Lexical combinability of words, example sentences. Violation of lexical compatibility of words
Verbosity, or speech redundancy
Unjustified repetition of words (tautology)
Using a word in a meaning that is unusual for it.
Keep in mind that the most common vocabulary violations are the following.
Non-discrimination of paronymous words. Paronyms (from Greek. para"nearby" + Opota“name”) - words with the same root, similar in sound, but different in meaning: dress- put on, business trip- businessman, meaning- significance, warranty- guaranteed, economic-economical and so on. For example: At this enterprise there are selective(instead of elective) positions. Registration of travel allowances(instead of business travelers) is carried out in the lobby.
Incorrect use of synonyms. At the same time, the writer demonstrates inattention to the shades of meaning of synonymous words, leading to semantic violations. For example: 1) It's time to sum up the results(instead of results) of the meeting. Flaws(instead of shortcomings) in the team’s training were revealed at the very first competitions.
The presence of pleonasms in the text. Pleonasm(Greek pleopastos- “excess”) - the use in speech of words that are close in meaning and therefore logically unnecessary. These errors are most often caused by ignorance of the meaning of the borrowed word (when combining words of Russian and foreign origin that mean the same thing). For example: price list(necessary: price list), autobiography of life(necessary: autobiography), reality(necessary: reality or actuality), professional colleague(necessary: colleague), vacancy(necessary: job vacancy) and so on.
This is repetition (Greek tauto - “the same” and 1оgos - “meaning”) within a sentence of the same word, cognates, making it difficult to perceive the phrase and making it dissonant. For example: The processing process lasts several hours.
The use of words and phrases that carry unnecessary information. For example: words are superfluous work, activity, event with a pretext By in the following phrases - work to implement(necessary: implementation), implementation activities(necessary: implementation), implementation event(necessary: implementation) and so on.
Lexical compatibility is the ability of words to be combined with each other in speech: to pay a visit, to take action, to be of interest, to bring to attention, to be aware of. Typical mistakes: have a role(necessary: play a role), play a role(necessary: matter) and so on.
5. Using a word without taking into account its stylistic affiliation
The stylistic coloring of a word is additional information to the lexical meaning of a word, phrase or sentence about the scope of their use (official - unofficial), about the attribution of a linguistic unit to the style of a literary language (official business, scientific, newspaper journalistic, colloquial, the language of fiction) , about belonging to the time series (obsolete - new) and to the expressive category (high - reduced; literary - non-literary) of linguistic means.
The use of words in speech with a stylistic coloring that is unusual for a given communication situation or a given text is perceived as a speech error.
Working on the style of a work means, first of all, working on its vocabulary, since the word is the basis for understanding speech. Lack of clarity of speech is an invariable sign of confusion of thought, argued L.N. Tolstoy; Jokingly, the writer remarked: “If I were a king, I would make a law that a writer who uses a word whose meaning he cannot explain will be deprived of the right to write and receive 100 blows of the rod.”
The stylistic approach to the study of vocabulary puts forward the most important problem of choosing a word for the most accurate expression of thought. The correct use of words by the author is not only a virtue of style, but also a necessary condition for the informative value of the work and the effectiveness of its content. The wrong choice of word distorts the meaning of the statement, generating not only lexical, but also logical errors in speech.
Words should be used in strict accordance with their semantics, i.e. meaning. Each significant word has a lexical meaning, naming phenomena and objects of reality to which certain concepts correspond in our minds. With a clear presentation of thoughts, the words used by the authors fully correspond to their subject-logical meaning. V.G. Belinsky wrote: “Each word in a poetic work must so exhaust the entire meaning required by the thought of the whole work, so that it can be seen that there is no other word in the language that could replace it.”
1.2.2. Finding the right word
Finding the only necessary word in a text requires the writer to exert creative forces and tireless work. This work is sometimes reflected in manuscripts, allowing us to familiarize ourselves with the lexical substitutions that the author made, polishing the style of the work. For example, in the draft of the story by A.S. Pushkin’s “Dubrovsky” we find the following correction: Members (of the court) met him (Troekurov) with expressions of deep respect [deep devotion; deep servility] - the last word most expressively characterized the behavior of the officials bribed by Troyekurov, and the writer left it in the text.
N.V. worked a lot on their manuscripts. Gogol, L.N. Tolstoy, I.A. Goncharov, A.P. Chekhov, I.A. Bunin, A.I. Kuprin and other Russian writers. Finding the right word reflects their auto-editing. It is interesting to compare the original and final versions of some of the texts of our classics. Let us give examples from the story by N.V. Gogol "Taras Bulba".
Initial version | Published text |
1. The rising breeze made it clear that there was little time left before dawn. | 1. A rushing breeze let us know that there was little time left before dawn. |
2. The Cossacks made a noise and at once felt their strength. | 2. The Cossacks made a noise and immediately sensed their strength. |
3. ...They laughed at the Orthodox faith. | 3. They mocked the Orthodox faith. |
4. - “Good!” - repeated in the ranks of the Cossacks. | 4. - “The Koschevoi also said a kind word!” - echoed in the ranks of the Cossacks. |
5. “Well, well, tell me what it is!” - the crowd answered in one voice. | 5. ...the crowd shouted in one voice. |
6. These words penetrated like lightning. | 6. These words flew by like lightning. |
The desire to find the exact words encourages writers to edit the text, comparing possible options for expressing thoughts. N.A. Nekrasov we find such a stylistic correction in the description of the scene “at the front entrance”, which so amazed the poet, who later composed the famous poem: “There’s nothing to do, [let’s go, let’s go, head out, stretch] turned into a tavern.” As we can see, it was not so easy for the author to choose a verb of motion that conveyed the mood of the offended peasants.
The stylistic editing of the writers in the manuscript reflects the last stage of work on the text, and what kind of work preceded this, how many drafts were written and then destroyed, how many times the author uttered this or that phrase “to himself” before writing it down on paper - you can talk about this just guess.
A.P. Chekhov spoke about his work like this: “...I’m busy, busy up to my neck: I write and cross out, write and cross out.” He advised his brother: “You have to smudge it fiercely,” noting: “...I don’t want to admit stories without blots.” Reproaching one of the young writers for negligence, A.P. Chekhov reminded: “The manuscripts of all true masters are dirty, crossed out along and across, worn and covered with patches, which in turn are crossed out and defaced.” And he recommended working like this: “You need to write a story for 5-6 days and think about it all the time... It is necessary that each phrase, before being written down, lies in your brain for two days...” This enormous work of the writer on the word is hidden from us, because we see the finished work. The researcher, by comparing drafts and the white version, comparing different editions of works, partially penetrates into the writer’s creative laboratory and can judge by lexical substitutions how he worked on the word.
Many lexical substitutions were made by A.I. Kuprin, working on the article “In Memory of Chekhov.” Here are examples of a more precise choice of words in the process of stylistic editing of a manuscript by the writer himself:
Options | Published text |
1. - But no one knows what is most important in this person. | 1. - But no one realizes that most characteristic in this person. |
2. He could be kind and generous without loving, affectionate and gentle... without counting on appreciation. | 2. He could be kind and generous without loving, affectionate and sympathetic... without expecting gratitude. |
3. ...I came, it seems, with the main purpose of showing the then sick A. P-chu the production of his play. | 3. ...I came, it seems, with the sole purpose... |
An interesting edit by M. Gorky in the novel “Mother”:
Typically, writers correct lexical errors themselves during the editing process. The editor can also make stylistic edits to the manuscript. Authors for whom literary work is an unusual activity need the help of an editor, although literary editing of the text is not a prerequisite for its publication.
1.2.3. Speech errors caused by incorrect word choice
During the process of literary editing of a manuscript, the editor often has to note errors in word usage. The wrong choice of word makes the speech inaccurate, and sometimes distorts the meaning of the statement: The weather accompanied a good rest (instead of favorable); Martens will soon have an inheritance (meaning offspring); I want to continue the family dynasty and therefore decided to become an officer (instead of tradition). In such cases we talk about using a word without taking into account its semantics. Such lexical errors arise as a result of the author’s stylistic negligence, inattention to the word or poor knowledge of the language. Thus, in a newspaper article we read: New railways will appear in areas difficult to develop. The word “emerge” means “to appear, begin, form, originate”; it is not suitable for naming an action that requires significant effort. Suspicion, anxiety, doubt (spontaneous states) may arise, difficulties, obstacles may arise... Railways cannot arise, they are built by people.
The use of words without taking into account their semantics changes the meaning of the statement: The beginning of 1992 was marked by a deterioration climatic conditions- blizzards, sharp drops in temperature. The author meant, of course, weather conditions (bad weather), the climate could not change in one year.
When reading a manuscript, the editor has to weigh every word, eliminating such errors. Stylistic editing in such cases often comes down to a simple lexical replacement:
However, sometimes, in order to achieve accuracy and clarity, it is necessary to resort to more complex types of editing, updating the lexical composition of the sentence, changing the wording, and rebuilding the structure. Let's look at examples of such stylistic edits:
The use of words without taking into account their semantics can cause an illogical and even absurd statement.
In one essay it was written: “...And our Far Eastern birches stand in their wedding shroud” (the author confused the shroud and veil).
