No agreement between the scholars in terminology.Polysemy and homonymy. Polysemy Most of lex. items in English are polysemantic. Michael Breat: “Polysemy is a semantic universal”. “The alternative to it is quite unthinkable: it would mean that we would have to store in our brains a tremendous stock of words with separate names for any possible subject we might wish to talk about. It would also mean that there would be no metaphors & that language would be robbed of much of its expressiveness & flexibility.” Urban: “The double reference of verbal signs is precisely what makes language an instrument of knowing”. Ex.: - family - She lost both of her parents. - parent - Envy is the parent of all evils. My family comes from Scotland. The cat family includes lions & tigers. (семейство кошачьих) A family of languages, etc. There are monosemantic words: Ex.: A lorry A loudspeaker In case of polysemy, we deal with modification of the content plane. Different meanings of one & the same word are closely interrelated. Polysemy is a result of: Shifts in application (сдвиг в употреблении) Ex.: adj. red Red ink (is really red) Red hair Red deer Red cabbage Red Indian Specialization Ex.: partner Basic meaning; a type of relationship between 2 or more people. - business partner - marriage partner - partner in crime
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