LEXICAL SYNONYMS IN IGBO LANGUAGE: A DENOTATIVE APPRAISAL

The concept of synonym is one of the meaning relations found in lexical semantics as a sub-field of semantics. Words in a language may semantically relate or differ. Meaning relation is not considered using only one word. Two or more words are often considered to bring out their similarities and differences. Synonym is a meaning relationship between two or more words that have different sounds and spellings but have similar or exact meaning. It has been argued that such lexical relation that has an exact meaning and can have the same communicative effect in all contexts does not exist if, they exist they are very rare. The study wants to find out whether there is/are exact synonym in Igbo. The synonyms used come from the researcher’s intuitive knowledge of the Igbo language and its diverse dialects. The study is interested in the denotative sense of the synonymous words and not their connotative implications. The study adopts descriptive approach in its analysis. It finds out that exact/absolute synonyms exist in Igbo and that they are even more in number than near synonyms. The study suggests that more studies should be carried out on synonyms in different dialects of Igbo in order to find out more facts about synonyms in Igbo. This will help to expand the Igbo vocabulary