On Synonymous Relations among Nouns in Old English
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概要
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Leading words signifying "trees" in Old English are investigated in the paper. The three words of treow "tree", wudu "wood", and beam "beam" are given as the most common words denoting a "tree" by A Thesaurus of Old English in Two Volumes by J. Roberts et al. OE timber "timber" which is closely connected with these three is also the subject of the investigations in this study. In the first section, the definitions and semantic characteristics of the four words are considered individually based on the definitions of the Oxford English Dictionary. The meanings observed in Old English are mainly discussed here. In the second section, semantic relations among the words are discussed comparatively and contextually. In the third section, as the conclusion, a diagram of the distribution of tree and its connected words in Old English based on the definitions given in the OED is provided. According to the data, remarkable tendencies of the meaning and usage of the four words in Old English are pointed out. Through the investigations, the connection between the core meaning of each individual word with its derivative meanings is considered. It is obvious that, in the process of changing and producing meanings, our cognitive knowledge can be strongly reflected. The ways in which we recognize things surrounding us and how we link one thing to others resembling it in shape or character are closely related. We could observe those facts through the study.
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