Distributional changes in synonym sets: the case of fragrant, scented, and perfumed in 19th- and 20th-century American English
This chapter analyzes the diachronic development in 19th- and 20th-century American English of the synonyms fragrant, perfumed, and scented, which denote the concept sweet-smelling. Their distributional patterns are examined by means of conditional inference trees and collocational networks in order...
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| Tipo de documento: | capítulo de livro |
| Data de publicação: | 2022 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| Repositório: | Docta Complutense |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/99258 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/99258 |
| Access Level: | Acceso aberto |
| Palavra-chave: | Sinonimia Cambio semántico Diacronía Semántica distribucional Inglés americano Árboles de inferencia condicional Filología inglesa 57 Lingüística 5702 Lingüística Diacrónica |
| Resumo: | This chapter analyzes the diachronic development in 19th- and 20th-century American English of the synonyms fragrant, perfumed, and scented, which denote the concept sweet-smelling. Their distributional patterns are examined by means of conditional inference trees and collocational networks in order to (1) uncover distinctions in meaning between the synonyms and (2) determine the changes that the concept sweet-smelling has experienced and their effect on the relationship between the synonyms. Results indicate a significant split between entities denoting natural and artificial smells, associated with fragrant and perfumed, respectively. In turn, scented is common in both senses. Moreover, a significant increase of scented at the expense of fragrant and perfumed emerges over time, a fact which can be accounted for in terms of processes of attraction, differentiation, and ongoing replacement. |
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