-
The different between polysemy
and homonymy and
their separate
stylistic values
Abstract:
polysemy and homonymy
have different
definitions
,
processes sense-shift
and
different
stylistic
values.
A
good
knowledge
of
polysemy
and
homonymy
will
help us to enlarge our vocabulary and
improve our ability to analyze and use English
words freely and correctly in speech
and writing. Therefore the study of polysemy and
homonymy is not only interesting in
itself but also helps us to master the language,
to
use it well. So it is important to
distinguish between polysemy and homonymy.
Key Words:
polysemy, homonymy, stylistic values
Introduction :
It may sometimes happen that more than
one meaning is attached to a word, or a
word that is spelt or pronounced like
another word but has a different meaning. The
former is known as polysemy, and the
latter, homonymy.
In
his
book
Our
Language
Simeon
Potter
describes
what
language
is
like.
He
stated
that
“
Language is like
dress. We vary our dress to suit the occasion. We
do not
appear
at
a
friend's
silver
wedding
anniversary
in
gardening
clothes,
nor
do
we
go
punting on
the river in a dinner-
jacket.
”
From
Potter's remark on language we know that to choose
words wrongly is to
leave
a
mistaken
impression
on
the
reader
or
hearer,
to
choose
words
well
is
to
communicate
with one another successfully.
1
1. polysemy
polysemy is a universal feature of all
languages, including the English language .
One-meaning words are very rare. They
are very often scientific terms. In the Oxford
English Dictionary, the verb cut has
almost 150 kinds of meanings.
(1) The definition of
polysemy.
polysemy is
“
a term used in semantic
analysis to refer to a lexical item which
has a range of different
meanings.
”
That is to say,
the same word has a set of different
meanings, although different words do
have different meanings.
(2) Two main
processes of sense-shift
Polysemy gives
rise to a great number of polysemic words which
are products of
sense- shift in the
course of the development of the vocabulary. There
are two main
processes in the change of
meaning.
A. Radiation
Radiation is a term used to
refer to a process of sense-shift in which the
original
meaning of a word is to be
considered as the central meaning and other
meanings are
derived from it.
The word hand, for
instance, may signify:
a) Part of the
human body beyond the wrist:
I had it in my right hand.
b) (pl.) Keeping, possession:
The property is
no longer in my hands.
c) (Sing. Only)
Influence or agency:
2
The hand of an
enemy has been at work here.
d) (Sing.
Only) Person or source from which something comes:
She heard the
news at first hand.
e) (Sing. Only)
Skill:
She has
a light hand at pastry.
f) Person who
does (what is indicated in the context):
He is a new
hand.
g) Employee:
The factory has taken on
200 extra hands.
h) Turn, share in an
activity:
Let
me have a hand now.
i) A thing like a
hand, pointer on a watch, clock:
The hour (minute, second)
hand.
j) Side or direction:
On every hand or on all
hands
k) Handwriting:
He writes a good hand.
l) (Formal style) Signature:
He set his hand
to a document.
m) (Card games) Cards
dealt to a player:
You have a good hand.
n)
Member of a group of card-players:
3
We
have only three players, we need a fourth hand.
o) One game in a rubber at cards:
Shall we play
one more hand?
p) (colloq.) Applause:
Give a
performer a big hand.
(Cap the hands loudly to show
appreciation)
The primary meaning of
the word hand (a part of the human body beyond the
wrist)
is
used
as
a
central
meaning
which
stands
at
the
center.
Other
meanings
are
derived from it in every direction like
rays.
Concretely
speaking,
the
sense
d),
f),
g),
n),
which
denote
persons
are
the
substitution of the part for the whole.
The sense i) originates from the comparison or
resemblance
between
a
hand
and
a
thing
like
a
hand.
The
other
senses
are
all
in
figurative
use connected with the central meaning of hand.
B. Concatenation.
Concatenation is a term used to refer
to another process of sense-shift in which
the original meaning of a word may be
lost on other meanings, that is to say, other
meaning of a word produced are not
connected with its primary sense.
The
word cheater, for instance, meant first
“
an officer who attended to
escheats
”
or
“
an
escheator.
”
Then it came to
mean
“
an escheator who was
dishonest,
”
And now
it means
“
a
dishonest person.
”
The word fond once meant
“
foolish
”
in Old
English. It was then specialized to
“
foolish or doting
affection,
”
but now it means
“
loving in a kind, gentle, o
r tender
4
way.
”
It is
evident that the meaning of
“
loving
”
is totally contrary
to the meaning of
the
word <
/p>
“
foolish.
”
< br>
So
we
may
say
that
concatenation
has
taken
place
in
the
word
fond.
But
it
is
interesting
to
note
that
other
meanings
of
the
word
fond
involve
the
value of
“
foolish
”
in Modern
English. Take the first two sentences for example.
a) A fond mother may spoil her child.
(Here fond means
“
foolishly
loving.
”
)
b) In
spite of his dad results in the examination, he
has a fond belief in his own
cleverness.
(Here fond means
“
foolishly trusting or
hopeful.
”
)
c) She
has many faults, but we are very fond of her.
(Here fond refers to
“
having a great liking or
love for.
”
)
d)
You are too fond of leaving the open when you go
out.
(Here fond refers to
“
having the bad habit of.)
The first sense of it is
“a
long,
thin, flat piece of wood with
squared edges, used
in building wall,
floors, boats, ship
’
s decks,
etc.
”
whereas the last one
is
“
committee,
group
of
persons
controlling
a
business
or
a
government
department.
”
These
two
meanings are quite different from one
another.
2. Homonymy
In his
Etymological Dictionary of the English Language,
Skeat lists 783 groups
of homonyms.
Actually, there are more than 783 groups or pairs
of homonyms in the
English language.
The number of homonymy is large and abundant.
5
(1) The
definition of homonymy and homonyms.
Homonymy is a term used to refer to two
or more words which have the same
form,
but differ in meaning.
Concretely
speaking,
homonyms
are
words
different
in
meaning,
but
either
identical both in
sound and spelling or identical only in spelling
or sound.
(2) Types of homonyms:
Homonymy,
which
in
one
way
demonstrates
the
different
of
meaning,
is
commonly
used
to
refer
to
the
linguistic
phenomenon
that
words
are
identical
in
pronunciation,
spelling,
or
both.
Words
dealt
with
in
the
semantic
relation
of
homonymy are homonyms. Consider the
following sets words:
a) well /wel/ n.
place where water comes from underground;
well /wel/ adv. in the right manner;
well /wel/ adj. in good health.
Pop
/p
?
p/ n. (from popular)
modern popular music;
Pop
/p
?
p/ v. to make a short,
sharp explosive sound
Pop
/p
?
p/ n. father (American
slang)
b) ball
/b
?
:l/ n. a round object
used in play;
ball /b
?
:l/ n. a
large formal occasion for social dancing;
date /deit/ n.
the number of the day, the mouth, and the year;
date /deit/ n.
a small brown sweet fruit with a long stone.
c) bear /be
?
/v.
carry from one place to another
bare
/be
?
/ adj. uncovered;
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