Language in Text Reading Comprehension 1 Homonymy Polysemy

Language in Text & Reading Comprehension 1 Homonymy & Polysemy

What is homonymy? similarity of spelling and/or sound A homonym is "a word that is spelled the same or sounds the same as another word but that has a different meaning. " (Macmillan Dictionary)

What is polysemy? multiplicity of meaning Polysemy is "the existence of several meanings for a single word or phrase. " (Encarta)

Examples: all / awl be / bee calendar / calender cite / sight in / inn sea / see might / mite wood / would write / wright / rite / right

Are these words homonyms or polysemous lexemes? (1) Bank: side of a river Bank: financial institution (2) Neck: part of the body Neck: part of a bottle Neck: a long narrow strip of land

Two words that are spelt and pronounced similarly can be either homonyms (bank/bank) or polysemous lexemes (neck/neck). The basic criterion to be considered here is relatedness of meaning. Bank and bank are homonyms because they are not related in terms of meaning. Neck and neck are polysemous lexemes because they are related in terms of meaning.

What is relatedness of meaning? There are two kinds of relatedness: (1) Historical (2) Psychological

"Two meanings are historically related if they can be traced back to the same source, or if the one meaning can be derived from the other; two meanings are psychologically related if present-day users of the language feel intuitively that they are related, and therefore tend to assume that they are ‘different uses of the same word. ’" (Leech 227)

Homophones & Homographs Homophones are words that are pronounced in the same way but spelt differently. Homographs are words that are spelt in the same way.