MINISTRYOF EDUCATION, SCIENCE, YOUTH AND SPORT OF UKRAINE
IVANFRANCO NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LVIV
COLLEGEOF EDUCATION
THEPROBLEM OF POLYSEMY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Bachelor paper
presented by
a 4th — yearstudent
Galyna Tsvyk
Supervised by
Drofyak N.I.
Teacher ofEnglish
Lviv — 2011
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter I. Words as Meaningful Units
1.1 Polysemy as the Source of Ambiguities in aLanguage
1.2 Historical Development of the Polysemy
1.2.1 The Diachronic Approach to Studying Polysemy
1.2.2 The Synchronic Approach to Studying Polysemy
1.3 Polysemy and its Connection with the Context
Chapter II. Practical Usage of Polysemy in TeachingEnglish
2.1 Polysemy in Teaching English on Intermediate Level
2.2 Polysemy in Teaching English on Advanced Level
2.3 Lesson Plan
Conclusions
List of References
Introduction
Language isdefined as a human system of communication that uses arbitrary signals, such asvoice sounds, gestures, or written symbols. But frankly speaking, language isfar too complicated, intriguing, and mysterious to be adequately explained by abrief definition. The organic function of the language is to carry meaning.Most of the problems in linguistic science are intimately bound to question ofsemasiology and call for scientific analysis of communication in words. Thestudy of words is not exclusively a study of roots and stems, of prefixes orsuffixes. The mysterious world of words is an object of scientificinvestigation [ 13; 25 ].
Theoreticalproblems of linguistic form and meaning as relevant to the progressivedevelopment of language have attracted the attention of scholars, philosophersand grammarians since the times of Plato and Aristotle. From those timessameness of meaning was not very easy to deal with but there seemed nothinginherently difficult about difference of meaning. The situation is the samenowadays. Not only different words have different meanings; it’s also the casethat the same word may have a set of meanings. This phenomenon is calledpolysemy.
Polysemy is thecoexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase. Most words of theEnglish language are polysemantic. Highly developed polysemy is one of thecharacteristic features of the English language. The system of meanings of anypolysemantic word develops gradually, mostly over the centuries, as more andmore new meanings are either added to old ones, or out some of them. We saythat the word is polysemantic when it has many meanings. In the word the mainand the secondary meanings are distinguished. Thus, the word is polysemantic inthe language but in actual speech it is always monosemantic, that is, it hasonly one meaning. It is in the context that makes the polysemantic wordmonosemantic. The researches of polysemy are also significant in grammar, asmost grammatical forms are polysemantic. Even a single grammatical form can bemade to express a whole variety of structural meanings.
The semanticstructure of a polysemantic word is treated as a system of meanings. Somesemantic structures are arranged on a different principle. In the followinglist of meaning of the adjective dull one can hardly hope to find a generalizedmeaning covering and holding together the rest of the semantic structure.
The researchesof the multiplicity of meanings began in eighteenth century and were continuedin the nineteenth century. The most important investment in this century wasmade by Bréal whose research into polysemy marked a new starting point:he shifted the study of polysemy away from lexicography and etymology andinvestigated polysemy as the always synchronic pattern of meaning surrounding aword is itself he ever changing result of semantic change [ 6; 154 ].
The importantresearches in the sphere of polysemy were made by Lyon who considers polysemyand homonymy as two types of lexical ambiguity and introduce some criteria fordeciding when it is polysemy and when it is homonymy. One criterion isetymological information about the lexical item in question. Lexical items withthe same origin are considered as polysemantic, whereas if they have evolvedfrom distinct lexemes in some earlier stage of the language then they areregarded as homonymous [ 15; 123-124 ].
Lexical meaningof every word depends upon the part of speech to which the word belongs. Everyword may be used in a limiting set of syntactical functions, and with thedefinite valency. It has a definite set of grammatical meanings, and a definiteset of forms.
Everylexico-grammatical group of words or class is characterized by its ownlexico-grammatical meaning, forming, as it were, the common denominator of allthe meanings of the words which belongs to this group. The lexico-grammaticalmeaning may be also regarded as a feature according to which these words aregrouped together. Many recent investigations are devoted to establishing wordclasses on the basis of similarity of distribution.
In the lexicalmeaning of every separate word the lexico-grammatical meaning common to all thewords of the class to which this word belongs is enriched by additionalfeatures and becomes particularized [ 6; 205-206 ].
In summing upthis point, we note that the complexity of the notion is determined by therelationships of the extra-linguistic reality reflected in human consciousness.The structure of every separate meaning depends on the linguistic syntagmaticand paradigmatic relationships because meaning is an inherent component oflanguage. The complexity of every word meaning is due to the fact that itcombines lexical meaning with lexico-grammatical meaning and sometimes withemotional coloring, stylistic peculiarities and connotations born from previoususage.
The importanceof studying the phenomenon of polysemy is obvious because it is the object ofconfusion and in order to provide a quantitative and qualitative growth of thelanguage’s expressive resources it is extremely important to investigate thesemantic changes in the system of meanings in the English language. Tounderstand a text, learners need to know words and knowing a word involvesknowing: its spoken and written contexts of use its patterns with words ofrelated meaning. When teaching vocabulary it is then necessary to consideraspects like denotation, polysemy, connotation and sociocultural aspects whenteaching a second or foreign language so that learners are able to get meaningfrom texts.
The aim ofresearch is to make an analysis of the main principles of word meaning and itsproblems in teaching English.
The objective ofthis research is the investigation of polysemy in diachronic and synchronicdimensions. According to the objective there are following tasks:
1) to show historical background of the polysemy;
2) to describe semantic structure of polysemanticwords;
3) to discover the impact of the context on themeaning of polysemantic words;
4) to describe the practical usage of the polysemy.
To solve allthese tasks my diploma paper was designed.
Chapter I. Wordsas Meaningful Units
1.1 Polysemy as the Source of Ambiguities in a Language
Polysemy is asemantic inherent in the fundamental structure of the language. All languageshave polysemy on several levels. A wide-spread polysemy in English is rightlyconsidered as one of its characteristic features conditioned by thepeculiarities of its structure.
The main sourceof the development of regular polysemy is the metaphoric and metonymictransference, which is commonplace and appears to be fundamental in livinglanguage.
Polysemic wordsmake up a considerable part of the English vocabulary. Potential polysemy ofwords is the most fertile source of ambiguities in language.
In a limitednumber of cases two meanings of the same English words are differentiated bycertain formal means, as, for instance, by spelling: born — borne, draft — draught;by word-order: ambassador extraordinary — extraordinary ambassador; byinflexion: hanged — hang. The distinctions between thing-words (countables) andmass-words (uncountables) is easy enough if we look at the idea that isexpressed in each single instance. But in practical language the distinction isnot carried through in such a way that one and the same word stands always forone and the same idea [ 9; 112 ].
On the contrary,a great many words may in one connection stand for something countable and inthe other for something uncountable. Compare:
1) Have an ice.
