Polysemy. The semantic structure of a polysemantic word
Polysemy is the universal phenomenon, the essence of which consists in the fact that several related meanings are associated with the same group of sounds within one part of speech. Thus, polysemantic words denote a whole set of related concepts, grouped according to the national peculiarities of a given language.
Meanings of the word «model» : 1) a copy of something usually smaller than the original; 2) a particular design or type of product; 3) a simple description of a system, used for explaining how something works, or calculating what might happen; 4) a system that can be copied by other people; 5) a person or thing that is considered to be an excellent example of something.
Polysemy is a result of: 1. Shifts in application Ex. : adj. red ink (is really red) red hair red deer red cabbage red Indian 2. Specialization Ex. : partner Basic meaning: a type of relationship between 2 or more people. — business partner — marriage partner — partner in crime 3. Metaphorical extension Ex. : leaf of a tree – leaf of a book hands of a person – hands of a clock
One of the most important characteristics of polysemy is the presence of significance of a particular word. Polysemy is a condition of one word which has the possibility to increase more aspects of the same referent. Polysemantic words are those that have more than one meaning.
The problem of distinguishing polysemy from homonymy E. Hatch, and I. R. Galperin consider polysemy to be the source of the rise of homonymy, appearing in result of growing weak in its meaningful relationship, on the base of which a new additional meaning appears. E. Hatch claims that polysemy and homonymy are of special interest, and only the context can determine where polysemy or homonymy is
R. O. Yakobson asserts that in polysemy and homonymy there is some invariant that links even some separate entries. I. R. Galperin asserts that a polysemantic word breaks its semantic ties with the head word and becomes a homonym for the word it is derived from.
R. S. Ginsburg mentions that words, identical in their sound form, but different in meaning, are traditionally termed homonyms, and tries to show the difference between various meanings of one word, and the meaning of two homonymous words.
In case when words which sound the same retain a remote, but still the same meaning, and are united by the same shape meaning, we have an example of polysemy. When two different words sound the same, but have no relationship in meaning, homonymy appears. Homonyms are the result of disintegration, or split of polysemy, and represent the case when two words sound the same way, but have nothing in common, in spite of the same spelling.
The semantic structure of a polysemantic word Two levels of analysis. On the first level, the semantic structure of a word is treated as a system of meanings.
“Fire” I. Flame II. An instance of destructive burning Ex. a forest fire III. Burning material in a stove, fireplace Ex. There is a fire in the next room IV. The shooting of guns Ex. to open fire V. Strong feeling, passion Ex. a speech lacking fire
Dull, adj. A dull book, a dull film — uninteresting, monotonous, boring. A dull student — slow in understanding, stupid. Dull weather, a dull day, a dull colour not clear or bright. A dull sound — not loud or distinct. A dull knife — not sharp. Trade is dull — not active. Dull eyes — seeing badly. Dull ears — hearing badly.
Dull Uninteresting — deficient in interest or excitement. Stupid — deficient in intellect. Not bright — deficient in light or colour. Not loud — deficient in sound. Not sharp — deficient in sharpness. Not active — deficient in activity. Seeing badly — deficient in eyesight. Hearing badly — deficient in hearing.
Semantic structure of a word should be investigated at both these levels: 1) of different meanings, 2) of semantic components within each separate meaning.
Presentation on theme: «Semantic Structure of the Word and Polysemy. Polysemy The ability of words to have more than one meaning is described as polysemy A word having several.»— Presentation transcript:
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Semantic Structure of the Word and Polysemy
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Polysemy The ability of words to have more than one meaning is described as polysemy A word having several meanings is called polysemantic Words having only one meaning are called monosemantic (terms, nouns, plurals)
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Polysemy polysemy is more characteristic of the English vocabulary as compared with Russian monosyllabic character of English, predominance of root words – reasons for widespread development of polysemy
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Polysemy the greater the frequency of a word the more polysemantic it is the commoner the word the more meanings it has each of the individual meanings may have its own types of meanings: connotational, part-of-speech, etc.
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Diachronic Approach to Polysemy growth and development in the semantic structure of the word the word retains its previous meaning(s) and at the same time acquires (a) new one(s) some of the old meanings may become obsolete or dissapear
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Diachronic Approach to Polysemy did the word always possess all its meanings? did some of the meanings appear earlier than the others? are the new meanings dependant on the meanings already existing? can we observe any changes in the arrangement of meanings?
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Diachronic Approach to Polysemy ME a table primary meaning OE tabule “ a flat slab of stone or wood” a table – 1)people seated secondary, at a table for a meal; derived 2)food provided at a table meaning
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Diachronic Approach to Polysemy primary meaning – the first meaning with which the word appeared in the language secondary meaning – could appear only after the primary meaning derived meaning – could not have appeared before primary meaning was in existence and is dependant on it
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Synchronic Approach to Polysemy are all meanings equally representative of the semantic structure of the word? is the order in which the meanings are registered in dictionaries reflect the place they occupy in the semantic structure of the word?
