Kollokabilität ausgewählter astronomischer Termini: Zur semantischen Differenzierung der Begriffe Universum, All, Weltall, Weltraum und Kosmos
Collocability of Selected Terms in Astronomy: On the Semantic Differentiation of the Terms Universum, All, Weltall, Weltraum and Kosmos

Summary/Abstract: In this paper, we aim to conduct a semantic analysis of the synonyms Universum, All, Weltall, Weltraum, and Kosmos. The examination of the collocational potential of synonyms can unveil specific restrictions in the usage of collocations and contribute to the semantic delineation of words with similar meanings. The analysed nouns and their collocations are primarily used in the field of astronomy and astrophysics to depict physical processes and properties. All the analysed terms appear to combine with collocators indicating the expansion of the universe. In the examined material, verbal collocators frequently convey aspects of movement or mobility. Collocators associated with the noun Weltraum appear to refer to the space near the Earth rather than the entire universe. This restrictive behaviour was also observed with the collocator erdnah. Additionally, the noun Weltraum is used to denote the actual space between objects in the universe. The noun Kosmos is used as a synonym of Universum or Weltall but can also be found in the domain of philosophy. In summary, we can conclude that the terms are not always strictly synonymous in meaning. The differences in their usage can be attributed to their semantic ambiguity as well as their contextual dependency.

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