2) There is no ice on the pond.
In the firstexample ice — any frozen dessert, especially one containing cream, as a waterice, sherbet or frappé. In the second example ice — water frozen icingfrosting, any substance looking like ice.
In the vastmajority of cases the context, linguistic or situational will narrow down allirrelevant senses [ 11; 97-98 ].
Words oftensigns not of one but of several things. The linguistic mechanism worksnaturally in many ways toprevent ambiguity and provide the clue to distinguish the necessary meaning.It’s also important to take into consideration the significance of the context,linguistic or non-linguistic; many ambiguities are never noticed because thevarious possible meanings are excluded by the situation. Important observationsin this area of the vocabulary have been made by contextual, distributional andtransformational analysis [16; 185 ].
The problem ofpolysemy, in other words, the use of the same word in two or more distinctmeanings in relevant to a number of other important questions. These are: thedevelopment of different types of synonyms, as a result of semantictranspositions of lexical units and homonymy.
Definingpolysemy as a linguistic development, Charles Bally made distinction betweenits two aspects: first, when one linguistic sign has several meanings, andthen, when meaning is expressed by several linguistic signs.
Words may growin connotative power in accordance with the nature with the meanings connectedwith them. In the power of connotation lies the reserve force of language.Without this language would lose much of its expressivity and flexibility.
The frequency ofpolysemy in different languages is a variable depending on various factors.Languages where derivation and composition are sparingly used tend to fill thegaps in vocabulary by adding new meaning to existing terms.
Polysemy moreoften occurs in generic words than in specific terms whose meanings are lesssubject to variation [ 3; 214-215 ].
It is extremelyimportant not to lose sights of the fact that few words have simple meanings.Practically most words have, besides their direct meaning, a fringe ofassociated meanings. As a matter of fact, language owes very much of itsexpressive power to the ideas and emotions associated with words. There areusually a variety of associated meanings which appear in varying degrees ofprominence determined by the context.
The coursefollowed by words used in different context and the shifts of meaning presentsa major interest in contrastive lexicology and typological study of languages.
In analyzing thesemantic structure of words we have already seen that some meanings invariablycome to the fore when we hear the word in actual speech or see in written.Other meanings make themselves evident only when the word is used in certaincontexts. The context makes the meaning explicit, in other words, brings themout. This is not to say that polysemic words have meanings only in context. Ashas already been emphatically stressed the semantic structure of the word is adialectic entity and involves dialectical permanency and invariability [14; 126-127].
Meaning shouldalways be understood as involving the relation of language to the rest of theworld and such meaningfulness is an essential part of the definition oflanguage.
Thedistributional analysis of meaning makes it possible to reveal a great dealabout the total functioning and use of words in a language. It gives sufficientevidence to recognize that part of the total meaning of many words in alllanguages is to be determined by their relations with other words in both thebasic dimensions of linguistic analysis, syntagmatic and paradigmatic. Words asindividual lexical items are structurally related to each other [14; 129 ].
A specialinterest is presented by the polysemic words whose meaning is based on a wide notionalbasis. Such lexical units can be used as function words revealing the tendenceto partial or complete semantic depletion.
The first to bementioned here are the verbs to be, to do, to get, to have, to make, to set, totake. The semantic value and functional use of these polysemic verbs offersdifficulties in language learning and lexicography.
As it has beenpointed out, componential analysis presupposes the revealing of differentialand integral semantic features of lexical units and their variant meanings, inother words, semantic oppositions on the lexico-grammatical level.
Compare, forillustration, the semantic group of verbs which, besides the verb to be in itslocative meaning ‘бути, знаходитись’, includes at least such verbs as: to live, to stay, to dwell, toreside.
The distinctivefeatures of the members of the group observed in their meaning revealthemselves in the information which they carry about the duration of theaction.
The verbs tolive and to dwell, for instance, do not show any special contrast in thisrespect. In spoken English ‘dwell’ is now usually replaced by ‘live’.
But if wecompare such verbs as to be, to stay and to live, we shall see that they differessentially in expressing the durative character of the action and are notalways interchangeable. For example,
She is in thehouse.
She stays in thehouse.
She lives in thehouse.
The verb toreside is stylistically marked member of the synonymic group characterized byits use in formal English.
It is ofinterest to note that transferred meanings of words in different languages donot always coincide. By the way of illustration:
1) back — спина;
2) the back of a chair —спинка стільця;
3) the back of a hand —титульна поверхня руки;
4) the back of a ship — кільсудна.
A variety ofassociated meanings which appear in varying degrees of prominence determined bythe context may be illustrated by the semantic value of the adjective greatwhich implies ‘being much above the average in size’, magnitude or intensity;in certain contexts of its use great comes to mean: eminent, important: greatwriters, great scholars, great musicians. In colloquial use great oftensuggests distinction of proficiency [11; 102-103 ].
The problem ofpolysemy in grammar is one of the most important, the one which is very complexand seems to be relevant to a number of aspects. Like words which is verycomplex and seems to be relevant to a number of aspects. Like words which areoften signs not of one but of several things, a single grammatical form canalso be made to express a whole variety of structural meanings. This appears tobe natural and is a fairly common development in the structure of any language.This linguistics mechanism works naturally in many ways to prevent ambiguity inpatterns of grammatical structure. Orientation towards the content willgenerally show which of the possible meanings is to be attached to polysemanticgrammatical form [ 7; 236 ].
Most grammaticalforms are polysemantic. On this level of linguistic analysis distinction shouldbe made between synchronic and potential polysemy. Thus, for instance, theprimary denotative meaning of the Present Continuous is characterized by threesemantic elements:
1) present time;
2) something progressive;
3) contact with the moment of speech.
The threeelements make up its synchronic polysemy. So thus, we can clearly see importanceof researches of polysemy in grammar.
1.2 Historical Development of the Polysemy
The modern termpolysemy was popularized by Bréal in 1887. Most modern linguisticsdealing with the topic of polysemy refer to the crucial date, but they rarelylook further back into the past.
The “roots” ofthe concept of polysemy lie in the Greek philosophy, that is, the debatesurrounding the problem of naturalness or arbitrariness of signs as debated inPlato’s (429-347B.C.) Cratylus. In his account of Plato’s contribution tolinguistics, Fred Householder points out that Democritus (460-mid-4th centuryB.C.) offered four arguments in favour of arbitrariness:
1) homonymy or polysemy — the same sequence ofphonemes may be associated with two or more unrelated meanings;
2) polyonymy or isorrophy — the existence ofsynonyms;
3) metonymy — the fact that words and meaningchange;
4) nonymy — the non-existence of single words forsimple or familiar ideas.
Polysemy meantprimarily what was later to be called “homonymy”, referring to the multiple,but unrelated meaning of a word. Bréal still subsumed homonymy under theheading of polysemy [ 18; 25 ].
