A Brief View on Polysemy and Homonymy
【Abstract】Polysemy and homonymy，as important conceps in lexical semantics，explore the relation between different senses.They are employed to achieve humor,irony and dramatic power．
【Key words】Polysemy；Homonymy；Distinction；Stylistic value
1 Introduction
个人工资计算器The study of polysemy and homonymy has a long history on the philosophy of language，linguistics，psychology，and hterature，The complex relation between meanings and words were first noted by Stoics．They observed that one word could carry diferent meanings．Through the sttbsequent research into the issue of polysemy and homonymy，it is found that there exists an extensive grey area between them．How to distinguish the two is an important issue lying in front of the researchers．Th e paper here will analyze this problem from four angles．
Polysemy and homonymy are rarely a problem in language use because of the adoption of contextual cues．Th ey are sometimes used as a source of puns to achieve stylistic value such as humor and irony and to heightened dramatic power，which embody the richness and coincidence of language．
2 A Brief Elucidation of Polysemy and Homonymy
Definition of Polysemy and Honomymy
The coexistence of several meanings in a word is called polysemy．Th e word polysemy comes from Neo—Latin polysemia(polymany，sema—sign)，that is，having or characterized by many meanings for a single word or phrase．Polysemy seems to be motivated by metaphoric thought，that is，the relation between two polysemes seem to be the result of a certain underlying metaphor for shape，size，position，outward appearance，function and so on．Part of the lexical entry for head in English is used to illustrate this：① part ofthe body containing the brain．② the top of anything(1iterally or metaph orically)that resembles the head in shape③ the pemon who is the chief or leader．Clearly，(2)is motivated by shape and(3)by function．
Homonymy is usually viewed to hold between word—forms whose senses are completely unrelated．A word witll at least two elltirely distinct meanings yet sharing a lexical form is said to be homonymous．One of the most commonly cited examples of homonymous words is bank，which has a financial institution sense and an edge of a river sense．Th ese senses seem clearly unrelated，and the fact that they are associated with the same word form seems purely accidenta1
．Homonyms can be categorized into three types：total homonyms，homophone and homograph．In the first type，lexemes will be absolutely homonymous if they are formally identical in
both the phonic and graphic medium such a8 the verb lie(to be in or take a flat position)and lie(make a false statement with intention of deceiving to say something untrue)．The second type is homophone．Homophones are partial ones by sharing phonologically features，such as flour and flower．The third type is homographs which explore the meaning of different words that look alike，e．g．1ead(guide or direct to go in a certain direction)and lead(a soft，heavy，bluish—grey meta1)a homographs．Distinction Between Polysemy and Homonymy
In fact，polysemy is very similar to homonymy．Two words can be polysemous when their senses are somehow related，as long fit8 they are not equal，while homonymy is usually viewed to hold between word forms whose senses are completely unrelated． Given that we have a written form with diferent meanings，are we to say it is one word with diferent meanings(polysemy)or two diferent words with the same shape(homonymy)?What are the criteria that enable 118 to distinguish between polysemy and homonymy?There are some possible ways of answering these questions．Firstly，dictionary usually ba- ses their decision upon etymology ．If it is known that idenficM forms have one origin，even if they have diferent meanings，they are treated as polysemic and given a single entry i
n a dictionary．If it is know that they have diferent origins，they are treated as homonymous and given separate entries．Thus，on the ground of a shared etymological knowledge，table(furniture)and table(arrangement of data)are polysemic，while pupil(student)and pupil(the round opening in the middle of eye)are homonymous．Secondly，it is reasonable to suggest that where the diferences are regular and to some degree pre- dictable．we have polysemy rather than homonymy．One of the most familiar kinds of regular relationship between meanings is that of metaphor where a word appears to have both a literal meaning and transfered meaning．A good example is the words for part of body，such as fot in his fot and the fot of the mountain．Th us，fot is more 1ikely to be regarded as a polysemic word with literal meaning and transfered meaning．Thirdly，another diferent way of attempting toestablish polysemy rather than homonymy is to look for a central meaning．Around the central meaning are radiations of other meanings．The word table as a polysemic word is a good illustration．The core of meaning is a piece of furniture，and then appeam other ones extending fromit，such as a dish and people sitting at table．Fourthly，it is tempted to say that where the antonym is the same we have polysemy，and the diference of antonym implies homonymy．For example，the same word black can refer to a kind of heavy color and also black people Negro．Its antonym white correspondingly has two meanings：a light kind of color；people of European descent．Thus black belongs to polysemic word．While the word lights i
s concerned，they have diferent autonyms：light—heavy，light—dark．So they are usually seen as homonyms．
3 The Stylistic Value of Polysemy and Homonymy
Although polysemy and homonymy carry diferent meanings， they are rarely a problem in language use．The reason is the adoption of context，which plays a very important role in the hearer interpreration of words．Some proper ambiguities are intentionally aroused by employing polysemy and homonymy with the purpose of stylistic va1ue．
成人高考作文2021题目
Achieving Humor
Polysemy and homonymy can be used as pun to indicate the employer’s intention of making fun．A good example is the following pas-
sage from Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland．
“How is bread made?”
“I know that!”Alice cried eagerly．“You take some flour.”
“Where do you pick flowers? ”the White Queen asked，“In the garden or in the hedge?”
“Well，itn’t picked at all，”Alice explained，“it is ground．”“How many acres ofground?”said the White Queen．
This passage makes use of homonymous words：flour and flower，and polysemic word ground．They are specified differently by Alice and the White Queen．Because there is no connection between the questions and the answers，the audience may feel funny when reading their dialogue．Achieving Irony
Polysemic words and homonymous words are not only good can．didates for humor；they can also produce other efects such as irony．
For example：
馄饨皮怎么做
Where is Washington?
He is dend．
I mean the capital of the United States．
They loaded it all to Europe．
Now do you promise to support the constitution ?
Me? How can I? I’ve got a wife and three children to support．欢庆ppt
The dialogue above is said to be an oral investigation held among constituents when the presidential election is coming．Puns are skillfully used on three words：Washington，capital and support．The proper employment of polysemy implicitly satirizes the politics in the US．
Heighten Dramatic Power
Dramatic power can be heightened through the ingenious use of puns，and this is another stylistic value of polysemy and homonymy．Here is a right illustration．
We must all hang together，or we shall all hang separately．
This is a maxim ven by Benjamin Franklin，who argued people should unite and persist to avoid being strangled by the enemy．His mastery of words enhances the efect of political dissemination and the power of appea1．More sun and airfor you son and heir．
This is a quotation from an advertisement of a lido．By making use of two sets of homophones(sun／son and air／heir)，the lido convinces that there
is adequate sunshine and flesh air which are beneficial to the child and successor．It is believed that this is a unque message for the tourists who are inclined to be attracted by its cleverness and skillfulness．4 Conclusion
Polysemy and homonymy，as important concepts in lexical semantles，explore the relation between different senses．The distinction between polysemy and homonymy is important because it separates the principled from the accidenta1．Their pragmatic functions are noticeable，for they are stylistically useful to achieve such contextual effects as humor，irony，and heightened dramatic power．Due to the ingenious employment of polysemy and homonymy，people are impressed with their semantic power and the richness of lan guage．
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