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Synchronic Approach to Polysemy coexistence of various meanings at the same historical period of the development of the language
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Synchronic Approach to Polysemy a table — “ a piece of furniture” – basic/central meaning a table — 1)people seated minor/ at a table for a meal; marginal 2)food provided at a table meanings
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Synchronic Approach to Polysemy basic/ central meaning – the meaning that first occurs to us whenever we see or hear a word, occurs in different contexts, has the highest frequency minor/ marginal meaning – less frequent, observed only in certain contexts
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Synchronic and Diachronic Approaches to Polysemy revolution Middle English Middle English – 1) “the revolving motion of celestial bodies” — primary meaning and central meaning 2) “ a complete overthrow of the established government” – secondary and minor meaning Modern English Modern English – 1) “ a complete overthrow of the established government” — secondary and central meaning
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Semantic Structure of Words Lexico-semantic variant (LSV) 1.polysemantic word in one of its meanings; 2. represents unity of form and meaning; 3.has its own morphological peculiarities, syntactic function, different valency 4.contain a semantic component which may be found in all other LSV of this word
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Semantic Structure of Words semantic structure of a word – a structured set of interrelated lexico-semantic variants semantic structure of a word – combination of various meanings
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Semantic Structure of Words e.g. semantic structure of the word Table 1. a piece of furniture 2. people seated at a table for a meal sing. 3. sing. food provided at a table 4. a thin flat piece of metal, wood, etc. pl. 5. pl. slabs of stone pl. 6. pl. words cut into them or written on them (ten tables) 7. an orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc. 8. part of machine-tool on which the work is put to be operated on
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Types of Lexical Meanings as Elements of a Word’s Semantic Structure primary : : secondary basic : : minor central : : peripheric direct : : figurative general : : particular abstract : : concrete neutral : : coloured present day : : archaic
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Polysemy and Context the meaning of a word in speech is contextual – depends on the context meaning is determined by the context
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Polysemy and Context context – the minimal stretch of speech determining each individual meaning of the word context individualizes the meanings, brings them out
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Polysemy and Context meaning(s) of the word that are least dependant on the context are free or denominative meanings e.g. table — “a piece of furniture”
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Types of Contexts contexts linguistic, or verbal lexicalgrammatical extra-linguistic, or non-verbal
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Types of Contexts extra-linguistic context – a real speech situation in which the word is used e.g. “I’ve got it” – 1) possess 2) understand
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Types of Contexts grammatical context – where grammatical structure of the context serves to determine various individual meanings of a polysemantic word
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Grammatical Context e.g. to make – 1)“to force, to induce” – make somebody do something – “make + smbd + bare infinitive” 2) “to become, to turn out to be” – make a good wife – make + adjective + noun
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Types of Contexts lexical context – the group of words which fill the grammatical pattern which forms the environment of the analyzed word
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Lexical Context e.g. heavy -”of great weight, weighty” – heavy load, heavy table heavy + natural phenomenon = “striking, falling with force” – heavy rain, heavy wind heavy + industry, arms, artillery = “the larger kind of something” – heavy industry, heavy artillery
5.1. Polysemantic and monosemantic words. Classification
5.2. Diachronic approach to polysemy.
5.3. Synchronic approach to polysemy.
5.4. The semantic structure of correlated words in English and Russian.
5.5. The national character of the semantic structure.
5.1. Polysemy is the ability of words to have more than one meaning. A word with several meanings is called polysemantic. Monosemantic words, which have only one meaning, are comparatively few; they are mainly scientific terms (e.g. hydrogen) or rare words (e.g. flamingo).
The bulk of English words are polysemantic. All the meanings of a polysemantic word make up a system which is called the semantic structure of the word.
e.g. The word TABLE has the semantic structure made up of at least 9 meanings:
1) piece of furniture;
2) the persons seated at a table;
3) (sing.) food put on the table;
4) a thin flat piece of stone, metal, wood, etc.;
5) (pl.) slabs of stone;
6) words cut into them or written on them (the Ten Tables);
7) an orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc.;
part of a machine tool on which work is put;
9) a level area, a plateau.
5.2. Polysemy can be viewed diachronically and synchronically.
The system of meanings of a polysemantic word develops gradually, mostly over centuries, as new meanings are added to old ones or oust some of them. As a result, the total number of meanings grows, and the vocabulary is enriched.
Thus, polysemy viewed diachronically is a historic change in the semantic structure of a word that results in disappearance of some meanings and appearance of new meanings, and also in the rearrangement of the meanings in the semantic structure.
Diachronically, we distinguish between the primary meaning and secondary meanings of a word.
The primary meaning is the oldest meaning of the word, its original meaning with which the word first appeared in the language,
e.g. the primary meaning of TABLE is » slabs of stone»: O.E. tabule f. Lat tabula.
