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

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