If you analyze any system of language, you can observe the same phenomena: homonymy and polysemy, synonymy and antonymy. This is observed even in the vocabulary of absolutely any dialects. In this article we will try to deal with the characteristics of these phenomena.
What is a homonym?
This is a concept that has developed in the Russian language, when the words that are absolutely identical in sound and spelling are radically different in meaning. The most common example is the word "pen." Is it a writing tool, the most important detail on the door, or a lady's pen waiting for a kiss? It all depends on the context in which the word occurs. Thus, we can denote this phenomenon - homonymy. And polysemy differs from it in all observed signs.
This word itself means polysemy, if translated from Greek. When a word has many meanings, it is not always homonymy. And polysemy involves several different meanings of the same word. However, all these words are somehow connected by a single meaning or by historical origin. People constantly use in their speech - both oral and written - and homonymy, and polysemy, they do it easily and simply, without setting themselves the task of somehow distinguishing between such phenomena.
The origin of concepts
Talking without homonyms simply does not happen, because in our language there are a lot of identical words that have completely different meanings. And in English - even more. And this concept appeared precisely due to the fact that the Russian language is enriched with borrowings. So, the word "marriage" came to us from German, and it meant it was a flaw, a flaw. And then somehow it replaced the verb “take,” and now that the husband takes his wife, this is also called marriage.
The distinction between polysemy and homonymy is not so simple. The given example with different meanings of the word “marriage” is clearly homonymy. This phenomenon is not necessarily related to borrowing. The Russian language has historically changed, words have changed both morphological and phonetic meanings. Letters from the original alphabet disappeared, for example, if earlier the word "fly" was written through ya (b) and implied medical practice, then subsequently the homonym word from the verb "fly" was obtained. Which is not the same thing at all. But this does not show the ambiguity of the word, it is clearly a homonym.
Differentiation of polysemy and homonymy
This task is very difficult. And in her decision, one cannot do without the ability to find and analyze the meaning of synonyms. Polysemy, homonymy and the science of identical lexical units are very interconnected. First of all, by the way, you need to select a number of similar in meaning and arrange in two or more (depending on the number of values) list. For example, take the word “root”. “Resident” and “issue indigenous” - the meanings seem to be different. Synonyms for the first meaning - "primordial", "main". To the second - also "main", that is - "main". They can be placed in the same row. And so the difference between polysemy and homonymy is immediately apparent. There is no last. “Root” is a multi-valued word. Therefore, we are dealing with the first.
The difference between homonymy and polysemy can be traced on any other example. Take the word thin. In the first sense, dry or skinny. In the second - bad, bad. You can’t put it in one row, a skinny one - not necessarily bad. Therefore, the phenomenon of homonymy is observed here, if synonyms from different columns cannot be combined in one row by value.
Difficulty finding
Homonymy and polysemy in a language are not always defined simply. Here is also a common example: the word "braid" is a girl’s beauty or an instrument of an old woman taking her life. Miscellaneous! But this is a polysemy, because according to the outlines in both meanings, this word denotes something long, subtle and spiky. It must be understood that with homonymy the coincidence of the sound of words is obtained by chance, but the polysemy always retains a common sense, even in shades. It’s hard enough to find it. However, there are many ways to distinguish homonymy and polysemy.
If you remember that polysemy is formed by selecting semantic variants of a particular word according to its meaning, it is quite possible to find its functions in speech. The work of this polysemy is that the values ​​are, as it were, redistributed, mutually replaced, without changing the context and general meaning. These connections are especially well seen in folk speech - in dialects.
Homonyms and synonyms
In homonymy, as already mentioned, semantic relations in a word are not internally connected, their meanings are not motivated, they are simply expressed by the same form in sound and spelling. Homonyms - words are different, their meanings diverge far, even they are often formed from different roots that coincide in sound, or from one root, but with a different basis.
Synonymy is another language ability. This is an expression of content by various means, using identical words that are close in meaning. The larger the set of synonyms, the richer the language. And this is the best way to determine how polysemy differs from homonymy. Synonyms tend to carry all sorts of functionality - both semantic and stylistic. Including the function of assessing the aesthetic level. Synonyms from other dialects, from literature, from foreign languages ​​are actively included in the arsenal of Russian speech.
The relationship of synonymy and polysemy
This connection is very strong. The ambiguity of words in different versions is present simultaneously in different synonymous series. This is especially evident in dialects. For example, Tomsk peasants distinguish three meanings of the word “strong”: fertile, rich in yielding chernozem, strong, rich landlord, hefty, mighty moose or car. With the use of this word, one can almost always observe the phenomenon of polysemy, and homonymy is not present here. As all series of synonyms are easily combined. They must be precisely built, this is the main task, otherwise this definition cannot be made. The criteria for distinguishing homonymy and polysemy are always the same.
We conducted an analysis of three phenomena, but there is a fourth, no less important. This is anthonymy. Synonymy, homonymy, polysemy are firmly connected with this phenomenon. And in the absence of any of these components, speech will be scarce and insufficiently complete. Antonymy draws absolutely opposite meanings in relation to the same word. And these contrasts are easily arranged in the ratio of synonymic series, which very brings together the concepts of synonymy and antonymy, although the correlation of these series is only approximate.
