Homonymy and polysemy in information retrieval acl. After a broad overview of the topic we focus on the treatment of several examples in. Pdf this paper describes a radically different approach to polysemy and homonymy from the ones. Homonymy and polysemy both involve one lexical form that is associated with multiple senses and as such both are possible sources of lexical ambiguity. But while homonyms are distinct lexemes that happen to share the same form, in polysemy a single lexeme is associated with multiple senses. This is an adverb, which is etymologically derived from the verb vcha. Pdf on jan 1, 2010, ahmed abuhumeid and others published homonymy find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Homonymy and polysemy this handout contains a brief explanation of homonymy and polysemy. A word is polysemous if it can be used to express different meanings. On homonymy and polysemy alina preda, assistant professor, phd. The boundaries between polysemy and homonymy seem to be characterised by flux, rather than fix, as a result of semantic shift, referential dispersion, semantic closeness, human subjectivity and, first and foremost, a lack of firm groundrules on the basis of which the distinction between the two is. Homonymy definition of homonymy by the free dictionary. Pdf polysemy and homonymy and their importance for the study.
We have focused on the distinction between homonymy and polysemy unrelated vs. In this article we examine the concepts of polysemy and homonymy. Whereas a polysemy, is simply one word with multiple meanings. Pdf polysemy is characterised as the phenomenon whereby a single word form. However, by changing the definitions of polysemy and homonymy to phenomena where an expression has. Polysemous words possess two or more related senses. Free to question the decisions of a dictionarymaker as they may be arbitrary dictionaries usually base their decisions upon etymology. The boundaries between polysemy and homonymy seem to be characterised by flux, rather than fix, as a result of semantic shift, referential dispersion, semantic closeness, human subjectivity and, first and foremost, a lack of firm groundrules on the basis of which the. What is the difference between polysemy and homonymy. Homonymy and polysemy in semantic analysis, the theoretical d istinction between homonymy and po lysemy creates a problem that ha s cap tivated the attention of many linguists. Our results support the need to distinguish homonymy. The di erence between the meanings can be obvious or subtle. Polysemy and homonymy are semantic phenomena that are part of our everyday language. This word is also used as a noun meaning a female calf at.
Polysemy a second language pedagogical concern by kevin parent. It is distinguished from monosemy, where one word form is associated with a single meaning, and homonymy, where a single. The difference between the meanings can be obvious or subtle. Its 2 completely different concepts, however polysemy is one word, that has many different meanings. This was a rather dramatic finding because the homonymous. A word is polysemous if it can be used to express di erent meanings. If different senses of word are systematically related, then how these senses are derived.
Homonymy and polysemy pdf in contrast to the notion of sense relations, polysemy and homonymy refer to similarities rather than differences between meanings. Like synonyms, but synonyms are different words with one meaning. Absolute vs partial homonymy 3 criteria for absolute homonyms. If identical forms have different origin, they are treated as homonyms and given seperate entries if they have one origin, even if they have different m. It is intended to supplement the discussion on pages 2 of the textbook, not replace it.
Multifunctionality of a language generates multisemanticity of words. Polysemy is the coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase homonymy is the existence of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins meanings. Difference between polysemy and homonymy definition. Manyrelatedsenseshelp,butmanyunrelatedmeaningshurt. Pdf there is no need for the terms polysemy and homonymy in. This approach has been strongly criticised on both theoretical and empirical grounds. Polysemy has different, yet related meanings homonymy has completely different meanings origins. The effects of homonymy and polysemy on lexical access.
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