Such errors arise under the influence of false associations. At the entrance exam to the Academy of Printing, the young man wrote in his essay: “I know that the ancestors of A.S. are still alive. Pushkin” (of course, he meant the poet’s descendants). The absurdity of the statement in such cases gives the phrase a comical sound.
The inaccuracy of word usage is explained not only by the low speech culture of the author; sometimes they deliberately do not want to use this or that word in order to veil the negative meaning of the statement. They write: he fantasizes instead of lies, accepted gifts instead of took bribes, etc. Let us recall an episode from the story of A.I. Kuprin’s “Inquiry”: “Ask him, did he take boots from Esipaka?
The second lieutenant was again convinced of his inexperience and cowardice, because out of some bashful and delicate feeling he could not pronounce the real word “stole”. Words and expressions that soften the rough meaning of speech are called euphemisms (from the gr. eu - good, phēmi - I say). The euphemism of speech is often explained by the author’s desire to dull the critical edge of the statement when describing the negative phenomena of our life. For example, in a local newspaper, a correspondent reported: The collective farm board paid little attention to the protection of public property, while it should have been admitted that the collective farm board was irresponsible in protecting public property (or turned a blind eye to the theft of public property). Inaccuracy of speech in such cases leads the reader away from the truth and distorts the meaning.
Wrong word choice can cause various speech errors. Thus, due to inaccurate use of words, anachronism may arise (violation of chronological accuracy when using words associated with a certain historical era): In Ancient Rome, plebeians dissatisfied with the laws organized rallies (the word “meeting” appeared much later, and in England); In the 18th century, several printing houses were closed in Leningrad (the name of the city on the Neva, which the author used, was unknown in the 18th century; it should have been written: in St. Petersburg).
Incorrect use of words often leads to logical errors. Among them we will name alogism - a comparison of incomparable concepts, for example: The syntax of encyclopedic articles is different from other scientific articles. It turns out that the syntax is compared with scientific articles. Eliminating illogicality, you can write: The syntax of encyclopedic articles differs from the syntax of other scientific articles, or: The syntax of encyclopedic articles has a number of features that are unusual for the syntax of other scientific articles. Often identifying illogicalism does not cause difficulties; stylistic editing in these cases is simple:
However, sometimes the illogicalities are not so obvious, and in order to eliminate them, you have to significantly change the author's text. For example: Our knowledge of the riches of the earth's interior is only a small part of hidden, even greater riches. We can offer the following options for stylistic correction of this phrase: We still know so little about the richest deposits of minerals, the secret of which is kept by the bowels of the earth; Huge riches are hidden in the depths of the earth, about which we still know so little; Our knowledge of minerals is still so incomplete! We know only about a small part of the wealth hidden in the depths of the earth.
The reason for the illogicality of the statement may be the substitution of the concept, which often arises as a result of incorrect word usage: It’s bad when all the cinemas in the city show the same film title. Of course, it is the film that is shown, not its title. One could write: It’s bad when all the cinemas in the city show the same film. Similar errors in speech also arise due to insufficiently clear differentiation of concepts, for example: The theater staff is waiting for the approach of the premiere day with special excitement (they are waiting not for the approach of the premiere, but for when the premiere will take place).
In the case of substitution of a concept, stylistic editing can be different: sometimes it is enough to replace an unsuccessfully used word, in other cases lexical replacement is combined with the use of new, clarifying words, and finally, sometimes it is necessary to redo a sentence in order to correctly convey the author’s idea.
Our speech is also made illogical by the unjustified expansion or narrowing of the concept that arises as a result of mixing generic and specific categories: With good care, each animal can be milked 12 liters of milk (we should have used not the generic name - animal, but the specific name - cow); At any time of the day, medicine should come to the aid of a child. It should have been written: At any time of the day, medicine should come to the aid of the patient (after all, not only children need medical care).
It is especially common to observe the use of a generic name instead of a specific one, and this not only deprives the speech of accuracy, leads to the loss of those specific information that make up the living fabric of the narrative, but also gives the style an official, sometimes clerical, coloring. Generic names often seem more significant to the speaker and create the impression of “importance” of the statement. Therefore, as the writer P. Nilin noted, “a person who wants to speak out “more uncultured” sometimes does not dare to call a hat a hat, and a jacket a jacket. And instead he says strict words: headdress or outerwear” (Nilin P. The danger is not there // New World. - 1958. - No. 4.). K.I. Chukovsky, in his book “Alive as Life,” recalled how, during the preparation of a radio broadcast, they “edited” the speech of a young writer who was going to say: “It rained heavily.” “The head of the club winced:
This won't do. It should be more literary. It’s better to write like this: “Heavy precipitation fell.”
Unfortunately, this unfounded predilection for generic names becomes a kind of cliche: some authors, without thinking, give preference to precipitation over rain, downpours, drizzle, snow, blizzard; green spaces - in front of lilac, jasmine, rowan, bird cherry; bodies of water - in front of lakes, ponds, rivers, streams... Replacing species categories with generic ones makes our speech colorless, official. It is no coincidence that the great artist of words S.Ya. Marshak addressed his contemporaries with a bitter reproach: “...We called lunches and dinners food, but the room was living space for us.”
The reason for the illogicality of a statement and the distortion of its meaning sometimes lies in the unclear distinction between concrete and abstract concepts, for example: We need to think about winter feed for public animal husbandry (meaning, of course, feed for animals and livestock).
Let's look at examples of stylistic editing of sentences in which the illogicality of a statement is a consequence of an unjustified expansion of a concept or its narrowing, or the replacement of a specific concept with an abstract one:
Distortion of the meaning and even the absurdity of a statement arises as a result of a discrepancy between premise and consequence, for example: The rate of reproduction of pests depends on how persistently and systematically the fight against them is carried out. It turns out that the more pests are controlled, the faster they multiply. In this case, one should write not about the reproduction of pests, but about destruction, then the idea would be formulated correctly. Various options for stylistic editing of the proposal are acceptable: The speed of destruction of pests depends on how persistently and systematically the fight against them is carried out; Persistent pest control leads to faster destruction; In order to quickly destroy pests, it is necessary to wage a persistent and systematic fight against them; By persistently fighting pests, you can quickly achieve their destruction, etc.
Logical errors in speech are a great evil: they not only create ambiguity in the statement and distort its meaning, but also lead to absurdity and inappropriate comedy of speech. The parodic sound of certain statements in such cases negates their informational value. One advertisement, praising pills for those who want to lose weight, states: The company guarantees 100% weight loss.
Another example. While working on the manuscript of the article “Physical Education and Health,” the editor finds in it the following reasoning:
It is not old age that is terrible, but decrepitude, therefore It's better to die young and healthy. Many people think so.
The absurdity of the statement in this case arose due to the fact that the author did not notice the substitution of the concept by using the word die, but should have written: It would be nice to remain young and healthy until the end of your life, or: It would be nice to maintain vigor and health until old age. Careful attention to vocabulary, correct word choice, and thoughtful analysis of the logical side of speech will help the author and editor avoid such mistakes.
1.2.4. Lexical compatibility
For the correct use of words in speech, it is not enough to know their exact meaning; it is also necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the lexical compatibility of words, i.e. their ability to connect with each other. Thus, “similar” adjectives long, long, long, long-term, long are “attracted” to nouns in different ways: long period, long period (but not long, long, long period); long way, long way; long fees, long-term loan. Often words with the same meaning can have different lexical compatibility (cf.: a true friend - a genuine document).
The doctrine of lexical compatibility is based on the position of Acad. V.V. Vinogradov about phraseologically related meanings of words that have a single combinability (bosom friend) or limited combinability possibilities (stale bread, loaf; callous person, but you cannot say “stale candy” (chocolate), “callous comrade” (father, son).
For the development of the theory of lexical compatibility, Vinogradov’s identification of phraseological combinations and the establishment of the main types of lexical meanings of words in the Russian language were of great importance. Phraseological combinations are the subject of phraseology; the subject of lexical stylistics is the study of the combination in speech of words that have free meanings, and the determination of the restrictions that language imposes on their lexical compatibility.
Many linguists emphasize that the lexical compatibility of a word is inseparable from its meaning. Some scientists, studying the problems of lexical compatibility, come to the conclusion that there are no absolutely free combinations of lexemes in the language, there are only groups of words with different combinability capabilities. With this formulation of the question, the distinction between free combinations and phraseologically related ones is destroyed.
Combining words into phrases may encounter various kinds of restrictions. Firstly, words may not be combined due to their semantic incompatibility (purple orange, leaning back, water is burning); secondly, combining words into a phrase can be excluded due to their grammatical nature (mine - swim, close - cheerful); thirdly, the combination of words can be hampered by their lexical features (words denoting seemingly compatible concepts do not combine; they say to cause grief, trouble, but one cannot say to cause joy, pleasure).
Depending on the restrictions governing the combination of words, three types of compatibility are distinguished: semantic (from the term “semantics” - the meaning of a word), grammatical (more precisely, syntactic) and lexical.
Semantic compatibility is broken, for example, in the following cases: K today's hour no information yet; Need to speed up bloodshed settlement; My father's maiden name Sobakin; After Lensky's death, without a duel, Olga married a hussar... Funny combinations of words, isn't it? But if you think about it, in other cases a very undesirable hidden meaning arises: not to stop, but only to regulate the bloodshed?..
