1. Homonyms Lecture # 8
Grigoryeva M.

2. Homonymy 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”
onoma “name”
Two or more words identical in sound form and spelling,
or in one of these aspects, but different in meaning,
distribution and (in many cases) in origin

4. Classification of homonyms by Walter Skeat
identical in sound form and spelling but
different in meaning
Perfect homonyms
Ball
Any spherical body
A large dancing party

5. identical in sound form but different in spelling and meaning
Homophones
Piece
Part separated from smth
Peace
A situation without war conflicts

6. words different in sound-form and in Homographs Lead [li:d]
meaning but identical in spelling
Homographs
Lead [li:d]
The first position at a particular time during competition
Lead [led]
A soft heavy grey metal

7. Classification of homonyms by A.I. Smirnitsky
full homonyms
partial homonyms

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

9. Partial homonyms Simple lexico-grammatical Complex lexico-grammatical
Partial lexical

10. Partial homonyms 1. simple lexico- grammatical
belong to the same part of speech their paradigms have
only one identical form it is never the same form
to found, verb
found, verb
(Past Ind., Past. Part. of to find)

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

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

13. Classification of homonyms by I.V. Arnold
Only one group of homonyms-
Perfect homonyms
4 criteria for their classification:
Lexical meaning
Grammatical meaning
Basic form
Paradigm

14. Classification of homonyms by I.V. Arnold
Homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings, basic forms and paradigms but different in lexical meaning
Board - a piece of wood \ a council
Homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings and basic forms but different in lexical meaning and paradigms
To lie- lied- lied (ЛГАТЬ) To lie- lay- lain (ЛЕЖАТЬ)
Homonyms different in in their grammatical meanings, lexical meaning and paradigms but identical in basic forms
Light (lights) Light (lighter, the lightest)
Homonyms different in in their grammatical meanings, lexical meaning, basic forms and paradigms (but coinciding in one of the forms of their paradigms)
A bit Bit (to bite)

15. 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)

16. Synonyms and antonyms are regarded as the treasure of the language’s expressive resources. They are created by the vocabulary system with a particular purpose Homonyms are of no interest in this respect. They are accidental creations, and therefore purposeless. In the process of communication they lead sometimes to confusion and misunderstanding

17. 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’

18. “Waiter. ” “Yes, sir. ” “What’s this. ” “It’s bean soup, sir
“Waiter!” “Yes, sir!” “What’s this?” “It’s bean soup, sir!” “Never mind what it has been. I want to know what it is now.” Bean – been (homophones)

19. 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

20. Sources of Homonyms Phonetic changes Borrowing Conversion Shortening
Split polysemy

21. Convergent development of sound form (phonetic changes)
two or more words which were pronounced differently at an earlier date may develop identical sound forms OE
knight [knait] [nait] night [nait]

22. 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
(a long thing piece of wood) 1.a table
e.g. OE board
(food served at the table) daily meals
ople discussing their business at the table) 3.officials who direct some activity

23. Sources of Homonymy shortening Fan (Lat.)
“an implement for waving lightly to produce a cool current of air”
Fan “ an enthusiastic admirer of sport or celebrity” shortening
Fanatic

24. Sources of Homonymy borrowings Bank bank – “a shore” a native word
bank – “a financial institution”
an Italian borrowing

25. Sources of Homonymy sound-imitation mew ‘the sound a cat makes’
‘a sea gull’
‘small terraced houses in London’

26. 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

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

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

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

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

31. Classification of homonyms according to their meaning
lexical homonyms – words that differ in their lexical meaning but identical in their grammatical meaning
a seal (тюлень)
a seal (печать)

32. Classification of homonyms according to their meaning
grammatical homonyms – different word-forms of one and the same word are identical
a seal – seals – seal’s – seals’

33. PRACTICE 1.Define the given words into 2.Give meanings of these words
Homonyms proper
Homophones
Homographs
2.Give meanings of these words
Made (A) - maid (N), row (N) – row (N),
seal (N) - seal (N), band (N) – band (N),
desert (V) – desert (N)

34. Made (A) maid (N)
Past make A female servant
HOMOPHONES
row (N) – row (N)
People in a line A quarrel
HOMOGRAPHS
seal (N) seal (N)
A sea animal The official mark
HOMONYMS
de’sert (V) – ‘desert (N)
To leave empty A sandy land
hare (N) – hair (N)
An animal Strands growing from the skin

35. PRACTICE Fill in the blanks choosing the right word.
Translate your sentences
No (sweet \ suite) without sweat.
All is (fare \ fair) in love and war.
Out of (site \ sight) out of mind.
It never rains, but it (pours \ paws).

36. Practice
Classify the homonyms using Professor Smirnitsky’s classification
He should give a ball in your honor.—He is playing with a ball.
Full homonyms
What’s happened with your left ear? – He ‘s left us.
Complex lexico-grammatical partial
Turn off the light! – He is wearing light summer trousers.
Complex lexico-grammatical
He couldn’t bear the pain.- catch the bear before you sell the skin.
‘To can’ means to make preservation. – Birds can fly
Lexical partial

37. Practice
Find the homophones to the following words, give the spelling (if they are different) and explain the difference in meanings
Dye
Tale
Week
Sun
Meet
Write
Hare