Unit-7-Polysemy-and-homonymy市公开课金奖市赛课一等奖课件

1、By IvoryUnit 7 Polysemy and homonymy第1页Words are arbitrary symbols and are independent identities so far as their outer facet-spelling and pronunciation is concerned. But semantically, all words are related in one way or another. A word which is related to other words is related to them in sense, he

2、nce sense relations. We can even say that the senses of the word are prominent only when they are related in the system. 第2页The subjects that have long held the interest and attention of semanticists are polysemy, homonymy, synonymy, antonymy and hyponymy and taxonomy. 第3页The main sense relations in

3、 English vocabulary are shown as follows:Polysemy: Give me a hand please. He is a new hand.Homonymy: On Sunday they pray for you, but on Monday they prey on you.Antonymy: My only love sprung from my only hate.Synonymy: He comes in panting. He sits on a chair, breathless.Hyponymy: A family usually in

4、cludes a father, mother and child. Taxonomy: X is a type of Y. 第4页I. Polysemy 1.1 definitonPolysemy is a universal feature of all natural languages. It is a term used in semantic analysis to refer to a lexical item which has a range of different meanings. The co-existence of several meanings in a wo

5、rd is called polysemy. Polysemy can be used to achieve humor, irony, a dramatic effect. English like all other languages, is full of polysemic words.第5页handhand: that part of human body beyond the wrist.Give me a hand, please. He is a new hand. We need some extra hands. He writes a good hand. All ha

6、nds on deck!The clock has one hand only. helpperformerworkmanhandwritingsailorpointer第6页1.2 Why would polysemy appear in each language?That is due to the great generality and the change in word meaning. When words are first coined, they are always monosemic，but within the course of development, the

7、same word may has two or more different meanings.第7页1.3 Two approaches to polysemy:1）diachronic approach（历时角度）It refers to the study of the growth or change in the semantic structure of a word, or how the semantic structure of a word has developed from a primary meaning to the present polysemic stat

8、e, i.e. with derived ( second) meanings springing from the original (primary) meaning.第8页 From the diachronic point of view, polysemy is assumed to be the result of growth and development of the semantic structure of one and same word. The primary meaning gave birth to new meaning.The primary meanin

9、g become either absolute or disappeared altogether.第9页2）synchronic approach（共时角度）It refers to the comparative value of individual meaning and the interrelation between the central meaning and secondary meanings. Synchronically, polysemy is viewed as the coexistence of various meanings of the same wo

10、rd in a certain historical period of time, say, Modern English. 第10页The basic meaning of a word is the core of word meaning. The core of word meaning called the central meaning （secondary meaning）.The central meaning has gradually diminished in currency with the changes and one of the derived meanin

11、gs has become dominant. 第11页1.4 two processes of the developmentThe development of word-meaning from monosemy to polysemy follows two courses, traditionally known as radiation and concatenation.第12页1.4.1 radiation（辐射型）Face: Its central meaning is the front part of the head Its secondary meanings are

12、:The face of the clock looks better.The north face of a mountainthe face of the cityHe has a smiling face.He has tried his best to save his face.Which face shall we print the cover in?第13页Radiation is the process in which the primary or central meaning stands at the center while secondary meaning ra

13、diate from it in every direction like rays. And all the secondary meanings might easily have developed from the central meaning without regard to any of the others. 第14页1.4.2 Concatenation（连结型）Catenachain in LatinIts a process where each of the later meaning is related only to the preceding one like

14、 chains. It is another semantic process in which the meaning of a word moves gradually away from its first sense, till there is no connection between the meanings developed and its primary sense. 第15页Unlike radiation where each of the derived meanings is directly connected to the primary meaning, co

15、ncatenation describes a process where each of the later meaning is related only to the preceding one like chains. Though the latest sense can be traced back to the original, there is no direct connection in between.第16页The word “candidate” in Latin means “a person dressed in white”(A), “a seeker for

16、 office who dressed in white”(A+B), “ a seeker for office”(B)A A+B B第17页1.5 the sense relations within the polysemy(1) primary( original )meaning & secondary (derived) meaningWhen the word was first coined, that meaning with it was the original meaning. All other meanings are secondary or derived. C

17、andidate, original meaning is the person dressed in white. Pen: plume or feather.第18页(2) general meaning & specific meaningA word can refer to the general and also the specific one in the groupCase: that is often the case with him; This is a case of cholera.Arist: all kinds of artists; artists who a

18、re paintersGas: all kinds of gases; The gas used in the kitchenFire: all kinds of fire; the fire in the living room第19页(3) abstract meaning & concrete meaningBeauty is but skin deep. She is a real beauty.His heart is swelled with pride. The bright boy is the pride of his parents.第20页Generally, almos