The termpolyonymy was also used by the Stoics studying how one and the same object mayreceive many different names, how it can become “manynamed” or polyonomous.
During theMiddle Ages the interpretation by the Holy Scriptures came up against the problemof polysemy that was acknowledged, but one that had been tampted (by the theoryof four senses).
The first whoused the tern polysemous in a relatively modern sense was Dante, who wroteabout polysemous character of a poem: “Istius operis non est simplex sensus,immo dici potest polysemum, hoc est plurium sensum” (“this work doesn’t haveone simple meaning, on the contrary, I say that it can be polysemous, that iscan have many meanings”) [ 22; 176 ].
When presentinghis poem to Cangrante della Scala, Dante makes immediately clear that it has tobe read as a “polysemous” (“polysemantic”) message. One of the most celebratedexamples of what Dante means of polysemy is given in his analyses of someverses of Psalm, in “Exit Israel de Aegypto”. Following the medieval theory,Dante says concerning the fierst verse of the Psalm: “ If we look at the letterit means the exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt at the time of Moses; ifwe look at the allegory, it means our redemption through Christ; if we look atthe moral sense it means the conversation of soul from the misery of sin to thestate of grace; if we look at the mystical sense it means the departure ofsanctified spirit from the servitude of his corruption to the freedom ofeternal glory” [ 22; 192-193 ].
Thinking aboutmeaning, language and it’s relation to the real and figurative word advancedenormously during the Renaissance, but real research into the multiplicity ofmeaning only began in the 18th century, with the study of neologisms, synonymsand the figures of speech.
Bréalobserved modern meaning of the word, yesterday’s and today’s meaning, withwhich we first become familiar—something recently rediscovered in England. In1985, the department of English at the Birmingham ran of computer analysis ofwords as they are actually used in English and came up with the surprisingresults. The primary dictionary meaning of words are often far from the sensein which they were actually used. Keep, for instance, is usually defined as toretain, but in fact the word is much more often employed in the sense of continuing,as in “keep cool” and “keep smiling”. See is only rarely required in the senseof utilizing one’s eyes, but much more often used to express the idea ofknowing, as in “I see what you mean” [12; 83 ].
Languageunderstanding and language acquisition follow the opposite route of languagechange. I both cases, the last, not the first or primitive meaning of a word isa basic meaning.
InAnglo-American world, polysemy was rediscovered with the advent of cognitivesemantics in 1980s. Cognitive linguists began to reconnect synchronic anddiachronic research into meaning.
Bréal knewthat, diachronically, polysemy stems from the fact that the new meaning orvalues that words acquire in use do not automatically eliminate the old ones —polysemy is therefore the result of semantic innovation. The new and the oldmeaning exist in the parallel. And yet, synchronically, or in language use,polysemy doesn’t really exist — sense selection in the comprehension process isnot a problem at all. In the context of discourse a word has one meaning —except, one should point out, in jokes and puns. The most important factor thatbrings about the multiplication of meaning diachronically and that helps to“reduce” the multiplicity of meaning synchronically is the context ofdiscourse. We understand polysemous words because the words are always used inthe context of a discourse and a situation, which eliminate all the adjoiningmeaning in favour of only one in question [ 12; 91 ].
However, in theconstant dialectical relation between synchrony and diachrony, and betweenmeaning and understanding incremental changes in the meaning of words occurhaving understood a word in a certain context in a slightly divergent way,become themselves speakers and might use a word in the newly understood way inyet another context, which again bring about different types of understanding,and so on. In the long run, these slightly variations in use and uptake maylead to major semantic changes.
Bréal wasfascinated by the fact that when talking to each other we neither get confusedby the multiplicity of meaning that a word may have, nor are we bothered withthe etymological ancestry of a word, traced by historical dictionaries. The scientistwas acutely aware of the fact that semantic, cognitive and developmental sideof the language was not yet on a par with the advances made in the study ofphonetics, of the more physiological side of language. With Bréalsemantics as a linguistic discipline made a first step into the future, thefuture in which we are still participating and to which we are stillcontributing beyond the end of the 20th century [ 17; 63 ].
There followed aperiod of polysemous latency, so to speak, after the advent of transformationalgenerative grammar with its focus on syntax and later feature semantics. Polysemywas illustrated by the research undertaken by Hans Blumerberg, Uriel Weireich,Harald Weireich, James McCawley, Charles Fillmore.
Modern linguistsalso pay great attention to the investigations in the semantic sphere. Thetraditional distinction between polysemy and homonymy is based on whether thereis one or two lexical items involved.
1.2.1 The Diachronic Approach to Studying Polysemy
Polysemy isinherent in the very nature of words and concepts as every object and everynotion has many features and a concept reflected in a word always contains ageneralisation of several traits of the object.
A word which hasmore than one meaning is called polysemantic. Different meanings of apolysemantic word may come together due to the proximity of notions which theyexpress e.g. the word “blanket” has the following meanings: a woolen coveringused on beds, a covering for keeping a horse warm, a covering of any kind (ablanket of snow), covering all or most cases used attributively, e.g. we cansay “a blanket insurance policy”. There are some words in the language whichare monosemantic, such as most terms, synonym, some pronouns (this, my, both), numerals.There are two processes of the semantic development of a word: radiation andconcatenation. In cases of radiation the primary meaning stands in the centreand the secondary meanings proceed out of it like rays. Each secondary meaningcan be traced to the primary meaning. E.g. in the word “face” the primarymeaning denotes “the front part of the human head” Connected with the frontposition the meanings: the front part of a watch, the front part of a building,the front part of a playing card were formed. Connected with the word “face”itself the meanings: expression of the face, outward appearance are formed. Incases of concatenation secondary meanings of a word develop like a chain. In suchcases it is difficult to trace some meanings to the primary one. E.g. in theword “crust” the primary meaning “hard outer part of bread” developed asecondary meaning “hard part of anything (a pie, a cake)”, then the meaning“harder layer over soft snow” was developed, then “a sullen gloomy person”,then “impudence” were developed. Here the last meanings have nothing to do withthe primary ones. In such cases homonyms appear in the language. It is calledthe split of polysemy. In most cases in the semantic development of a word bothways of semantic development are combined [ 2; 19-21 ].
In polysemanticwords we are faced not with the problem of analysis of individual meanings, butprimarily with the problem of interrelation and interdependence of the variousmeanings in the semantic structure of the same word. The problem may beapproached from two different angles. If polysemy is viewed diachronically, itis understood as the growth and development or, in general, a change in thesemantic structure of the word.
The term“diachronic” is composed of the Greek morphemes dia meaning “through” chromosmeaning “time”. Thus, the diachronic approach in terms of special lexicologydeals with changes and the development of vocabulary in the course of time. Thetwo approaches in lexicology (synchronic and diachronic) should not becontrasted or set one against the other; in fact, they are interconnected andinterdependent: every linguistic structure and system exist in a state of aconstant development so that the synchronic state of a language system is aresult of a long process of linguistic evaluation, the result of the historicaldevelopment of the language [ 16; 176-177 ].
