published on these problems have all tended to emphasize the differences between these fields in various languages; they have concentrated on what is distinctive and idiosyncratic in them rather than on what they have in common. Yet, beneath all the diversity, there is likely to be an underlying unity which a systematic comparison of these fields would no doubt reveal. Thus we are told of sinking differences between the number and nature of color distinctions: there was no single term for 'brown' or 'gray' in Latin; Russian has two words for 'blue' — sinij, 'dark blue' and goluboj 'sky-blue'; the Navaho have two terms corresponding to 'black', one denoting the black of darkness, the other, the black of such objects as coal. Our 'gray' and 'brown', however, correspond to a single term in their language and likewise 'blue' and 'green'. These differences are highly significant, but it would be equally interesting to know whether there are any elements common to all classifications of colors, any distinctions which have to be expressed everywhere and which could therefore rank as lexical constants.

The same point is even more closely noticeable in another closely organized field which has been extensively studied in various languages: the nomenclature of kinship terms. Take for instance the words for 'brother' and 'sister'. These two concepts seem so fundamental to us that we find it difficult to imagine any language that could do without them. Yet a glance at other idioms will show that they are not in any sense lexical constants. In Hungarian, there was no single term either for 'brother' or for 'sister' until well into the 19th century; instead, there were, and still are, two pairs of separate words for 'elder' and 'younger brother' and 'elder' and 'younger sister'. In Malay, on the other hand, there is one collective term for 'sibling', which can also mean 'cousin'. In his report on structural semantics to the Oslo congress of linguists, Professor Hjelmslev summed up the difference between the three solutions in the following table:

	Hungarian	English	Malay
'elder brother'	batya	Brother
'younger brother'	ocs
'elder sister'	nene	sister	saudara
'younger sister'	hug

The three arrangements, though very different, have one thing in common: the general relationship of 'siblings' (children of the same parent or parents) is expressible in each of them, either in itself or combined with other criteria. A comparison of the same field in a number of languages would reveal whether this relationship is a semantic universal. It would also show how many ways there are of 'structuring' this part of the field and how frequent these various solutions actually are. The same method could then be applied to other sections of the field. Even languages belonging to the same family and culture will sometimes show remarkable discrepancies. Thus there is no single term for 'grandfather' or 'grandmother' in Swedish: a distinction is made between farfar, the father's father, and morfar, the mother's father, and similarly between farmor and mormor. [...]In languages with a different social and cultural background, these discrepancies will be even more marked. In Dravidian, for example, there is an intricate hierarchy of kinship terms based on four sets of distinctions: sex, generation, alliance, and age, of which the third, the only non-biological one, is the most important. [...]

It may be noted in passing that the theory of lexical fields has certain affinities with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Trier and his followers would readily agree with Whorf that each language contains a 'hidden metaphysics' and that 'we dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages'. There are, however, two important differences between the two schools:

(1) lexical fields have so far been explored mainly in the best-known European languages, whereas Whorf deliberately turned away from 'Standard Average European' and concentrated on totally different linguistic systems, notably the American Indian ones;

(2) the theory of lexical fields is focused on vocabulary, while Whorf's most impressive successes were obtained in the grammatical sphere. It would seem, then, that the two approaches, which have developed independently of each other, could usefully supplement one another, and the time may come when they can be combined into a unified theory.

R.H. Robins

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