Multi-Dimensional Discrimination Of Near-synonyms In ECLDs

The importance of near-synonym discrimination in English learning cannot be neglected. This paper intends to provide a systemic and theoretical basis for the discrimination of near-synonyms in ECLDs.This study makes a critical review of what has been done on near-synonym discrimination by linguistic scholars for the benefit of further study. At the same time, a questionnaire and some contrastive analyses of dictionaries are carried out to find out the near-synonym problems of Chinese EFL learners and of the discrimination in current ECLDs. The results show that Chinese EFL learners often come across different types of near-synonym problems in their English study. However the current treatment of near-synonym problems in learner's dictionaries cannot satisfy learners.Some theories applicable to the treatment of near-synonyms are introduced as the foundation of the present study. Those theories include the Three Meta-functions of Meaning, Seven Types of Meaning, Semantically Synonymous Field, Context Theory, Transfer of Mother Tongue, and Prominence Principle.This paper proposes a model on multi-dimensional discrimination of near-synonyms in ECLDs, which is the systematical and theoretical treatment of near-synonym problems encountered especially by Chinese learners of English. The thesis also tries to establish sixteen discriminating criteria from four perspectives: Conceptual Meaning (Referents; Semantic Coverage; Semantic Intensity; Semantic Emphasis), Grammatical Meaning (Grammatical Features; Syntactic Collocation), Connotative Meaning (Cultural Meaning; Emotive Meaning; Connotative Meaning; Associative Meaning), and Stylistic Meaning (Locality; Time; Register; Formality; Mood; Frequency).