9.2. The origin of homonyms

The abundance of homonyms is closely connected with the phonetic identity of W & stem = the predominance of free forms among the most frequent roots. The most frequent Ws are highly polysemantic, they develop meanings which in the course of time may deviate very far from the central 1. Intermediate links fall out → these new meanings lose connections with the rest of the structure & start a separate existence. → Disintegration / split of polysemy.

Different causes of homonymy:

1. convergent sound development = 2 / 3 Ws of different origin accidentally coincide in sound. Universally recognised:

1. phonetic change only,

2. phonetic change combined with loss of affixes,

3. independent formation from homonymous bases by means of homonymous affixes. The suffix -er forms several Ws with the same stem: trail – trailer₁ ‘a creeping plant’ :: trailer₂ ‘a vehicle drawn along by another vehicle’.

2. from polysemy through divergent sense development:

(a) limited within one LG class of Ws,

(b) combined with difference in LG class → difference in grammatical functions & distribution,

(c) based on independent formation from the same base by homonymous morphemes.

Both may be combined with loss of endings & other morphological processes.

V. Abayev: homonymy = only instances of etymologically different Ws. Other scholars: semantic & structural criteria for distinguishing homonymy from polysemy.

Homonyms of the box group are etymologically connected (split of polysemy). They are traced to the Lat. buxus. The Concise Oxford Dictionary: box₁ n ‘a kind of small evergreen shrub’; box₂ n ‘receptacle made of wood, cardboard, metal, usually with a lid’; box₃ v ‘to put into a box’; box₄ n ‘slap with the hand on the ear’; box₅ v – a sport term.

Disintegration of polysemy is based on stating any connection between the meanings. One relies on intuition & linguistic experience.

The only rigorous criterion = etymology in explanatory dictionaries of English: match₁ ‘a piece of inflammable material you strike fire with’ (OFr mesche, Fr mèche); match₂ (OE gemæcca ‘fellow’).

3) The homonymy of Ns & Vs due to the loss of endings & conversion is 1 of the most prominent features of ME. It may be combined with semantic changes: long a :: v (it seems long before something comes to you, you long for it).

9.3. Homonymy treated synchronically

The synchronic treatment of English homonyms → a set of problems for different branches of applied linguistics: lexicography, TEFL & information retrieval: the criteria distinguishing homonymy from polysemy, rules for recognising different meanings of the same homonym, difference between patterned & non-patterned homonymy.

A lexicographer: a problem of establishing W boundaries. Match, as in safety matches, is a separate W from the V match ‘to suit’. Match, as in football match, & match in meet one’s match ‘one’s equal’ - ?

On the synchronic level the difference in etymology is irrelevant. The problem of establishing the criterion for the distinction between different Ws identical in sound form, & different meanings of the same W → amount of time spent by the readers in looking up a W.

Actual solutions. English lexicography: in 1 entry Ws of identical phonetic form showing similarity of lexical meaning, even if they belong to different parts of speech. The Anglo-Russian dictionary ed. by V. Arakin makes 9 entries with right against 4 items in the dictionary ed. by A. Hornby. No universal criterion for polysemy & homonymy distinction.

The etymological criterion may lead to distortion of the present-day situation. The ME vocabulary is not a replica of the OE one with some additions from borrowing. It is a different system.

A procedure based on purely synchronic data, prompted by analysis of dictionary definitions is explanatory transformation. The assumption: different senses rendered by the same phonetic complex can be defined with the help of an identical kernel W-group → variants of the same W; if not, they are homonyms. 1. A child’s voice is heard (Wesker). 2. His voice ... was ... annoyingly well-bred (Cronin). 3. The voice-voicelessness distinction ... sets up some English consonants in opposed pairs ... 4. In the voice contrast of active & passive ... the active is the unmarked form.

Voice₁ ‘sounds uttered in speaking / singing as characteristic of a particular person’. Voice₂ ‘mode of uttering sounds in speaking / singing’. Voice₃ ‘the vibration of the vocal chords in sounds uttered’. → 1 & the same kernel element utter rendering the invariant common basis of their meaning. It is impossible to use the same kernel element for the meaning in the 4^th example “Voice – that form of the V that expresses the relation of the subject to the action” → a homonym to the polysemantic W in the 1^st 3 variants.

The problem of patterned homonymy = the invariant lexical meaning present in homonyms that have developed from 1 common source & belong to various parts of speech (after / before – prp, conj & adv).

English lexicographers: 1 & the same W can function as different parts of speech: act n – act v, back n – back v, drive n – drive v, after & before. But: 1 & the same W can not belong to different parts of speech simultaneously, this contradicts the definition of the W as a system of forms.

TEFL: the most frequently used Ws constitute the greatest amount of difficulty: I think that this “that” is a conjunction but that that “that” that that man used was a pronoun. Sentences where Ws have their homonyms in other parts of speech, O. Jespersen’s: Will change of air cure love? A list of patterned LG homonyms from the minimum vocabulary of the elementary stage: Above, prp, adv, a; act n, v; after prp, adv, cj; age n, v; back n, adv, v; ball n, v; bank n, v; before prp, adv, cj; besides prp, adv; bill n, v; bloom n, v; box n, v. The other examples: by, can, case, close, country, course, cross, direct, draw, drive, even, faint, flat, fly, for, game, general, hard, hide, hold, home, just, kind, last, leave, left, lie, light, like, little, lot, major, march, may, mean, might, mind, miss, part, plain, plane, plate, right, round, sharp, sound, spare, spell, spring, square, stage, stamp, try, type, volume, watch, well, will.