基于COCA语料库的“Force”和“Compel”语义韵对比研究

A Contrastive Study of Semantic Prosody between “Force” and “Compel” Based on COCA

摘要: 本研究基于美国当代英语语料库(COCA)，采用扩展意义单位理论框架，对近义动词“force”和“compel”进行了系统的对比分析。文章从总体频率与语域分布、搭配特征、类联接模式、语义倾向与语义韵四个层面进行考察。研究发现：1) “force”的使用频率远高于“compel”，且更常用于新闻、博客等非正式语域，而“compel”在学术语域中占优。2) 句法上，两者均依赖不定式补语，但“force”的类联接模式更多样，而“compel”的结构更集中，偏好与心理状态结构连用。3) 语义上，“force”倾向于形成稳定的消极语义韵，而“compel”的语义韵整体呈中性。研究旨在为近义词辨析提供实证依据，并为英语词汇教学提供参考。

Abstract: This study, based on the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), adopts the extended unit of meaning (EUM) theoretical framework to conduct a systematic comparative analysis of the near-synonymous verbs “force” and “compel”. The article examines these verbs from four aspects: overall frequency and register distribution, collocation features, colligational patterns, and semantic preference and semantic prosody. The findings are as follows: 1) “Force” is used more frequently than “compel”, and is more commonly found in informal registers such as news and blogs, while “compel” is more prevalent in academic registers. 2) Syntactically, both verbs rely on infinitive complements, but “force” has a more diverse class connection pattern, while “compel” has a more concentrated structure and prefers to be used with psychological state structures. 3) Semantically, “force” tends to form a stable negative semantic prosody, while the semantic prosody of “compel” is generally neutral. The study aims to provide empirical evidence for the differentiation of near-synonyms and offer references for English vocabulary teaching.