• bow /bcu/ n the device used for shooting arrows
• saw /scu/ v to scatter seeds
• sow /sau/ n female adult pig
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Homophone
Identical only in sound but different in spelling and meaning, e.g. • dear /dic/ n a loved person • deer /dic/ n a kind of animal • son /s?n/ n a male child of someone • sun /s?n/ n the heavenly body from which the earth gets warmth and light
• (4) any effective remedy;
• (5) (BrE) molassehs.
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• 例1：board：木板→餐桌→会议桌→董事 会
• 例2：candidate：穿白袍的人→身着白袍申 请职位的人→候选人
5.2 Homonymy
• Homonyms are generally defined as words different in meaning but either identical both in sound and spelling or identical only in sound or spelling.
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Two Approaches to Polysemy
• The problem of interrelation of the various meanings of the same word can be dealt with from two different angles: diachronic approach and synchronic approach.
• Concatenation is a semantic process in which the meaning of a word moves gradually away from its first sense by successive shifts until there is no connection between the sense that is finally developed and the primary meaning.
Polysemy
• Polysemy is a common feature peculiar to
all natural languages. This is particularly
true of highly developed languages like
English. In modern English, an
Though these senses have little in common, they all derive from special application of the central idea of head as a part of the body.
2) Concatenation连锁型
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2) Origins of homonyms
➢Change in sound and spelling
读音和拼写演变的结果
➢Borrowing 借入外来词的结果 ➢Shortening 词语缩略的结果
homonyms and polysemants
Perfect homonyms and polysemants are fully identical with regard to spelling and pronunciation. This creates the problem of differentiation.
Concatenation
• The word treacle is an illustrative example: (1) wild beast;
• (2) remedy for bites of venomous beasts;
• (3) antidote for poison or remedy for poison;
➢All the meanings are independent of one another, but can all be traced back to the central meaning.
Take head for example:
the head of the school, six pence per head, the head of a page, to come to a head, to lose one’s head, six head of cattle
2) Concatenation连锁型
1) Radiation辐射型
➢Semantically, radiation is the process which the primary or central meaning stands at the center while secondary meanings radiate from it in every direction like rays.
1) Types of homonyms
➢Perfect/absolute homonyms完全同形同音异义词 ➢Homographs同形异义词 ➢Homophones同音异义词 Of the three types, homophones constitute the
largest number and are most common.
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The second principal consideration is semantic relatedness. The various meanings of a polysemant are correlated and connected to one central meaning to a greater or lesser degree, e. g. head (See 5.1 Polysemy) .
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1. Two approaches to polysemy
➢Diachronic approach历时研究方法 It is assumed to be the result of growth and development of the semantic structure of one and same word。
overwhelming majority of words are
polysemous. There are words that have
two or three senses, and the most
commonபைடு நூலகம்y used ones can have as many
as over a hundred.
Perfect homonyms
• Perfect homonyms are words identical both in sound and spelling, but different in meaning, e.g.
• bank n the edge of the river, lake, etc. • bank n an establishment for money
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important criterion
• One important criterion is to see their etymology, i.e. homonyms are from different sources whereas a polysemant is from the same source which has acquired different meanings in the course of development.
Chapter 5
1. Polysemy 2. Homonymy
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5.1 Polysemy
• Polysemy means that one single word has two or more senses at the same time.
• The bulk of English words are polysemantic; one –meaning words are rare and are mainly scientific terms such as hydrogen, molecule, and so on.
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• On the other hand, meanings of different homonyms have nothing to do with one another. In dictionaries, a polysemant has its meanings all listed under one headword whereas homonyms are listed as separate entries.
➢ The first meaning is the primary meaning. Later meanings are called derived meanings.
➢Synchronic approach共时研究方法
Synchronically, polysemy is viewed as the coexistence of various meanings of the same word in a historical period of time. 从 共时的角度看，在同一个历史时期，同 一个词可以拥有许多不同的意义。