Abstract: Adverbs play an important part in syntax as well as in communication. As a subtype of adverbs, downtoners help to emphasize the main ideas of one’s utterances and indicate the tone and attitudes of the speakers. However, up until now the studies of downtoners are small in number and the perspectives of these studies are very limited. The current paper intends to study synonymous downtoners with almost, nearly, practically as targets from the perspective of extended units of meaning which offers us a more scientific and profound way to study synonyms. The result of the research indicates that the three targets have obvious differences in their collocations and colligations, and they are similar in semantic preference and semantic prosody. In view of the research findings, the author suggests: firstly, teachers and students should pay more attention to the distinctions of synonyms while teaching and studying synonymous words; secondly, lexicographers should put much emphasis on the explanations of differences between synonyms; thirdly, researchers should carry out their research on words from the perspective of extended units of meaning so as to study words in a more comprehensive and systematic way.
Key Words: corpus; downtoner; extended units of meaning

扩展意义单位视角下英语减弱词的语料库研究

摘要：副词在英语句法和交流中起着重要的作用。作为副词的一类，减弱词有助于突出信息中心，强调说话者的语气和态度。目前对减弱词的研究数量少，研究视角也比较局限。本文以三个近义减弱词almost, nearly和practically为研究目标，运用语料库的研究方法，从更加全面的视角——扩展意义单位，对英语减弱词进行系统的研究。研究发现：三个近义减弱词在搭配和类联接上有明显差异，在语义倾向和语义韵方面类似。鉴于以上研究结果，笔者建议：首先，老师和学生应更加注重对近义词之间区别的教授和学习；再者，编撰字典时应强调对近义词之间区别的标注；最后，应从扩展意义单位的视角出发，以最大的路径全面深入地进行词汇教学与研究。
关键词：语料库；减弱词；扩展意义单位

According to Biber (2000), there are three major word classes, namely lexical words, function words and inserts. Lexical words are the main carriers of meaning in a text and are numerous in number and adverbs are one of the four main classes of lexical words. Adverbs answer questions for the readers and show people what additional information the readers need to know by telling people how something is done, why, when or where. Adverbs play an important part in syntax. They can modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs and elements such as noun phrases. Besides, they can serve as complements of prepositions and clause elements. Adverbs with degree complements can function as an adverbial as a whole. What’s more, adverbs can stand alone.