A parodic example of a violation of grammatical compatibility is known: My yours does not understand (possessive adjectives cannot be combined with verbs in the personal form). More examples: Our leader healthy inside and out ; Most of the time deputies spend on discussions.
The most dramatic violation of the laws of “word attraction” is lexical incompatibility: The voice of numbers is not comforting; In the recent past We all had our tongues held. Comedians play up the vivid effect of “deceived expectations” in caustic jokes: We were victorious and no longer has the right to hesitate; Reached the yawning peaks.
Violation of lexical compatibility is often explained by the incorrect use of polysemantic words. Thus, in its basic meaning, the word deep can be freely combined with any other that is suitable in meaning: deep (that is, having great depth) well, bay, reservoir, lake, river. However, in the meaning of “reaching the limit, complete, perfect,” this word is combined with few (deep autumn, winter, but not summer, not spring, deep night, silence, but not morning, not day, not noise; deep old age, but not youth). Therefore, the statement makes us laugh: B deep childhood he looked like his mother.
The word take place is interpreted in dictionaries through the synonyms happen, come true, but unlike them, this verb is appropriate if the planned events were prepared and planned (A meeting was held; A meeting of a candidate for Duma deputy with voters took place). And if the correspondent writes: On the streets of the city armed clashes took place, - one might think that armed clashes were prepared or planned by someone. As we can see, a violation of lexical compatibility can lead to a distortion of the meaning of the statement.
Lexical stylistics should focus on assessing lexical compatibility. However, the boundaries between different types of compatibility are very unclear, therefore, when analyzing a text stylistically, one has to talk not only about “pure” lexical compatibility, but also take into account various transitional cases.
All significant words that have free meanings can be divided into two groups. Some are characterized by compatibility, practically unlimited within the limits of their subject-logical connections; These are, for example, adjectives that characterize the physical properties of objects - color, volume, weight, temperature (red, black, big, small, light, heavy, hot, cold), many nouns (table, house, person, tree), verbs ( live, see, work, know). Another group is formed by words that have limited lexical compatibility (and in the case of polysemous words, this restriction can only apply to individual meanings). This group of words is of particular interest.
Limitations of lexical compatibility are usually characteristic of words that are rarely found in speech. Words that have the maximum frequency of use (they are included in the 2500 most frequent words in the Russian language) easily enter into lexical connections. For example, when comparing the compatibility of the words fear and fear, it turned out that the word fear is more actively combined with various verbs.
Lexical combinability of words is of an intralingual nature. In our native language, we usually “predict” possible variants of lexical connections of words (mainly by intuition). Markings of lexical compatibility in explanatory dictionaries are rare and inconsistent. Of practical importance is the “Dictionary of combinability of words in the Russian language,” ed. P.N. Denisova, V.V. Morkovkina (2nd ed. M., 1983).
1.2.5. Violation of lexical compatibility as a stylistic device
The assessment of lexical compatibility in expressive speech cannot be approached with the usual yardstick; here the laws of “attraction” of words to each other are special. In artistic and journalistic works, the boundaries of lexical compatibility can be expanded. For example, it has been noted that restrictions on semantic compatibility do not apply to figurative word usage: phrases are possible that seem meaningless if their constituent words are taken in their literal meaning (the sunset is blazing, the years are flying, dark thoughts). Semantic incompatibility of words is not an obstacle to the creation of artistic images. It is the violation of the usual connections of words, giving them new shades of meaning, that underlies many classical images that have become textbook examples of epithets, metaphors, metonymies: gray winter threat (P.); The bell cries loudly, and laughs, and squeals (Elm.); Sometimes he falls passionately in love with his elegant sadness... (L.); pot-bellied nut bureau (G.); mental and moral decollete, bald syllogism (S.-Sch.).
Violation of lexical compatibility can become an effective means of creating a comic sound of speech in a humorous context: From that day on, Evstigneika became famous (M. G.); an apple with a mole, an ebullient lazy person (I. and P.); based on a comprehensive and double-edged squabble (I. Ilf); single fox terrier (L. Lench). Violation of lexical compatibility as a striking stylistic device for creating a comic effect underlies various jokes and aphorisms that are usually published on the humorous pages of magazines and newspapers. For example: A genius was recognized alive (“LG”); It is difficult to forgive other people’s shortcomings, but even more difficult to forgive other people’s virtues; our sworn friends; an inveterate leader; Finally, the government achieved a significant deterioration in the life of the people; With perestroika, another event befell us: humanitarian aid from the West (from the newspaper).
Inconsistency makes headlines catchy: “A genre doomed to success” (about parody); “Memories of the Future” (movie title); “Alone with Everyone” (play by A. Gelman); “Lifelong Friend” (about V. Zhirinovsky’s “friendship” with Saddam Hussein); “Stalkers of the Sky” (about helicopter pilots working in areas of high radiation); “Turn on silence”; “What they were silent about on the subway”; “A long, multi-episode life”; “Bouquet of Stars” (variety). Poets often violate lexical compatibility. The unusual combinations of words in Vl’s songs are expressive. Vysotsky: Poets walk with their heels on the blade of a knife and cut their barefoot souls to blood. In unexpressive, prosaic speech, the phrases “walking with heels”, “barefoot souls” would seem impossible, absurd, but, in a poetic context, they amaze with their artistic power. Another example from a song by the same author: By morning they shot at the silent mountain echo... And stones splashed out like tears from the wounded rocks.
1.2.6. Violation of lexical compatibility as a speech error
If the author does not strive to achieve a certain stylistic goal, a violation of lexical compatibility becomes a speech error. This reflects a characteristic feature of the dialectical nature of language: in one case, a phenomenon that represents a deviation from the linguistic norm turns out to be an effective means of creating speech expression, in another - evidence of the author’s negligence and inattention to the word. Involuntary violation of lexical compatibility is a very common speech error.
“Although in these competitions our favorite skaters were defeated, the audience greets them standing,” says the sports commentator (but: they win, they lose). “Perhaps insomnia has come to you, and you are lying without closing your blue gaze,” the poet writes (but: you can close your eyes, not your gaze). In the essay, the journalist notes: “The basin produced cozy experience"(you can make a pleasant impression, not a cozy one). Some words are often used in speech in incorrect combinations (meeting convened, conversation read, increase attention, give meaning, increase horizons, etc.).
Violation of lexical compatibility can be caused by contamination of outwardly similar phrases. For example, they say: to satisfy modern needs, mixing combinations; to satisfy requirements and meet needs; From him recovered material damage in favor of the victims (material damage can be compensated; money can be recovered); People's museums have improved the artistic level of their exhibitions (the level can increase, improve; the quality can be improved). More examples of contamination of phrases: take measures (take measures - take steps); earned fame (gained fame - earned respect); unrelenting help (constant help - unremitting attention); doesn't matter (doesn't matter - doesn't matter). The mixture of phrases was the reason for a joke:
Tastes could not be discussed:
Some people respect apricots in brine,
Others like jam with mustard.
But none of this matters
And, besides, it doesn’t matter.
(E. Svistunov)
When using words that have extremely limited possibilities for lexical connections, a violation of lexical compatibility often becomes the reason for the comic sound of speech. For example: Serious problems came crashing down on young entrepreneurs by surprise; Leaders paid serious attention to shortcomings achieved; They worked like the best notorious specialists; People came to us dejected by experience. The comedy in such cases arises because words that have limited lexical compatibility suggest variants of phrases with often directly opposite meanings (cf.: achieved successes, notorious swindlers, dejected by grief).
Let's look at examples of stylistic editing of sentences in which lexical compatibility is violated:
As you can see, stylistic editing mainly comes down to replacing words, the use of which led to a violation of lexical compatibility.
1.2.7. Speech failure
A careless attitude towards language can cause speech insufficiency - accidental omission of words necessary for the precise expression of a thought: The management must strive to get rid of this indifference (missed); Oil paintings are placed in frames (missing written). Speech impairment often occurs in oral speech when the speaker is in a hurry and does not monitor the correctness of the statement. Comic situations arise if the “speaker” addresses those present using a microphone. So, at a dog show you can hear appeals to the owners of purebred dogs:
Dear participants, sort it out by breed and get ready for the parade!
Comrade participants, wipe their faces thoroughly from saliva to facilitate examination of the dental system!
Prizewinners, please come urgently for the award ceremony. Owners without muzzles will not be awarded.
From such calls from the administrator it follows that all these tests await not the dogs, but their owners, because it is to them that the speech is addressed. With speech insufficiency, ambiguity often arises; here are examples of such errors included in protocols and other business documents: Gr. Kalinovsky L.L. was driving down the street without a license plate; Set the day for the submission of insurance agents to the accounting department before the 10th day of each month; We will send the persons you are interested in by mail; Class teachers ensure the attendance of their parents.
Due to speech insufficiency, the grammatical and logical connections of words in a sentence are disrupted, its meaning is obscured. Omitting words can completely distort the author’s thought: To improve production indicators, it is necessary to unite all workers involved in economic issues (it is necessary: to unite the efforts of all workers); Due to the cold in the room, we only do urgent fractures - a notice on the X-ray room door (this refers to urgent X-ray images of fractures).
Omitting a word can cause various logical errors. Thus, the absence of the necessary link in the expression of thought leads to illogicality: The language of Sholokhov’s heroes differs sharply from the heroes of other writers (one can compare the language of Sholokhov’s heroes only with the language of the heroes of other writers); The conditions of the city are different from those of the village (it is permissible to compare the living conditions in the city only with the living conditions in the village).
