Keywords
Behavioral profile
Near-synonym
Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)
Submitted : 2024-02-23
Accepted : 2024-03-09
Published : 2024-03-24
Abstract
Using Corpus of Contemporary American English as the source data, this paper carries out a corpus-based behavioral profile study to investigate four near-synonymous adjectives (serious, severe, grave, and grievous), focusing on their register and the types of nouns they each modify. Although sharing core meaning, these adjectives exhibit variations in formality levels and usage patterns. The identification of fine-grained usage differences complements the current inadequacies in describing these adjectives. Furthermore, the study reaffirms the effectiveness of the corpus-based behavioral profile approach in examining synonym differences.
References
Liu D, 2010, Is It a Chief, Main, Major, Primary, or Principal Concern? International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 15(1): 56–87.
Lyons J, 1995, Linguistic Semantics: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Taylor JR, 2003, Near Synonyms as Co-Extensive Categories: ‘High’ and ‘Tall’ Revisited. Language Sciences, 25(3): 263–284.
Chung SF, 2011, A Corpus-Based Analysis of “Create” and “Produce.” Chang Gung Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(2): 399–425.
Petcharat N, Phoocharoensil S, 2017, A Corpus-Based Study of English Synonyms: Appropriate, Proper, and Suitable. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 10(2): 10–24.
Gries ST, Otani N, 2010, Behavioral Profiles: A Corpus-Based Perspective on Synonymy and Antonymy. ICAME Journal, 34(1): 121–150.
Uba SY, 2015, A Corpus-Based Behavioural Profile Study of Near-Synonym: Important, Essential, Vital, Necessary, and Crucial. International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, 3(5): 9–17.
Collins English Dictionary, n.d., viewed May 20, 2023, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, n.d., viewed May 20, 2023, https://dictionary.cambridge.org
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online, n.d., viewed May 20, 2023, https://www.ldoceonline.com
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, n.d., viewed May 20, 2023, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary
Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, n.d., Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Oxford University Press, viewed May 20, 2023, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/
Lu J, 2010, A Corpus-Based Study on Collocational Behavior and Semantic Prosody of Near Synonyms in Chinese Learner English. Modern Foreign Languages, 33(03): 276–286 + 329–330.
Hanks P, 1996, Contextual Dependency and Lexical Sets. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 1(1): 75–98.
Liu D, Espino M, 2012, Actually, Genuinely, Really, and Truly: A Corpus-Based Behavioral Profile Study of Near-Synonymous Adverbs. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 17(2): 198–228.