Near-Synonyms: Exploration and Implications

Pong-ampai Kongcharoen

Authors

Pong-ampai Kongcharoen Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Kasetsart University

Keywords:

Near-synonyms, synonymous words

Abstract

Most of the synonymous words in English can be found as loose or near synonyms. There have been many synonymous words that have been explored by many researchers. The methodology used in extracting the similarities and differences of the synonyms ranges from corpus-based analysis such as degree of formality, collocations, colligation or grammatical patterns, to semantic analysis such as semantic preference, semantic prosody, and componential analysis. This paper aims to investigate the methodology used in extracting synonymous words, the results, and the implications for the classroom. This will provide insightful information on the characteristics of the synonymous words, how to classify them, and how to use these words correctly in the contexts. Furthermore, some methodologies used in extracting the synonyms can be implemented in the classroom.

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