Often, as a result of missing a word, a substitution of a concept occurs. For example: Patients who have not visited the outpatient clinic for three years are placed in the archive - we are talking about patient cards, and from the text it follows that “patients are submitted to the archive.” Such speech insufficiency gives rise to the comedy and absurdity of the statement [Kuibyshev river port produces men for permanent and temporary work as port workers (“Kr.”); She took second place in gymnastics among girls of the 2nd category (“Kr.”); The State Insurance Inspectorate invites you to Gosstrakh any Thursday for injury (announcement)].
Speech insufficiency, which arises as a result of the author’s stylistic negligence, can be easily corrected: you need to insert an accidentally missed word or phrase. For example:
1. Farmers strive to increase the number of sheep on their farm. | 1. Farmers strive to increase the number of sheep on the farm. |
2. The competition showed that strong checkers players on the hundred-square board appeared in our city. | 2. The competition showed that strong checkers players appeared in our city, playing on a hundred-square board. |
3. Isochrones - lines on geographic maps passing through points on the earth's surface at which a particular phenomenon occurs at the same moment. | 3. Isochrones - lines on geographical maps passing through points relevant points on the earth's surface at which one or another natural phenomenon occurs at the same moment. |
If the speaker “does not find the words” to correctly express the thought and constructs the sentence somehow, omitting certain links in the chain of logically related concepts, the phrase becomes insufficiently informative, chaotic, and the editor correcting such a statement has to work hard to achieve clarity. For example, in the manuscript of an article about the restoration of a printing enterprise we read: At first, equipment was installed in a format of half a printed sheet. Based on this “truncated” information, it is not easy to guess that when the printing plant resumed its work, equipment was initially installed only for the production of products in a half-sheet format. Insufficient information content of a sentence in which important words and phrases are omitted especially often leads to the absurdity of a statement, which could be observed in “stagnant times” when our newspapers published numerous reports about “victories and conquests” in the implementation of five-year plans. For example: On this shift, between 16 and 20 hours, the thousandth billion Soviet power engineers were produced. It is not easy to reconstruct the truth from such a message; in reality, we are talking about the fact that Soviet power engineers, working on the evening shift, gave the country a thousandth billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Speech insufficiency, as a common error, should be distinguished from ellipsis - a stylistic figure based on the deliberate omission of one or another member of a sentence to create special expressiveness. The most expressive are elliptical constructions without a predicate verb, conveying the dynamism of movement (I am for a candle, the candle is in the stove! I am for a book, that is to run and jump under the bed. - Chuk.). With ellipsis, there is no need to “restore” the missing members of the sentence, since the meaning of elliptical constructions is clear, and the introduction of clarifying words into them will deprive them of the expression, their inherent lightness. In case of speech insufficiency, on the contrary, restoration of missing words is necessary; without them, the sentence is stylistically unacceptable.
1.2.8. Speech redundancy
The ability to find the exact words to name certain concepts helps to achieve brevity in the expression of thoughts, and, on the contrary, the author’s stylistic helplessness often leads to verbal redundancy - verbosity. Scientists and writers A.P. have repeatedly drawn attention to verbosity as a great evil. Chekhov noted: “Brevity is the sister of talent.” A.M. Gorky wrote that laconicism, as well as accuracy of presentation, is not easy for a writer: “... It is extremely difficult to find the exact words and put them in such a way that a few can say a lot, “so that words are cramped, thoughts are spacious.”
Verbosity comes in various forms. One can often observe an obsessive explanation of well-known truths: Consumption of milk is a good tradition, not only children eat milk, the need for milk, the habit of milk persists until old age. Is this a bad habit? Should I give it up? - No! Such idle talk is naturally suppressed by the editor: arguments that do not represent informational value are excluded during literary editing. However, such editing-reduction is not directly related to lexical stylistics, since it affects not the lexical side of the text, but its content.
The subject of lexical stylistics is speech redundancy that occurs when the same thought is repeated, for example: They were shocked by the sight of the fire, which they witnessed; Our athletes arrived at international competitions in order to to take part in competitions in which not only ours, but also foreign athletes will participate; He could not stay away from family conflicts, as a woman's husband and children's father; The machine park was updated with new machines (emphasized words are superfluous).
Sometimes the manifestation of speech redundancy borders on absurdity: The corpse was dead and did not hide it. Stylists call such examples of verbosity lapses of speech. The origin of this term is not without interest: it is formed on behalf of the French marshal Marquise of La Palisa, who died in 1525. The soldiers composed a song about him, which included the words: Our commander was alive 25 minutes before his death. The absurdity of the blunder lies in the assertion of a self-evident truth.
Lapalissades add inappropriate comedy to speech, often in situations that arose as a result of tragic circumstances. For example: Since the executive editor of the collection has died, it is necessary to introduce a new living editor to the editorial board; The dead corpse lay motionless and showed no signs of life .
Speech redundancy can take the form of pleonasm. Pleonasm (from the gr. pleonasmos - excess) is the use in speech of words that are close in meaning and therefore superfluous (the main essence, everyday routine, uselessly disappears, to have a presentiment in advance, valuable treasures, dark darkness, etc.). Often pleonasms appear when combining the synonyms kissed and kissed; long and prolonged; courageous and brave; only; nevertheless, however; for example.
Also A.S. Pushkin, considering brevity one of the merits of the work, reproached P.A. Vyazemsky in a letter to him because in his fairy tale “Terrain of the Territory” the speech of one of the characters is “extended”, and the phrase “Almost doubly painful is almost pleonasm.”
Pleonasms usually arise due to the stylistic negligence of the author. For example: Local forest workers do not limit themselves only to protecting the taiga, but also do not allow the richest gifts of nature to be wasted in vain. When making stylistic edits, highlighted words must be excluded. However, one should distinguish such a manifestation of speech redundancy from “imaginary pleonasm,” to which the author consciously turns to as a means of enhancing the expressiveness of speech. In this case, pleonasm becomes a striking stylistic device. Let us remember F. Tyutchev: The vault of heaven, burning with the glory of the stars. Looks mysteriously from the depths, And we float, a burning abyss surrounded on all sides; S. Yesenina: Give me your paw, Jim, for luck. I have never seen such a paw. Let's bark with you in the moonlight quiet, silent weather... Another example: The time when the history of our country was rewritten for the sake of a false ideology will not return (from the newspaper).
The use of pleonastic combinations is also typical for folklore: Where are you going, Volga? Where are you going? To give you a place by name, by patronymic... In oral folk art, expressively colored pleonastic combinations of sadness-melancholy, sea-okiyan, path-path, etc. have traditionally been used.
A type of pleonasm is tautology (from the gr. tauto - the same, logos - word). Tautology as a phenomenon of lexical stylistics can arise when repeating words with the same root (tell a story, multiply many times, ask a question, resume again), as well as when combining a foreign and Russian word that duplicates its meaning (memorable souvenirs, debuted for the first time, an unusual phenomenon that drives leitmotif). In the latter case, they sometimes talk about a hidden tautology.
Repetition of cognate words, creating a tautology, is a very common mistake (the Plaintiff proves his case unsubstantiated evidence; Crime increased; Citizens are pedestrians! Cross the street only along pedestrian crossings!). The use of cognate words creates unnecessary “treading water”, for example: ... It follows quite naturally that labor productivity at certain stages of technological development is determined completely certain patterns. To comprehend such a statement, it is necessary, first of all, to get rid of the tautology. The following variant of stylistic correction is possible: A well-founded conclusion follows that labor productivity at various stages of technological development is determined by objective laws.
However, repetition of cognate words should not always be considered a stylistic error. Many stylists rightly believe that excluding words of the same root from sentences, replacing them with synonyms, is not always necessary: in some cases this is impossible, in others it can lead to impoverishment and discoloration of speech. Several cognate words in a close context are stylistically justified if related words are the only carriers of the corresponding meanings and they cannot be replaced by synonyms (coach - train; elections, voters - choose; habit - get out of the habit; close - lid; cook - jam, etc. .). How to avoid, say, the use of cognate words when you need to say: White flowers bloomed on the bushes; The book was edited by the editor-in-chief?
The language has many tautological combinations, the use of which is inevitable, since they use terminological vocabulary (dictionary of foreign words, fifth-level unit, first-team foreman, etc.). We have to put up with this, for example, word usage: investigative authorities... investigated; suffer from Graves' disease; the seam is cut by a cutting machine, etc.
Many words related from an etymological point of view in the modern language have lost their word-formation connections (cf.: remove - raise - understand - hug - accept, song - rooster, morning - tomorrow). Such words, which have a common etymological root, do not form tautological phrases (black ink, red paint, white linen).
A tautology that occurs when a Russian word is combined with a foreign word that has the same meaning usually indicates that the speaker does not understand the exact meaning of the borrowed word. This is how the combinations young prodigy, minuscule little things, interior, leading leader, break interval, etc. appear. Tautological combinations of this type sometimes become acceptable and become fixed in speech, which is associated with a change in the meanings of words. An example of a loss of tautology would be the combination of time period. In the past, linguists considered this expression to be tautological, since the word period means “time” in Greek. However, the word period gradually acquired the meaning of "a period of time", and therefore the expression period of time became possible. The combinations monumental monument, real reality, exhibits of an exhibition, second-hand book and some others also became entrenched in speech, because in them the definitions ceased to be a simple repetition of the main feature already contained in the word being defined. The tautology that arises when using abbreviations in scientific and official business styles does not require stylistic editing, for example: the SI system [i.e. “system International System” (about physical units)]; BelNIISH Institute (Belarusian Research Institute of Agriculture).
