Polysemy and homonymy

Polysemy and Homonymy Polysemy A word is polysemic when it has more than one meaning The word plain, for example, has several meanings, including ‘easy, clear’, ‘underdecorated’, ‘not good looking’ and ‘a level area of plan’ Plain is thus polysemic ( a single word with more than one meaning) Homonyms can be either homophones or homographs, or both Homophones two or more words are homonymic when they sound the same but have different meanings The words I, eye and aye are homonymic they have diffe.

Polysemy and Homonymy

Polysemy: A word is polysemic when it has more than one

meaning The word plain, for example, has several meanings,

including: ‘easy, clear’, ‘underdecorated’, ‘not good-looking’ and

‘a level area of plan’ Plain is thus polysemic.( a single word with

more than one meaning)

Homonyms can be either homophones or homographs, or both Homophones : two or more words are homonymic when they

sound the same but have different meanings The words I, eye and

aye are homonymic: they have different meanings but are identical

in spoken form.( several words with the same form but different meanings)

Homographs: words which are written in the same way but which

are pronounced differently and have different meanings.

a) The ship was listing badly

We are listing the requirements for the course

b) He gave her a diamond ring

His glass left a ring on the table

c) They came to a fork in the road

He placed the fork beside the knife on the plate

d) The dog tried to lap the water

The cat sat in my lap

e) The dog had no bark

Don’t remove the bark from the tree

f) You tried the rest Now try the best

My aching limbs cried out for rest

g) Lend me your pen.

They put the pigs in the pen

h) I got a cut lip

The lip of the cup was chipped

Hyponymy

Hyponymy: a relationship between two words, in which the meaning of one of the words includes the meaning of the other word.

Arrange the words in each group so that every word is a hyponym of the word immediately before it.

a) mouse, rodent, mammal

b) house, building, bungalow, structure

c) run, jog, move

d) pistol, weapon, firearm, revolver

e) person, uncle, relative

f) dog, beast, hound, beagle

g) pilfer, steal, take

Synonymy

Synonymy: a word which has the same, or nearly the same, meaning as another word Sometimes two words may be

synonymous in certain sentences only.

Which of the following words or expressions appear to have the same or very similar meanings; list them in pairs of letters:

a) effluent b) knock over c) sympathise d) boycott e) outflow

Polysemy f) construct

g) show sympathy h) the day after today i) endure j) build up k) put up with

l) tomorrow m) take a calculated guess at n) estimate

Paraphrase

A piece of text (especially a sentence) that expresses the ‘same’ meaning as another piece of text in a different way.

a) John is the parent of James

James is the child of John

b) My father owns this car

This car belongs to my father

c) Some countries have no coastline

Not all countries have a coastline

d) Mr Birling killed Eva Smith

Eva Smith was killed by Mr Birling

e) Her name sounds familiar to Mr Birling

Her name rings a bell with Mr Birling

f) He lectured me about that particular space

I was lectured by the man about that particular space

g) Biff and Tammy are good scouts

Tammy and Biff are good scouts

Entailment

One sentence entails another if the meaning of the first sentence includes the meaning of the second.

A relationship between two sentences such that if the first is true, the second must also be true.

a) All dogs have fleas b) I am wearing black boots

My dog has fleas I am wearing black footwear

c) I ran home last night d) My socks are bright red.

I went home last night My socks are red

e) Henry was chewing a tulip f) Henry chewed up all my flowers

Henry was chewing a flower Henry chewed up all my tulips

g) Henry was not chewing a flower

Henry was not chewing a tulip

Ambiguity Explain the semantic ambiguity of the following sentences by providing two sentences that paraphrase the two meanings.

a She can’t bear children

b Each of Mary’s sons hated his brothers

c The new computer and printer were left at the door

d I talked with every student about his problems

e Ringing bells did not annoy him

f Nobody would keep matches near his child’s crib

g He likes galloping horses

h In his drawer each of the manager keeps a gun

i Everyone believes that a pretty woman loves him

1 What is the lexical relation between the following pairs of words?

a) shallow – deep

b) mature- ripe

c) suite – sweet

d) table – furniture

e) single – married

f) move – run

2 What semantic feature or property differentiates the following sets of nouns?

a) niece, daughter, sister vs nun, woman, girl

b) mailman, nephew, priest vs gander, stag, bull

c) hen, ewe, cow vs rooster, ram, bull

d) table, chair, pencil vs love, thought, idea

e) table, chair, pencil vs water, dirt, cream

3 Which of the following sentences are not semantically well formed? Explain what is wrong with the ones you reject?

1 She bought this book here at a discount sale

2 She was given this book there by its author

3 I would like to buy this book you have there

4 I don’t want that book you have there

5 I’ll come there and meet you at 4.30

6 I’ll go and meet you here at 4.30

7 If you will wait there, I’ll go and meet you after work

4 In the following pairs of words, what is the fixed order?

1 this, that

2 go, come

3 now, then

4 there, here

5 I, you

6 I, he

7 you, he