The diachronicapproach in terms of special lexicology deals with the changes and thedevelopment of vocabulary in the course of time. The two approaches shouldn’tbe set one against the other. In fact, they are interconnected and interrelatedbecause every linguistic structure and system exists in a state of constantdevelopment so that the synchronic state of a language system is a result of along process of linguistic evaluation, of its historical development.
A diachronicapproach is one that analyzes the evolution of something over time, allowingone to assess how that something changes throughout history. You would use thisapproach to analyze the effects of variable change on something.
Polysemy in adiachronic terms implies that a word may retain its previous meaning ormeanings and at the same time acquire one or several new ones. Then the problemof interrelation and interdependence of individual meanings of a polysemanticword may be roughly formulated as follows: did the word always possess all itsmeanings or did some of them appear earlier than the others? If so what is thenature of this dependence? Can we observe any changes in the arrangement of themeanings?
In the course ofa diachronic semantic analysis of the polysemantic word table we find that ofall the meanings it has in Modern English, the primary meaning is “a flat slabof stone or wood” which was proper to the word in the Old English period (OE.tabule from L. tabula); all other meanings are secondary as they are derivedfrom the primary meaning of the word and appeared later than the primarymeaning. The terms “secondary” and “derived” meaning are to a certain extentsynonymous. When we describe the meaning of the word as “secondary” we implythat it could not have appeared before the primary meaning was existence. Whenwe refer to the meaning as “derived” we imply not only that, but also that itis dependent on the primary meaning and somehow subordinate to it. In the caseof the word table, e.g., we may say that the meaning “the food put on thetable” is derived through metonymic transfer we can also describe it assecondary and metonymic [ 8; 203 ].
It follows thatthe main source of polysemy is a change in the semantic structure of the word.As can be seen from the above, in diachronic analysis of polysemy we can usemany concepts and terms discussed in the paragraphs devoted to the change ofmeaning. We can speak, for example of metaphoric or metonymic meanings if weimply the nature of dependence of the meanings, of extended or restrictedmeanings, if we are connected with the interrelation of meanings as a result ofsemantic change.
Polysemy mayalso arise from homonymy. When two words become identical in sound-form, themeanings of the two words are felt as making up one semantic structure. Thus,the human ear and the ear of corn are from the diachronic point of view twohomonyms. One is etymologically related to Latin auris, the other to Latinacus, aceris. Synchronically, however, they are perceived as two meanings ofone and the same word. The ear of corn is felt to be a metaphor of the usualtype (cf. the eye of the needle, the foot of the mountain) and consequently asone of the derived or, synchronically, minor meanings of the polysemantic wordear. Cases of this type are comparatively rare and, as a rule, illustrative ofthe vagueness of the border line between polysemy and homonymy.
Semantic changesresult as a rule in a new meanings being added to the ones already existing inthe semantic structure of the word. Some of the old meanings may becomeobsolete or even disappear, but the bulk of English words tend to increase in anumber of meanings [ 18; 43 ].
To conclude wemay say that, polysemy viewed diachronically is a historical change in thesemantic structure of the word resulting in a new meanings being added to theones already existing and in the rearrangement of these meanings in itssemantic structure. As the semantic structure is never static the relationshipbetween the diachronic and synchronic evaluation of individual meanings of thesame word may be different in different periods of the historical developmentsof language.
1.2.2 Synchronic Approach to Studying Polysemy
The synchronicapproach analyzes a particular something at a given, fixed point in time. Itdoes not attempt to make deductions about the progression of events thatcontributed to the current state, but only analyzes the structure of thatstate, as it is.
The synchronicapproach studies language as a theoretical “point” in time. It refers todescriptive lexicology as branch of linguistics deals with the vocabulary andvocabulary units of language at a certain time. Synchronically we understandpolysemy as the coexistence of various meanings of the same word at a certainhistorical period of the development of the language. In that case the problemof interrelation and independence of individual meanings making up the semanticstructure of the word must be investigated along different lines.
In connectionwith the polysemantic word table discussed above we are mainly concerned withthe following problems: are all the nine meanings equally representative of thesemantic structure of this word? Does it reflect the comparative value ofindividual meanings, the place they occupy in the semantic structure of theword table? Intuitively we feel that the meaning that is actuallyrepresentative of the word, the meaning that first occurs to us whether we hearor see the word table, is “an article of furniture”. This emerges as the basicor the central meaning of the word and other meanings are minor in comparison.
It should benoted that whereas the basic meaning is representative of the word table inisolation its minor meanings are observed only in certain contexts, e.g. “tokeep the table amused”, “a piece of contents” etc. Thus we can assume that themeaning “a piece of furniture” occupies the central place in the semanticstructure of the word table. As to other meanings of this word it’s hard tograde them in order of their comparative value. Some may, for example, considerthe second and the third meanings (“the persons seated at the table” and “putfood on the table”) as equally “important”, some may argue that the meaning“put food on the table” should be given priority [ 21; 253-254 ]. As viewedsynchronically there is no objective criterion to go by, it may be founddifficult in some cases to single out even the basic meanings as two or meaningof the word may be felt as equally “central” in its semantic structure. If weanalyse the verb to get, e.g., which of the two meanings “to obtain” (get toLondon, to get into bed) shall we regard as the basic meaning of this word?
A more objectivecriterion of the comparative value of individual meanings seems to be thefrequency of their occurrence in the speech. There is a tendency in a modernlinguistics to interpret the concept of the central meaning in terms of thefrequency of occurrence of this meaning. It a study of five million words madeby a group of linguistic scientists it was found that the frequency value ofindividual meanings is different.
Of great importanceis the stylistic stratification of meanings of a polysemantic word as not onlywords but individual meanings to may differ in their stylistic reference.Stylistic (or regional) — status of monosemantic words is easily perceived. Forinstance, the word daddy can be referred to the colloquial stylistic layer, theword parent to bookish. The word movie is recognizably American and barnie isScotish. Polysemantic words as a rule cannot be given any such restrictivelabels. To do it we must state the meaning in which they are used. There isnothing colloquial or slangy or American about the word yellow denoting colour,jerk in the meaning of “a sudden or stopping movement” as far as theseparticular meanings are concerned. But when yellow Is used in the meaning of“sensational” or when jerk is used in the meaning of “an odd person” it’s bothslang and American [ 10; 47-48 ].
Stylisticallyneutral meanings are naturally more frequent. The polysemantic words worker andhand, for example, may both denote “the man who does manual work”. But whereasthis is the most frequent and stylistically neutral meaning of the word worker,it is observed only in 2.8% of all occurrences of the word hand, in thesemantic structure of which the meaning “a man who does the manual work” (tohire factory hands) is one of its marginal meanings characterized by colloquialstylistic reference. Broadly speaking the interdependence of style andfrequency in meanings is analogous to that existing in words.
