Definition by synonymy

We might try, for example, to defi ne words by providing synonyms, in either the same language as the word being defined or in a different one. Thus, one could give mad and furious as English definitions of angry, and kulu as a Warlpiri one. The problem with this strategy is that it is usually possible to challenge the identity between the definiens (the metalanguage word proposed as the definition; Latin ‘defining’) and the definiendum (the object language word for which a definition is required; Latin ‘needing to be defined’). Thus, one could object that neither mad nor furious is really synonymous with angry, since mad also means ‘insane’, which angry does not, and since furious actually means something like ‘very angry’ (similar problems arise for other proposed synonyms, such as cross, livid, irate, enraged, etc.). Similarly, although Warlpiri kulu does often trans late English angry, it has a whole range of other meanings, including ‘mean’ and ‘fight’, which do not correspond to those of angry:

And as (24) exemplifies, Warlpiri does not share the same system of lexical categories as English, having a single category ‘nominal’ which contains words translated into English as both nouns and adjectives. Consequently, many instances of kulu will be translated into English as nouns: as a result, the synonymy with the adjective angry is destroyed. Thus, the provision of synonymy fails both as an extensional and as a cognitive definitional strategy. We will return to the question of synonymy in Section 5.1.5.

QUESTION What types of words are most easily defined through synonymy? For what words is synonymy least satisfactory as a definitional method?

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

شعبة التوجيه الديني النسوي تنظم مسابقة ثقافية بذكرى ولادة السيدة المعصومة (عليها السلام)

المجمع العلمي ينظّم محاضرةً تربوية لطلبة مشروع حفظ القرآن الكريم في كربلاء

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يقيم معرضًا وثائقيًا ضمن مهرجان (الشهيد) في جامعة الكوفة

قسم الشؤون الدينية يشهد إقبالًا واسعًا من المؤمنين لتنظيم عقود الزواج

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

دواء جديد يحمي القلب ويعزز علاج السرطان في آن واحد

سر غذائي بسيط لحماية القلب مع التقدم في العمر

علامات تشير إلى اختلال عمل الغدة الدرقية

السمنة واللقاحات.. دراسة تكشف تأثيراً سلبياً

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

البعوض في آيسلندا إشارة مبكرة على تحولات بيئية في القطب الشمالي

صاروخ يطلق قمرا اصطناعيا في مدار خاطئ

"أوبن إيه آي" تطلق نموذجا للعلوم الحيوية واكتشاف الأدوية

تفوق على البشر.. روبوت يحطم الرقم القياسي لسباق نصف ماراثون !

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Definition by context or typical exemplar

Definition by ostension

Real and nominal definition

Contextual modulation of meaning

Mismatches between grammatical and phonological words

Words and morphemes

The units of meaning

Word-based and meaning-based approaches to definition

The history of the dictionary

Meaning and use

Meanings as brain states

Meanings as concepts/mental representations