POLYSEMY

POLYSEMY

1. A single word is associated with 2 or more several related senses

2. Aristotle

   • The fact that a word can be associated with multiple related senses was addressed at least as early in his writings

3. Bréal

   • He was the first to use the term of polysemy, to describe single word forms with several related meanings

4. Types of Polysemy

   • Regular
     • Is typically associated with senses generated by metonymical relations and irregular polysemy with senses that are derived metaphorically
   • Inherent
     • Pragmatic processes that may target individual lexical items
   • Irregular
     • Involve a similarity relation between two entities

5. Irregular or accidental polysemy

   • Senses that are derived metaphorically.
   • Divides in
     • Radical Polysemy
       • Definitions are all directly related to one another
     • Chain Polysemy
       • The various posibles definitions are linked to each other via

6. Inherent Polysemy

   • Senses of contradictory semantic types

7. Polysemy in Context and Communication

   • The speaker can rely on the addressee to apply the requisite linguistic mechanism to generate the contextually appropriate sense