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The concept of synonym chains, as presented by dmitri borgmann in his book 'beyond language'. The creation of synonym chains using the merriam-webster second and third editions, and compares the results with a study by ron hardin using the new collins thesaurus. The document also raises questions about the length and reversibility of synonym chains, and suggests the potential use of a digital computer for further investigation.
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In Beyond Language (Scribner's, 1967), Dmitri Borgmann presents two synonym chains in "Beauty in Ugliness" on pages 38-9 and 191: black~dark-obscure-hidden-concealed-snug-comfortable-easy simp le-pu re-wh i te ugl y-offen s i ve-ins u 1 tin g-insolen t-p roud-lordly-st a tely-grand gorgeous-bea ut iful
1 n each chain, each word 1S alleged to be a synonym of the one immediately preceding or folloWing it, yet the ends of the chain are opposites. He doesn't specify his sources for synonymy, other than "dictionary investigation". The first chain can be constructed using a combination of the Merriam-Webster Second and Third edi tions, although neither one alone suffices: Webster's Third does not allow bl ack-da rk, snug-concealed, or pure-White as synonyms, and Webster's Second does not allow pure-simple, simple-easy, or easy-comfortable (although it does equate the nouns ease and com fort). Some of the links are less than perfect: for instance, Web ster's Second lists dark as a synonym of black, but does not list black as a synonym of dark. The topiC of synonym chains is also mentioned in A. K. Dewdney' s August 1987 "Computer Recreations" column in Scientific American magazine. He report s work by Ron Hardin, a research scientist at the Murray Hill, New Jersey branch of Bell Telephone Labora tories, who used a digital computer to construct several thousand synonym chains based on The New Collins Thesaurus. Apparently the Collins definition of a synonym is looser than the Websterian one, for Hardin I s chains are typically only a few steps long (four to seven for the ten examples given in the article, but the "great majority" are no longer than three). 1t is time to introduce a greater degree of exactness and rigor to such investigations. Specifically, it is desirable to restrict a synonym chain to a single dictionary; further, one should take into account that synonym chains are not necessarily reversible, and construct a chain not only leading from Word A to Word B, but a second one leading from Word B to Word A to complete the demonstration of synonymy. We illustrate what can be done by us ing the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Ninth edition, re stricting ourselves to boldface adjectives flush left in the column. Such adjectives have two types of synonyms listed:
lOl
gle space and introduced by the italic letters syn. This is followed either by a series of words in small capitals which a re in turn sepa ra tel y discussed, or by t he word see, followed by a single word in small capitals. These synony~are always two-way--that is, if Word B is listed after syn under Word A, then Word A is listed after syn under Word ~
ln the following examples, one-way synonyms are indicated by and two-way ones by =.
t rue-j ust=fa ir=bea utifu l=pretty-artful-a rt ificia l-sham-fa lse fa lse-unwise-fool ish=simple-uncond it ion a 1- a bsol u te-posi t i ve real-genuine-true bad-poor-mean-penurious=s t ingy=close-secret =fu rt i ve=sl y= cu n n i n g =c1 ever= good good=c leve r=cun n i n g =s ly =fu rt i ve=secre t -t ic k lis h-c ri t i ca l-a c u te= sha rp-h a rsh =rough-indel ica te=indecorous=improper i ncorrec t -w ron g-s in fu l-wicked=ev i l:=- ba d 1 ight-brigh t-cleve r=cunn ing=sl y=furt i ve=secret-h idden-obsc urec:=da rk da rk=obsc u re=va gue-v aca n t=empty-fool ish=simp le=ea sy=l igh t
Several questions immediately present themselves. First, is it possi ble to construct a single two-way synonym chain between opposites? Second, do the above chains exceed the minimum-length ones? Both questions might profitab"ly be investigated with the aid of a digi tal computer (Webster's Collegiate, with definitions, is available in ;r-achine-reada bie form). More generally, one can conceive of a directed network of syn onyms, with thousands of entries, of which the chains above are a small part. What two words in such a network are the farthest apart, in the sense that the minimum chain connecting the first word with the second is as long as or longer than any other mini mum-length chain connecting any other two words in the network? (These words need not be antonyms, of course.) A computer is es sential for answering such a question. The examples given above are adjective chains, but one can ask similar questions about adverb, noun, or verb cha ins, together wit h their directed networks.