Remember the old Soviet cartoon about a kind dog named Pirate? Cheerful, well-fed and carefree, he came to the dacha with his owner. Exploring the neighborhood, he met his namesake - a neighbor's chain dog. After talking heart to heart and hearing about his troubles, malnutrition and lack of master's affection, the Pirate came to a disappointing conclusion: “Wow! Also a Pirate, but what a difference in fate! …”This passage was remembered for a reason, because it perfectly explains what paronyms are. But let's not beat around the bush, but let's get to know this curious and slightly intricate phenomenon better. Although any language is a complicated business, it is terribly interesting….
So what are paronyms?
First of all, these are words that are similar in sound, but completely different in meaning. As a rule, they belong to the same part of speech. To make it clearer, let's give examples: architectural(adjective from the word "architecture") - architectural (belonging to the architect, adjective from the word "architect"): architectural project - architectural experience; silver (reminiscent of silver in color) - silver (made of silver): silver shade - silver goblet; diplomatic (related to diplomacy, establishing friendly relations with other countries) - diplomatic (skillful, courteous, finely calculated actions): diplomatic mission - a diplomatic person. Of course, there are many examples. Currently, various dictionaries of Russian language paronyms are offered, which help those people who study it as a foreign language, as well as those who strive to speak their native language correctly and beautifully. I think that if not everyone, then many were “lucky” at least once to find themselves in a delicate situation, when a particular word was said out of place by you. You feel uncomfortable and stupid. For example, in my case, I used “dress” incorrectly. I knew perfectly well what paronyms are and what they are eaten with, but, unfortunately, I “overslept” this word …. It turns out that the word “to dress” means to dress someone in some kind of clothes, and, as a rule, it is combined with animated nouns (to dress a girl in a smart dress). The verb “to put on” has the meaning of pulling, pulling something over someone and is used with inanimate people (put a watch on your right hand, put a jacket on your naked body). But any situation is a new lesson and a new experience, so do not get upset. Let's learn as much as possible about what paronyms are so that we don't look likefunny….
Classification of paronyms
There are a huge number of different classifications of paronyms. Today we will take a closer look at one of them. There are root paronyms, affixal and etymological. The former include paronymic pairs that have different roots, but have a similar sound: sovereign - superstitious, conservatory - conservation. As an example, you can also give paronyms in English: contest (competition) - context (context), bride (bride) - bribe (bribe, bribe), mouth (mouth) - mouse (mouse). The next group is affixes. They include words that have a common origin, the same root, but different affixes: human - humane, spectacular - effective, pay - pay. It should be noted that suffix paronyms are often found in chemical and medical terminology. For example, the suffix "-id" denotes s alts that do not have oxygen atoms, and "-at", on the contrary, those whose molecules contain them: sulfide - sulfate, chloride - chlorate. And the last kind is etymological paronyms. It is known that many words in Russian came to us from other languages. In the process of borrowing, it happened that the same expression came from different sources. For example, the word "gel" from the Latin gelo - "I freeze" through the English gel, and "jelly" - from the French gelée; “ignoramus” came from the old Russian “vezh” - experienced, who knows how to behave, and “ignoramus” - from the Old Slavonic “after all” - “know, know, understand.”
Similar on the outside, different on the inside
In conclusion, I would like to say that everything in this world is arranged in two ways, and for good reason. On the one hand, a large number of paronyms complicates life somewhere, puts you in awkward situations, makes you be more attentive. On the other hand, the simultaneous use of paronymic pairs is a great art and a real talent. This stylistic device is called "paronomasia" and is widely used in literature: "He is what the most daring dreamed about, but no one dared before him" (B. Pasternak). Therefore, both in life and in speech, the choice is ours - to be ignorant and confuse words or enjoy the beauty of our native language.
