Read the following sentences; find the words that are related either by form (spelling and/or pronunciation) or by meaning. Explain how they are related:
1. There is enough food to feed an army.
Feed the plants once a week.
You need to feed coins into the meter.
2. The chair is made of wood.
I would read a lot if I had more free time.
3. She left the room silently.
Fewer people write with their left hand than with their right.
4. I’ve just had a tooth out at the dentist.
The saw doest not cut well because it lost two teeth.
Choose an essay topic you can really get your teeth into.
5. You never know the value of water until the well is dry.
I don’t feel very well.
The kids all behaved well.
6. I read the newspaper yesterday. I read it everyday.
7. She’s training for the big race.
Farmers want to introduce a new race of cattle.
8. Japanese greet people with a bow.
Indians used bows and arrows to defend themselves.
9. A dove is a bird which is seen in many squares in Santiago.
The swimmer dove into the pool.
10 She died from a fatal wound.
He wound the wool into a ball.
Showing posts with label Polysemy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Polysemy. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
POLYSEMY
Meaning and polysemy
Definition
Polysemy [pəˈlɪsəmi] or [ˈpɒliˌsiːmi]
is the capacity for a sign (e.g. a word, phrase, etc.)
or signs to have multiple meanings
(from the Greek: πολυ-, poly-, "many" and σῆμα, sêma, "sign")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemy
Definition
Multiplicity of meaning
Mouth 1. part of the face
2. person needing food
3.opening
4.place where a river enters a larger
body of water
5.way of speaking
Are these meaning different or related?
The various meanings are interdependent and interrelated
How?
Association – metonymy
2.Person needing food
The man had many hungry mouths to feed.
3.Way of speaking
Watch your mouth!
Similarity - metaphor
3.Opening
The mouth of the cave was dark.
4.place where a river enters a larger
body of water
They walked around the mouth of the river.
Child
-A young human being who is not yet an adult
When I was a child, I was afraid of the dark .
-A son or daughter of any age
Two of her children are married.
Get
I went to the supermarket to get some milk.
What did you get for your birthday?
When I got the flu, I felt awful.
They told a joke, but I did not get it.
Branch
Semantics is the branch of linguistics that studies the meanings of words.
The bank of Chile opened a new branch near the university.
The new branch of the tree had to be cut by the gardener.
Tongue
The coffee was so hot that I burned my tongue.
He has a sharp tongue
The tongue of one shoe broke, so he had to buy a new pair.
Say two meanings of this word and how they are related
Star
Say how two meanings of this word are related
Arm –part of the body
Arm -the arms of an arm chair
Say how these two meanings are related
Leg- part of the body
Leg – the part of the bed
Find all the meanings of this word and say how they are related
hand
Conclusions
Most native English words are highly polysemantic
All these meanings are related either by similarity or by association
Part of the body
Similarity with this part of the body
Association with this activity done by this part of the body
Definition
Polysemy [pəˈlɪsəmi] or [ˈpɒliˌsiːmi]
is the capacity for a sign (e.g. a word, phrase, etc.)
or signs to have multiple meanings
(from the Greek: πολυ-, poly-, "many" and σῆμα, sêma, "sign")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemy
Definition
Multiplicity of meaning
Mouth 1. part of the face
2. person needing food
3.opening
4.place where a river enters a larger
body of water
5.way of speaking
Are these meaning different or related?
The various meanings are interdependent and interrelated
How?
Association – metonymy
2.Person needing food
The man had many hungry mouths to feed.
3.Way of speaking
Watch your mouth!
Similarity - metaphor
3.Opening
The mouth of the cave was dark.
4.place where a river enters a larger
body of water
They walked around the mouth of the river.
Child
-A young human being who is not yet an adult
When I was a child, I was afraid of the dark .
-A son or daughter of any age
Two of her children are married.
Get
I went to the supermarket to get some milk.
What did you get for your birthday?
When I got the flu, I felt awful.
They told a joke, but I did not get it.
Branch
Semantics is the branch of linguistics that studies the meanings of words.
The bank of Chile opened a new branch near the university.
The new branch of the tree had to be cut by the gardener.
Tongue
The coffee was so hot that I burned my tongue.
He has a sharp tongue
The tongue of one shoe broke, so he had to buy a new pair.
Say two meanings of this word and how they are related
Star
Say how two meanings of this word are related
Arm –part of the body
Arm -the arms of an arm chair
Say how these two meanings are related
Leg- part of the body
Leg – the part of the bed
Find all the meanings of this word and say how they are related
hand
Conclusions
Most native English words are highly polysemantic
All these meanings are related either by similarity or by association
Part of the body
Similarity with this part of the body
Association with this activity done by this part of the body
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