8.3D Patterned homonyms

I.V. Arnold distinguishes patterned homonyms, which, unlike other homonyms, possess a common component in their lexical meanings. These are homonyms formed either by means of conversion, or by leveling of their grammar inflexions. They are different in their grammar paradigms, but identical in their basic forms.

e.g. warm – to warm;

to cut – cut;

before as an adverb, a conjunction and a preposition .

Homonyms in English are very numerous. Oxford English Dictionary registers 2540 homonyms, of which 89 % are monosyllabic words, 9,1 % are two-syllable words.

8.3E Sources of homonyms

(1) Phonetic changes which words undergo in the course of their historical development. As a result of such changes, two or more words which were formerly pronounced differently may develop identical sound forms and become homonyms.

e.g. night and knight were not homonyms in Old English as the initial k in the second word was pronounced, and not dropped as it is in its modern sound form: OE. knight, OE nihi (night).

A more complicated change of form brought together another pair of homonyms:

to knead (OE cnēdan) 1) замішувати, місити (тісто, глину) 2) змішувати в загальну масу 3) формувати (характер тощо) 4) масажувати, розминати;

to need (OE nēodian)

(2) Conversion which serves creating of grammatical homonyms,

e.g. iron →to iron,

work→ to work.

(3) Shortening is a further type of word-building which increases the number of homonyms,

e.g. fan, n. in the sense of "an enthusiastic admirer of some kind of sport or of an actor, singer" is a shortening produced from fanatic. Its homonym is a Latin borrowing fan, n. which denotes an implement for waving lightly to produce a current of air.

Rep, n. denoting a kind of fabric (репс – тканина) has three homonyms made by shortening:

repertory → rep, n., ( a building or place where a stock of things is kept; repository)

representative → rep, n.,

reputation → rep, n.

(4) Borrowing is another source of homonyms. A borrowed word may, in the final stage of its phonetic adaptation, duplicate in form either a native word or another borrowing,

e.g. Lat. ritus → rite n. – write v. – right adj.;

OFr. pais → piece, n.

OFr. pettia → peace n.

(5) Words made by sound-imitation can also form pairs of homonyms with other words,

e.g. bang, n. "a loud, sudden, explosive noise"

bang, n. "a fringe of hair combed over the forehead" (чубок)

mew, n. "the sound a cat makes"

mew, n. "a sea gull"

mew, n. "a pen in which poultry is kept"

mews, n. "small terraced houses in Central London"

8.3F Homonymy vs polysemy

One of the most debatable points in semasiology is the demarcation line between homonymy and polysemy, i.e. between different meanings of one word and the meanings of two or more homonymous words.

Different criteria can be applied to distinguish a homonym from a polysemantic word:

1. Semantic criterion. If a connection between various meanings is apprehended by the speaker, they are to be considered as making up the semantic structure of a polysemantic word, otherwise it is a case of homonymy.

2. The criterion of distribution. It is helpful in cases of lexico-grammatical homonyms (e.g. the homonymic pair paper n. – paper v.) but it fails in case of lexical polysemy.

3. The criterion of spelling. Homonyms differing in graphic forms such as flower – flour are easily perceived to be two different lexical units.