ABSOLUTE VERBAL SYNONYMS IN SPANISH

Petrov Sergei Valerievich

The paper studies the most common Spanish verbs, which form pairs of so-called synonyms-doublets, or absolute synonyms, between which there is no clear semantic difference, and therefore such verbs can cause problems when learning Spanish as a foreign language. These are verbs such as empezar / comenzar, acabar / terminar, volver / regresar, entender / comprender, coger / tomar, venir / llegar, seguir / continuar. As a result of the analysis of these verb pairs, there came a conclusion about the differences between these verbs not only at the pragmatic, stylistic and grammatical level of the language, but also at the semantic level – at the level of minimal semantic nuances. In addition, many of the verbs in the above list vary in their usage in Spanish-speaking countries: some verbs are most common in Spain, others in Latin America. Thus, the paper substantiates the point of view according to which there are no semantically identical lexical units in the language.

Keywords:synonyms-doublets, absolute synonyms, verb, lexicology, linguistic pragmatics, Spanish