9. Понятие полисемии. Типы значений многозначного слова в диахронии и синхронии.

Polysemy (Gr. πολυσημεία ‘multiple meaning’) is the ability of words to have more than one meaning.

Polysemy is typical of the English vocabulary due to:

its monosyllabic character;

the predominance of root words.

A monosemantic word is a word having only one meaning; these are mostly terms, e.g.: hydrogen, molecule.

A polysemantic word is a word having more than one meaning; highly polysemous words can include dozens of meanings, e.g., to go – appr. 40 meanings), to get, to put, to take – appr. 30 meanings).

A lexeme is the totality of all the forms and meanings of a word; a structural item of the vocabulary. A lexico-semantic variant is one of the individual meanings of a polysemantic word.

The semantic structure of a word is an organised system comprising all meanings and shades of meanings that a particular sound complex can assume in different contexts together with emotional, stylistic and other connotations.

Polysemy in diachronic terms implies that a word may retain its previous meaning and at the same time acquire one or several new ones. The main question of diachronic approach is which meaning came first, e.g., table, n. ‘a flat slab of stone or wood’ (primary meaning); ‘a piece of furniture’, ‘the food put on the table’, ‘people seated at a table’ (secondary meanings).

Synchronically polysemy is understood as co-existence of various meanings of the same word at a certain historical period and the arrangement of these meanings in the semantic structure of a word. Synchronic typology of meaning is concerned with the opposition of main and derived meanings.

10. Семантическая структура слова. Пути развития многозначности.

Semantic (semantic) structure of a word is an ordered set of interrelated elements that forms some generalized model in which lexical and semantic variants are opposed to each other and characterized relative to each other.

The lexical and semantic version (LSV) is a two-way unit, the formal side of which is the sound form of the word, and the content side is one of the meanings of this word.

Words with only one meaning are represented in the language in one lexical and semantic version, polysemantic words are represented by the number of lexical and semantic variants corresponding to the number of its different meanings.

Ways of development of polysemy 1. Change of denotation - expansion (generalization (shoot)) or narrowing (specialization (kvass, beer)) of meaning. 2. The transfer of a name is a process, as a result of which the name of one denotation becomes at the same time the name of another denotation, related to the first in any RELATION.

11. Полисемия и контекст. Виды контекста.

Polysemy means ‘plurality of meanings’; exists only in the language. Central meaning of a polysemantic word (in opposition to the marginal one) has the highest frequency in speech.

Diachronic polysemy – the growth and the development of or a change in the semantic structure of a word.

Synchronic polysemy – the coexistence of various meanings of the same word at a certain historical development of the English language.

Different meanings of a polysemantic word may come together due to the proximity of notions which they express.

Context – minimal stretch of speech determining each individual meaning of the word.

Linguistic context (micro-: right-handed and left-handed)

lexical contexts - the groups of lexical items combined with the polysemantic word under consideration: heavy load (of great weight), heavy rain (abundant);

grammatical contexts - the grammatical structure of the context that serves to determine various individual meanings of a polysemantic word: to make (to force) – V+pronoun+V – to make smb laugh; to make (to become) – V+adj+noun - to make a good wife.

Extralinguistic context (macro-) – meaning of a word is determined by the speech situation in which it is used.

Formal relations among the meanings

radial (invariants): the primary meaning stands in the centre and the secondary meanings proceed out of it like rays and can be traced to the primary meaning (face 1. ‘The front part of the human head’, 2. ‘the front part of a watch’, 3. ‘the front part of a building’;

chain: tea – ‘dried leaves’; ‘a beverage’; ‘light midafternoon meal’;

semantic network of meanings – combination of radial and chain relations.

Polysemy is a result of: 1. shifts in application (adj. red); 2. specialization; 3. metaphoric extension (hands of person ~ hands of clock), metonymic extension.