A Brief View on Polymy and Homonymy好听歌曲推荐
【Abstract】Polymy and homonymy，as important conceps in lexical mantics，explore the relation between different ns.They are employed to achieve humor,irony and dramatic power．
女孩的简笔画【Key words】Polymy；Homonymy；Distinction；Stylistic value
1 Introduction
The study of polymy and homonymy has a long history on the philosophy of language，linguistics，psychology，and hterature，The complex relation between meanings and words were first noted by Stoics．They obrved that one word could carry diferent meanings．Through the sttbquent rearch into the issue of polymy and homonymy，it is found that there exists an extensive grey area between them．How to distinguish the two is an important issue lying in front of the rearchers．Th e paper here will analyze this problem from four angles．
Polymy and homonymy are rarely a problem in language u becau of the adoption of contextual cues．Th ey are sometimes ud as a source of puns to achieve stylistic value such as humor and irony and to heightened dramatic power，which embody the richness and coincidence of language．
2 A Brief Elucidation of Polymy and Homonymy
Definition of Polymy and Honomymy
The coexistence of veral meanings in a word is called polymy．Th e word polymy comes from Neo—Latin polymia(polymany，ma—sign)，that is，having or characterized by many meanings for a single word or phra．Polymy ems to be motivated by metaphoric thought，that is，the relation between two polymes em to be the result of a certain underlying metaphor for shape，size，position，outward appearance，function and so on．Part of the lexical entry for head in English is ud to illustrate this：① part ofthe body containing the brain．② the top of anything(1iterally or metaph orically)that rembles the head in shape③ the pemon who is the chief or leader．Clearly，(2)is motivated by shape and(3)by function．
Homonymy is usually viewed to hold between word—forms who ns are completely unrelated．A word witll at least two elltirely distinct meanings yet sharing a lexical form is said to be homonymous．One of the most commonly cited examples of homonymous words is bank，which has a financial institution n and an edge of a river n．Th e ns em clearly unrelated，and the fact that they are associated with the same word form ems purely accidenta1
．Homonyms can be categorized into three types：total homonyms，homophone and homograph．In the first type，lexemes will be absolutely homonymous if they are formally identical in
both the phonic and graphic medium such a8 the verb lie(to be in or take a flat position)and lie(make a fal statement with intention of deceiving to say something untrue)．The cond type is homophone．Homophones are partial ones by sharing phonologically features，such as flour and flower．The third type is homographs which explore the meaning of different words that look alike，e．g．1ead(guide or direct to go in a certain direction)and lead(a soft，heavy，bluish—grey meta1)a homographs．Distinction Between Polymy and Homonymy
In fact，polymy is very similar to homonymy．Two words can be polymous when their ns are somehow related，as long fit8 they are not equal，while homonymy is usually viewed to hold between word forms who ns are completely unrelated． Given that we have a written form with diferent meanings，are we to say it is one word with diferent meanings(polymy)or two diferent words with the same shape(homonymy)?What are the criteria that enable 118 to distinguish between polymy and homonymy?There are some possible ways of answering the questions．Firstly，dictionary usually ba- s their decision upon etymology ．If it is known that idenficM forms have one origin，even if they have diferent meanings，they are treated as polymic and given a si
随风摇曳
ngle entry in a dictionary．If it is know that they have diferent origins，they are treated as homonymous and given parate entries．Thus，on the ground of a shared etymological knowledge，table(furniture)and table(arrangement of data)are polymic，while pupil(student)and pupil(the round opening in the middle of eye)are homonymous．Secondly，it is reasonable to suggest that where the diferences are regular and to some degree pre- dictable．we have polymy rather than homonymy．One of the most familiar kinds of regular relationship between meanings is that of metaphor where a word appears to have both a literal meaning and transfered meaning．A good example is the words for part of body，such as fot in his fot and the fot of the mountain．Th us，fot is more 1ikely to be regarded as a polymic word with literal meaning and transfered meaning．Thirdly，another diferent way of attempting toestablish polymy rather than homonymy is to look for a central meaning．Around the central meaning are radiations of other meanings．The word table as a polymic word is a good illustration．The core of meaning is a piece of furniture，and then appeam other ones extending fromit，such as a dish and people sitting at table．Fourthly，it is tempted to say that where the antonym is the same we have polymy，and the diference of antonym implies homonymy．For example，the same word black can refer to a kind of heavy color and also black people Negro．Its antonym white correspondingly has two meanings：a light kind of color；people of European descent．Thus black belongs to polymic word．While the
word lights is concerned，they have diferent autonyms：light—heavy，light—dark．So they are usually en as homonyms．
3 The Stylistic Value of Polymy and Homonymy
Although polymy and homonymy carry diferent meanings， they are rarely a problem in language u．The reason is the adoption of context，which plays a very important role in the hearer interpreration of words．Some proper ambiguities are intentionally aroud by employing polymy and homonymy with the purpo of stylistic va1ue．
Achieving Humor
Polymy and homonymy can be ud as pun to indicate the employer’s intention of making fun．A good example is the following pas-深耕易耨
sage from Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland．
“How is bread made?”
“I know that!”Alice cried eagerly．“You take some flour.”
“Where do you pick flowers? ”the White Queen asked，“In the garden or in the hedge?”
“Well，itn’t picked at all，”Alice explained，“it is ground．”“How many acres ofground?”said the White Queen．
This passage makes u of homonymous words：flour and flower，and polymic word ground．They are specified differently by Alice and the White Queen．Becau there is no connection between the questions and the answers，the audience may feel funny when reading their dialogue．Achieving Ironydonate
Polymic words and homonymous words are not only good can．didates for humor；they can also produce other efects such as irony．
For example：
Where is Washington?
He is dend．
I mean the capital of the United States．
They loaded it all to Europe．
Now do you promi to support the constitution ?
Me? How can I? I’ve got a wife and three children to support．
负字The dialogue above is said to be an oral investigation held among constituents when the presidential election is coming．Puns are skillfully ud on three words：Washington，capital and support．The proper employment of polymy implicitly satirizes the politics in the US．
Heighten Dramatic Power胸背部疼痛的原因
Dramatic power can be heightened through the ingenious u of puns，and this is another stylistic value of polymy and homonymy．Here is a right illustration．
We must all hang together，or we shall all hang parately．
This is a maxim ven by Benjamin Franklin，who argued people should unite and persist to avoid being strangled by the enemy．His mastery of words enhances the efect of political dismination and the power of appea1．More sun and airfor you son and heir．
This is a quotation from an advertiment of a lido．By making u of two ts of homophones(sun／son and air／heir)，the lido convinces that there
is adequate sunshine and flesh air which are beneficial to the child and successor．It is believed that this is a unque message for the tourists who are inclined to be attracted by its cleverness and skillfulness．4 Conclusion
Polymy and homonymy，as important concepts in lexical mantles，explore the relation between different ns．The distinction between polymy and homonymy is important becau it parates the principled from the accidenta1．Their pragmatic functions are noticeable，for they are stylistically uful to achieve such contextual effects as humor，irony，and heightened dramatic power．Due to the ingenious employment of polymy and homonymy，people are impresd with their mantic power and the richness of lan guage．
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