Tautology, like pleonasm, can be a stylistic device that enhances the effectiveness of speech. In colloquial speech, such tautological combinations as do service, all sorts of things, bitter grief, etc. are used, adding special expression. Tautology underlies many phraseological units (to eat, to see, to walk, to sit, to sit, crammed, to go to waste). Tautological repetitions in artistic speech, mainly in poetic speech, acquire especially important stylistic significance.
There are tautological combinations of several types: combinations with a tautological epithet (And the new thing was not old, but new new and victorious. - Sl.), with the tautological instrumental case (And suddenly there was a white birch tree in a gloomy spruce forest alone. - Sol.). Tautological combinations in the text stand out against the background of other words; this makes it possible, by resorting to tautology, to draw attention to particularly important concepts (So, lawlessness has been legalized; Less and less remains with nature unsolved mysteries). The tautology in the headlines of newspaper articles has an important semantic function (“The green shield asks for protection”; “ Extremes of the Extreme north”, “Is it an accident?”, “Is the old bicycle outdated?”).
Tautological repetition can give a statement special significance, aphorism ( To the winner student from defeated teacher. - Bug.; Fortunately, the fashion circle is no longer in fashion. - P.; AND old thing is outdated, and the old are delirious of the newness. - P.). As a source of speech expression, tautology is especially effective if words of the same root are compared as synonyms (It’s like they haven’t seen each other for two years, their kiss was long, long. - Ch.), antonyms (When did we learn to be strangers? When did we forget how to speak? - Evt. ).
Like any repetitions, tautological combinations increase the emotionality of journalistic speech [Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony is dedicated to the celebration human in man... To the threat of fascism - dehumanize a person- the composer responded with a symphony about the victorious triumph of everything lofty and beautiful. - A.T.].
Stringing of cognate words is used in gradation (from the Latin gradatio - gradualness) - a stylistic figure based on a consistent increase or decrease in emotional-expressive significance (Oh! for the sake of our past days deceased, ruined happiness, do not destroy the last fate in my soul! - Og.).
In expressively colored speech, tautological repetitions, like the repetition of sounds, can become an expressive means of phonics (Then the tractors with guns pulled up, the field kitchen drove by, then the infantry walked. - Shol.). Poets often combine both techniques - repetition of roots and repetition of sounds (Everything is good: the poet sings, the critic is engaged in criticism. - Lighthouse.).
The possibility of a punning collision of words with the same root makes it possible to use tautology as a means of creating comedy and satirical overtones. N.V. mastered this technique brilliantly. Gogol, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (Let me not allow you to do this; The writer writes, and the reader reads). Tautology is also used as a means of comedy by modern authors of humorous stories, feuilletons, and jokes (Efficiency: Do not do, but you cannot redo all the things; The ladybug, nicknamed the ladybug, shamelessly destroys potato plantings. - “LG”).
1.2.9. Repeating words
Repetition of words should be distinguished from tautology, although it is often a manifestation of speech redundancy. Unjustified lexical repetitions, which are often accompanied by tautology and pleonasms, usually indicate the author’s inability to clearly and concisely formulate a thought. For example, in the minutes of a meeting of the pedagogical council we read: The essay was copied, and the one who copied does not deny that he copied the essay, and the one who allowed it to be copied even wrote that he allowed the essay to be copied. So the fact is established. Couldn't this idea have been formulated briefly? One only had to indicate the names of those responsible for what happened: Ivanov does not deny that he copied the essay from Petrov, who allowed him to do this.
To avoid lexical repetitions, during literary editing it is often necessary to significantly change the author’s text:
1. Were results received, close to results obtained on a ship model. Results showed... | 1. Results were obtained close to those obtained by testing the ship model. This indicates that... |
2. It is good to add a small amount of bleach to the water for washing the floor - this is a good disinfection and, in addition, it refreshes the air in the room well. | 2. It is recommended to add a little bleach to the water for washing the floor: it disinfects and freshens the air well. |
3. You can always be well dressed and in fashion if you sew for yourself. | 3. Sew yourself, and you will always be dressed fashionably and beautifully. |
However, repetition of words does not always indicate the author’s stylistic helplessness: it can become a stylistic device that enhances the expressiveness of speech. Lexical repetitions help to highlight an important concept in the text (Live forever, learn forever - last; Good is paid for with good - final). This stylistic device was masterfully used by L.N. Tolstoy: She [Anna] was charming in her simple black dress, charming were her full arms with bracelets, charming was her firm neck with a string of pearls, charming was her curly hair out of place, charming were the graceful light movements of her little legs and arms, charming was this beautiful face in its revival; but there was something terrible and cruel in her charm. Publicists turn to repetition of words as a means of logical isolation of concepts. Interesting, for example, are the headlines of newspaper articles: “Mighty forces of a mighty land” (about Siberia), “Opera about opera” (about a musical theater performance), “Be a man, man!”
Repetition of words is usually characteristic of emotionally charged speech. Therefore, lexical repetitions are often found in poetry. Let's remember Pushkin's lines: The novel is classic, ancient, excellently long, long, long...
In poetic speech, lexical repetitions are often combined with various techniques of poetic syntax that enhance emphatic intonation. For example: You hear: a drum is rumbling. Soldier, say goodbye to her, say goodbye to her, the platoon leaves into the fog, fog, fog, and the past is clearer, clearer, clearer... (Ok.) One of the researchers wittily noted that repetition does not at all mean an invitation to say goodbye twice; it can mean: “soldier, hurry up to say goodbye, the platoon is already leaving”, or “soldier, say goodbye to her, say goodbye forever, you will never see her again”, or “soldier, say goodbye to her, your only one”, etc. . Thus, “doubling” a word does not mean a simple repetition of a concept, but becomes a means of creating a poetic “subtext” that deepens the content of the statement.
By stringing identical words, you can reflect the nature of visual impressions (But the infantry goes, goes past pine trees, pine trees, pine trees endlessly. - Meadow.). Lexical repetitions sometimes, like a gesture, enhance the expressiveness of speech:
The battle raged for the crossing,
And below, a little to the south -
Germans from left to right,
Being late, we continued on our way. (...)
And on the left on the move, on the move
The bayonets arrived in time.
They were pushed into the water, into the water,
And flow the water...
(A.T. Tvardovsky)
Lexical repetitions can also be used as a means of humor. In the parody text, a jumble of identical words and expressions reflects the comedy of the situation being described:
It is very important to be able to behave in society. If, when inviting a lady to dance, you stepped on her foot and she pretended not to notice it, then you must pretend not to notice, just as she noticed, but pretended not to notice. - “LG.”
Thus, in artistic speech, verbal repetitions can perform various stylistic functions. This must be taken into account when giving a stylistic assessment of the use of a word in the text.
Syntagmatic relations in vocabulary
Syntagmatics is a set of rules and patterns that determine the relationships between units in a speech chain. Syntagmatic relations are based on the linear nature of speech, which excludes the possibility of pronouncing two linguistic elements simultaneously, and allows this pronunciation only in a linear time sequence.
B.A. Larin identifies 4 aspects of word combinability: 1) combinability may depend on the part-speak of the word; 2) compatibility can be determined by the real meaning of the word; 3) compatibility may be due to the stylistic gravity of the word; 4) compatibility may be associated with the tradition of word use.
According to the compatibility features of V.V. Vinogradov divided all meanings of the word into free and bound. The compatibility features of the word are visible already in a minimal context, cf.: a skirt with holes, a jacket, a rag, a roof, a pan - a memory with holes.
The phraseologically related meaning of a word can be characterized by three features. A word with a phraseologically related meaning requires an obligatory companion word; it is semantically dependent (1); its compatibility with other words is semantically and lexically limited (2), it has a narrow quantitative compatibility (3), cf.: bosom friend, excellent student.
Syntactically limited meanings are realized in a word only when it is used as a specific member of a sentence or in a characteristic syntactic environment, cf.: Girl - picture! I haven’t seen such a bear for a long time: he crushed all my legs while they were dancing; It's simply impossible to dance with this bear; What a bear! V.V. Vinogradov called syntactically limited meanings predicative-characterizing.
Lexical meaning, inseparable from strictly defined forms of compatibility of a word with other words, realized only when the word is used in a special syntactic construction, V.V. Vinogradov called it constructively conditioned, cf.: play in ┘, play on ┘, play someone, etc. This meaning most often turns out to be simultaneously syntactically limited or phraseologically related, so the question of isolating constructively conditioned meanings into a special type remains controversial.
The stylistic affiliation of words can act as a factor limiting their compatibility. A significant part of stylistic synonyms, according to the observations of V.V. Vinogradov, is devoid of direct, free nominative meaning. These words do not express their main meaning directly, but through that semantically basic or supporting word, which is the basis of the corresponding synonymous series and the nominative meaning of which is directly aimed at reality, cf.: one can put on (“dress”) a mantle, a toga, a royal attire, but not in a tracksuit, jacket, quilted jacket, etc.
