Department of English Hazara University Mansehra

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH HAZARA UNIVERSITY
MANSEHRA
Submitted By: Muhammad Rayan
Submitted to Dr Nazakat Awan
Roll No: 44261
Introduction to Linguistics
IMPROVEMENT Bs 3rd
Bs 8th Literature
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH HAZARA UNIVERSITY
MANSEHR
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same
as another word, morpheme, or phrase in the same language. For example, the
words begin, start, commence, and initiate are all synonyms of one another; they
are synonymous. The standard test for synonymy is substitution: one form can be
replaced by another in a sentence without changing its meaning. Words are
considered synonymous in one particular sense:
for example, long and extended in the context long time or extended time are

synonymous, but long cannot be used in the phrase extended family. Synonyms
with exactly the same meaning share a seme or denotational sememe, whereas
those with inexactly similar meanings share a broader denotational
or connotational sememe and thus overlap within a semantic field. The former are
sometimes called cognitive synonyms and the latter, near-synonyms,
[2]
plesionyms[3] or poecilonyms.
Examples
Synonyms can be any part of speech, as long as both words belong to the
same part of speech. Examples:
 noun: drink and beverage
 verb: buy and purchase
 adjective: big and large
 adverb: quickly and speedily
 preposition: on and upon
Polysemy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Not to be confused with Polysomy.
"Polysemia" redirects here. For the moth genus, see Polysemia (moth).

Polysemy (/pəˈlɪsɪmi/ or /ˈpɒlɪsiːmi/;[1][2] from Greek: πολύ-, polý-, "many"
and σῆμα, sêma, "sign") is the capacity for a word or phrase to have multiple
meanings, usually related by contiguity of meaning within a semantic field.
Polysemy is thus distinct from homonymy—or homophony—which is an
accidental similarity between two words (such as bear the animal, and the verb to
bear); while homonymy is often a mere linguistic coincidence, polysemy is not. In
deciding between polysemy or homonymy, it might be necessary to look at the
history of the word to see if the two meanings are historically related. Dictionary
writers list polysemes under the same entry; homonyms are defined separately.
Contents
 1Polysemes
o 1.1Examples
 2Related ideas
 3See also
 4References
 5Further reading
 6External links
Polysemes[edit]
A polyseme is a word or phrase with different, but related senses. Since the test for
polysemy is the vague concept of the relatedness, judgments of polysemy can be
difficult to make. Because applying pre-existing words to new situations is a
natural process of language change, looking at words' etymology is helpful in
determining polysemy but not the only solution; as words become lost in
etymology, what once was a useful distinction of meaning may no longer be so.
Some apparently unrelated words share a common historical origin, however, so
etymology is not an infallible test for polysemy, and dictionary writers also often
defer to speakers' intuitions to judge polysemy in cases where it contradicts
etymology. English has many polysemous words. For example, the verb "to get"
can mean "procure" (I'll get the drinks), "become" (she got scared), "understand"
(I get it) etc.
In linear or vertical polysemy, one sense of a word is a subset of the other. These
are examples of hyponymy and hypernymy, and are sometimes called
autohyponyms.[3] For example, 'dog' can be used for 'male dog'. Alan Cruse
identifies four types of linear polysemy:[4]
 autohyponymy, where the basic sense leads to a specialised sense (from
"drinking (anything)" to "drinking (alcohol)")
 automeronymy, where the basic sense leads to a subpart sense (from "door
(whole structure)" to "door (panel)")
 autohyperonymy or autosuperordination, where the basic sense leads to a
wider sense (from "(female) cow" to "cow (of either sex)")
 autoholonymy, where the basic sense leads to a larger sense (from "leg
(thigh and calf)" to "leg (thigh, calf, knee and foot)")
In non-linear polysemy, the original sense of a word is used figuratively to provide
a different way of looking at the new subject. Alan Cruse identifies three types of
non-linear polysemy:[4]
 metonymy, where one sense "stands for" another (from "hands (body part)"
to "hands (manual labourers)")
 metaphor, where there is a resemblance between senses (from "swallowing
(a pill)" to "swallowing (an argument)")
 other construals (for example, from "month (of the year)" to "month (four
weeks)")
There are several tests for polysemy, but one of them is zeugma: if one word seems
to exhibit zeugma when applied in different contexts, it is likely that the contexts
bring out different polysemes of the same word. If the two senses of the same word
do not seem to fit, yet seem related, then it is likely that they are polysemous. The
fact that this test again depends on speakers' judgments about relatedness, however,
means that this test for polysemy is not infallible, but is rather merely a helpful
conceptual aid.
The difference between homonyms and polysemes is subtle. Lexicographers define
polysemes within a single dictionary lemma, numbering different meanings, while
homonyms are treated in separate lemmata. Semantic shift can separate a
polysemous word into separate homonyms. For example, check as in "bank check"
(or Cheque), check in chess, and check meaning "verification" are considered
homonyms, while they originated as a single word derived from chess in the 14th
century. Psycholinguistic experiments have shown that homonyms and polysemes
are represented differently within people's mental lexicon: while the different
meanings of homonyms (which are semantically unrelated) tend to interfere or
compete with each other during comprehension, this does not usually occur for the
polysemes that have semantically related meanings.[5][6][7][8] Results for this
contention, however, have been mixed.[9][10][11][12]
For Dick Hebdige[13] polysemy means that, "each text is seen to generate a
potentially infinite range of meanings," making, according to Richard Middleton,
[14]
"any homology, out of the most heterogeneous materials, possible. The idea
of signifying practice—texts not as communicating or expressing a pre-existing
meaning but as 'positioning subjects' within a process of semiosis—changes the
whole basis of creating social meaning".
Charles Fillmore and Beryl Atkins' definition stipulates three elements: (i) the
various senses of a polysemous word have a central origin, (ii) the links between
these senses form a network, and (iii) understanding the 'inner' one contributes to
understanding of the 'outer' one.[15]
One group of polysemes are those in which a word meaning an activity, perhaps
derived from a verb, acquires the meanings of those engaged in the activity, or
perhaps the results of the activity, or the time or place in which the activity occurs
or has occurred. Sometimes only one of those meanings is intended, depending
on context, and sometimes multiple meanings are intended at the same time. Other
types are derivations from one of the other meanings that leads to a verb or
activity.
Examples
Man
1. The human species (i.e., man vs. other organisms)