It should benoted that the meaning of the highest frequency value is the one representativeof the whole semantic structure of the word. This can be illustrated byanalyzing the two words under discussion. The meaning representative of theword worker is undoubtedly “a man who does manual work” [ 21; 258 ].
In conclusion,polysemy viewed synchronically is understood as co-existence of variousmeanings of the same word at a certain historical period and the arrangement ofthese meanings in the semantic structure of the word.
polysemy language context
1.3 Polysemy and its Connection with the Context
In modernlinguistics context is defined as the minimal stretch of speech necessary tosignal meaning for words. This is not to imply that polysemantic words havemeanings only in context. The semantic structure of the word has an objectiveexistence as a dialectical entity which embodies dialectical permanency andvariability. The context individualises the meanings, brings them out. It is inthis sense that we say that meaning is determined by the context. The meaningsrepresentative of the semantic structure of the word and least dependent oncontext are sometimes described as free or denominative meanings.
Against thebackground of linguistic thought as it has developed in modern linguistics wedefine context as the minimal stretch of speech necessary to signal individualmeaning of words. There are several types of context: linguistic andextra-linguistic (non-verbal) contexts.
Linguisticcontext include lexical and grammatical context. These two types of contextsare differentiated depending on whether lexical or grammatical aspect ispredominant in making the meaning of the word explicit. The interaction betweenlexical and grammatical aspects in the semantic structure of the word is mostcomplex and needs special comments.
1) Lexical context is best illustrated by the factthat there are groups of words in any language that are semantically compatibleonly with certain classes of agents. Lexical incongruity of words often servesto make the necessary meaning clear narrowing down the various potentialmeanings of the word, and no ambiguity arises.
The verb to run,for instance, has primarily the meaning ‘to move swiftly or with quick action’,as a stream, wagon, person; with words denoting something written, inscribed,worded, or the like the verb run means to sound (eg. This is how the verseruns); with agents denoting various plants the verb run is synonymicallycorrelated to grow — to become bigger; with agents denoting engines or machinesby which physical power is applied to produce a physical effect, the verb torun means — to turn off the engine (to leave the engine running).
In all theexamples given above the meaning of the verb to run is signaled by the lexicalmeanings of the nouns in the position of the subject. The predominance of thelexical contexts in determining the meaning of the verb in such uses is quiteevident.
Examples oflexical contexts which operate to convey the necessary meaning of a polysemicword may be given in numbers. Resolution of structural ambiguity by lexicalprobability is a frequent occurrence.
Compare also thefollowing variant meanings of the adjective green which has primarily themeaning ‘of the colour green’: green walls, green wound, green memories —variation in meaning in each case is signaled by the lexical meaning of thenoun involved in a given syntagma. The adjective heavy in its primary sensemeans ‘weighty, not easy to lift, of great weight’ [ 4; 126-127 ].
In combination withwords denoting natural phenomena heavy means violent: heavy storm, heavy rain,heavy snow. Not less characteristic are such uses of the adjective as: heavywork, heavy style, a heavy sky, with a heavy heart—the meaning of the adjectivein each case is signaled by the lexical meaning of the noun with which itoccurs.
Further typicalexamples of lexical context determining the word meaning will be found in thedistribution of various classes of adjectives.
Observe, forinstance, the use of the following phrases with the adjective warm whosemeaning in each case is signaled by the lexical meaning of the noun involved:warm milk, warm climate, warm clothing, warm welcome, warm temper, warmsupport, warm imagination, warm colours.
As can be seenfrom above examples, the lexico-semantic variation of the adjective warm makesit synonymous with such words as mild, heated, cordial, enthusiastic, eager,keen, responsive.
2) Grammaticalcontext. Instances are not few when the individual lexical meaning of apolysemic word is determined by the grammatical structure in which it occurs,syntactic patterns in the main. Familiar examples of grammatical context willbe found in cases like the following:
1) The horsestopped drinking.
2) The horse stopped to drink.
In the firstexample stop+ing — finish doing something, in the second—stop+to+ infinitive —stop temporarily in order to.
Highlyindicative in this respect are verbs of generic force, such as do, make and theverbs of the ‘move and change’ class: go, come, grow, get, fall, run, take,turn.
In grammaticalcontexts it is the grammatical structure of the context that serves todetermine various individual meanings of a polysemantic word. One of themeanings of the verb to make, eg. “to force, to enduce”, is found only in thegrammatical context possessing the structure to make somebody do something orin simpler terms this practical meaning occurs only if the verb make isfollowed by a noun and the infinitive of some other verb (to make somebodylaugh, work, etc. ) [ 5; 182-183 ].
In a number ofcontexts, however, we find both the lexical and grammatical aspects should betaken into consideration. The grammatical structure of the context althoughindicative of the difference between the meaning of the word in this structureand the meaning of the same word in a different grammatical structure may beinsufficient to indicate in which of its individual meaning the word inquestion is used.
Dealing withlinguistic contexts we consider only linguistic factors: lexical groups ofwords, syntactic structure of context, etc. There are cases, however, when themeaning of the word is ultimately determined not by this linguistic factors,but by the actual speech situation.
The noun ringmay possess the meaning “a circle of precious metal” or “ a call on thetelephone”; the meaning of the verb to get in this linguistic context may beinterpreted as “possess” or “understand” depending on the actual situation inwhich these words are used. It should be pointed out, that such cases, thoughpossible, are not actually very numerous. The linguistic context is by far amore potent factor in determining the word-meaning.
It is ofinterest to note that not only the denotational but also the connotationalcomponent of meaning may be affected by the context. Any word which as alanguage unit is emotively neutral may in certain context acquire emotiveimplications. Compare, e.g., fire in to ensure one’s property against the fireand Fire! as a call for a help. So the peculiar lexical context accounts forthe possibility of emotive overtones which are made explicit by the context ofsituation [ 10; 16-17 ].
Instances arenot few when the meaning of a word is signaled by the context much larger thana given sentence or by a whole situation of the utterance, in other words, bythe actual situation in which this word occurs. Numerous examples of suchutterance will be found in syntactic structures including idioms of differenttypes.
Anotherimportant aspect to consider is sociocultural group which refers to the factthat the language used by a sociocultural group is closely connected with itsvalues, attitudes and beliefs. Consequently, learning a language involvesunderstanding and interpreting the culture of which it is part. It isimportant, therefore, for pupils to develop the ability to interpret texts fromperspectives other than their own. Some of the activities to deal withsociocultural context are the following: asking pupils to compare words andexpressions used in various English-speaking contexts with those used in theirown language context; pupils comment on the sociocultural associations of lexisin a given text; quizzes; true or false questions; explaining newspaperheadlines, advertisements, graffiti.
The two or moreless universally recognized main types of linguistic contexts serve todetermine individual meanings of words are the lexical and grammaticalcontexts. These types are differentiated depending on whether the lexical orgrammatical aspect is predominant in determining the meaning.