All the other meanings appeared later than the primary meaning.
When we describe a meaning as secondary we imply that it can’t have appeared before the primary meaning; when we say a meaning is derived we imply not only that but also that it is dependent on another meaning and subordinate to it,
e.g. TABLE 1, 2, 3 are secondary, appeared later than TABLE 5;
TABLE 2, 3 are derived from TABLE 1.
The main source of polysemy is semantic derivation (radiation of meanings; adding new meanings to the existing ones).
Polysemy may also result from homonymy. When two words coincide in sound-form, their meanings come to be felt as making up one semantic structure.
e.g. the human EAR (f. Lat auris) and the EAR of corn (f. Lat acus, aceris) diachronically are homonyms. Synchronically, however, they are perceived as two meanings of one polysemantic word ear. The ear of corn is felt to be a metaphoric meaning (Of.: the eye of a needle, the foot of the mountain) and thus, as a derived meaning of the word. Cases of this type are comparatively rare.
5.3. Viewed synchronically, polysemy is understood as co-existence of several meanings of the same word and their arrangement in the semantic structure.
The status of individual meanings is not the same. We distinguish between the central (=basic, major) meaning and minor meanings.
How do we determine which meaning is the basic one?
(1) The basic meaning occurs in various and widely different contexts. It is representative of the word taken in isolation, i.e. it occurs to us when we hear/see the word in isolation; that is why it is called a free meaning.
e.g. the central meaning of TABLE is » a piece of furniture» Minor meanings occur only in specific contexts, e.g. to keep the table amused (TABLE 2) or the table of contents (TABLE 7).
(2) The basic meaning has the highest frequency in speech,
e.g. TABLE 1 has the highest frequency value and makes up 52% of all the uses of the word; TABLE 7 accounts for 35%; all the other meanings between them make up just 13% of all the uses.
(3) The basic meaning is usually stylistically neutral and minor meanings are as a rule stylistically coloured,
e.g. YELLOW 1) coloured like egg yoke or gold (neutral),
2) sensational (Am slang),
3) cowardly (coll).
Synchronically, we also distinguish between direct meanings and figurative (transferred) meanings,
e.g. YELLOW 4) (fig) (of looks, mood, feelings, etc.) jealous, envious, suspicious.
We should note that a word may have two or more central meanings,
e.g. GET » obtain» and » arrive» are equally central in the semantic structure.
As the semantic structure of a word is never static, the status (type) of its meanings may change in the course of time. The primary meaning may become a minor one; a secondary meaning may become the central meaning of a word.
e.g. The primary meaning of QUICK is » living»; it is still retained in the semantic structure but has become a minor meaning which occurs only in some expressions: to touch/ wound to the quick, the quick and the dead; » rapid, fast» has become the central meaning.
5.4. Words of different languages are said to be correlated when their central meanings coincide,
e.g. table – cтол » piece of furniture»;.
But there is practically no one-to-one correspondence between the semantic structures of correlated polysemantic words of different languages. The relations between correlated words are quite complicated, and we may single out the following cases (and show them graphically).
The semantic structures of two correlated words may coincide; usually they are monosemantic words,
e.g. flamingo.
We can show this relationship like this: two overlapping circles.
If the number of meanings is different, the semantic structure of one word may include that of its correlate it is the relationship of inclusion,
e.g. MEETING 1) a gathering of people for a purpose
2) the people in such a gathering
3) the coming together of two or more people, by chance or arrangement
МИТИНГ a (political) gathering of a number of people»;.
Some meanings of two correlated words may coincide and the others don’t. This is the relationship of intersection.
e.g. BOY МАЛЬЧИК
1) male child 1) male child,
2) young man 2) apprentice (obs.),
3) male native servant,
4) junior sailor.
5.5. All lexical meanings of a polysemantic word are interconnected. The relations beween them are based on various logical and psychological associations. Some of these relations are common to all or to many languages; others are peculiar to a particular language. Thus, a semantic structure has a national character (some specific characteristics).
Relations that are common to all/most languages are:
1) metaphorical relations,
e.g ass 1 » animal» — осёл 1 » animal»,
ass 2 (fig) » stupid person» — осёл2 » person»;.
2) metonymic relations,
e.g. table 1 » piece of furniture» — стол 1 » piece of furniture»,
table 3 « food « – стол 3 « food put on (1) «;.
Relations typical of English, but not of Russian are:
1. One and the same English verb may have both transitive and intransitive meanings in its semantic structure,
e.g. Paper burns easily. (intr) Cf.: гореть,
She burnt his letters, (tr) жечь.
2. One word has countable and uncountable, concrete and abstract meanings,
e.g. his love of painting Сf.: живопись — the paintings on the wall картина,
coal — a coal, hair — a hair.
3. In the same semantic structure we find individual and collective meanings,
e.g. YOUTH 1) young people collectively Сf.: молодежь,
2) a young man – юноша,
3) the state of being young — юность.