Synonyms and Antonyms

The study and analysis of words in context is possible due to the “sense” or semantic relations established through the combination of words in content. If words are able to relate through their form (morphology) as in the case of derived words; e.g. work is morphologically related to worker, they are also able to relate through their content or meaning, e.g. the meaning of intelligent is similar to smart but different from dumb. The most common sense or semantic relations are expressed through synonyms and antonyms.

In synonymy and antonymy, Polysemy will also play an important role, since no relation will ever be “perfect” or exact; i.e. there are no perfect synonyms with the capacity to replace each other in every content;  a different content will bring out only one meaning of the series of meanings in a word. E.g. The words heart and center are “replaceable” synonyms in a content such as “Piccadilly is in the _______ of London”, but not in “He suffered a complicated heart surgery”

Besides Polysemy, there are other causes that do not allow synonymy and antonymy to be “perfect” or total and these could be the following:

1. different dialects: British – American (flat--apartment)
2. different styles: formal – colloquial (child--kid)
3. different connotation: skinny is more pejorative than thin
4. different grammar: transitive – intransitive (conceal-hide)
5. different collocation: perhaps the most confusing for English learners because it is based on language usage (commit a crime – do a favor – make a mistake, which are all considered synonyms, commit = do= make

As long as these differences are highlighted and made explicitly apparent, the use of synonyms is usually a quick and efficient way of explaining new words to ELLs. The one cause of “partial” or limited synonymy is collocation, because it is based on frequency of usage.  One example is with what other word the synonym collocates frequently in the language; thus, the time the ELL student has been exposed to the new language will determine his “ear-training” to recognize awkward results as *make the homework, do an effort, or commit a mistake.  Modeling of language is essential, with frequent opportunities to apply newfound understanding in the language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.