Chapter 51. Polysemy 2. Homonymy 5.1 Polysemy Polysemy means that one single word has two or more senses at the same time. The bulk of English words are polysemantic; one meaning words are rare and are mainly scientific terms such as hydrogen, molecule, and so on.Polysemy Polysemy is a common feature peculiar to all natural languages. This is particularly true of highly developed languages like English. In modern English, an overwhelming majority of words are polysemous. There are words that have two or three senses, and the most commonly used ones can have as many as over a hundred. Polysemy However, when a word is first coined, it is always monosemic. But in the course of development, the same symbol must be used to express more meanings. The result is polysemy. But how does a word acquire new meanings? In what way are the meanings related to one another? Two Approaches to Polysemy The problem of interrelation of the various meanings of the same word can be dealt with from two different angles: diachronic approach and synchronic approach. 1. Two approaches to polysemyDiachronic approach历时研究方法It is assumed to be the result of growth and development of the semantic structure of one and same word。 The first meaning is the primary meaning. Later meanings are called derived meanings.Synchronic approach共时研究方法Synchronically, polysemy is viewed as the coexistence of various meanings of the same word in a historical period of time. 从 共时的角度看，在同一个历史时期，同 一个词可以拥有许多不同的意义。 The basic meaning of a word is called the central meaning. The derived meanings are secondary in comparison.2. Two processes of development1) Radiation辐射型2) Concatenation连锁型1) Radiation辐射型Semantically, radiation is the process which the primary or central meaning stands at the center while secondary meanings radiate from it in every direction like rays. All the meanings are independent of one another, but can all be traced back to the central meaning.Take head for example:the head of the school, six pence per head, the head of a page, to come to a head, to lose ones head, six head of cattleThough these senses have little in common, they all derive from special application of the central idea of head as a part of the body.2) Concatenation连锁型 Concatenation is a semantic process in which the meaning of a word moves gradually away from its first sense by successive shifts until there is no connection between the sense that is finally developed and the primary meaning.Concatenation The word treacle is an illustrative example: (1) wild beast; (2) remedy for bites of venomous beasts; (3) antidote for poison or remedy for poison; (4) any effective remedy; (5) (BrE) molasses. 例1：board：木板餐桌会议桌董事 会 例2：candidate：穿白袍的人身着白袍申 请职位的人候选人5.2 Homonymy Homonyms are generally defined as words different in meaning but either identical both in sound and spelling or identical only in sound or spelling. 1) Types of homonymsPerfect/absolute homonyms完全同形同音异义词 Homographs同形异义词 Homophones同音异义词Of the three types, homophones constitute the largest number and are most common.Perfect homonyms Perfect homonyms are words identical both in sound and spelling, but different in meaning, e.g. bank n the edge of the river, lake, etc. bank n an establishment for money business bear n a large heavy animal bear v to put up with HomographIdentical only in spelling but different in sound and meaning, e.g. bow /bau/ n bending the head as a greeting bow /bcu/ n the device used for shooting arrows saw /scu/ v to scatter seeds sow /sau/ n female adult pig Homophone Identical only in sound but different in spelling and meaning, e.g. dear /dic/ n a loved person deer /dic/ n a kind of animal son /s?n/ n a male child of someone sun /s?n/ n the heavenly body from which the earth gets warmth and light 2) Origins of homonymsChange in sound and spelling读音和拼写演变的结果Borrowing 借入外来词的结果 Shortening 词语缩略的结果homonyms and polysemantsPerfect homonyms and polysemants are fully identical with regard to spelling andpronunciation. This creates the problem of differentiation. Differentiation of Homonyms from Polysemants The fundamental difference between homonyms and polysemants lies in the fact that the former refers to different words which happen to share the same form and the latter is the one and same word which has several distinguishable meanings. important criterion One important criterion is to see their etymology, i.e. homonyms are from different sources whereas a polysemant is from the same source which has acquired different meanings in the course of development. The second principal consideration is semantic relatedness. The various meanings of a polysemant are correlated and connected to one central meaning to a greater or lesser degree, e. g. head (See 5.1 Polysemy) . On the other hand, meanings of different homonyms hav