Lexical compatibility For the correct use of words in speech, it is not enough to know their exact meaning; it is also necessary to take into account the features of lexical compatibility of words, that is, their ability to connect with each other. Thus, “similar” adjectives long, long, long, long-term, long are “attracted” to nouns in different ways: long period, long period (but not long, long, long period); long way, long way; long fees, long-term loan.
Often words with the same meaning can have different lexical compatibility (cf.: a true friend - a genuine document). The doctrine of lexical compatibility is based on the position of Academician V.V. Vinogradov about phraseologically related meanings of words that have a single combinability (bosom friend) or limited combinability possibilities (stale bread, loaf; callous person, but you cannot say “stale candy” (chocolate), “callous comrade” (father, son). For In the development of the theory of lexical compatibility, Vinogradov’s identification of phraseological combinations and the establishment of the main types of lexical meanings of words in the Russian language were of great importance. See: Vinogradov V.V. Main types of lexical meanings of words in the Russian language // Selected works: lexicology and lexicography. 1977. P. 162-189. Phraseological combinations are dealt with by phraseology, the subject of lexical stylistics is the study of the combination in speech of words that have free meanings, and the determination of the restrictions that the language imposes on their lexical compatibility. Many linguists emphasize that the lexical compatibility of a word is inseparable from. its meaning. Some scientists, studying the problems of lexical compatibility, come to the conclusion that there are no absolutely free combinations of lexemes in the language, there are only groups of words with different combinability capabilities. With this formulation of the question, the distinction between free combinations and phraseologically related ones is destroyed. Combining words into phrases may encounter various kinds of restrictions. Firstly, words may not be combined due to their semantic incompatibility (purple orange, leaning back, water is burning); secondly, combining words into a phrase can be excluded due to their grammatical nature (mine - swim, close - cheerful); thirdly, the combination of words can be hampered by their lexical features (words denoting seemingly compatible concepts do not combine; they say to cause grief, trouble, but one cannot say to cause joy, pleasure). Depending on the restrictions governing the combination of words, three types of compatibility are distinguished: semantic compatibility (from the term “semantics” - the meaning of the word), grammatical compatibility (more precisely, syntactic) and lexical lexical compatibility. Semantic compatibility is broken, for example, in the following cases: As of today, there is no information yet; There is a need to speed up the resolution of the bloodshed; My father's maiden name is Sobakin; After Lensky's death, without a duel, Olga married a hussar. .. Funny combinations of words, isn't it? But if you think about it, in other cases a very undesirable hidden meaning arises: not to stop, but only to regulate the bloodshed?.. A parodic example of a violation of grammatical compatibility is known: My yours does not understand (possessive adjectives cannot be combined with verbs in the personal form). More examples: Our leader is healthy inside and out; Deputies spend most of their time on discussions. The most dramatic violation of the laws of “word attraction” is lexical incompatibility: The voice of numbers is not comforting; In the recent past, we all had our tongues held. Comedians play up the vivid effect of “deceived expectations” in caustic jokes: We have won and have no right to hesitate any longer; We reached the yawning peaks. Violation of lexical compatibility
Violation of lexical compatibility is often explained by the incorrect use of polysemantic words. Thus, in its basic meaning, the word deep can be freely combined with any other that is suitable in meaning: deep (that is, having great depth) well, bay, reservoir, lake, river. However, in the meaning of “reaching the limit, complete, perfect,” this word is combined with few (deep autumn, winter, but not summer, not spring, deep night, silence, but not morning, not day, not noise; deep old age, but not youth). Therefore, the statement makes us laugh: In deep childhood he looked like his mother. The word take place is interpreted in dictionaries through the synonyms happen, come true, but unlike them, this verb is appropriate if the planned events were prepared and planned (A meeting was held; A meeting of a candidate for Duma deputy with voters took place). And if a correspondent writes: Armed clashes took place on the streets of the city, you might think that armed clashes were being prepared or planned by someone. As we can see, a violation of lexical compatibility can lead to a distortion of the meaning of the statement. Lexical stylistics should focus on assessing lexical compatibility. However, the boundaries between different types of compatibility are very unclear, therefore, when analyzing a text stylistically, one has to talk not only about “pure” lexical compatibility, but also take into account various transitional cases. All significant words that have free meanings can be divided into two groups. Some are characterized by compatibility, practically unlimited within the limits of their subject-logical connections; These are, for example, adjectives that characterize the physical properties of objects - color, volume, weight, temperature (red, black, big, small, light, heavy, hot, cold), many nouns (table, house, person, tree), verbs ( live, see, work, know). Another group is formed by words that have limited lexical compatibility (and in the case of polysemous words, this restriction can only apply to individual meanings). This group of words is of particular interest. Limitations of lexical compatibility are usually characteristic of words that are rarely found in speech. Words that have the maximum frequency of use (they are included in the 2500 most frequent words in the Russian language) easily enter into lexical connections. For example, when comparing the compatibility of the words fear and fear, it turned out that the word fear is more actively combined with various verbs. Lexical combinability of words is of an intralingual nature. In our native language, we usually “predict” possible variants of lexical connections of words (mainly by intuition). Markings of lexical compatibility in explanatory dictionaries are rare and inconsistent.
The question of the nominative nature of the phrase. a. Recognition of the concept of nominativeness of a phrase by Vinogradov. Consequently, the phrase is a nominative unit, since it has the property of linguistic units to name objects and phenomena reflected in concepts (sad look, joyful events) EVIDENCE: - expansion of the meaning of the term “nominativity”: a separate word (sea) - minimal nomination, phrase (blue sea) – an expanded, ornamented nomination. -Rethinking the concept of “nominativity”: a word, a phrase, and a sentence have a specific nominativity. The nominative nature of a sentence is communicative in nature: the sentence describes the situation as a whole (propositive nomination). b. Denial of the concept of nominativeness of the phrase. EVIDENCE: -Not all phrases are nominative (buy a book, put on a ring, wave your arms): “the action is not unified with the objects to which it is directed and with the accompanying circumstances.” (Gvozdev) -The main feature of a phrase is not nominativity, but relativity! Since the phrase denotes at least 2 realities in their interrelation and describes a fragment of a situation.
How do phrases and sentences relate? 1) A phrase as an independent nominative unit of language is a building material for a sentence and exists “before the sentence” (Vinogradov, Shvedova, Prokopovich, Sirotinina, Babaytseva, Valgina). 2) A phrase as a non-independent unit of language is isolated from a sentence, “before the sentence” (Shakhmatov, Sukhotin, Gvozdev, Moiseev, Shmelev, Raspopov). 3) Word combinations are functionally heterogeneous: some of them exist in the language, “before the sentence”, and in their reproducibility are functionally close to words (phraseologisms, synlexemes); others are formed only in the process of constructing a statement, are not reproducible, and are not units of the dictionary (Tulin).
Phraseologism
PHRASEOLOGISTS?ZM (phraseological unit, phraseological turn) - a stable phrase that has a definition. lexical meaning, constant component composition and the presence of grammar. categories. F. arises and develops into the language. by rethinking specific phrases. F. differ with a complete rethinking. the composition of its component words (often preserving an archaic grammatical form and/or a syntactic connection not justified by the norms of modern lit. language). Such F. are called. phraseological adjuncts (idioms), for example: to hit with the forehead, to rattle with weapons, for once, to pull the gimp. F., whose phraseological the meaning is to one degree or another motivated by the department. the meanings of its component words, called. phraseological unities, for example: cast a fishing rod, soap your head, show off, go into your shell, the first pancake is lumpy. F., images, from component words with free and phraseological connections. meaning, phraseological the value of which is formed from the values of these components, called. phraseological a combination, for example: furrowed eyebrows, a bloody nose, bared teeth, biting frost, a sensitive question. F. may have one or several. phraseological meanings, for example, F. behind the shoulders is used in two meanings: 1) directly. proximity, nearby (in time or space) and 2) in the past (about what has been lived, experienced). F., like words, can be synonymous. and antonymic relationships with each other may have homonyms. F. are antonymous in their semantics: soul to soul - like a cat and a dog, just a stone's throw - in the middle of nowhere, in the sweat of your brow - carelessly. With phraseological F. synonyms are used with the meaning “very strictly, severely, limiting freedom of action”: in iron hands, in a black body, in a bridle, in a string, in a vice, in blinders, in the fear of God. All of them are used as adverbial functions with the verb “to hold.” Phraseological synonyms are placed in Russian explanatory dictionaries. lit. language, in phraseological dictionaries. synonyms. F. are distinguished by active and passive use. For example, they have fallen out of active use: to keep an army - to fight, without any slander - without slander, a blue uniform - a gendarme. Originated in Russian. language quite recently: white death, doesn’t knit brooms, up to the light bulb, call on the carpet, pull the blanket over yourself, under the hood. In a sentence, F. perform the same functions as words, acting as a definition. member offers. F., as a rule, correlates with a part of speech and is included in the definition. lexico-grammatical categories, for example, are nominal: shadow office, green gold, star sickness. In a sentence, F. is used as a subject, a nominal part of a compound predicate, etc. Diff. F. form phraseological. language composition
A combinability dictionary is a dictionary containing material on lexical compatibility.
Semantic errors
Violation of lexical compatibility is caused by semantic errors of two types - logical and linguistic.
