Visualizing Stylistic Differences in Chinese Synonyms

Abstract

Synonyms and near-synonyms are a major source of difficulty in the acquisition of Chinese vocabulary, possibly due to the formal similarities between them. It is also difficult to describe their stylistic differences in a clear and objective manner. The observations found in reference works such as dictionaries can be vague, equivocal, and limited in explanatory power. The present paper demonstrates how the corpus-based, multi-feature, multi-dimensional framework for studying register variation (Biber in Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1988) and Correspondence Analysis, a particular implementation of factor analysis, can be used to show stylistic differences in (near) synonyms by way of two-dimensional bi-plots (“stylistic maps” in a sense). After presenting a two-dimensional analysis for Chinese, five sets of synonyms will be used to demonstrate the approach, together with comparisons with previous observations. Not only can the present approach provide a clearer and more nuanced picture than what introspection allows, it also enables us to go beyond the spoken versus written dichotomy and gain a broader perspective on stylistic variation.

Appendices

Appendix A: 50 Features for the LCMC Study

• 我, 我们, 你, 你们, 他, 她, 他们, 了, 着, 过, 被, 使, 名, 动, 形

• 副, 地, 得, 的, 量, 名习, 介, 动习, 进行, 拟声, 将, 把, 之, 为, 所

• 于, 以, 与, 无, 名素, 动素, 形素, 副素, 连, 语, 形名, 非谓, 动名

• “?”, “!”, “:”, “‘‘”, “;”, “,”, “(”

Appendix B: 95 Features for the BCC Study

• “!”, “?”, “:”, ““”, “(”, “《”, “;”, 吗, 呢,

• 了1, 了2, 着, 过, 动名, 形名, 拟声, 的, 得, 地, 把, 将, 非谓,

• 被动, 使, 让, 我, 你, 他, 她, 我们, 你们, 他们, 她们, 购买, 具有

• 在于, 寻找, 获得, 巨大, 询问, 进入, 进行, 加以, 予以, 所, 以,

• 于, 与, 之, 之a, 为, 无, 未, 其, 非, 此, 该, 均, 皆, 自, 至, 及,

• 人, 人们, 人民, 没, 很, 是不是, 是否, 还, 仍, 仍然, 仍旧, 等候,

• 依然, 大大, 纷纷, 有加, 似乎, 仿佛, 不时, 一番, 女人, 女士, 女性,

• 女子, 妇女, 男人, 男子, 男士, 男性, 伟大, 欢喜, 晓得