Meaning shouldalways be understood as involving the relation of language to the rest of theworld and such meaningfulness is an essential part of the definition oflanguage.
Chapter II.Practical Usage of Polysemy in Teaching English
2.1 Polysemy in Teaching English on Intermediate Level
Practicing polysemyis distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form withseveral but closely related meanings (head: of a person, of a pin, of anorganization). In my opinion the most important aspect of vocabulary teachingfor intermediate learners is to foster learner independence so that learnerswill be able to deal with new lexis and expand their vocabulary beyond the endof the course. Therefore guided discovery, contextual guesswork and usingdictionaries should be the main ways to deal with discovering meaning. Teacherscan help students with specific techniques and practice in contextualguesswork, for example, the understanding of discourse markers and identifyingthe function of the word in the sentence.
In my opinionthe most important aspect of teaching polysemy for learners is to fosterindependence so that learners will be able to deal with new lexis and expandtheir vocabulary beyond the end of the course. Therefore guided discovery,contextual guesswork should be the main ways to deal with discovering meaning.
Intermediatelevel includes the 5th — 9th form pupils. They already have some basicknowledge in studying a foreign language. If pupils have had good achievementsin language learning, they are usually interested in the subject and workwillingly both in class and at home. The desire to learn depends fully on theteacher’s ability to involve each pupil in language activities during thelesson. Pupils give preferences to those exercises which require thinking [ 1;61].
Exercise 1
Give all themeanings you know to the following verbs, illustrating them with examples: toget; to go; to bring; to make; to do; to let; to buy; to begin; to feel.
Exercise 2
The noun leg hasseveral meanings: 1) one of the long parts of your body that your feet arejoined to; 2)one of the series of games in a football competition playedbetween two teams; 3) one of the upright parts that support a piece offurniture; 4) the part of your trousers that covers your leg; 5) one part of along journey or race.
Match themeanings of the word face with the sentences given below:
1) One of the legs on the table was a bit wobbly.
2) Here, pull up your pant legs and let me see ifyour knees are hurt.
3) The legs of my jeans were covered in mud.
4) Leeds will have to win the second leg if theyare to go forward to the finals.
5) The men looked pensive as the carriageapproached the final leg of the trip to the big house on the hill.
6) When this can expand no further, it splits andis rolled off, like a nylon stocking from a leg.
7) Raise the leg a fraction higher and repeat thistiny movement 15 times, holding each raise for 1 second.
8) Officers then shot Mao in the leg several timesand he collapsed.
9) Breathing through his mouth, he manipulated hisprobe between her legs.
10) Anotherscreaming beast collapsed on broken hind legs.
Exercise 3
Define themeaning of the noun head as used in the sentences below. How many differentmeanings did you find?
1) According to Rice, the head of the planningcommittee, the project is 25% completed.
2) Collins suffered severe head injuries in theaccident.
3) He turned his head to kiss her.
4) I picked up a hammer and hit the head of thenail as hard as I could.
5) Hwang is head of the local Communist Party, andis also a farmer.
6) People going out in conditions like this need their headsexamined.
7) She was outside cutting the dead heads offthe roses.
8) She saw her father, a head above the rest of thecrowd.
9) Keep arms hanging, head down and neck andshoulders relaxed.
Exercise 4
How many meaningof the following words do you know? Name them:
head, bench, tofeel, to dress, hand, leg, power.
Exercise 5
Match theidiomatic expressions of the noun head with their meaning.
1) heads up!
2) heads will roll;
3) to be/fall head over heels in love;
4) to be/stand head and shoulders above somebody;
5) to give somebody their head;
6) to hold up your head;
7) to go over somebody's head;
8) to keep your head above water;
9) to put your heads together;
10)to turn/standsomething on its head;
a) to discuss a difficult problem together;
b) to be too difficult for someone to understand;
c) to manage to continue to live on your income orkeep your business working when this is difficult because of financialproblems;
d) to be much better than other people;
e) to show pride or confidence, especially in adifficult situation;
f) to make people think about something in theopposite way to the way it was originally intended;
g) to give someone the freedom to do what they wantto do;
h) to love or suddenly start to love someone verymuch;
i) used to say that someone will be punishedseverely for something that has happened;
j) used to warn people that something is fallingfrom above.
2.2 Polysemy in Teaching English on Advanced Level
This stageincludes 11th — 12th forms. Pupils can realize the importance of studyinglanguage more thoroughly. However, their attitude to foreign language dependson the achievements they have attained during the previous years of studyingthe subject. While explaining the material, teacher should take into accounteverything: pupils age, the material they deal with, their previous knowledge,etc.
So, the exerciseshould be of various kinds, they have to be creative and develop pupilscritical thinking and memory. Teacher should encourage his/her pupils, get theminterested in learning the language on deeper level [1, 62 ]. Below, there areexercise, which are suitable for this level of language learning. They willhelp pupils to adopt more material, to be able to differentiate polysemanticmeanings of the words through the context of the sentences.
Exercise 1
Comment on themeaning of the following adjectives in the given phrases.
Bad — behaviour,boy, case, day, debt, dream, experience, faith, guy, habit, idea, luck, mood,name, news, press, publicity, shape, situation, start, taste, temper, thing,things, time, way, weather.
Bitter —argument, attack, battle, blow, cold, conflict, debate, disappointment,dispute, end, enemy, experience, fight, flavour, irony, laugh, memory,opponent, pill, rival, smile, struggle, taste, tear, wind, winter.
Fresh — air,approach, basil, blood, bread, breeze, election, evidence, face, fish, flower,food, fruit, herb, idea, look, meat, parsley, produce, salmon, start, thyme,water, weight.
Good — chance,condition, day, deal, example, faith, fortune, friend, health, idea, job, life,luck, man, news, night, part, performance, place, position, practice, quality,reason, sense, service, shape, start, thing, time, use, value, way, work.
Green — bean,belt, bottle, card, field, form, grass, hill, leave, light, onion, paper,pasture, pepper, revolution, room, salad, shoot, space, tea, water.
New — era,generation, government, home, idea, job, law, legislation, life, member, owner,product, school, system, technology, town, version, world, year.
Old — age, boy,brother, child, daughter, day, friend, generation, day, lady, man, people,school, sister, son, woman.
Round — face,figure, head, neck, robin, table, trip.
Thick — carpet,cloud, fog, forest, glass, hair, skin, skull, smoke, soup, wall.
Thin — air,cotton, face, finger, forest, ice, line, lip, mist, sheet, skin, slice, paper,thread, veneer, voice.
