How (dis)similar? Telling the difference between near-synonyms in a foreign language

Absolute synonymy is known to be rare, as it is difficult to encounter words with identical denotational and connotational meanings. However, the distinct contextual normality of near synomyms is not easily described in dictionaries or perceived by foreign language learners, especially when near synonyms in a foreign language are translated the same way into the learner’s first language. This study examines concordances of pairs of English synonyms that Italian learners have difficulties telling apart (e.g. acknowledge – recognize, ability –skill, adore - worship, force - strength, feeble – weak, gratefully – thankfully, instrument – tool, velocity – speed) in order to identify the phraseological patterns these terms are associated with. Data collected from the Bank of English indicate that the contexts of use of the above synonyms are partly shared (but not necessarily to the same extent) and partly in complementary distribution. A few examples: (A) both "freedom" and "liberty" are preceded by adjectives indicating the notion of ‘high degree or intensity’ (e.g. genuine, greatest) and with the same frequency, but they are relevant to different domains of experience, namely the personal/private sphere for "freedom" (e.g. reproductive, artistic) and social/public sphere for "liberty" (e.g. civil, constitutional); also, of-headed prepositional phrases post-modifying "freedom" indicate the domain in which one’s rights are exercised (e.g. of movement, of speech) while those following "liberty" identify the people who enjoy that condition (e.g. of a few individuals, of wage earners). Similarly, (B) both "motherly" and "maternal" are used in the sense of ‘typical of a good mother’ (as they are associated with such nouns as care, love, responsibilities); however, "maternal", which is four times as frequent as "motherly", also means ‘relevant to the biological-medical condition of a(n expectant) mother’ as is clear from such associated phraseologies as depression, gene and nutrition. Also, (C) both "island" and "isle" can be part of a placename (e.g. the British Isles, the Cayman Islands), but not with the same frequency, and only the latter occurs in the singular in this pattern: “the __ of”. Finally, (D) both "spread" and "diffusion", when followed by of-headed prepositional phrases may indicate the action of spreading, but the former is typically associated with negative events (e.g. corruption, disease), while the latter with chemical processes (e.g. molecules, light), types of behavior (e.g. authority, effort) or ideas (e.g. gospel, ideologies); at the same time, the former may occasionally be used with reference to non-negative processes (e.g. child-centred views, relief, values and customs) or in a locative-stative sense not available to "diffusion" (e.g. of, techniques, of nations). It thus appears that the members of a synonymic pair are characterized by distinct prototypical usages, but also extendable to the contexts of use of the other member of the pair. This suggests that foreign language students should be sensitized to the prototypical – rather than marginal -- context specificity of each near synonym, as this is likely to prevent an incorrect use of terms.