☰ Contents · Uzbek language

Stylistics of synonyms and homonyms

Lessons 8 · 1 lessons · N.M. Mahmudov, A.Sh. Sobirov, Y.R. Odilov, G.Sh. Ziyodullayeva. Ona tili (Uzbek language), Grade 10, 1st edition. “O‘zbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi” State Scientific Publishing House, Tashkent, 2017
8

Lexical means in speech styles. Stylistics of synonyms and homonyms

Textbook: pp. 26–30
GoalKnow the stylistic possibilities of synonyms, homonyms and paronyms and choose them correctly.
New words
synonym · ma’nodosh so‘zhomonym · shakldosh so‘zparonym · paronimtuyuq (a classical quatrain built on homonym rhymes) · tuyuq
Explanation

Synonyms are close in meaning but differ in the style they belong to, in emotional-expressive colouring and in degree of meaning: for example zo‘r (“great”) belongs to conversation, benazir (“unparalleled”) to the bookish style. Choosing them correctly makes thought exact and effective and avoids repeating the same word one after another. Homonyms are words that are written and said in the same way but have different meanings (yosh – “young; age” and “tear”; o‘t – “fire” and “grass”). If they are used wrongly, meaning becomes confused, but if used deliberately, they create wordplay, irony and puns. Paronyms are words with similar sound and different meaning (asr – “century”, asir – “captive”; ahd – “promise”, ahl – “people”), and mixing them is a stylistic mistake. The tuyuq of classical literature is a quatrain based on homonyms.

Worked examples
A synonym row: «zo‘r chiqish» (“a great performance”, colloquial) – «a’lo chiqish» (“an excellent performance”, neutral) – «benazir chiqish» (“an unparalleled performance”, bookish, elevated).
Homonymy: «Onaning yoshi ulg‘ayganda ham, bolasi uchun ko‘zida yosh kam bo‘lmadi» (“Even as the mother grew older, there was no lack of tears in her eyes for her child”) – «yosh» in two meanings (age; tear).
Class activity

“Chain of synonyms”: for one word (for example «ketmoq») the group says synonyms in turn and marks their style.

Practice
1
How do synonyms differ from each other?
2
Choose the right word in brackets: Ular dushmanga (asr/asir) tushdi.
3
Which synonym can be used instead of «zo‘r» in an official letter?
4
Why do writers try not to repeat the same word in a row?