1. Homonyms

2. Definition of Homonymy
Diachronic Study of Homonymy and Sources of Homonyms
Homonyms treated synchronically
Classification of homonyms

3. Definition of Homonymy
Greek homonymous – homos “the same” and onoma “name”
Two or more words identical in sound form and spelling, or, at least, in one of these aspects, but different in meaning, distribution and (in many cases) in origin are called homonyms

4. 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

5. Sources of Homonymy Convergent development of sound form
Divergent meaning development

6. Convergent development of sound form (phonetic changes)
two or more words which were pronounced differently at an earlier date develop identical sound forms
e.g. OE зemane “common”
mean
OE manen “think”

7. 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
chest “large box”
e.g. OE cest
chest “part of human body”

8. Other Sources of Homonymy
shortening
e.g. fan – “an implement for waving lightly to produce a cool current of air”
fan fanatic
sound-imitation
e.g. bang – “a loud, sudden, explosive sound
bang – “a fringe of hair combed over the forehead”

9. Other Sources of Homonymy
borrowings
e.g. bank – “a shore” – a native word
bank – “a financial institution” - an Italian borrowing

10. Synchronic Approach to Homonymy
the criteria distinguishing homonymy from polysemy
the formulation of rules for recognizing different meanings of homonyms in terms of their distribution

11. Homonymy and Polysemy
Semantic criterion of related and unrelated meanings – connections between the various meanings are apprehended by speakers or not apprehended

12. Homonymy and Polysemy
radiation - primary meaning stands in the center, secondary meanings proceed out of it like rays
polysemy

13. Homonymy and Polysemy
concatenation – secondary meanings develop like a chain. It is difficult to trace some meanings to the primary one.
homonymy

14. Distribution Criterion
homonyms differ in their syntactic function
e.g. I think that this “that” is a conjunction but that that “that” that that man used was a pronoun.

15. Professor A. I. Smirnitsky’s Classification of Homonyms
full homonyms
partial homonyms

16. Full homonyms
words which represent the same category of parts of speech and have the same paradigm
have the same spelling an pronunciation
e.g. match – a game, a contest
match – a short piece of wood for producing fire

17. Partial homonyms simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms
belong to the same part of speech
their paradigms have only one identical form
it is never the same form

18. Simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms
e.g. to found, verb
found, verb (Past Ind., Past. Part. of to find)
e.g. to lay, verb
lay, verb (Past Ind. of to lie)

19. Partial homonyms 2. Complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms
belong to different parts of speech
have one identical form in their paradigms
e.g. rose, noun
rose, verb (Pat Ind. of to rise)
e.g. one, numeral
won, verb (Past Ind., Past Part. of to win)

20. Partial homonyms 3. Partial lexical homonyms
belong to the same part of speech
identical only in corresponding forms of their paradigms
e.g. to lie (lay, lain), verb
to lie (lied, lied), verb
e.g. to can (canned, canned)
(I) can (could)

21. Walter Skeat’s classification of Homonyms
homonyms proper – words identical in pronunciation and spelling
e.g. a ball (a sphere) – a ball (a dancing party)
homophones – words of the same sound form but different in spelling
e.g. sent (Past Inf., Past Part. of to send) – scent - cent

22. Walter Skeat’s classification of Homonyms
homographes – words have the same spelling but different sound form
e.g. to bow [bаu], verb – bow [bəu], noun
to tear [teə], verb – tear [tiə], noun

23. Classification of Homonyms by R.S. Ginzburg
1. full homonyms – words belonging to the same part of speech and having the same paradigms
e.g. a seal (тюлень) – a seal (печать)
2. partial homonyms – word-forms belonging to different parts of speech
e.g. a seal – to seal

24. 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)

25. Classification of homonyms according to their meaning
lexico-grammatical homonyms – belong to different parts of speech and have different lexical and grammatical meanings
e.g. a seal - to seal

26. 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’