Analysis of Collocations and Semantic Preference of the Near-Synonyms: "Blank," "Empty," and "Vacant"

Autor/in	Lertcharoenwanich, Pallapa
Titel	Analysis of Collocations and Semantic Preference of the Near-Synonyms: "Blank," "Empty," and "Vacant"
Quelle	In: LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 16 (2023) 1, S.365-383 (19 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2630-0672
Schlagwörter	Semantics; Phrase Structure; Preferences; Nouns; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; North American English; Language Variation; Computational Linguistics; Form Classes (Languages); Dictionaries; Definitions; Literary Genres; Language Usage; Word Frequency + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Semantik; Phrasenstruktur; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Amerikanisches Englisch; Sprachenvielfalt; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; Analytischer Sprachbau; Dictionary; Wörterbuch; Begriffsbestimmung; Literarische Form; Sprachgebrauch; Word analysis; Frequency; Wortanalyse; Häufigkeit
Abstract	For English language learners, mastering the use of near-synonyms can be challenging. Despite the semantic similarities of English synonyms, they are not interchangeable in all contexts. The objectives of this corpus-based study are to examine differences between the near-synonymous adjectives "blank," "empty" and "vacant" based on the degree of formality from their distribution across genres and to analyze the noun collocates in relation to semantic preference drawn from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The findings indicate that these synonyms are uncommon in formal English, i.e., academic texts and they tend to have quite different occurrences and distributions across genres (i.e., "blank" and "empty" most frequently occur in fiction whereas "vacant" mostly occurs in newspaper) despite a similar degree of formality. For the noun collocates and semantic preference, these three adjectives have a weak near-synonymous status as they share only one noun collocate and one similar theme of semantic preference. Thus, despite their similarity in meanings, these synonyms co-occur with specific noun collocates in a particular context. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Language Institute of Thammasat University. The Prachan Campus, 2 Prachan Road, Bangkok 10200 Thailand. e-mail: learnjournal@gmail.com; Web site: https://www.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/learn
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01