Thesaurus Mini Dictionary

Author: Fan Xiao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: Tailored for students' Gaokao and Zhongkao exams, this Chinese reference book was once best-selling across the country, with sales reaching 1,200,000 copies. In terms of content, the old version was optimized according to new teaching requirements, emphasizing innovation, origin, cultivation, and practicality. In terms of form, the new version uses a dual-color printing design to achieve a combination of solemnity, elegance, liveliness, and novelty.
Synonyms refer to words that have the same or similar meanings. There are numerous synonyms in modern Chinese, which is a significant factor contributing to the richness of the vocabulary. Some synonyms are completely identical in meaning, known as absolute synonyms or exact synonyms, and are mostly nouns, such as " (bai tian - daytime)" and " (bai zhu - daylight)" or " (hou dai - descendants)" and " (hou bei - younger generations)." Due to their nearly identical meanings, such synonyms are often not included or included minimally in general synonym dictionaries. Most synonyms are verbs or adjectives, falling into the category of near-synonyms. In terms of morphological form, some have entirely different morphemes, such as " (měi li - beautiful)" and " (piào liang - pretty)," " (nu hu - roar)" and " (páo xiào - bellow)," or " (tong ji - path)" and " (dào lu - road)." Others share one identical morpheme and differ in another, such as " (bao wei - defend)" and " (hai wei - safeguard)," " (shi xing - implement)" and " (xing shi - put into practice)," " (shan shuo - flicker)" and " (shan yao - shine)," or " (chi zhi - handle)" and " (chu li - deal with)."
Synonyms arise from changes in social production and daily life. To reflect reality more finely, accurately, flexibly, and vividly, as well as to convey emotions and exchange ideas, people have created a large number of synonyms. The existence of synonyms is a result of long-term linguistic development and a sign of rich vocabulary. Additionally, using synonyms appropriately can make expression more vivid, accurate, and flexible, avoiding monotony or repetition, thereby enhancing the expressive power of language.
In Chinese language teaching, it is common to conduct semantic differentiation of synonyms. This is typically done by analyzing the semantic nature and scope of words, focusing on differences in meaning weight, emotional connotation, scope, level of generality, and target audience. Alternatively, one can analyze synonyms based on their usage, examining collocations, word class, and syntactic functions. Stylistic features can also be considered. Moreover, attention must be paid to the cross-relationships in meaning between certain words and other polysemes.
Differences in meaning weight refer to variations in the intensity of related synonyms. For example, " (ken qiu - beg)" carries a heavier meaning than " (qing qiu - request)" and is more solemn; " (chu xi - appear)" emphasizes "emergence," while " (chen xian - present)" emphasizes being placed before the eyes. The scope of meaning can vary, such as " (gong bu - publish)" having a broader scope than " (bu lan - promulgate)," " (you liang - excellent)" being more general than " (you xiu - outstanding)" or " (you yi - excellent)," " (ji hua - plan)" being broader than " (guo hua - plan)," " (biao yang - praise)" being more general than " (biao zheng - commend)," " (jiang bian - frontier)" referring to large areas, " (bing jing - borderland)" to linear zones, and " (bing yu - boundary)" to demarcation points.
Different collocations reflect grammatical differences between words. For example, " (lu xing - fulfill)" involves action and applies to " (ji hua - plan)," " (hong he - contract)," or " (fang an - plan)," while " (zhong xing - execute)" refers to implementation and applies to " (zheng ce - policy)," " (fa li - law)," " (ji hua - plan)," or " (ming ling - order)." " (shi he - suit)" often collocates with " (xing ge - personality)," " (te dian - features)," " (kou wei - taste)," or " (xu yao - need)," while " (fu he - conform to)" often collocates with " (li yi - interest)," " (yu wang - wish)," " (yuan ze - principle)," " (bing zhun - standard)," or " (gui ding - regulation)." Collocations also differ in word class, such as " (zhuang ai - obstruct)" being a verb that can take a direct object, like " (zhuang ai jiao tong - obstruct traffic)," while " (zhang ai - obstacle)" is a noun that can be the object of a verb, such as " (zao cheng zhang ai - cause an obstacle)."
Many synonyms have emotional connotations. People often express different attitudes and emotions when evaluating things or conveying feelings, which gives words connotations of praise, blame, neutrality, or whether they are colloquial or formal. For example, " (chan dong - incite)" is derogatory, while " (gu dong - urge)" is neutral; " (cheng guo - achievement)" is praise-worthy, while " (hou guo - consequence)" is derogatory; " (jie guo - result)" is neutral. " (guan xin - care for)" and " (guan huai - care for)" have different target audiences, while " (jiao ao - proud)," " (gao ao - arrogant)," and " (zì ao - proud)" carry different connotations. Additionally, connotations include regional color, rhetorical color, and stylistic features. Many synonyms form synonym clusters, where one word corresponds to multiple or multiple correspond to one. They differ in meaning alignment, overlap, and usage contexts, such as " (kui ben - lose money)," " (shi ben - lose money)," " (pei ben - lose money)," and " (zhe ben - lose money)," or " (xi zhi - meticulous)," " (zi xi - careful)," " (xi ni - delicate)," and " (jing xi - fine)," or " (ken qiu - beg)," " (qing qiu - request)," " (ai qiu - beg)," and " (yao qiu - demand)," or " (biao yang - praise)," " (biao zheng - commend)," and " (bao yang - praise)."
This dictionary includes over 4,200 modern Chinese synonym entries. When selecting entries, the compilers have made a special effort to minimize the inclusion of synonyms with identical meanings, particularly nouns. Some idioms also have synonymous relationships, but this dictionary does not include four-character synonymous idioms. Words often have multiple meanings, and the entries included in this dictionary only cover those with corresponding synonyms. Entries without corresponding synonyms are excluded. For example, " (jia ru - join)" has the meaning of "adding something in," as in " (jia ru shao liang yan - add a little salt)," but this meaning does not have a corresponding synonym. Therefore, the dictionary excludes this entry and includes only the meaning of "becoming a member," as in " (jia ru ju she - join the drama club)," with the corresponding synonym being " (can jia - participate)," as in " (can jia quan ti hui yi - attend the general meeting)."
This dictionary places great emphasis on analyzing semantic differences and usage features. When differentiating synonyms, it often employs morphological analysis to provide readers with a more accurate understanding and practical application. The analysis aims to briefly explain the stylistic features, emotional connotations, collocations with other words, or scope of application.