The concept of homonymy

Homonym types

Ways of the emergence of homonymy (sources of homonymy)

Paronymy and paronomasia

Literature

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The concept of homonymy

homonymy(gr. homos‘same’ and ōnyma‘name’) is a sound and / or graphic match of language units, the meanings of which are not related to each other.

homonymy similar to polysemy in that same the sound (graphic) shell corresponds to several objects or phenomena of reality. BUT

at polysemysemantic connections between these realities clearly understood speaking,

at homonymyconnections between these realities for native speakers of modern language does not exist.

Those. at ambiguity we are dealing with one in a word, at homonymy- with two(and more) in the words [Rakhmanov, Suzdaltsev, p. 75].

[Girutsky, p. 131]

Homonym types

With a broad understanding of homonymy, they distinguish several types homonyms.

1. Lexical homonyms(actually homonyms) are words of different meanings that coincide in sound and spelling in all (almost all) forms and refer to the same part of speech.

beam‘building material’ ↔ beam'ravine';

stern from feed↔stern from stern;

smack‘cut at the seams’ ↔ smack‘cut’.

According to the degree of completeness lexical homonyms are divided into

full (absolute),

incomplete (partial).

Complete(absolute) are called homonyms that match in all forms:

key‘spring’ ↔ key'master key',

braid‘hair woven into one strand’ ↔ braid‘agricultural implement for mowing’ ↔ braid‘peninsula in the form of a narrow shoal’,

English.light ‘easy’ ↔ light'light',

German.Mal ‘time’ ↔ Mal 'birthmark'.

Homonyms relating to to one part of speech, but matching not in all forms, are called incomplete:

onion'plant', lynx'run', boron‘chemical element’ does not have a plural form. hours;

fist'clasped hand' and fist‘wealthy peasant’ do not match in the form of V. p. units. and pl.;

conduct– perfective pair (CB) to the verb see off and an imperfective pair (NSV) to the verb conduct.

2. Grammatical homonyms(homoforms) - one or more coinciding grammatical forms of different words.

Omoform is observed among words like one part of speech, and different:

flying- 1 l. unit from treat

from fly;

know- noun. in I. and V. p. and inf. verb;

three– D.p. numeral three

1 l. pl. h. verb rub;

saw- noun. in I.p. unit

ave. in. units h.zh.r. verb drink;

English. saw- noun. 'saw'

ave. verb to see.

Sometimes homonyms of this kind are called lexico-grammatical, because they differ both lexically and grammatically. And under grammatical homonyms understand units that differ only in grammatical meanings:

game- D. and P. p.

mothers– R., D., P. p.

3. Phonetic homonyms(homophones) are words or forms that are pronounced the same but are spelled differently:

company - campaign,

pretend - pretend,

bone - bone,

German die Page 'side'

die Website‘string’ [Kodukhov, p. 173]

Most often these are words that coincide in sound only in separate forms:

rod - pond (but rod - pond),

climb - forest,

metal is metal.

In languages ​​with traditional orthography (for example, English and French), there are significantly more homophones:

English. write'write'

right‘right, correct’,

week'a week'

weak 'weak',

French.boulet ‘fat man’ – bowleau 'Birch',

pot ‘pot’ - peau ‘skin’ [LES, p. 344],

German.Moore'swamp' - Mohr‘Moor’ [Shaikevich, p. 155].

4. Graphic homonyms(homographs) are words or forms that are spelled the same but pronounced differently.

In Russian, these are usually words that differ accent:

castle - castle,

flour - flour,

to shake - to shake.

AT other languages homographs are not so strictly related to stress, cf.:

lead 'lead'

‘to lead,

tear 'tear'

‘tear’ [LES, p. 344].

Ways of the emergence of homonymy (sources of homonymy)

Homonymy and polysemy

In relation to words related to the same parts of speech, linguistics often distinguishes between homonymy and polysemy. homonymy is a random match of words, while polysemy- the presence of a word of different historically related meanings. For example, the words "boron" in the meaning of "pine forest" and "boron" in the meaning of "chemical element" are homonyms, since the first word is of Slavic origin, and the second arose from the Persian "Bur" - the name of one of the boron compounds. At the same time, for example, the words "ether" in the sense of organic matter and "ether" in the sense of "broadcasting and television" linguists call the meanings of one word, that is, polysemy, since both come from other Greek. αἰθήρ - Mountain air.

However, another part of linguists draws the line between polysemy and homonymy in a different way. Namely, if most people see a common shade of meaning in two coinciding words (as linguists say, “a common semantic element”), then this is polysemy, and if they do not see it, then this is homonymy, even if the words have a common origin. For example, in the words "braid" (tool) and "braid"(hairstyle), the common semantic element noticed by most people is "something long and thin."

Finally, some linguists consider all separate meanings of polysemantic words to be homonyms. In this case, polysemy is a special case of homonymy.

Coinciding words related to different parts of speech, all or almost all Russian linguists unconditionally refer to homonyms. Examples of such homonyms are "flow" (flow) and "flow" (flow).