Logical errors are associated with failure to distinguish between concepts that are close in some respect. Often people do not distinguish between areas of activity, cause and effect, part and whole, and related phenomena.
Thus, in the sentence “Residents of a seaside town witnessed a large theatrical performance,” an error is found in the phrase “witnesses of the performance.” The word “witness” means “eyewitness” - this is the name given to a person who was at the scene of an incident. This word is associated with the field of judicial and legal activity. In the field of theatrical and concert activity, which is discussed in the sentence, the word “spectator” is used. This error is associated with not distinguishing between areas of activity.
The erroneous combination “prices have become more expensive” is due to the failure to distinguish between the related concepts of “prices” and “products”: goods become more expensive, and prices rise. You can give examples of similar errors in sentences: “The timely launch of the plant raises concerns”; “There are 52 trees in the park”; “As a result of the plague epidemic, people left the city.” All these errors are not explained by distinguishing related phenomena: they fear not that the plant will be launched, but that it will not be launched on time; they are not laying trees, but a park; people leave the city not as a result, but because of the plague. Possible corrections in these cases: “There is concern that the plant will not be launched on time”; “52 trees were planted in the park”; “As a result of the plague, the city was deserted.”
Linguistic errors are associated with the failure to distinguish between denoting words that are in any semantic relationship. These are mainly synonyms and paronyms.
Failure to distinguish between synonyms, words that are close or have the same meaning, leads to errors in use. For example, the words “role” and “function” in the meaning of “work, circle of activity” are synonymous, but genetically they are associated with different signifiers: role - with the sphere of theater and cinema, and function - with logic. Hence the established lexical compatibility: the role is played (played), and the function is performed (performed). The words “brave” and “brave” are synonyms, but “brave” is associated with the external manifestation of the called quality, and “brave” is associated with both external and internal, therefore a thought, decision, idea can only be bold, but not brave.
Not distinguishing between paronyms, i.e. words that partially match in sound also lead to errors in use; Most paronyms are words with the same root, differing in suffixes or prefixes and, as a result, shades of meaning, as well as stylistic coloring. For example, a misdemeanor (fault) is an act (an action committed by someone); guilty (who has committed a crime) - guilty (who has been guilty of something, who has violated the rules of morality, politeness, etc.); pay (for something) - pay (for something).
Paronyms can be associated with different variants of a common root. For example, short (small in size, the opposite of long) - brief (stated briefly, in a few words). Therefore, they speak a short text, but a brief retelling of the text. Borrowed words may also appear in paronymic relationships: parity (equality) - priority (superiority, advantage), dequalification (loss of qualifications) - disqualification (deprivation of qualifications), etc. To distinguish paronyms of foreign origin, it is necessary to refer to dictionaries of foreign words.
Below are frequency pairs of paronyms:
- - fulfill - fulfill have a general meaning “to carry out, to bring to life”, for example, to fulfill (fulfill) an order, but the second verb has a bookish character;
- - long - long coincide in the meaning of “continuing, lengthy”, for example, a long (long) conversation, a long (long) pause, but “long” indicates an extension in time, and “long” emphasizes the procedural meaning of the noun; “long” is usually combined with the names of periods of time (long night, long winter), and “long” - with the names of actions and conditions designed for a long period (long flight, long treatment);
- - agreement - agreement differ in that “agreement” means a written or oral agreement, a condition of mutual obligations (agreement of friendship and cooperation), and “agreement” means an agreement reached through negotiations (an agreement to include an issue on the agenda);
- - truth (truth, the actual state of affairs) - truth (correspondence to truth). For example, the desire for truth is the truth of the assumptions made;
- - ordinary - ordinary differ in that the first word emphasizes inconspicuousness, unremarkability, and the second - typicality. For example, an ordinary person has an ordinary day.
To identify the specifics of words connected by paronymic relationships, it is necessary to correctly understand the morphological composition of the word and the method of its formation. For example, in the pairs assimilate - master, complicate - complicate, make heavier - make heavier words with the prefix o- have the meaning of a higher degree of manifestation of the action. In pairs hygienic - hygienic, logical - logical, practical - practical, economic - economical, distinguished by the suffixes -ichesk-/-n-, the second adjective denotes a characteristic that can manifest itself to a greater or lesser extent (qualitative adjective). This implies compatibility: hygienic norm - hygienic fabric, logical laws - logical conclusion, practical application - practical clothing, economic policy - economical device.
Stylistic errors
Stylistic errors are a violation of the requirements for the unity of a functional style, the unjustified use of emotionally charged, stylistically marked means. Stylistic errors are associated with ignoring the restrictions that its stylistic coloring imposes on the use of a word.
The most common stylistic mistakes include:
- 1. The use of clericalisms - words and phrases characteristic of an official business style. For example, “As the income portion of my budget increased, I decided to purchase a new car for permanent use” - “I began to receive a lot of money, so I decided to buy a new car.”
- 2. The use of words (expressions) of inappropriate stylistic coloring. Thus, in a literary context, the use of slang, colloquial, and abusive language is inappropriate; in a business text, colloquial and expressive words should be avoided. For example, “The trustee of charitable institutions is sucking up to the auditor” - “The trustee of charitable institutions is cozying up to the auditor.”
- 3. Mixing styles - the unjustified use in one text of words and syntactic structures characteristic of different styles of the Russian language. For example, a mixture of scientific and conversational styles.
- 4. Mixing vocabulary from different historical eras. For example, “The heroes wear chain mail, trousers, mittens” - “The heroes wear chain mail, armor, mittens.”
- 5. Incorrect sentence construction. For example, “Despite his youth, he is a good person.” There are several ways to fix these errors. First, change the order of words in the sentence: “There are many works that tell about the author’s childhood in world literature” - “In world literature there are many works that tell about the author’s childhood.”
- 6. Secondly, remake the sentence: “Of other sporting events, let’s talk about the barbell” - “Of other sporting events, we should highlight the barbell competition.”
- 7. Pleonasm - speech excess, the use of words that are unnecessary from a semantic point of view. In order to avoid pleonasm, you must do the following:
- - replace the word with the same root, for example, monumental monument - monument;
- - remove a word from a phrase, for example, the main essence is the essence, valuable treasures are treasures;
- - remove a word from the text without reducing quality. For example, “Operation is the way in which an action is performed” - “Operation is the way in which an action is performed”; “Building a model in accordance with known rules” - “Building a model according to the rules.”
- 8. Tautology - the use of words with the same root within the boundaries of one sentence. For example, “Tell a story”; "Ask a question." Ways to correct tautologies are:
- - replace one of the words with a synonym. For example, “The heavy rain did not stop all day” - “The heavy rain did not stop all day”;
- -remove one of the words. For example, “Along with these signs, there are a number of others” - “Along with these signs, there are others.”
Tautology is easily detected when reading the text aloud. Overused words usually include which, so, and can.
- 9. Lexical repetitions in the text. For example, “In order to study well, students must pay more attention to their studies.” Words that are repeated must be replaced with synonyms, nouns can be replaced with pronouns, or the repeated word can be removed altogether if possible - “To achieve success, students must pay more attention to classes.”
- 10. Substitution of the concept. This error occurs as a result of missing a word. For example, “Patients who have not visited the outpatient clinic for three years are placed in the archive” (we are talking about patient cards, and from the text of the sentence it follows that the patients themselves were sent to the outpatient clinic).
- 11. This error, which arose as a result of the author’s stylistic negligence, can be easily corrected: it is necessary to insert an accidentally missed word or phrase. For example, “Farmers strive to increase the number of sheep on the farm” - “Farmers strive to increase the number of sheep on the farm.”
- 12. Choice of singular or plural forms. Often there are problems with the use of singular or plural. Examples of correct use are combinations: two or more options, three or more forms, there are several options, there are some options.
For correct use, agreement in meaning is increasingly used: if a single whole is meant, then the singular is used, and if it is necessary to emphasize individual objects, the plural is used.
- 13. Agreement of words in a sentence. Errors in word agreement in sentences often occur, especially when it comes to controlling verbs. For example, “This section talks about opening, working and saving a document” - “This section describes the procedures for opening and saving documents, as well as working with them.”
- 14. Creation of verbal nouns. You should be careful when creating verbal nouns, because... many of the words created are not in the dictionary, and their use is considered illiterate (arrange - ordering, not ordering; collapse - folding, not collapsing).
- 15. Stringing identical shapes. You should avoid stringing together identical case forms, for example with the words “so that” and “which”. For example, “In order to avoid the possibility of danger” - “To avoid the occurrence of danger.”
- 16. Poverty and monotony of syntactic structures. For example, “The man was dressed in a burnt padded jacket. The padded jacket was roughly mended. The boots were almost new. Socks are moth-eaten” - “The man was dressed in a roughly darned, burnt padded jacket. Although the boots were almost new, the socks turned out to be moth-eaten.”
Stylistically unjustified use of tropes. The use of tropes can cause a variety of speech errors. Poor imagery of speech is a fairly common flaw in the style of authors who are poor at writing.
For example, “The judge was just as simple and modest.
FEATURES OF MASTERING THE LEXICAL COMBINATION OF WORDS BY PRESCHOOL CHILDREN (According to PSYCHOLOGICAL-PEDAGOGICAL AND SPECIAL LITERATURE)
The concept of lexical compatibility of words
Native speech is acquired if the child has the ability to remember the norm of using linguistic signs in speech - to remember their compatibility (syntagmatics), the possibility of interchangeability (paradigmatics) and relevance in various speech situations (stylistics).
