Using Corpus of Contemporary American English as the source data,this paper carries out a corpus-based behavioral profile study to investigate four near-synonymous adjectives(serious,severe,grave,and grievous),focusin...Using Corpus of Contemporary American English as the source data,this paper carries out a corpus-based behavioral profile study to investigate four near-synonymous adjectives(serious,severe,grave,and grievous),focusing on their register and the types of nouns they each modify.Although sharing core meaning,these adjectives exhibit variations in formality levels and usage patterns.The identification of fine-grained usage differences complements the current inadequacies in describing these adjectives.Furthermore,the study reaffirms the effectiveness of the corpus-based behavioral profile approach in examining synonym differences.展开更多
文摘Using Corpus of Contemporary American English as the source data,this paper carries out a corpus-based behavioral profile study to investigate four near-synonymous adjectives(serious,severe,grave,and grievous),focusing on their register and the types of nouns they each modify.Although sharing core meaning,these adjectives exhibit variations in formality levels and usage patterns.The identification of fine-grained usage differences complements the current inadequacies in describing these adjectives.Furthermore,the study reaffirms the effectiveness of the corpus-based behavioral profile approach in examining synonym differences.