The definition of synonyms  Traditionally synonyms are described as words different in sound-form but identical or similar in meaning  But! It is not accurate to speak of synonyms as identical in meaning as the same range of idea may be very wide Very common definitions of synonyms as words of the same language having the same meaning or as different words that stand for the same notion are not accurate either • These traditional definitions have been criticized because they are in a way misleading We cannot apply these definitions to polysemantic words — they cannot be synonymous in all their meanings A polysemantic word may enter as many groups as it has lexico-semantic variants  to close — to finish, to close — to shut; to feel — to touch — to handle — to probe, to feel — to sound — to try — to prove Some words are collocationally restricted Win Gain victory But! Win + WAR  It is impossible to speak of identity of lexical meaning as a whole, as it is only one component of lexical meaning that may be described as identical or similar to die — to pass away - differ in their stylistic reference; - it is the similarity of the denotational meaning that makes them synonymous Both adverbs fairly and rather can be used to mean "moderately", and they often enable us to express an opinion - fairly - to suggest our approval - rather- to suggest both our approval and our disapproval, and our intended meaning is made clear either by the context or by the word that rather qualifies Thus, differentiation of synonyms may be observed in different semantic components  Recently attempts have been made to introduce into the definition of synonyms the criterion of interchangeability (взаимозаменяемость ) in linguistic contexts This criterion implies that the words are synonymous if either of them can occur in the same context and we can assume that synonyms are words interchangeable in some contexts  eye-doctor/oculist, radio/ wireless, telegram/wire The English scholar R Quirk explains this fact as follows: the comparison of the sentences "the rainfall in April was abnormal" and "the rainfall in April was exceptional" may give us grounds for assuming that exceptional and abnormal are synonymous The same adjectives in a different context are by no means synonymous, as we may see by comparing "my son is exceptional" and "my son is abnormal"  Words synonymous in some lexical contexts may display no synonymity in others, they are interchangeable only in certain environments Deep Profound But! Deep + water sympathy  The semantic difference between synonyms is supported by the difference in valency and distribution Valency is a permanent discrimination characteristic that always accompanies the differentiation in the semantic characteristics  Lexical synonyms are different words of the same part of speech having the same grammatical distribution, which have some common denotational components of meaning, but differ either in some denotational component(s) or in some connotational components of meaning and thus usually have different lexical valency   ... Traditionally synonyms are described as words different in sound-form but identical or similar in meaning  But! It is not accurate to speak of synonyms as identical in meaning... qualifies Thus, differentiation of synonyms may be observed in different semantic components  Recently attempts have been made to introduce into the definition of synonyms the criterion of interchangeability... synonyms as identical in meaning as the same range of idea may be very wide Very common definitions of synonyms as words of the same language having the same meaning or as different words that stand