HomonymsLecture # 8

Grigoryeva M.

Homonymy

Definition of Homonymy

Diachronic Study of Homonymy and Sources of Homonyms

Homonyms treated synchronically

Classification of homonyms

Definition of Homonymy

Greek homonymous – homos “the same”

onoma “name”

Two or more words identical in sound form and spelling,

or in one of these aspects, but different in meaning,

distribution and (in many cases) in origin

Classification of homonymsby Walter Skeat

• identical in sound form and spelling but

different in meaning

Perfect homonyms

BallAny spherical body

A large dancing party

• identical in sound form but

different in spelling and meaning

Homophones

PiecePart separated from smth

PeaceA situation without war conflicts

• words different in sound-form and in

meaning but identical in spelling

Homographs

Lead [li:d]The first position at a particular time during competition

Lead [led]A soft heavy grey metal

Classification of homonymsby A.I. Smirnitsky

• full homonyms

• partial homonyms

Full homonyms

words which represent the same category of parts of speech and have the same paradigm

have the same spelling an pronunciation

match, n.a game, a contest

match, n.a short piece of wood for producing fire

Partial homonyms

• Simple lexico-grammatical

• Complex lexico-grammatical

• Partial lexical

Partial homonyms1. simple lexico- grammatical belong to the same part of speech their paradigms have

only one identical form it is never the same form

to found, verb

found, verb

(Past Ind., Past. Part. of to find)

Partial homonyms

2. Complex lexico-grammatical belong to different parts of speech and have one identical form in their paradigms

rose, nounrose, verb (Pat Ind. of to rise)

one, numeralwon, verb (Past Ind., Past Part. of to win)

Partial homonyms

3. Partial lexical homonymsbelong to the same part of speech but identical only in corresponding forms of their paradigms

to lie (lay, lain), verb to lie (lied, lied), verb

to can (canned, canned) can (could)

Classification of homonymsby I.V. Arnold

Only one group of homonyms-

Perfect homonyms

4 criteria for their classification:

• Lexical meaning

• Grammatical meaning

• Basic form

• Paradigm

Classification of homonymsby I.V. Arnold• Homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings, basic forms and paradigms but

different in lexical meaning

Board - a piece of wood \ a council

• Homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings and basic forms but different in lexical meaning and paradigms

To lie- lied- lied (ЛГАТЬ) To lie- lay- lain (ЛЕЖАТЬ)

• Homonyms different in in their grammatical meanings, lexical meaning and paradigms but identical in basic forms

Light (lights) Light (lighter, the lightest)

• Homonyms different in in their grammatical meanings, lexical meaning, basic forms and paradigms (but coinciding in one of the forms of their paradigms)

A bit Bit (to bite)

•

Classification of homonyms according to their meaning

lexical homonyms – words that differ in their lexical meaning but identical in their grammatical meaning

e.g. a seal (тюлень) – a seal (печать)

Synonyms and antonyms are regarded as the

treasure of the language’s expressive resources.

They are created by the vocabulary system with a

particular purpose

Homonyms are of no interest in this respect.

They are accidental creations, and therefore

purposeless.

In the process of communication they lead

sometimes to confusion and misunderstanding

Classification of homonyms according to their meaning

grammatical homonyms – different word-forms of one and the same word are identical

e.g. a seal – seals – seal’s – seals’

“Waiter!”

“Yes, sir!”

“What’s this?”

“It’s bean soup, sir!”

“Never mind what it has been. I want to

know what it is now.”

Bean – been (homophones)

Reasons for intense development of homonyms in English

monosyllabic character of the language

analytic structure of English

predominance of free forms in English

high-developed polysemy

Sources of Homonyms

• Phonetic changes• Borrowing• Conversion• Shortening• Split polysemy

Convergent development of sound form (phonetic changes) two or more words which were pronounced differently at

an earlier date may develop identical sound forms

OE

knight [knait] [nait] night [nait]

Divergent semantic development (split polysemy)

different meanings of the same word move so far away from each other that they come to be regarded as two separate units

(a long thing piece of wood) 1.a table

e.g. OE board (food served at the table) 2.daily meals

ople discussing their business at the table) 3.officials who direct some activity

Sources of Homonymy

shortening

Fan (Lat.)

“an implement for waving lightly to produce a cool current of air”

Fan “ an enthusiastic admirer of sport or celebrity” shortening

Fanatic

Sources of Homonymy

borrowings

Bank bank – “a shore”

a native word

bank – “a financial institution”

an Italian borrowing

Sources of Homonymy

sound-imitation

mew

‘the sound a cat makes’

‘a sea gull’

‘small terraced houses in London’

Synchronic Approach to Homonymy

1. the criteria distinguishing homonymy from polysemy

2. the formulation of rules for recognizing different meanings of homonyms in terms of their distribution

Homonymy and Polysemy

Semantic criterion of related and unrelated meanings

connections between the various meanings

are apprehended by speakers or not

apprehended

Homonymy and Polysemy

radiation - primary meaning stands in the center, secondary meanings proceed out of it like rays

polysemy

Homonymy and Polysemy

concatenation – secondary meanings develop like a chain. It is difficult to trace some meanings to the primary one.

homonymy

Distribution Criterion

homonyms differ in their syntactic function

e.g. I think that this “that” is a conjunction but that “that” that that man used was a pronoun.

Classification of homonyms according to their meaning

lexical homonyms – words that differ in their lexical meaning but identical in their grammatical meaning

a seal (тюлень)

a seal (печать)

Classification of homonyms according to their meaning

grammatical homonyms – different word-forms of one and the same word are identical

a seal – seals – seal’s – seals’

PRACTICE1.Define the given words into Homonyms proper Homophones Homographs

2.Give meanings of these words

Made (A) - maid (N), row (N) – row (N),

seal (N) - seal (N), band (N) – band (N),

desert (V) – desert (N)

Made (A) - maid (N)Past make A female servant HOMOPHONES

row (N) – row (N)People in a line A quarrel HOMOGRAPHS

seal (N) - seal (N)A sea animal The official mark HOMONYMS de’sert (V) – ‘desert (N) To leave empty A sandy land HOMOGRAPHS

hare (N) – hair (N)An animal Strands growing from the skin HOMOPHONES

PRACTICE Fill in the blanks choosing the right word. Translate your sentences

No (sweet \ suite) without sweat.

All is (fare \ fair) in love and war.

Out of (site \ sight) out of mind.

It never rains, but it (pours \ paws).

PracticeClassify the homonyms using Professor Smirnitsky’s classification

• He should give a ball in your honor.—He is playing with a ball.

Full homonyms

• What’s happened with your left ear? – He ‘s left us.

Complex lexico-grammatical partial

• Turn off the light! – He is wearing light summer trousers.

Complex lexico-grammatical

• He couldn’t bear the pain.- catch the bear before you sell the skin.

Complex lexico-grammatical partial

• ‘To can’ means to make preservation. – Birds can fly

Lexical partial

Practice

• Find the homophones to the following words, give the spelling (if they are different) and explain the difference in meanings

Dye

Tale

Week

Sun

Meet

Write

Hare