Near-Synonymy and Lexical Choice

dimension seep : drip Emphasis enemy : foe Denotational, indirect error : mistake Denotational, fuzzy woods : forest Stylistic, formality pissed : drunk : inebriated Stylistic, force ruin : annihilate Expressed attitude skinny : thin : slim, slender Emotive daddy : dad : father Collocational task : job Selectional pass away : die Subcategorization give : donate 2.3 Dimensions of variation The previous example illustrates merely one broad type of variation, denotational variation. In general, near-synonyms can differ with respect to any aspect of their meaning (Cruse, 1986): denotational variations, in a broad sense, including propositional, fuzzy, and other peripheral aspects; stylistic variations, including dialect and register; expressive variations, including emotive and attitudinal aspects; and structural variations, including collocational, selectional, and syntactic variations. Building on an earlier analysis by DiMarco, Hirst, and Stede (1993) of the types of differentiae used in synonym-discrimination dictionaries, Edmonds (1999) classifies nearsynonymic variation into 35 subcategories within the four broad categories above. Table 1 gives a number of examples, grouped into the four broad categories above, which we will now discuss. 2.3.1 Denotational variations Several kinds of variation involve denotation, taken in a broad sense. DiMarco, Hirst, and Stede (1993) found that while some differentiae are easily expressed in terms of clear-cut abstract (or symbolic) features such as continuous/intermittent (Wine fseeped j drippedg from the barrel), many are not. In fact, denotational variation involves mostly differences that lie not in simple features but in full-fledged concepts or ideas—differences in concepts that relate roles and aspects of a situation. 4 The classic opposition of denotation and connotation is not precise enough for our needs here. The denotation of a word is its literal, explicit, and context-independent meaning, whereas its connotation is any aspect that is not denotational, including ideas that color its meaning, emotions, expressed attitudes, implications, tone, and style. Connotation is simply too broad and ambiguous a term. It often seems to be used simply to refer to any aspect of word meaning that we don’t yet understand well enough to formalize.