Notes on Homonymy and Polysemy
HOMONYMY - POLOSEMY A. HOMONYMY I. Definition
- Homonymy is a relation in which various words have the same (sound and written) form but have different meanings. II. Classification 1. Homonyms (full/absolute homonyms)
- Two or more words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning, distribution and origin are called homonyms
- We use the term homonyms when one form (written or spoken) has two or more unrelated meaning, as these examples: Bank (of a river) – bank (financial institution) Bat (flying creature) – bat (used in sports) Mole (on skin) – mole (small animal) Pupil (at school) – pupil (in the eye) Race (contest of speed) – race (ethic group) Ball (a round body or mass) – ball (a large formal gathering for social dancing) Seal (a marine flesh-eating mammal) – seal (an emblem or word impressed or stamped on a document as a mark of authenticity)
Bank (of a river) – bank (financial institution) The temptation is to think that the two types of bank must be related in meaning. They are NOT
( Homonyms are words that have separate histories and meaning, but have accidentally come to have exactly the same form. 2. Homophones: identical in pronunciation only
- When two or more different (written) forms have the same pronunciation, they are described as homophones.
- Example:
|Pronunciation |Word1 |Word2 |
| |Bare |Bear |
| |Meat |Meet |
| |Flour |Flower |
| |Pail
- Homonymy is a relation in which various words have the same (sound and written) form but have different meanings. II. Classification 1. Homonyms (full/absolute homonyms)
- Two or more words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning, distribution and origin are called homonyms
- We use the term homonyms when one form (written or spoken) has two or more unrelated meaning, as these examples: Bank (of a river) – bank (financial institution) Bat (flying creature) – bat (used in sports) Mole (on skin) – mole (small animal) Pupil (at school) – pupil (in the eye) Race (contest of speed) – race (ethic group) Ball (a round body or mass) – ball (a large formal gathering for social dancing) Seal (a marine flesh-eating mammal) – seal (an emblem or word impressed or stamped on a document as a mark of authenticity)
Bank (of a river) – bank (financial institution) The temptation is to think that the two types of bank must be related in meaning. They are NOT
( Homonyms are words that have separate histories and meaning, but have accidentally come to have exactly the same form. 2. Homophones: identical in pronunciation only
- When two or more different (written) forms have the same pronunciation, they are described as homophones.
- Example:
|Pronunciation |Word1 |Word2 |
| |Bare |Bear |
| |Meat |Meet |
| |Flour |Flower |
| |Pail