POLYSEMY POLYSEMY DIACHRONIC APPROACH TO POLYSEMY SYNCHRONIC APPROACH TO POLYSEMY HISTORICAL CHANGEABILITY OF SEMANTIC STRUCTURE MOTIVATION POLYSEMY AND CONTEXT. TYPES OF CONTEXT. SEMANTIC CHANGE

1. POLYSEMY Polysemy – is the ability of a word to possess several meanings or lexico-semantic variants (LSV), e.g. bright means “shining” and “intelligent”. Monosemantic word - a word having only one meaning; Polysemantic word - a word having several meanings

Semantic Structure of Words Lexico-semantic variant (LSV) polysemantic word in one of its meanings; represents unity of form and meaning; has its own morphological peculiarities, syntactic function, different valency contains a semantic component which may be found in all other LSV of this word

A lexico-semantic variant (LSV) – a two-facet unit. Prof. A.I. Smirnitsky A lexico-semantic variant (LSV) – a two-facet unit. Words with one meaning are represented in the language system by one LSV, polysemantic words – by a number of LSV. They are united together by a certain meaning – the semantic centre of the word.

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.

Polysemy polysemy is more characteristic of the English vocabulary as compared with Russian reasons for widespread development of polysemy monosyllabic character of English, predominance of root words

Prof. V.V. Vinogradov Meanings are fixed and common to all people, who know the language system. The usage is only possible application of one of the meanings of a polysemantic word, sometimes very individual, more or less familiar. Meaning is not identical with usage.

2. DIACHRONIC APPROACH TO POLYSEMY Polysemy in diachronic term implies that a word may retain its previous meaning or meanings and at the same time acquire one or several new ones. According to the approach there are two types of meaning can be singled out: the primary meaning; the secondary meaning (derived)

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 was in existence and is dependent on it

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

3. SYNCHRONIC APPROACH TO POLYSEMY Synchronically polysemy is understood as the coexistence of various meanings of the same word at a certain historical period of the development of the English language. According to the approach there are two types of meaning can be singled out: the central (basic) meaning – the most frequent; marginal (minor) meanings – all other meanings.

Synchronic Approach to Polysemy coexistence of various meanings at the same historical period of the development of the language

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

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

HISTORICAL CHANGEABILITY OF SEMANTIC STRUCTURE The semantic structure is never static, the relationship between the diachronic and synchronic evaluation of individual meanings may be different in different periods of the historical development of language. The primary meaning of the word may become synchronically one of its marginal meanings and diachronically a secondary meaning may become the central meaning of the word.

‘significant appearance, token’ Evidence ‘significant appearance, token’ ‘information tending to establish fact’ Middle English diachronically synchronically primary central secondary marginal Modern English

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

Motivation relation between the structure of a word, its phonemic or morphemic composition and its meaning words may be motivated and non- motivated

Phonetical Motivation when there is a certain similarity between the sounds that make up the word and those produced by animals, objects, etc. e.g. swish, sizzle, boom, splash

Morphological Motivation when there is a direct connection between the structure of a word and its meaning e.g. finger-ring – ring-finger, lead- + -er=leader one-morpheme words are morphologically non-motivated e.g. dog, girl

Semantic Motivation based on co-existence of direct and figurative meanings of the same word when there is a direct connection between the central meaning of a word and minor meanings which are metaphorically colored (the combination of components is used figuratively) e.g. a watchdog –”a dog kept for watching property” (morphological motivation) a watchdog – “a watchful human guardian” (semantic motivation)

POLYSEMY AND CONTEXT Context is the minimum stretch of speech determining each individual meaning of the word. Context can be linguistic (verbal) or extra- linguistic (non-verbal). Linguistic context can be subdivided into lexical and grammatical.

heavy table (of great weight); TYPES OF CONTEXT Linguistic contexts: In the lexical context of primary importance are the groups of lexical items combined with the polysemantic word under consideration, e.g. heavy table (of great weight); heavy rain (abundant, falling with force); heavy industry (the larger kind of smth).

In the grammatical context it is the grammatical (syntactic) structure of the context that serves to determine various individual meanings of a polysemantic word. The meaning of the verb to make – ‘to force, to induce’ is found only in the grammatical context possessing the syntactic structure ‘to make+pronoun+verb (to make sb laugh, work, dance). Another meaning of this verb – ‘to become’ is observed in the context of a different syntactic structure – to make+adj+noun (to make a good wife, good teacher).

Extra-linguistic context When the meaning of a word is ultimately determined by the actual speech situation in which the word is used, i.e. by the extra- linguistic context (or context of situation), e.g. John was looking for the glasses, - the meaning of word glasses has two readings ‘spectacles’ or to ‘drinking vessels’ . It is possible to state the meaning of the word glasses only through the extended context or situation

Semantic change

Metaphorical Extension One or more semantic features are extended so that the word is applied to a wholly new context. Metaphorical extension is probably the primary means of vocabulary expansion.

Metaphorical Extension foot ‘body part’ → base of a mountain, bed, stairs, etc. broadcast ‘throw seeds out broadly’→ send out TV, radio waves

Reduction|Narrowing|Specialization Applies to a smaller circle of meaning hund ‘all dogs’ → hound; specific breed (dog < docga took over as general word) corn ‘grains’ (usually referred to principle crop in a region) → maize meat ‘all food’ → animal flesh

Generalization/Broadening To serve (clerical term) everyday speech To arrive (nautical term) to reach the place of destination

Elevation|Amelioration Applies to a higher value of meaning knight ‘youth’ → honorable rank squire ‘attendant’ → gentleman; landowner

Degradation| Pejoration Applies to a lower value of meaning, it is the downgrading or depreciation of a word's meaning, as when a word with a positive sense develops a negative one. lust ‘enjoyment, pleasure’ → sinful pleasure (usu.) of sexual nature mistress ‘woman in authority, ownership’ → a woman kept by a (usu. married) man

Change in circumstances hall ‘large room in a castle or building’ → corridor