Is It "Important," "Significant," or "Crucial?" A Corpus Based Study of English Synonyms

Autor/in	Chaokongjakra, Wimonnit
Titel	Is It "Important," "Significant," or "Crucial?" A Corpus Based Study of English Synonyms
Quelle	In: LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 16 (2023) 2, S.512-532 (21 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2630-0672
Schlagwörter	Computational Linguistics; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Political Attitudes; Form Classes (Languages); North American English; Language Usage; Semantics; Vocabulary Development; Phrase Structure; Preferences; Word Frequency; Literary Genres + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Political attitude; Politische Einstellung; Analytischer Sprachbau; Amerikanisches Englisch; Sprachgebrauch; Semantik; Wortschatzarbeit; Phrasenstruktur; Word analysis; Frequency; Wortanalyse; Häufigkeit; Literarische Form
Abstract	Due to the large number of near-synonyms present in the English language, English learners frequently struggle to use near-synonyms in different contexts, as these words, despite similar meanings, are not always interchangeable. This study examines the distribution and collocation of three synonyms, "important," "significant," and "crucial," across genres. The objectives are to investigate differences in formality based on genre distribution and to analyze collocates in relation to semantic preference. The data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) indicates that the synonyms are used primarily in academic contexts, with "important" being the most common. Nonetheless, these synonyms differ in their collocates and themes. "Significant" is frequently associated with quantity-related matters, whereas "crucial" is typically associated with the political domain. "Important" often appears with intensity-related adverbs, and "significant" with study-related ones. Therefore, the analysis of collocates between nouns and adverbs reveals that these synonymous adjectives have both shared and distinct preferences. (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