"Polysemy is the capacity for a sign to have multiple related meanings."
The phenomenon where one word can have multiple related meanings.
Lexical Semantics: The study of the meanings of individual words and their relationships to one another.
Conceptual Semantics: The study of the fundamental concepts that underlie the meanings of words and their relationships.
Prototype Theory: A theory that states that categories are not defined by strict rules or boundaries, but rather by prototypical examples that best represent the category.
Embodied Cognition: The idea that our thoughts and understanding of language are grounded in our sensory and motor experiences.
Frame Semantics: The study of how language helps to structure and organize our experiences and knowledge of the world.
Metaphor and Metonymy: Two important cognitive processes in language that involve the use of one concept to understand another.
Polysemy and Homonymy: The study of how words can have multiple meanings and how they can be distinguished from words that are completely unrelated but have similar forms.
Grammaticalization: The process by which words or phrases lose their original lexical meaning and become part of the grammatical system of a language.
Pragmatics: The study of how context and social factors affect meaning and language use.
Cognitive Linguistics: The overarching approach that seeks to understand language through the lens of human cognition and the ways in which language reflects and shapes thought.
Homonymy: Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and pronunciation, but different meanings. Examples include "bank" (river bank vs financial institution) and "rock" (stone vs. music genre).
Metonymy: Metonymy refers to a type of polysemy where one word is used to refer to something that is closely associated with it. Examples include "the White House" (used to refer to the US government) and "the crown" (used to refer to the monarchy).
Metaphor: Metaphors are linguistic expressions in which one word is used to refer to something that is usually associated with another word. For example, “She has a heart of gold”.
Prototype-based categorization: This type of polysemy is based on the idea of a prototype or a central instance of a category, which is used as a reference point for other instances that are related to it. For example, a robin is a prototypical bird, which is why it is associated with other bird-related words like “feathers” and “wings”.
Ambiguity: Ambiguity occurs when a word or phrase can have multiple meanings depending on the context in which it is used. Examples include "bark" (dog bark vs tree bark) and "run" (run for office vs. run a marathon).
Polysemy via polyfunctional words (lexical polysemy): This is the most basic type of polysemy, where a single word can have multiple meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. For example, the word "light" can refer to a source of illumination or to a lack of weight.
Word sense extension: Word sense extension is the process where a word acquires a new meaning that is related to its original meaning, but not identical to it. For example, the word "mouse" can refer to a computer device, in addition to its original meaning of a small rodent.
"Polysemy is distinct from monosemy, where a word has a single meaning."
"Polysemy is not to be confused with homonymy or homophony, which are accidental similarities between words."
"It is often necessary to look at the history of the word to see whether the meanings are historically related."
"Dictionary writers often list polysemes under the same entry and enter homonyms as separate headwords."
"The three most polysemous words in English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, are run, put, and set."
"Polysemy comes from the Ancient Greek words 'polý-' meaning 'many' and 'sêma' meaning 'sign'."
"A sign can be a symbol, a morpheme, a word, or a phrase to have multiple related meanings."
"Yes, a phrase can also exhibit polysemy."
"No, polysemy is not a mere linguistic coincidence like homonymy."
"The history of a word helps in discerning whether the meanings are historically related."
"Homonyms are entered as separate headwords, usually with a numbering convention."
"Yes, a word can have several word senses."
"The multiple meanings in polysemy are related to each other."
"Yes, polysemy is a common phenomenon with many words having multiple related meanings."
"Polysemy adds to the complexity of language by introducing various shades of meaning."
"No, not all words exhibit polysemy. Some words have a single, unambiguous meaning (monosemy)."
"No, variations in pronunciation do not play a role in polysemy. It is about multiple meanings, not different pronunciations."
"Polysemy can impact language comprehension by requiring contextual understanding for disambiguation."
"Learning polysemous words involves understanding and distinguishing between their various related meanings."