School curriculum· 25 min· 20 questions
Learn first: Word meaning and lexicology
Words fall into groups according to how their form and meaning relate: words with similar meanings (synonyms), opposite meanings (antonyms), identical form but different meaning (homonyms), similar sound (paronyms) and words naming things of the same kind (uyadosh so‘zlar, words of one semantic field). Knowing these groups makes speech rich and precise: a synonym saves you from repetition, an antonym sharpens a thought, and keeping paronyms apart prevents mistakes. In the exam the topic appears constantly in vocabulary, style and reading-literacy tasks: “which word is not a synonym?”, “find the homonyms”, “replace the wrong word”.
Synonyms are words of the same part of speech that differ in form but are close in meaning. They form a synonym series. The most neutral, general and widely used word in the series is called the dominant:
chiroyli (dominant) — go‘zal — ko‘hlik — suluv — xushro‘y
Synonyms are never completely identical; they differ in three ways:
Idioms can be synonyms too: ko‘zi uchib turibdi — yo‘liga ko‘z tikib turibdi; an idiom and a word can also be synonymous: qo‘li ochiq — saxiy.
When choosing a synonym, look not only at the meaning but also at the style and mood of the sentence
In speech synonyms help avoid repeating a word, express a thought more precisely (ulkan rather than katta) and convey the author’s attitude.
Can chehra be replaced with aft in Uning chehrasi nurli edi?
Antonyms are words of the same part of speech with opposite meanings. They mark the two poles of a quality, action or state:
An antonym is a different word, not grammatical negation: yaxshi — yaxshimas are not antonyms, yaxshi — yomon are
Each meaning of a polysemous word may have its own antonym: yengil yuk — og‘ir yuk, yengil savol — qiyin savol, yengil kiyim — qalin kiyim. Antonym pairs often form paired words: oldi-berdi, kecha-kunduz, yaxshi-yomon, achchiq-chuchuk.
In literature antonyms create the device of tazod (antithesis): Yaxshidan ot qoladi, yomondan dod qoladi.
Find the antonyms of yengil in yengil savol and yengil yuk.
Homonyms are words that sound and are spelt the same but whose meanings are unrelated:
ot (horse) — ot (name) — ot (imperative of otmoq, “throw”)
o‘t (fire) — o‘t (grass) — o‘t (the verb o‘tmoq, “pass”)
yoz (summer) — yoz (yozmoq, “write”) — yoz (“spread out”: dasturxon yoz)
tut (mulberry tree) — tut (tutmoq, “hold”); qirq (forty) — qirq (qirqmoq, “shear”)
Telling homonyms from a polysemous word is the most frequently tested point. The test: is there a bridge of similarity or association between the meanings?
Homonyms often belong to different parts of speech (ot noun, ot verb), which also helps identify them.
In literature homonyms create the device of tajnis; a four-line poem with homonyms in rhyme position is a tuyuq. The tuyuqs of Navoiy and Babur are well known.
Paronyms are words similar in sound and spelling but different in meaning:
Confusing paronyms is a serious speech and spelling error: wrong Bu yo‘l abzalroq → right afzalroq; wrong Dushman asr qilindi → right asir. Paronyms are not homonyms: their forms are not identical, only similar.
Paronyms often differ by a single sound: h — x, the presence or absence of i, b — f
Uyadosh so‘zlar are words denoting things or concepts of the same kind. Around a general (generic) name they form one “nest”:
Words of one field are not synonyms: olma and nok cannot replace each other; they simply belong to one group
In a sentence they often act as coordinated (homogeneous) parts joined by a generalising word: Bozordan mevalar: olma, nok, o‘rik oldik.
Ot chopdi. Otingiz nima? Toshni ot! — how are the words ot related?
In text analysis word groups reveal the author’s intention:
Order of work in a task: first identify the part of speech (synonyms and antonyms share one), then compare the meanings, and finally check the link between them.