Topics for Discussion

1. Semantic change in English. Causes, nature and results of semantic change.

2. Polysemy in English. Causes of polysemy.

3. Polysemy and frequency.

4. Semantic structure of polysemantic words. Types of meaning (diachronic approach to polysemy, synchronic approach to polysemy).

5. Polysemy and context. Types of context (lexical context, grammatical context).

6. Semantic structure of correlative words in different languages.

7. Polysemy in synchronic and diachronic dictionaries.

Key Terms

ambiguity

lexical ambiguity

amelioration of meaning

analogy

basic meaning

central/main/major meaning

context (verbal context, context of situation)

contiguity

derived/secondary meaning

deterioration/pejoration of meaning

direct meaning

disambiguation

extension/generalization of meaning

figurative meaning

lexical-semantic variant

metaphor (metaphoric meaning)

metaphtonymy

metonymy (metonymic meaning)

minor meaning

multiple meaning

narrowing/restriction/specialization of meaning

nominative meaning

original/primary meaning

similarity

systematic polysemy

transfer

Tasks and Exercises

Define polysemy as a linguistic phenomenon.

Give working definitions of the key terms with examples.

3. Comment on the semantic processes that were at work in the following words:

4. Prove that the meanings in the following polysemantic words are related:hand, head, heavy, table. (Use the dictionaries.)

5. Comment on the semantic structure of the following words from the synchronic point of view:cat, dog, hand, head, mouth, nose. Find points of similarity in the semantic relationship between the meanings of different words.

6. Comment on the types of meaning (metaphoric/ metonymic) in the following items:

the arm of a chair

cold voice

loud colours

the eye of a needle

the foot of the mountain

the head of a pin

sweet temper

black deeds

to devour a detective story

to burn with anger

the hands of a clock

every head of cattle

to have a good head for figures

7. Compare the semantic structure of correlative words (e.g. black, cat, hand, etc.) in English ? Belarusian ? Russian and comment on the points of similarity and difference.

8. Analyse the semantic structure of the wordtable in diachronic and synchronic dictionaries paying attention to the order of meanings.

Questions

? What are the causes of polysemy?

? Polysemy is a semantic universal, isn?t it?

? What are the causes of semantic change?

? What are the patterns of polysemy for English, Belarusian and Russian words denoting animal names, parts of the body, and colour terms?

? How can one distinguish between different meanings of a polysemantic word and different usage of the word?

? What role does context play in determining the meaning of words?

? What is understood by verbal context?

? What is understood by context of situation?

? Why is it necessary to compare/contrast foreign and native languages?

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 247