This ability of a person to remember how consonances, morphemes, words, and phrases are traditionally used in literary speech is called the sense of language, or linguistic flair (L.P. Fedorenko).
In a speech act, a person operates not with words, but with semantic fields, and from them he selects the right word in order to express his thought in speech as accurately as possible. The main condition for understanding speech is understanding its meaning, its meaning (B.F. Arkhipova). When choosing a word, not only its meaning is taken into account, but also lexical compatibility (P.S. Pustovalov, M.P. Senkevich).
Lexical compatibility is the ability of a word to be used together with another word in a speech segment. The boundaries of compatibility are largely determined by the semantic features of the word and its meaning.
The compatibility of a word is determined by the semantic characteristics of words, but at the same time it has its own boundaries. From the point of view of modern language, it is often difficult or even impossible to explain the reasons for the different compatibility of words with similar meanings. Many combinations of words are fixed by linguistic tradition. These combinations in “ready-made form” are included in the vocabulary of native speakers, and the ability to use them is part of a person’s linguistic culture.
The word is connected in its meaning, structure, sound with other words. In the language system, it is included simultaneously in several rows of words combined or opposed according to certain characteristics (V.V. Vinogradov). We choose a word from synonymous and paronymic series.
Synonyms are words and stable phrases that have close or identical meanings and can be interchangeable in context in such a way that substituting one synonym for another does not entail a change in the basic meaning of the sentence.
Paronyms are words with the same root that are similar in sound and meaning, but do not have the same meaning.
The difference between synonyms and paronyms is that the incorrect choice of a synonym leads to inaccuracy of the expression, and the incorrect choice of a paronym is a speech error, since it leads to a change in the basic meaning of the sentence.
For the most part, words are polysemic (polysemic), although there are words with one meaning. Among the meanings of the word, primary and secondary, as well as direct and figurative, are distinguished. The meanings of a word can be not just different, but such that a word understood in its basic meaning is appropriate in speech, but understood in an additional meaning is inappropriate (A.A. Volkov).
In modern linguistics, the position about the systematic nature of vocabulary is no longer in doubt. Research into the systematic nature of vocabulary led to the discovery of semantic connections of words - semantic fields, including: the lexical meaning of a word, the meaning of a word in a given context, the stylistic properties of a word and the scope of its use, the compatibility (valence) of a word (T.Ya. Molochnik, O .A. Tokarev) .
Semantic changes occurring within a word play a significant role in the development of the entire lexical system. They are caused primarily by the development of new meanings of a word in the process of transferring a name from one object to another based on their similarity or the presence of stable connections between them (that is, contiguity). Closely related to this method of development of meanings is the semantic renewal of the entire word as a whole, as well as change in the quantitative volume of the characteristics of an object denoted by a word (expansion or narrowing of meaning) (D.E. Rosenthal, I.B. Golub, M.L. Telenkova).
The main components of the meaning of the word:
The denotative component, i.e. reflection in the meaning of a word of the characteristics of the object (denotation);
Conceptual, or lexical-semantic component, reflecting the formation of concepts, connections of words in the language system, i.e. significat;
A connotative component that determines the child’s emotional attitude to the meaning of the word;
the contextual component is determined by various types of situations and contexts (A.A. Leontyev, N.G. Komlev, N.Ya. Ufimtseva, etc.) (B.F. Arkhipova).
The structure of the meaning of a word can be represented as a dynamic semantic system, which represents the unity of affective and intellectual processes (I.Yu. Kondratenko),
The grammatical meaning of a word is distinguished (belonging of the word to a certain class, features of its combination, changes); the lexical meaning of a word, which is determined both by the correlation of the word with the corresponding concept and its place in the lexical system of the language; the psychological meaning of a word is a generalized reflection of activity developed by humanity and recorded in the form of concepts, meaning or skills as a generalized mode of action (B.F. Arkhipova).
The lexical meaning of a word, being an element of the general language system, nevertheless has sufficient independence. It has actually semantic, that is, specific properties inherent only to it, for example, different ways of nominating objects, concepts, phenomena, signs according to the nature of the correlation with reality (direct - indirect or figurative), according to the degree of motivation (non-derivative - derivative), according to the methods and the possibilities of lexical compatibility (free - non-free), according to the nature of the functions performed (nominative - expressive-synonymous).
The following types of lexical meaning of a linguistic unit are distinguished.
1. Significative lexical meaning is a specific linguistic form of a generalized reflection of extra-linguistic reality, that is, the word correlates with the concept.
2. Structural meaning is a formal characteristic of the properties of a lexical unit, fixing its place in the system. It is based on the relationship of signs to each other. There are two types of structural meaning, of which one, generating concepts, can be called paradigmatic, and the other, generating statements, syntagmatic.
3. Denotative meaning is a subject meaning that characterizes the connection of a lexical unit with the designated object, its specific focus on it,
4. Emotive meaning expresses the evaluative, emotional-expressive component of the meaning of a lexical unit, usually expressed using stylistically colored words.
According to the method of nomination, that is, according to the nature of the connection between the meaning of a word and the object of objective reality, two types of lexical meanings are distinguished - direct, or basic, and indirect, or figurative. Direct meaning is called because the word that has it directly points to an object (phenomenon, action, quality, and so on), that is, it is directly correlated with the concept or its individual characteristics. The main (or main) meaning of a word is usually called the one that is less than all other meanings due to the properties of its compatibility. The direct meaning, which acts as the main, stable nomination of the subject in the modern period of linguistic development, is also called primary.
The indirect (or figurative) meaning of a word is that whose appearance is due to the emergence of comparisons and associations that unite one object with another. A figurative meaning appears as a result of the transfer of the direct (main) designation of an object to a new object. Portable meanings are private, they are called secondary. Figurative meanings, in turn, can be divided into figurative with extinct imagery and figurative-figurative.
According to the degree of semantic motivation, two types of word meanings are distinguished: non-derivative (unmotivated, primary) and derivative (that is, motivated by the primary, original meaning, which is secondary). But the sequence and degree of their motivation is not the same: the main (direct) meaning is motivated by the direct, primary meaning of the word, and figurative meanings are derived from the main meaning.
According to the degree of lexical compatibility, free and non-free meanings are distinguished.
If the compatibility turns out to be relatively wide and independent, then such values are called free. However, the “freedom” of lexical compatibility of such words is a relative concept, because it is limited by the subject-logical relations of words in the language.
Another group of meanings includes the meanings of words whose lexical compatibility is limited not only by subject-logical relations, but also by linguistic ones. Such values are called non-free,
Among the lexically non-free ones, two groups of meanings of words are distinguished: phraseologically related and syntactically determined with a variety - constructively limited (or conditioned). A phraseologically related meaning is one that is realized only under the conditions of certain combinations of a given word with a narrowly limited, stable range of lexical units. The connections of words in these combinations are no longer determined by subject-logical relations, but by the internal laws of the lexical system of the language. The boundaries of phraseologically related meanings are narrower: the range of words in combinations with which these meanings are realized is, as a rule, small, often reduced to one combination (D. N. Shmelev).
As a result of prolonged use only as part of narrowly limited combinations, some of these words lost their primary direct meaning and ceased to be perceived as nominative units. For them, phraseologically related meaning has become the main one in modern language, although indirect, but figurative. Syntactically conditioned is a figurative meaning that appears in a word when it performs an unusual function in a sentence. A variety of syntactic meanings are the so-called structurally limited (or conditional) meanings, these include meanings that are realized only under the conditions of a certain syntactic construction (D.E. Rosenthal, I.B. Golub, M.A. Telenkova).
According to the nature of the functions performed, lexical meanings are divided into two types: nominative, the purpose of which is nomination, naming of phenomena, objects, their qualities, and expressive-synonymous, in which the predominant is the emotional-evaluative (connotative) sign (D.N. Shmelev).
Nominative meanings of words can be those that are used primarily to name objects, phenomena, qualities, actions, and so on. In the semantic structure of words with a similar meaning, as a rule, additional features (for example, evaluative ones) are not reflected. However, during subsequent use, these signs may appear.
An expressive-synonymous meaning is one in which the main element is an emotional-evaluative feature. Words with such a sign arose as additional expressive-evaluative names of already existing nominations. Words with such meanings exist independently in the language and are reflected in dictionaries, but are perceived in the minds of native speakers by association with their nominative synonyms (D.E. Rosenthal, I.B. Golub, M.A. Telenkova).
Based on the nature of connections between one meaning and another in the lexical system of a language, the following can be distinguished:
1) autonomous meanings possessed by words that are relatively independent in the language system and denote primarily specific objects;
2) correlative meanings that are inherent in words that are opposed to each other according to some characteristics;
3) deterministic values; that is, those that are, as it were, determined by the meanings of other words, since they represent their stylistic or expressive variants (D.N. Shmelev).
So, the typology of lexical meanings is based on three main types of relationships: conceptual-subject connection, the relationship of words to each other and the degree of motivation of the meaning. Identifying different types of lexical meanings helps to gain a deeper understanding of the semantic structure of a word, that is, to understand the nature of systemic intra-word connections (D.E. Rosenthal, I.B. Golub, M.A. Telenkova).