On Wang Li's Theory of Relation between Paronym and Synonym——with Methods of Finding the Difference from Paronyms
Huang Jin · Journal of Zhejiang University(Humanities and Social Sciences) · 2003
In his influential book The Theory of Paronym, Wang Li defines paronyms and synonyms as those having a hypotactic relation and proves that synonyms belong to a type of and make up a large number of paronyms by illustrating more than 200 pairs of synonyms. But many illustrated pairs do not agree with his classification or his definition. And the so called “hypotactic relation” is far from being correct. Paronyms and synonyms are word groups of different attributes and systems. The former refer to a word group which is related chiefly by a concept or morpheme vertically and cognately according to similar sound. The majority of paronyms are not synonyms. The latter refer to a word group which is formed horizontally on the basis of the same meaning and a historical plane. The majority of synonyms are not paronyms either. Paronyms and synonyms differ in terms of the purpose of research, the criterion of forming and the manner of research. Therefore, if synonym is regarded as a type of paronym, it is harmful to the study of paronym and even more harmful to the study of synonym, giving rise to the deviation from the said criterion and requirements for synonym and much confusion as well. This outcome can be found in Wang Li's book. But the majority of paronyms or synonyms are like points of the semantic coordinate. So they have overlapping relationship and their research interplay. The research into paronyms will act upon synonym discrimination and analysis. That is to say, the methods of finding the difference from paronyms (including those of finding the meaning from varied graphemes and phonetic elements) play a unique role to the discrimination and analysis of synonym. The major significance of looking into the relation between paronym and synonym lies in understanding the overlapping relationship of paronym and synonym and the methods of finding the difference from paronyms.