Corpus-based analysis of near-synonymous verbs

Abstract

AbstractDespite having different semantic profiles, near synonyms are usually presented in dictionaries as being contextually interchangeable, which may lead EFL learners to assume their contextual interchangeability. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of studies on how near synonyms are similar or different in their semantic and grammatical preferences. To enrich the literature on near synonyms’ semantic and grammatical profiles, this study explores the collocational behaviors and the semantic preferences of the near-synonymous verbs (affect vs. impact). Sketch Engine was used to examine lexical collocates, the colligational profile and the semantic prosody of the two verbs. The findings revealed fine-grained contextual differences in their collocational, grammatical, and semantic preferences. Applications of the findings for English language teaching will be discussed a long with recommendations for future research.