Exercise 2
Paraphrase theitalicized words and phrases by those given below the sentences:
1. From the tower, you can see for miles.
2. Having a child makes you see things differently.
3. He could see a great future for her in music.
4. I don't know. We'll just have to see how it goeson Sunday.
5. I have to see my teacher about my grades.
6. I just can't get her to see reason!
7. I'll be seeing her tomorrow night.
8. I'll call him and see how the job interviewwent.
9. I saw Jane while I was out.
10. I see what you mean.
11. It will be interesting to see if he makes itinto the team.
12. Leave the papers with me and I'll see what I cando.
13. More money must be invested if we are to see animprovement in services.
14. Mr. Thomas is seeing a client at 2:30.
15. Please see that the lights are switched offbefore you leave.
16. See press for details.
17. See you Friday — your place at 8:30.
18. The moment we saw the house, we knew we wantedto buy it.
19. The results are shown in Table 7a (see below).
20. We're going to see 'Romeo and Juliet' tonight.
to notice orexamine someone or something, using your eyes; to notice that something ishappening or that something is true; to be able to see; to find out informationor a fact; to find out about something in the future; to see how things go;used to tell you where you can find information; see above/below; to understandsomething; to see reason/sense; to watch a television programme, film; toconsider something; used to say that you will try to help someone; used to say goodbye;to visit or meet someone; to meet someone by chance; to have an arrangedmeeting with someone; to see someone to discuss something; to imagine thatsomething may happen in the future; to make sure.
Exercise 3
Supply themissing words by using those given at the end:
1. She didn’t want to get……. .
2. More and more people are getting ………toe-banking.
3. I don’t want to get………… in some lengthy argumentabout who is to blame.
4. He was the last person I would expect to get……… …… in something like this.
5. Most teenagers would rather get …… and ……. withtheir friends.
6. I hate summer vacation. The children get ……… myfeet all day long.
7. I do the dishes every day, so I’m …… …… it.
8. The parcel must have got ……… in the post.
9. Why doesn’t she …… a …….? They even don’tspeak.
10. He only took the job to get ……… in the pensionfund.
11. We got ………… to working together.
12. Don’t ………..— I like Jenny.
13. Paul always ……… ………… whenever he has to give apresentation.
14. We get in ………. by e-mail.
15. I was still in New York trying to ……. a ……. toParis.
16. Take an umbrella or you will ……. ……… .
17. I… ……. Because he hadn’t told me hisplans.
Fired; hip;involved; lost; mixed up; out … about; under; used to; contact; vested;accustomed; get me wrong; gets nervous; get wet; get a divorce; get a visa; gotangry.
Exercise 4
Match thefollowing definitions of the word make by the phrases given below:
1. to make encouraging noises;
2. a match made in heaven;
3. to make a fortune;
4. to make a living;
5. to make believe;
6. to make or break;
7. to make a comparison;
8. to be of your own making;
9. to be made of stone;
10. to make a booking.
a) to earn a lot of money;
b) to earn money one’s need to live on;
c) to imagine that something is true when it is notso;
d) to be very successful or to fail completely;
e) to say things which suggest what your attitudeis;
f) to show similarities between two persons orthings;
g) a marriage between two people who are exactlyright for each other;
h) not to show any emotions or pity for somebody;
i) problems that are of your own making have beencaused by you and no one else;
j) to make an arrangement to travel by train, use ahotel room etc at a particular time in future.
Exercise5
Definethe meaning of the word table in the sentences below. How many meanings did youfind?
1. A single bed sheet makes a good-sized tableclothfor an average rectangular table and you can choose exactly the colour youwant.
2. All of it was sold from commercial operations socompact that they frequently fitted on a two-foot-square folding televisiontable.
3. He led them, a procession of six, to a tableright next to a platform.
4. He puts it flat on the table and opens the coverand shows me the copyright.
5. Helium, the next element in the periodic table,contains two electrons encircling a nucleus containing two protons.
6. I hurried back to the table and sat down.
7. She looked down at the kitchen table.
8. Table 2 shows how prices and earnings haveincreased over the last 20 years.
9. The tables were turned in the second half, whenLeeds United scored from the penalty spot.
10. The offer on the table is a 10% wage increase.
Exercise 6
Discuss themeanings of the phrases given below. Make up sentences with them:
by hand — doneor made by a person rather than a machine;
hand in glove —closely connected with someone, especially in an illegal activity;
to give a hand —to help with something;
to have a handin something — to influence or be involved in something;
good with yourhands — skilful at making things;
on hand — closeby and ready when needed;
a bird in thehand — used to say that it’s better to keep what you have than to risk losingit by trying to get more;
a safe pair ofhands — someone you can trust because they are sensible;
a hand grenade —a small bomb that you throw;
to knowsomething like the back of one’s hand — to know something very well;
to live fromhand to mouth — to have only just enough money to buy food;
to overplayone’s hands — to behave too confidently because you think you are in a strongerposition than you actually are;
second hand —the long thin piece of metal that points to the seconds on a clock or watch;
the left handdoesn’t know what the right hand is doing—used to say that one part of a groupor organization doesn’t know what the other parts are doing;
to wash yourhands of something — to refuse to be responsible for something any more.
Exercise 7
Match thedefinitions of the word back with the sentences given below:
1) part of the body;
2) less important side;
3) part of seat;
4) book/newspaper;
5) a defending player.
1. Keep your head up and your back straight.
2. To avoid back problems, always bend your kneeswhen you lift heavy objects.
3. Their best player was flat on his back inhospital.
4. He kissed her on the back of her head.
5. Her window faced the backs of the houses.
6. He rested his arm on the back of the sofa.
7. Paul scribbled his address on the back of an envelope.
8. The sports pages are usually at the back.
9. Two men were sitting in the back of the car.
10. Anna stood with her back to the window.
2.3 Lesson plan
Form 9-B
Topic “The verb toget and the range of its meanings”
T.: You knowthat a lot of words in English language are polysemantic. It means that one andthe same word may have a lot of meanings. So, we should be attentive as totranslating the text, writing, speaking. It is obvious that we should take intoaccount the significance of the context. Now I shall present you a variety ofmeanings of the verb to get.
I. Phonetic warmup.
T.: Now we shallpractice tongue twister with sounds [g] and [k]: cap-gap; cow-go; come-gum;crown-groan; class-glass; coat-goat; curl-girl. Then we shall pronounce eachword separately and after that you will read this tongue twister one afteranother:
Gertie'sgreat-grandma grew aghast at Gertie's grammar.
II. Lexical warmup.
T.: What is theprimary meaning of the word to get? What other meanings of the word to get doyou know? Make up several sentences with this word.
III. Warming upactivity.
T.: Let’s guessthe answer to the riddles which include the word to get:
1) What gets wetter as it dries? (A towel)
2) What's black when you get it, red when you useit, and white when you're all through with it? (Charcoal — вугільний олівець)
3) I give you a group of three. One is sitting down,and will never get up. The second eats as much as is given to him, yet is alwayshungry. The third goes away and never returns. ( Stove — піч, fire, smoke)
4) I live in a busy place in the city,
I'lllet you stay with me for awhile,
Ifyou don't feed me, I can get you into trouble.
