Re-Examination of Synonymy in the Standard Igbo

Abstract

This study examines synonymy in Standard Igbo (SI) to empirically determine if absolute synonyms actually exist in SI. By the application of cognitive linguistic theory and by adopting a descriptive survey method, the study tries to ascertain the factual behavior of synonyms in SI. The data used for this research work are gathered from documented materials from authors who have written on Igbo synonymy. Forty-six pairs of Igbo synonyms are subjected to analysis using the interchangeablity/substitution method to determine if members of a pair can always substitute each other in all contexts. The study discovers that there are always subtle but noticeable meaning differences realized between the members of the pairs, which is caused by contextual, collocational, and connotative restrictions. The study concludes that members of synonymous pairs in the SI differ from each other when they are placed in certain contexts. Hence, absolute synonyms do not exist in SI as claimed by some of previous scholars.