One of the sources is its development from polysemy.At a certain point, variation within a word may bring to a stage when its semantic core is no longer elastic. It can’t be stretched any further & as a result a new word comes into being. Homonymy differs from polysemy because there is no semantic bond (связь) between homonyms; it has been lost & doesn’t exist. Homonyms appear as a result of: 1. The phonetic convergence of 2 words of different pronunciation & meaning. Ex.: race → a) people derives from Old Norwegian “ras” b) running, from French “race” The semantic divergence or loss of semantic bond between 2 words polysemantically related before. Ex.: pupil→ a) scholar B) apple of an eye (зрачок) To distinguish between polysemy & homonymy 3 factors should be taken into account: The semantic proximity of them The derivation capacity The range of collocability The semantic proximity. The 1st way to establish polysemy or homonymy is to look for a central core meaning. It’s easier when we have examples of metaphor or transfer meanings. (adj-s are particularly interesting in this respect because they often develop polysemy by adding new nominative-derivative meanings to their semantic structure). Ex.: sour – кислый - disagreeable (new meaning) juicy – сочный - scandalous
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