Discrepancies
The criteria for distinguishing between the phenomena of polysemy and homonymy are so contradictory that even scientists have not yet fully agreed with each other regarding many words and concepts. Of course, ordinary linguists also have many difficulties. Not always such a plan distinguishes clearly and adequately. Firstly, it is very difficult to clearly and consistently define and build synonymous series, which is exactly what modern lexicography practice indicates. There are many words that in some dictionaries are treated as ambiguous, while in others they are treated as homonyms.
And it is not only the complexity of the problem that is to blame, more often the insufficiently scrupulous and consistent approach to these phenomena. There was a period when the enthusiasm for homonymization was even redundant. For example, even the word “good” was considered a homonym: a good (in the sense of “good”) day and a good (in the sense of “evil”) person is a polysemy, although some sources speak of two different words.
The first way to separate
The main way to distinguish homonymy and polysemy is the selection of synonyms for each of the meanings of a given word, followed by a comparison of all the components of these series with each other. Revealed semantic affinity? This is clearly a polysemy! If the values ​​are not comparable, we are dealing with homonymy. Take the word battle. In the first sense, this is a battle. In the second - the so-called boy serving at the hotel. No semantic similarity, the lexical units are different. So this is homonymy. But there is a catch. Even in the first meaning alone, this word is not so clear.
We arrange in a row: wrestling, battle, battle, competition, duel and so on (since a fight can be fist, sea, dog or bull fighting and the like, this is a long row), and then we notice that there is still semantic closeness in battle, fight and duel. So these are just slightly different meanings of the word "battle."
This clash in a war of military units is the first meaning. This competition, struggle, duel, martial arts - in the second. This is a battle, a fight - in the third. This is the slaughter of animals (business executives call it "livestock fighting") - the fourth value. This is a clock or bell fight - ringing or sounding, fifth value. A total of nine values ​​are listed in the dictionary. Another: a glass battle, a gun battle, that is, a determination of its strength. Well, and a boy-woman, as they say in many settlements, which means a brisk woman, a poor woman. And all this means that the word "battle" only in the first sense already shows the phenomenon of polysemy.
The second way to distinguish
One can distinguish a homonymous word from a polysemantic one by a simple comparison of word forms, that is, it is necessary to select cognate related words (otherwise this is called a derivational connection). If the obtained word forms are similar or identical in meaning, and between them there are related words that are identical in the way they are formed, if the semantic proximity is not lost, everything indicates the presence of polysemy.
Take the same word - "battle". Almost all of its meanings in word forms and related formations are similar, like twins: battle-in-battle-about-fight-fight-combat-action-warrior-warrior-warrior and so on. Everything is the same. Now, if there were differences in word forms that clearly drew the line between concepts, isolating word-formation connections, then we could talk about homonymy. Here in the second meaning, the word “battle” does not intersect with any derivative of the first meaning, the battle (boy servant) does not have a single root word in Russian.
Types of Polysemy
The first type of polysemy differs according to the nature of linguistic motivation in the meaning of a given word. A new meaning is formed as a result of the appearance of associative similarity of the attributes of an object (metaphor) or their adjacency (metonymy). In the first case, the metaphorical connection is based on the similarity of form, location, appearance, functions and so on. In the second, the metonymic connection of meanings is based on conjugation, the adjacency of the indicated realities: part-whole and vice versa, the action and result of it (synecdoch), and so on.
The second type of polysemy is distinguished by the dependence of the private and the main in meaning. When meanings are interlinked in a word, three main varieties of ambiguity are distinguished by their nature: radial (secondary meanings are associated with the main one), chain (each meaning is associated only with adjacent ones), radial-chain (mixed type).
The third type is the associative polysemy, when the values ​​are far in content and are connected only through associations. A subtype is an associative-semantic polysemy, when the values ​​are associated both associatively and in the content of the component composition.
Why homonymy and polysemy are necessary for language
Human cognition, unlike any language, has a resource, in principle, unlimited, practically unlimited, and polysemy always reflects and reproduces reality in a very generalized way. We must not forget about the laws of asymmetry of sign and meaning, they rarely fully reveal the meaning and even sometimes do not correspond to each other. This is precisely the main reason for the emergence and triumph of polysemy.
Homonymy arose for almost the same reasons - linguistic means required enrichment. Moreover, the story does not stand still, it develops, and with its course the language undergoes changes. From time to time, words of different origin begin to formally coincide with each other both in sound and in spelling, however, in meaning they remain different. These are purely etymological reasons. But there are also cases when the word-building need of a language affects the appearance of homonyms. Therefore, homonyms are so heterogeneous in nature, although in composition they can be partial or complete.
Full and partial homonyms
Homonyms distinguish two types. Complete lexical homonyms are always one and the same part of speech, which coincides throughout the entire system of formation. For example, a bow: both the one that is eaten and the one from which they shoot, behave identically in cases, numbers, no matter what we do with them.
Partial lexical homonyms are consonant words, one of them will necessarily coincide completely with a separate form or with a part of another meaning. For example: fall low and fall a tiger.