Old English synonymous adjectives: some features of their semantics and use (as exemplified by adjectives hefig and swær)

Paymakova Elena, Maximova Olga

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of semantics and use of Old English synonymous adjectives. There are examined the adjectives with the meaning "heavy" - hefig and swær. The results of the study demonstrate that the Old English synonymous adjectives hefig and swær are distinguished by their high frequency of use and have wide collocability as compared to the other adjectives of the synonymic row. However, along with similar features, there are some differences: swær is significantly inferior to the adjective hefig both in terms of the number of lexico-semantic variants and in its use.

Keywords:diachrony, semasiology, synonymous adjectives, lexico-semantic variant, seme, lexical compatibility.