19、t all abstract words can be used to refer to concrete things. E.g. government The art of government; the local government worry Worry and suffering have turned her hair white.What a worry that child is!第21页Some concrete words can develop its abstract meaning.E.g. eye He has an eye for beauty. 第22页 N

20、erveDid he have the nerve to say that?Gut You dont have the guts to do so.Stage She went on the stage at the age of 14.第23页(4) literal meaning & non-literal ( figurative )meaningReflect a mirror reflects light. Their actions reflect their thought.Blanket a blanket of snowFoot the foot of the mountai

21、nEye the eye of the needleFlaw a flaw in a china vase, a flaw in a persons character第24页2. HomonymyHomonyms are words different in meaning, but identical both in sound and spelling or identical only in spelling or sound. There are many pairs or groups of words, which, though different in meaning, ar

22、e pronounced alike, or spelled alike, or both. Such words are called homonyms. 第25页Most homonys are coincidences, but some are the result of language development: if a polysemic word develops into a certain point the word can split into two words which have the identical form; words formed by conver

23、sion can also be homonyms. 第26页2.1 types of homonyms(同音异义或同形异意)1）Perfect homonyms（完全同音同形异义词）It refers to the words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning. e.g. meet vt. to come upon or encounter; meet n. a meeting,gatering or assembling as for a sporting event. Bear 熊；忍耐 pupil 瞳孔；小

24、学生 pop: 流行歌曲； 砰地一声； 父亲 sound: 健全； 声音；测探；海峡; Ear: 穗；耳朵第27页Coke refreshes you like no other can. In her wondrous eyes love lies, and lies and lies. - Its everybodys right, right?- You think all your right is right?第28页2）Homophones（同音异义词）: Words identical in sound but different in spelling and meaning.

25、e.g. air,heir; bear,bare; dear,deer; pair,pear；meet, meat, mete; right, write, wright, rite etc. 第29页-Why is the Middle Ages also called Dark Ages?-Because there were many knights. (nights)More sun and air for your son and heir.Use in psychological researchPray Steel wore week pour aids dye flee cou

26、rseprey steal war weak poor AIDs die flea coarse第30页3) Homographs（同形异义词） Words identical in spelling but different in sound and meaning.e.g. lead/li:/ :v. guide or take; lead/led/: n. easily melted metal of a dull bluish-grey colour. The dove dove into the bushes.第31页The bandage was wound around the

27、 wound.The insurance for the invalid was invalid.They were too close to the door to close it.The soldier decided to desert into the desert.The fisherman threw the bass onto a bass drum. 第32页2.2 the sources of homonyms1）Phonetic convergence(音变汇合) Converging sound development is the most common cause

28、of homonymy, or to be more exact, of homophones. e.g. bean originally pronounced /ben/,but now developed to pronounced /bi：/ and just like been, so bean and been are completely homophones. flea flee heal heel 第33页2）Semantic divergence(词义分化) When two or more meanings of the same word drift apart to s

29、uch an extent that there will be no obvious connection between them, polysemy will give place to homonymy, thus polysemys developed to homonyms. e.g. flower and flour were origianlly in one word flour精华, but flour developed into two words as flower and flour. 第34页3）Shortening/Foreign influence(外来影响)

30、:Words introduced from abroad have increased the number of homonyms in English. e.g. fair (OE attractive) fair (a gathering L holiday)4）Shortening(缩略):Homonyms may also be created by the word-formation process of clipping. e.g. rock - rock n roll, a kind of popular music, rock - stone. Pop：popular m

31、usic pop corn 第35页2.3 Differentiation of Homonyms and polysemants Its easy to distinguish homophones and homographs with polysemants for homophones have different spellings and pomographs have different sounds. But Perfect homonyms and polysemants are fully identical regard to spelling and pronuncia

32、tion.第36页Homonyms refer to different word, which happen to share the same forms. Polysemant is the one and some word, which has several meanings.第37页One important criterion is to see their etymology. Homonyms are from different sources. A polysemant is from the same source, which has acquired differ

33、ent meaning in the course of development.第38页The second principle is semantic relatedness. The various meanings of a polysemant are correlated and connected to some central meaning to a greater or less degree. Meanings of different homonyms have nothing to do with one another.第39页The third principle

34、 is to check the entry in the dictionary. A Polysemic word is under one same entry in the dictionary, while homonyms are under different entries.第40页2.4 Rhetoric features of homonymyAs homonyms are identical in sound and spelling, particularly homophones, they are often employed to create puns for d

35、esired effect of, say, humor, sarcasm or ridicule. Consider the following conversation that took place between a waitress and a customer in a restaurant.第41页e.g 1Youre not eating your fish, the waitress said to him. Anything wrong with it?Long time no sea, the man replied. “Long time no see” is usually said as a form of greeting between two friends when they meet after a long time. Here the customer cleverly employed the structure of the idiom to his advantage to criticize in a humorous way the bad qu