O‘zbekiston respublikasi oliy ta’lim, fan va innovatsiyalar vazirligi mirzo ulug`bek nomidagi

SYNONYMS: ARE THEIR MEANINGS THE SAME OR DIFFERENT 
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8139202
  
Mukumova Nozima Ulugbek qizi 
3
rd
year student of National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek.
Uzbekistan, Tashkent. 
[e-mail]
  
 
Annotation. This article is devoted to the study of synonyms. Their use in 
language and their meaning.
Key words: denotative meanings, interchangeability, composition, phonemic 
form, semantic shades, connotations, style, valency and idiomatic usage. 
The history of dictionary-making for the English language goes as far back 
as the Old English period where its first traces are found in the form of glosses of 
religious books with interlinear translation from Latin [Crystal, 2005]. 
When we study words of a language in terms of their meanings, we come to 
the conclusion that it is very difficult (or even impossible) to find two words whose 
meanings would be exactly the same [Ungerer & Schmid, 1996]. 

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This definition is correct but vague. For example, horse and animal are also 
semantically similar but not synonymous. A more precise linguistic definition 
should be based on a workable notion of the semantic structure of the word and of 
the complex nature of every separate meaning in a polysemantic word 
[Vinogradov, 1954]. 
Each language has words with similar meanings but distinct in composition, 
sound, and usage [Crystal, 2005]. The more developed the language, the greater 
the diversity of words, offering more choices for precise communication 
[Sweetser, 1990]. Synonyms are words of the same language with similar 
meanings, interchangeable in some contexts without altering meaning 
[Vinogradov, 1954]. However, synonyms differ in composition, sound, 
connotation, style, valency, and idiomatic use [Vinogradov, 1954]. Emotional 
coloring, style, and valency may also vary among synonymic groups [Vinogradov, 
1954]. The only existing classification system for synonyms was established by 
Academician V. V. Vinogradov, the famous Russian scholar [Vinogradov, 1954]. 
In his classification system, there are three types of synonyms: ideographic (which 
he defined as words conveying the same concept but differing in shades of 
meaning), stylistic (differing in stylistic characteristics), and absolute (coinciding 
in all their shades of meaning and in all their stylistic characteristics) [Vinogradov, 
1954]. 
Synonyms, then, are interchangeable under certain conditions specific to 
each group. This seems to call forth an analogy with phonological neutralization. 
Now, it will be remembered that neutralization is the absence in some contexts of a 
phonetic contrast found elsewhere or formerly in the language. It appears we are 
justified in calling semantic neutralization the suspension of an otherwise 
functioning semantic opposition that occurs in some lexical contexts [Lehrer, 
1974]. 
The basis of a synonymic opposition is formed by the first of the above-
named components, i.e., the denotational component [Lehrer, 1974]. It will be 
remembered that the term denotational means the relationship of partial difference 

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between two partially similar elements of a language [Lehrer, 1974]. A common 
denotational component forms the basis of the opposition in a synonymic group 
[Lehrer, 1974]. All the other components can vary and thus form the distinctive 
features of the synonymic oppositions [Lehrer, 1974]. 
The definition of "to laugh" in the "Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 
of Current English" (OLD) is described as expressing amusement, joy, contempt, 
etc. through sounds and movements of the face and body [Oxford University Press, 
2015]. The "Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English" (LDCE) defines it as 
expressing amusement, happiness, careless disrespect, etc. through explosive 
sounds with the voice [Pearson Education Limited, 2003]. 
This raises the question: Does chuckling imply making quiet sounds and 
movements of the face and body, showing amusement, with a closed mouth? Does 
tittering imply making very quiet sounds and movements of the face and body, 
showing amusement or nervousness? Does giggling imply making nervous and 
silly sounds and 
This raises the question: Does chuckling imply making quiet sounds and 
movements of the face and body, showing amusement, with a closed mouth? Does 
tittering imply making very quiet sounds and movements of the face and body, 
showing amusement or nervousness? Does giggling imply making nervous and 
silly sounds and movements of the face and body, showing amusement, contempt, 
etc.? 
If we consider synonyms as words belonging to the same thematic group and 
closely related in meaning, these words are not synonyms. The psychosomatic 
processes associated with these different sounds are not directly related to "making 
sounds and movements of the face and body, showing amusement, joy, contempt, 
etc." Even "to laugh" and "to guffaw," which may seem similar in meaning, have 
different origins. "To laugh" comes from Old English, while "to guffaw" has 
Scottish origins.