Whatam I? (A parking meter)
IV. Speakingactivity.
T.: And now,let’s discuss proverbs and sayings with the verb to get which are worthlearning or at least mentioning:
Get a name torise early, and you may lie all day. — Створи собірепутацію людини, що рано встає і потім хоч цілими днями валяйся у ліжку.
Get what you canand keep what you have; that's the way to get rich. — Вмій втримати те, що маєш — ось запорукабагатства.
Get anything given— run being beaten. — Дають щось — бери, а б’ють — тікай.
V. Readingactivity.
Pre-reading. T.:Before you will read this text tell me what meanings of the verb to get do youremember?
While-reading.T.: Now you will read a letter including word to get. Fill in the gaps with thesuitable preposions:
I don't recommendit as it can get you …… an embarrassingsituation if you're not careful but then I was persuaded by a good friend ofmine. I am referring to the time I returned to my old school some fifteen yearsafter I had left. The friend hadbeen invited to speak as the guest of honour at some function or other at theschool. He had been so insistent on my going that I couldn't really get …… of it. Mind you, I had got …… quite well at school but I wasn't reallylooking forward to coming face to face again with certain of the teachers.There was one in particular who must have been getting …… because he'd seemed pretty ancient when I was there.
Post-reading.T.:What is this letter about? Who is narrator? What doesn’t he recommend? What ishis attitude to teachers?
VI. Vocabularypracticing.
T.: A lot ofwords in English language are polysemantic. It means that one and the same wordmay have more than one meaning. For example, the word take has fifty onemeanings. You should guess the meaning from the context. You must have noticedit while translating different sentences. The bright example of polysemanticword is the verb to get. So let’s study its meaning.
The firstmeaning is “діставати”. Forexample:
Can you get thisbook for me?
2) “брати, одержувати”. For example:
Olena getsprivate Math lessons two times a week.
3) “заробляти”. For example:
Sonya gets aliving working a nurse at the hospital.
4) “доставляти, приносити”. For example:
Would you be sokind to get me a chair?
5) “примушувати, переконувати”. For example:
I got him to speakat last.
6) “розуміти, збагнути”. For example:
I don't get you.You are talking too quickly.
7)“діставатися,добиратися; досягати, потрапляти”. Forexample:
He got homeearly after the night shift.
8) “мати,володіти”. For example:
I have got a bigcottage that was gifted by my father.
9) “бути змушеним, мусити”. For example:
I have got to goimmediately.
10) (з герундієм означає початок дії або їїодноразовість). For example:
They got talkingabout the latest changes in the climate.
T.: The verb toget can also be combined with prepositions and get quite a different meaningswhich you just can’t guess from the context. You should learn it by heart. Forexample:
to get about — поширюватися (про чутки);
to get at — досягти, добратися до;
to get away —піти геть, утікати;
to get in — входити, потрапити;
to get up — вставати, підводитися.
VII. Writing.
T.: In thisexercise you should match the sentences with their meanings:
1) “Alan isreally intelligent but sometimes he has problems getting his ideas across.
2) “Why can’tyou and your sister get along? Everyone else gets along with her just fine!”
3) She soonfound that it wasn't easy to get ahead in the movie business.
4) We had to usepublic transport to get around.
5) Why is healways getting at me?
6) The three mengot away in a stolen car.
7) I'll talk toyou when I get back.
8) I don't earna huge salary, but we get by.
9) He wasfollowed by a group of reporters trying to get down every word he said.
10) The theatrewas already full, and we couldn't get in.
to get across; toget along; to get down; to get ahead; to get around; to get in; to get at; toget away; to get back; to get by.
VIII. Summing up
T.: To sum up,let’s repeat what we have learnt during our lesson.
P1: We havelearnt different meanings of the word get.
P2: We discussedinteresting proverbs and sayings.
Conclusions
Language tends tochange in time and space. These universal characteristics of language arepermanent interest of scholarship. The most important function of any languageis to carry the meaning. But as we know not only the sound-form but also themeaning of the word is changed in the course of historical development of alanguage. It happened under the influence of many factors. Change of meaning isaffected through association between the existing meaning and the new one. Thisassociation is generally based on the similarity or the contiguity of meanings.Due to numeral changes of meaning such a phenomenon as multiplicity of wordmeanings or polysemy appeared.
In myinvestigation I touched upon the problem of polysemy in diachronic andsynchronic dimensions. Diachronic approach considers polysemy as historicalchange in the semantic structure of the word resulting in new meanings beingadded to the ones already existing and in the rearrangement of these meaningsin its semantic structure. While synchronic one understands it as aco-existence of the various meanings of the same word at a certain historicalperiod and the arrangement of these meanings in the semantic structure of theword. As the semantic structure is never static the relationship between thediachronic and synchronic evaluation of individual meanings of the same wordmay be different in different periods of the historical development oflanguage. Diachronic and synchronic ties are closely interconnected as the newmeanings are understood thanks to their motivation by the older meanings.
Polysemy ischaracteristic of most words in many languages. All the lexical andlexico-grammatical variants of the word taken together form its semanticstructure or semantic paradigm. The phenomenon of polysemy was broadlyinvestigated in the historical development of the language. The word “polysemy”comes from Latin, but the roots of the concept of polysemy lie in Greekphilosophy.
Polysemyis inherent in the very nature of words and concepts as every object and everynotion has many features and a concept reflected in a word always contains ageneralisation of several traits of the object. Some of these traits orcomponents of meaning are common with other objects. Hence the possibility ofusing the same name in secondary nomination for objects possessing commonfeatures which are sometimes only implied in the original meaning. A word whenacquiring new meaning or meanings may also retain, and most often retains theprevious meaning.
Although only inthe nineteenth century Bréal turned to polysemy as a phenomenon oflanguage use, language acquisition and language change. The linguist wanted toestablish semantics as a new branch of general linguistics, independent ofetymology and lexicography. Bréal stated that new meanings of wordseliminate old ones or exist with them in parallel. It means that the mainsource of the polysemy is the semantic innovation. Many other famous linguistswere engaged in the studies of meaning and polysemy.
This researchalso highlights the significance of polysemy in grammar. Most grammatical formsare polysemantic. It is sometimes maintained that the case of grammaticalpolysemy can be observed in various structural meanings inherent in the givenform, one of them being always invariable, found in any context of the use ofthe form. The semantic structure of polysemantic words is not homogeneous asfar as the status of individual meaning is concerned. Some meanings arerepresentatives of the word in isolation, others are perceived only in certaincontexts. Context is a minimal stretch of speech necessary to determine individualmeanings.
In theconclusion, I can say that the problem of polysemy may cause difficultiesduring the translation or communication. To overcome them pupils need to seeand practice words in context, since it is the context that allows them tounderstand the meaning of the word.
The problem ofpolysemy is mainly the problem of interrelation and interdependence of variousmeanings of the same word. Though it is the object of confusion and one of themost controversial problems in linguistics. It is of great importance instudying English as it presents the diverse meanings of expressive layer.
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