Terminological synonyms in Czech and English sports terminologies

Abstract

The following paper deals with the concept and typology of terminological synonyms in English and Czech, focusing on the official sport terms codified in English and/or Czech dictionaries. The analysis focuses on Anglicisms as terminological doublets, hyposynonyms, stylistic synonyms, and false friends. Results show that a high number of synonyms were generated by the process of transshaping or translating English terms into Czech. Our analysis suggests that there may be found three types of sports synonyms in English (real, quasi-, and pseudo- synonyms) and four main types in Czech (terminological doublets, Anglicisms as hyposynonyms, false friends, and stylistic synonyms). The use of synonyms is even more evident in modern or newly created sports; mass media and the accessibility of data through the Internet playing an essential role as they mediate an immense input of information to the target population.