The usage functions of synonyms in different types of text

The purpose of this study is to characterize semantic features of synonyms usage in different types of text. We prove the hypothesis that synonymy differently implements semantic features in various types and genres of text. Our study is based on the text of the novel by A. Bely “Petersburg” and publications of various genres presented in mass media and in the Russian National Corpus. Results of the study show that the synonyms usage in the artistic text correlates with the peculiarities of the narrative and substantial organization of the text and forms the expressive, ideological content of the text. Synonyms in such texts create connectivity and semantic integrity of the text. Publicistic texts characterized by the predominance of substitution function connected with the development of text coherence. However, in certain publicistic genres, synonyms usage is capable of creating complex evaluative content of the text. In the scientific and official speech genres synonyms usage is limited, and the main method of coherence is the repetition of the same word. In some genres of these types of speech there are synonyms which are used in the substitution function to create coherence. Based on the analysis of the study results, we prove that in accordance with the communicative strategy of the genre, the linguistic personality can implement different models of synonymy. The most complex and variable model is implemented in artistic texts, where a large number of words connected by semantic and associative links become semantically close. In scientific and official texts there is a communicative strategy focused on accuracy of presentation, therefore, the use of synonyms is limited.

1. Baranov A.N., Dobrovolskiy D.O. Postulaty kognitivnoy semantiki [Postulates of Cognitive Semantics]. Izvestiya RAN. Seriya literatury i yazyka [News of Russian Academy of Sciences. Literature and Language Series], 1997, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 11-21. (In Russian).

2. Pokrovskaya O.V. Yazykovoy obraz cheloveka v sinonimicheskikh reprezentatsiyakh: opyt razrabotki chastnoy teorii (na materiale russkogo i angliyskogo yazykov): avtoref. dis. … kand. filol. nauk [The Linguistic Image of a Person in Synonymous Representations: Experience of Developing a Particular Theory (on the Material of Russian and English Languages). Cand. philol. sci. diss. abstr.]. Kemerovo, 2008, 23 p. (In Russian).

3. Belov V.A. Realizatsiya teoreticheskikh podkhodov k sinonimii v metodike prepodavaniya russkogo yazyka [Implementation of theoretical approaches to synonymy in the Russian language methodology]. Uchenyye zapiski Petrozavodskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta – Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University, 2018, no. 1 (170), pp. 96-101. (In Russian).

4. Apresyan Y.D. Znacheniye i ottenok znacheniya [Meaning and the nuance of meaning]. Izvestiya AN SSSR. Seriya literatury i yazyka [News of Academy of Sciences of USSR. Literature and Language Series], 1974, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 320-330. (In Russian).

5. Galperin I.R. Tekst kak ob’yekt lingvisticheskogo issledovaniya [Text as an Object of Linguistic Research]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1981, 138 p. (In Russian).

6. Gindin S.I. Svyaznyy tekst: formal’noye opredeleniye i elementy tipologii [Coherent Text: Formal Definition and Typology Elements]. Moscow, Academy of Sciences of USSR Institute of Russian Language Publ., 1971, 44 p. (In Russian).

7. Novikov L.A. Semantika russkogo yazyka [Semantics of the Russian Language]. Moscow, Vysshaya shkola Publ., 1982, 272 p. (In Russian).

8. Chernyak V.D. Sinonimicheskiye svyazi slov v leksicheskoy sisteme russkogo yazyka: dis. … d-ra filol. nauk [Synonymic Connections of Words in the Lexical System of the Russian Language. Dr. philol. sci. diss.]. St. Petersburg, 1992, 388 p. (In Russian).

9. Chen Z., Mukherjee A., Liu B., Hsu M., Castellanos M., Ghosh R. Discovering coherent topics using general knowledge. Proceedings of the 22nd ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Man-agement CIKM ’13. San Francisco, 2013, pp. 209-218. DOI 10.1145/2505515.2505519

10. Dijk van T.A. Text and Context. Explorations in the Semantics and Pragmatics of Discourse. London, New York, Longman, 1977, 261 p.

11. Tanskanen S.-K. Collaborating Towards Coherence: Lexical Cohesion in English Discourse. Amsterdam, Philadelphia, John Benjamins Publ., 2006, 192 p.

12. Sentenberg I.V., Sheygal Y.I. Lingvisticheskiy kontekst kak sredstvo razvertyvaniya i razvitiya leksichesko-go znacheniya [Linguistic context as means of deployment and development of lexical meaning]. Znache-niye slova i yego var’irovaniye v tekste [Meaning of a Word and Its Variation in the Text]. Volgograd, Vol-gograd State Pedagogical University, 1987, pp. 12-25. (In Russian).

13. Issers O.S. Kommunikativnyye strategii i taktiki russkogo yazyka [Communicative Strategies and Tactics of the Russian Language]. Moscow, URSS Publ., 2008, 228 p. (In Russian).

