Oldal 111 [111]
HUNGARIAN-ENGLISH LEXICAL CONTRASTS
language variety, synonymous words may differ in connotative meanings and/
or stylistic value. In British English the words tube and underground (subway
in the US) have the same denotative meaning, but their connotations are dif¬
ferent.
There are usually many interlingual differences between L1 and L2 words
regarding the number of synonyms and the subtle differences between their
denotative and connotative meanings. Problems for learners arise when there
is only one word in L1 but two synonymous words in L2, and they have to make
a choice every time they use the word where there is no choice in their native
language. For example, Hungarian dllando corresponds to English constant
and permanent, anyag corresponds to material, matter and substance, lehetőség
corresponds to English possibility and opportunity — the list is endless. In such
cases the contrast works out as divergence, causing serious learning difficulty.
Another potential problem is that sometimes hyponyms (see the next section)
are perceived by learners as synonyms: based on their L1 correspondents,
learners may think that ape and monkey, rabbit and hare, or roast and bake
are synonymous and may use these words indiscriminately.
Learners are also influenced by the phenomenon that Arabski (1979) called
primary counterpart. This means that learners tend to use (and overuse) the
first-learned word of a pair of synonyms, overgeneralising its meaning and
underusing the synonyms that are learnt later. The order of learning, as noted
in Chapter 2, is an important influencing factor. This effect may be reinforced
by divergent conditions, when one L1 word corresponds to two or more in L2.
If there is no specific word in L1, or a more general word is preferred, transfer
from L1 may play a role.
Primary counterparts will tend to be correspondents of general words in
L1. In this, the learners level of proficiency may also play a role: s/he simply
may not know more specific words. Another interacting factor is a general
principle of acquisition: in child language acquisition, first-learned words tend
to be general, and L2 learners also prefer words with a general meaning, and
will tend to overgeneralise these words, ignoring differences in register and
collocation. A further factor may be lack of motivation: if the learner has learnt
the primary counterpart, s/he may feel that it is unnecessary to learn further
synonyms.
A case in point is the English synonyms possibility and opportunity. It is
possibility that learners tend to acquire first, and this soon becomes the pri¬
mary counterpart, extended to situations where opportunity would be appro¬
priate. This tendency is reinforced by the fact that Hungarian lehetöseg is often
used in the sense alkalom. In this way, order of learning and L1-L2 contrast
account for the (observed) fact that Hungarian learners tend to use possibility
everywhere where they would use lehetöseg in Hungarian, even though they
know both words.
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