Is it ‘important,’ ‘significant,’ or ‘crucial’? A Corpus Based Study of English Synonyms
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Abstract
Due to the large number of near-synonyms present in the English language, English learners frequently struggle to use near-synonyms in different contexts, as these words, despite similar meanings, are not always interchangeable. This study examines the distribution and collocation of three synonyms, ‘important,’ ‘significant,’ and ‘crucial,’ across genres. The objectives are to investigate differences in formality based on genre distribution and to analyze collocates in relation to semantic preference. The data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) indicates that the synonyms are used primarily in academic contexts, with ‘important’ being the most common. Nonetheless, these synonyms differ in their collocates and themes. ‘Significant’ is frequently associated with quantity-related matters, whereas ‘crucial’ is typically associated with the political domain. ‘Important’ often appears with intensity-related adverbs, and ‘significant’ with study-related ones. Therefore, the analysis of collocates between nouns and adverbs reveals that these synonymous adjectives have both shared and distinct preferences.
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