The term "synonym" of ancient Greek origin, means "of the same name". Synonyms are words that are similar or identical in meaning, but different in sound and spelling. The imagery and richness of a language is determined by the number of synonyms in it. Speech will be monotonous if each concept in the language corresponds to only one word.
Synonyms are a kind of palette of the language, the use of synonyms in oral and literary speech makes it bright, expressive, logical and meaningful.
Synonymous series
Synonymous series includes words of the same semantic meaning, each next word is more expressive and emphasizes the meaning of the previous one. The structure of the series is regulated by the rules, the first word in it is the word of neutral meaning. It is called the dominant, or the defining word of the series, is used in all styles of speech and does not carry any emotional value.
So, the synonymic row of the word"large" looks like this: big - huge - huge - gigantic - gigantic.
Functions of synonyms in speech
- Allow to express attitude in the subject, to give it an emotional assessment.
- Enhance the figurativeness and expressiveness of speech.
- Serve for comparison and even opposition.
Synonyms in Russian are classified as follows:
- According to the structure: single-rooted and multi-rooted. By the way "big" is a synonym for single-rooted: big. Diverse: Huge. The Russian language is dominated by synonyms with different roots.
- By value: full and partial. It is impossible to pick up a complete synonym for the word "large". A typical example of a full synonym is the words strike and strike.
- By use: linguistic and contextual. There are no linguistic synonyms for the word "large". By the word "great": huge, huge. A contextual synonym for the word "big" in the sentence "He had a big soul - kind and sympathetic, determined and fearless" would be the adjectives kind, sympathetic, decisive, fearless.
