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1、TheOxfordThesaurusAnA-ZDictionaryofSynonymsINTROIntroduction=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Initsnarrowestsense,asynonymisawordorphrasethatisperfectlysubstitutableinacontextforanotherwordorphrase.Peoplewhostudylang
2、uageprofessionallyagreethatthereisnosuchthingasanidealsynonym,foritisvirtuallyimpossibletofindtwowordsorphrasesthatareidenticalindenotation(meaning),connotation,frequency,familiarity,andappropriateness.Indeed,linguistshavelongnotedtheeconomyoflanguage,whichsug
3、geststhatnolanguagepermitsaperfectfit,inallrespects,betweenanytwowordsorphrases.Manyexamplesofoverlappingcanbecited;themoreobviousonesinEnglisharethosethatreflectaduplicationarisingfromGermanicandRomancesources,likemotherlyandmaternal,farmingandagriculture,tea
4、chandinstruct.InsuchpairsthenativeEnglishformisoftentheonewithanearthier,warmerconnotation.Insomeinstances,whereanewcoinageoraloanwordhasbeenadoptedinadvertentlyduplicatinganexistingterm,creating'true'synonyms,thetwowillquicklydiverge,notnecessarilyinmeaningbu
5、tinusage,application,connotation,level,orallofthese.Forexample,scientistssomeyearsagoexpresseddissatisfactionwiththetermtidalwave,forthephenomenonwasnotcausedbytidesbut,usually,bysubmarineseismicactivity.ThewordtsunamiwasborrowedfromJapaneseinanattempttodescri
6、bethephenomenonmoreaccurately,butitwaslaterpointedoutthetsunamimeans'tidalwave'inJapanese.Today,thetermsexistsidebysideinEnglish,theolderexpressionstillincommonuse,thenewermorefrequentinthescientificandtechnicalliterature.Anysynonymbookmustbeseenasacompromiset
7、hatreliesonthesensitivityofitsuserstotheidiomaticnuancesofthelanguage.Initsbestapplications,itservestoremindusersofwords,similarinmeaning,thatmightnotspringreadilytomind,andtoofferlistsofwordsandphrasesthatarealternativestoandcompromisesforthosethatmightotherw
8、isebeoverusedandthereforeredundant,repetitious,andboring.TheOxfordThesaurusgoesastepfurtherbyofferingexamplesentencestoillustratetheusesoftheheadwordsandtheiralternativesinnatural,
