Synonym Dictionary (Cihai Edition) (New Edition)

Author: Fan Xiao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: 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 and are called absolute synonyms or perfect synonyms. These are mostly nouns, such as "daytime and day" or "descendants and successors." Due to their nearly identical meanings, such synonyms are often not included or included minimally in general synonym dictionaries. The majority of synonyms are verbs or adjectives, and they belong to a category of similar meanings. In terms of morphological form, some have entirely different morphemes, such as "beautiful and pretty," "roar and howl," or "way and road." Others share one identical morpheme and differ in one, such as "defend and safeguard," "implement and execute," "twinkle and shine," or "dispose of and handle."
Synonyms arise from changes or developments in social production and life. People create a large number of synonyms to reflect reality more finely, accurately, flexibly, and vividly, convey emotions, and exchange ideas. The existence of synonyms is a result of long-term development in human thought and a sign of rich vocabulary. Additionally, the appropriate use of synonyms allows for vivid, accurate, and flexible expression, avoiding monotony or repetition of words, thereby enhancing the expressive power of language.
In language teaching, synonyms are often analyzed for their semantic differences. The analysis of synonyms generally starts from the semantic properties and scope of words, examining differences in the weight of meaning, emotional connotation, range, level of generality, and target of application. It can also be based on usage, analyzing collocations, word class, and syntactic functions. Additionally, the style of language should be considered. It is also necessary to pay attention to the cross-relationships in meaning between certain words and other polysemous words.
The weight of meaning varies, meaning that related synonyms differ in the intensity of their meaning. For example, "beg" is more serious and solemn than "request," and "appear" focuses on "emergence," while "present" emphasizes being placed before the eyes. The scope of meaning can be broad or narrow, such as "publish" having a broader scope than "enact," "outstanding" having a wider range than "excellent or superior," "plan" having a broader meaning than "layout," "praise" having a broader applicability than "honor," "frontier" referring to a large area, "border" to a linear strip of land, and "boundary" to a dividing point.
Different collocations reflect differences in grammar. For example, "fulfill" refers to realizing something through action, involving objects like "plans, contracts, or schemes," while "execute" refers to implementation or putting into practice, involving objects like "policies, laws, plans, or commands." "Suitable" often collocates with "personality, characteristics, taste, or needs," while "conform" often collocates with "interests, wishes, principles, standards, regulations, or spirit." Collocations also differ in word class, such as "obstruct" (a verb) that can take a direct object, like "obstruct traffic," while "obstacle" (a noun) can be the object of a verb, like "create an obstacle."
Many synonyms have emotional connotations. When people evaluate things or express emotions, they often carry different attitudes and feelings, which makes words exhibit positive, negative, neutral, colloquial, or formal distinctions. For example, "instigate" is negative, while "motivate" is neutral; "achievement" is positive, while "consequence" is negative; "result" is neutral. "Care" and "concern" have different targets of application; "proud," "haughty," and "proud" have different connotations. At the same time, connotation also includes regional color, rhetorical color, and stylistic color.
Many synonyms form synonym clusters, where one word corresponds to multiple or multiple correspond to one or more. They differ in meaning alignment, cross-relationships, and contexts of application, scope, collocations, and restrictions. For example, "lose money, lose capital, lose money, and lose money," "detailed, careful, delicate, and fine," "beg, request, beg, and demand," and "praise, honor, and praise."
This dictionary includes over 4,200 modern Chinese synonym entries. When selecting entries, the compilers have paid special attention to including as few nouns with perfect synonym relationships as possible. Some idioms also have synonym relationships, but this dictionary does not include four-character synonymous idioms. Words often have polysemy, and the entries included in this dictionary only cover those with corresponding synonyms. Entries without corresponding synonyms are not included. For example, "join" has an entry for "adding something in or mixing it in," such as "add a little salt," but this entry does not have a corresponding synonym. Therefore, the dictionary does not include this entry and only includes "join in, become a member of," such as "join the drama club," with the corresponding synonym being "participate," like "participate in the general meeting."
This dictionary places great emphasis on analyzing the differences in meaning and applicability, often using morphological analysis to help readers understand and apply the words more accurately. When analyzing, it provides brief explanations of the stylistic features, emotional connotations, collocations with other words, or scope of application.