2. Males of the human species (i.e., man vs. woman)
3. Adult males of the human species (i.e., man vs. boy)
This example shows the specific polysemy where the same
word is used at different levels of a taxonomy. Example 1
contains 2, and 2 contains 3
Metonymy
(/mɛˈtɒnəmi/)[1] is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to
by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.[2]
Metonymy and related figures of speech are common in everyday speech and
writing. Synecdoche and metalepsis are considered specific types of
metonymy. Polysemy, multiple meanings of a single word or phrase, sometimes
results from relations of metonymy. Both metonymy and metaphor involve the
substitution of one term for another.[4] In metaphor, this substitution is based on
some specific analogy between two things, whereas in metonymy the substitution
is based on some understood association or contiguity.[5][6]
American literary theorist Kenneth Burke considers metonymy as one of four
"master tropes": metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony. He discusses them
in particular ways in his book A Grammar of Motives. Whereas Roman
Jakobson argued that the fundamental dichotomy in trope was between metaphor
and metonymy, Burke claims that the fundamental dichotomy is between irony and
synecdoche, which he also describes as the dichotomy between dialectic and
representation, or again between reduction and perspective.[7]
In addition to its use in everyday speech, metonymy is a figure of speech in
some poetry and in much rhetoric. Greek and Latin scholars of rhetoric made
significant contributions to the study of metonymy.
Coinage
in a sentence. noun. The definition of coinage is metal money.
An example of coinage is pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and silver dollars.

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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH HAZARA UNIVERSITY

Submitted By: Muhammad Rayan

Submitted to Dr Nazakat Awan

Roll No: 44261

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH HAZARA UNIVERSITY

for example, long and extended in the context long time or extended time are

Jump to navigationJump to search

Not to be confused with Polysomy.

"Polysemia" redirects here. For the moth genus, see Polysemia (moth).

1. The human species (i.e., man vs. other organisms)

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