Lexico-semantic errors can be found quite often, especially in colloquial speech or correspondence. Such errors are also encountered when translating from one language to another. They are also called semantic, because they arise from the incorrect use of words and phrases in the context of what is written.
Classification
The concept of "semantic errors" (or "lexico-semantic errors") covers several groups of semantic errors. The first group combines an incorrectly chosen word in a sentence. The second is connected with the use of words in a meaning that is unusual for them (here we are talking about an incorrect selection of existing synonymous words). The third group - errors that have arisen due to the lexical incompatibility of the phrase. The fourth group is incorrectly chosen paronyms (words similar in spelling, but with different lexical meanings).
Mismatched word
Such semantic errors often arise from an inaccurate understanding of the meaning of a word. For example,in the sentence "In a month we consumed one hundred kilovolts of electricity" there is an inappropriate use of the word "kilovolt", since electricity is measured in kilowatts. Another example of such a mistake: "Customers of the store became unwitting spectators of this incident." When reading such a sentence, it is generally clear what is at stake, but instead of the word “spectators”, which in modern Russian means watching a theatrical performance, sports competition or film show, it would be more appropriate to use the word “witnesses”, meaning the presence during any event. To avoid such mistakes, it is better not to use words in colloquial speech and in the text, the meaning of which is doubtful, or it is worth checking your knowledge with a dictionary. Very often, such mistakes are found in school essays, so it is especially important for students to study the exact meanings of various words.
Mistakes related to the use of synonyms
In Russian, there are many synonymous words with a similar meaning, but different lexical meaning. For example, trophy and prize, brave and courageous, role and function. Due to the use of an incorrectly chosen word from similar synonyms, semantic errors occur. Examples of such mistakes: “The athlete honestly won his trophy”, “This idea was very brave”, “In my life, such a phenomenon played its function.” In these sentences, it is clearly seen that the wrong word from the pair was used. In the first example, it would be logical to use the word "prize", because it has the meaning of a certain value,which is won, won in the competition. The word "trophy" is inappropriate here: it means something related to conquest. For example, a hunting, military trophy. In the second example, the word “brave” should have been used, because it denotes not only an external manifestation, but also a certain internal property of a person (his thoughts or ideas can be bold), while the word “brave” usually refers to behavior in a particular situation. In the third example, it was necessary to use the word “role” instead of “function”, because the word “role” means what is played or portrayed, including in a figurative sense, and “function” means what is performed, interacts.
Mismatch
Semantic errors of this type occur due to the wrong combination of words in a sentence. Often they appear at the moment of quickly writing some text without subsequent verification. For example, the error of this group is in the sentence "The hero got into misfortune." Of course, instead of the word "misfortune" it would be appropriate to use the word "trouble" here. Although these words are similar in meaning, but in this sentence the word "unhappiness" is not combined with the rest of the construction. It is possible to use this particular word if we restructure the rest of the sentence: “A misfortune happened to the hero.”
Another example of this type of error: "More insecure people are often lonely." In this sentence, it would be correct to use such phrases as: "Less confident people are often lonely" or "More timid people are often lonely." After all, the very phrase "more insecure"lexically unjustified: the first word implies a large degree of quality, and the second - the negation of quality. And although the general meaning of such sentences is usually clear, such errors should be avoided.
Mistakes due to incorrect selection of paronyms
This group of semantic errors is associated with the choice of the wrong word from the existing paronyms to designate a phenomenon or object. Most often, paronyms are single-root words that are similar in meaning, but at the same time denoting different concepts. These are, for example, such pairs of words as “altitude-high”, “far-far”, “logical-logical”, “economic-economical”, “short-short”, etc. For example, in the sentence “At the film a completely logical ending" the paronym was incorrectly chosen: instead of the word "logical" it was necessary to use the word "logical". After all, the word "logical" is used only to refer to a phenomenon based on the laws of logic, and the word "logical", in addition, also means a certain sequence or regularity, and just this meaning fits the sentence from the example.
Another example of a sentence with a similar semantic error: "The value of this parameter indicates good economic efficiency." In this case, it was about economic efficiency, i.e., an indicator related to the economy, and the wrong paronym was chosen in the sentence: “economical”. This word means economic benefit and is not suitable for this proposal.
Semantictranslation errors
An author writing in his native language encounters problems with the appearance of semantic errors much less frequently than a translator. After all, the translator in the course of his work is faced with the fact that it is necessary to clearly know not only the grammar and rules for constructing sentences for both languages, but also to understand the meaning of each word exactly in the sense in which it is used. It is very important to understand the lexical combination of words in sentences in order to avoid semantic errors.
In the language from which the translation is carried out, many stable expressions can be used, which completely lose their meaning when each word is translated sequentially. Usually, an experienced translator can easily see such expressions, but a beginner, even the most literate, will not always be able to recognize them. Therefore, after the translation of any scientific article or literary work, the resulting result is submitted for verification to the editor, who will be able to assess the quality of the translation and, if necessary, make corrections. Of course, it happens that the human factor is triggered, and the error goes unnoticed by the editor as well.
Example of a translation error
A semantic error occurs in the translation of I. Kashkin's work "The Owner of Ballantre" by R. Stevenson: "The only thing I want is to protect myself from slander, and my house from your invasion." In this sentence, it would be appropriate to use the numeral "single" instead of the adverb "single".
In Literature
Semantic errors are also found inliterary works. In most cases, this is due to the fact that the meanings of certain words, as well as the rules for their spelling and use, change over time. For example, in one of the works of A. S. Pushkin, you can find the following phrase: "Rumyantsev took him to Peter's approbation." From the context it becomes clear that the word "approbation" at that time had the meaning of "approval, approval." Then this word changed both in spelling (it began to be used with one “p”), and in the meaning: it began to denote a statement after the test. Therefore, today the above expression is perceived as erroneous.
Another example is a phrase from B. Polevoy's novel "Deep Rear": "The Big Half of the Factory". In this case, the word "half" is erroneously used, meaning an equal part, ½ of the whole. Half cannot be more or less, so this combination of words is a mistake. However, similar expressions can be found in other works, as well as in periodicals.