14. Sedov K.F. Chelovek v prostranstve povsednevnoy kommunikatsii [Man in the space of everyday commu-nication]. Antologiya rechevykh zhanrov: povsednevnaya kommunikatsiya [Anthology of Speech Genres: Everyday Communication]. Moscow, Labirint Publ., 2007, pp. 7-38. (In Russian).

15. Tatarnikova N.M. Kommunikativnyye strategii v zhanrakh ofitsial’no-delovogo stilya [Communicative strategies in the genres of the official style]. Materialy 1 Mezhdunarodnoy nauchnoy konferentsii “Reche-vaya kommunikatsiya v sovremennoy Rossii” [Proceedings of the 1st International Scientific Conference “Verbal Communication in Modern Russia”]. Omsk, Dostoevsky Omsk State University, 2009, pp. 320-326. (In Russian).

16. Kozhinova M.N. (ed.). Stilisticheskiy entsiklopedicheskiy slovar’ russkogo yazyka [Stylistic Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2003, 696 p. (In Russian).

17. Rymar S.V. Leksicheskaya sinonimika A.S. Pushkina: kachestvennyy i kolichestvennyy analiz: na materiale sinonimicheskogo slovnika i ryadov s raznym chislom sinonimov: dis. … kand. filol. nauk [A.S. Pushkin’s Lexical Synonymy: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis: on the Material of the Synonymous Vocabulary and Series with Different Numbers of Synonyms. Cand. philol. sci. diss.]. Nizhny Novgorod, 2008, 280 p. (In Russian).

18. Bely A. Peterburg [Petersburg]. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2004, 698 p. (In Russian).

19. Babenko L.G. (gen. ed.). Sovremennyy slovar’ russkogo yazyka. Sinonimy: boleye 5000 sinonimicheskikh ryadov: ok. 30 000 slov-sinonimov [Modern Dictionary of the Russian Language. Synonyms: More than 5,000 Synonyms: Approximately 30,000 Synonym Words]. Moscow, AST Publ., 2011, 829 p. (In Russian).

20. Aleksandrova Z.Y. Slovar’ sinonimov russkogo yazyka: Prakticheskiy spravochnik [Dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian Language: Practical Guide]. 11th ed., rev. and add. Moscow, Russkiy yazyk Publ., 2001, 586 p. (In Russian).

21. Shmid V. Narratologiya [Narratology]. Moscow, Yazyki slavyanskoy kultury Publ., 2008, 304 p. (In Rus-sian).

22. Zhenett Z. Figury: v 2 t. [Figures: in 2 vols.]. Moscow, Sabashnikovs Publ., 1998, vol. 1, 470 p. (In Russian).

23. Uspenskiy B. Poetika kompozitsii [Poetics of Composition]. St. Petersburg, Azbuka Publ., 2000, 348 p. (In Russian).

24. Yevgenyeva A.P. (ed.). Slovar’ russkogo yazyka: v 4 t. [Dictionary of the Russian Language: in 4 vols.]. Moscow, Russkiy yazyk Publ., 1985–1988. (In Russian).

25. Turayeva Z.Y. Lingvistika teksta (Tekst: struktura i semantika) [Text Linguistics (Text: Structure and Se-mantics)]. Moscow, Prosveshcheniye Publ., 1986, 127 p. (In Russian).

26. Solganik G.Y. Yazyk informatsii i sinonimiya [Language of information and synonymy]. In: Duskayeva L.R., Tsvetova N.S. (executive eds.). Mediatekst kak poliintentsional’naya sistema [Mediatext as a Polyintentio-nal System]. St. Petersburg, S. Petersburg State University Publ., 2012, pp. 145-149.

27. Garifullina E.I. Osobennosti ispol’zovaniya sinonimov v yazyke elektronnykh SMI: na materiale russkoy i angliyskoy elektronnoy pressy s 2004–2008 gg: dis. … kand. filol. nauk [Features of Synonyms Usage in the Online Media Language: on the Material of the Russian and English Online Press from 2004–2008 Years. Cand. philol. sci. diss.]. Kazan, 2009, 246 p. (In Russian).

28. Lazutina G.V., Raspopova S.S. Zhanry zhurnalistskogo tvorchestva [Genres of Journalistic Work]. Moscow, Aspect-press Publ., 2012, 320 p. (In Russian).

29. Zamuruyeva H.A. Zhanrovyye osobennosti ofitsial'no-delovogo stilya rechi [Genre peculiarities of the busi-ness speech]. Uchenyye zapiski Orlovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Gumanitarnyye i so-tsial'nyye nauki – Scientific Notes of Orel State University, 2010, no. 3-2 (37), pp. 120-123. (In Russian).