15. The origin of homonyms, homonymy and polysemy, homonymy and ambiguity

The origin of homonymy How do homonyms appear 1)as a result of disintegration of polysemantic words is lost the word brakes into a number of homonyms. But such homonyms can be etymological connected Different causes by which homonymy may be brought about are subdivided into two main groups: a) homonymy through convergent sound development, when two or three words of different origin accidentally coincide in sound; and b) homonymy developed from polysemy through divergent sense development.. Both may be combined with loss of endings and other morphological processes .In Old English the words zesund ‘healthy’ and sund ‘swimming’ were separate words both in form and in meaning. In the course of time they have changed their meaning and phonetic form, and the latter accidentally coincided: OE sund>ModE sound ‘strait’; OE зesund>ModE sound ‘healthy’. The group was joined also accidentally by the noun sound ‘what is or may be heard’ with the corresponding verb that developed from French and ultimately from the Latin word sonus, and the verb sound ‘to measure the depth’ of dubious etymology. The coincidence is purely accidental.. Ex Latin buxus. "The Concise Oxford Dictionary” has five entries for box: box1 n ‘a kind of small evergreen shrub’; box2 n ‘receptacle made of wood, cardboard, metal, etc. and usually provided with a lid’; box3 v ‘to put into a box’; box4 n ‘slap with the hand on the ear’; box5 v — a sport term meaning ‘to fight with fists in padded gloves’. It’s difficult to find exact criteria by which we can show how homonyms developed from polysemy. The new meaning receives a separate existence and starts a new semantic structure of its own.The only criteria here is etymological.2)they appear as a result of phonemic coincidence in O.E.The pronunciation of the word coincided as a result of phonetic change. Ex laze – eye. Here the coincidence is accidental .Homonyms of this kind are universal recognized .3)appear as a result of borrowings EX ball –bal, rain-reign.4)as a result of conversion Ex can-can(v).

Homonymy and polysemy homonymy is present when two words have the same spelling or sound but have different meanings. (homonimia, homo= equal, nomos= names) Examples:“Fleet” (group of vehicles) and “fleet” (swift), “plane” and “plain,” and the verb “sow” (plant seeds) and the noun “sow” (female swine)are homonyms of three types.Polysemy is the existence of several meanings for a single word or phrase.(polysemia, poly = many, sema= sign)For this reason in dictionaries, homonyms are usually presented as different entries, one below the other, while polysemy is presented in numebrs, as a nuances in the meaning. The creterium is clear although not always respected. When there is uncertainty one of the best ways to differ is looking at the root of words. Homonyms almost always have different linguistic root, while polysemy develops through the interpretation of the same linguistic root. Still this is not absolute, as for example both fleet (naval vehicles) and fleet (swift) have the same root (fleotan = to float, to swim), but are obviouslly things different enough.

Ambiguity from homonymy a.)He was attracted by the ball.The word “ball” is a homophone with the basic meaning and another meaning “formal dancing party”. These two meanings can exist in this sentence. So the ambiguity happens. B). My friend drives me to the bank. Here the word “bank” has different meanings, such as “the side of a river” and “a business place keeping, lending, exchanging or transferring money.” As for these two different meanings, there exist two sentence meanings.2. Ambiguity from transference of a word So the word’s meaning is also changing all the time. Many words have new meanings at present with the rapid development of science and technology. The ambiguity often occurs when the transference of a word happens Ex Please give me a camel The word “camel” indicates an animal. But in this sentence its meaning has changed, which refers to a brand of cigarette. CAMEL is a famous brand of cigarette in America. In this situation, if the readers don’t know this meaning, they will undoubtedly false in understanding this sentence.