Classification

• Full (absolute) homonyms are homonyms that have the same entire system of forms. For example, attire (clothes) - outfit (order), forge (forge) - bugle (wind instrument).
• Partial homonyms - homonyms for which not all forms coincide. For example, weasel (animal) and affection (show of affection) diverge in the genitive plural form ( weasels - caresses).
• Grammatical homonyms, or homoforms, are words that coincide only in separate forms (of the same part of speech or different parts of speech). For example, the numeral three and verb three coincide only in two forms (to three - we are three).

Homomorphemes

Along with homonyms, that is, homonymous words, there are also homomorphemes, that is, homonymous morphemes, in other words, parts of words (prefixes, suffixes, roots, endings) that coincide, but have different meanings.

Homonyms, homophones, homographs, and homoforms

• Homonyms are words that sound the same at the same time. and in spelling but different in meaning.
• Homophones (phonetic homonyms) are words that sound the same but are different in spelling and meaning.
• Homographs (graphic homonyms) are words that have the same spelling but are different in sound and meaning.
• Homoforms (grammatical homonyms) are different words that coincide in separate grammatical forms. For example, the verbs fly and treat coincide in the form of the 1st person singular of the present tense - I fly.

Examples

The words

• 3: Spit - on the girl's head; scythe - a tool for mowing; spit - a long cape in a reservoir or in a watercourse (Curonian Spit).
• 7: Key - musical sign; key from door; the key is a natural source of water; key - wrench; key - information that allows decrypting a cryptogram or verifying a digital signature; key - hint, cheat sheet, answer to the task, key - closing device in the electrical circuit
• 3: Butterfly - insect; the bow tie; butterfly knife.
• 2: Onion - plant; bow weapon.
• 3: Pen - writing (gel, ballpoint, etc.); pen - human hand; handle - doorknob.
• 4: Brush - a bunch of ropes; wrist; brush - berries (rowan brush); brush - brush (for drawing).
• 2: Trot - running (eg horses); lynx is an animal.
• 4: Troika - horses; triple - mark; troika - the judicial body of the NKVD; threesome - suit.
• 2: The world is the universe; peace - the absence of war, enmity.
• 2: Messenger - giving a message, a signal about something; messenger - in the army: private for parcels on business.
• 3: Beam - a part of a structure, a bar resting on something at several points (on walls, abutments); beam - a long ravine; beam and beam are lexical homonyms.
• 2: Kiwi is a fruit; kiwi is a bird.
• 2: Zebra is an animal; zebra - pedestrian crossing.
• Mowed with an oblique oblique oblique (a well-known problematic phrase for foreigners).

Homonyms in poetry

You are white swans fed,
Throwing back the weight of black braid…
I swam nearby; agreed fed;
The sunset beam was strange braid.

Valery Bryusov

Sitting in a taxi, asked dachshund:
"For what kind of fare dachshund?»
And the driver: "Money from dachshunds
We do not take at all, here since».

Yakov Kozlovsky

Inside like a ball chamber,
I burst, but hardly verse,
if my partner chamber
hears my prison verse
and motive from the heart chamber.

Aidyn Khanmagomedov

Homonymy in taxonomy

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Synonyms:

See what "Homonym" is in other dictionaries:

Greek homonymos, from homos, similar, and onoma, name. A word that has the same pronunciation as another word, but a different meaning. Explanation of 25,000 foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language, with the meaning of their roots. Mikhelson A.D.,… … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

homonym- a, m. homonyme m. gr. homonyma homos same + onyma name. 1. A word that has the same sound as another word, but differs from it in meaning. MAS 2. The Game of Homonyms .. consists in the fact that one leaves the company in which without him ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

homonym- (incorrect homonym) ... Dictionary of pronunciation and stress difficulties in modern Russian

Homonym, homonym, husband. (from Greek homos the same and onima name) (ling.). A word that is identical with another in sound form, but different from it in meaning, for example. hail city and hail meteorological phenomenon. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Homonym, a, husband. In linguistics: a word that coincides with another in sound, but completely divergent from it in meaning, as well as in the system of forms or in the composition of the nest, for example. "leak 1" and "leak 2", "mow 1" and "mow 2". | adj. homonymous ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov Terms of botanical nomenclature

homonym- Loans. from the French lang., where omonyme lat. homonymus, which transmits the Greek. homōnymos, addition of homos "one and the same, the same" and onyma "name". Homonym literally "of the same name" (meaning the same sound of words denoting different ... ... Etymological dictionary of the Russian language

LEXICAL HOMONYMY IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

Literature:

1. On the issue of distinguishing between polysemy and homonymy // Russian language at school, 1956, No. 3.

2. On homonymy and related phenomena // Questions of Linguistics, 1960, No. 5.

3. Vishnyakova 0. V. Paronyms of the modern Russian language. - M., 1981.

4. Kovalev, the use of polysemy, homonymy and paronymy in fiction // Russian Language at School, 1980, No. 6.

5. Mikhnevich A. E. Paralexes // Russian language: Interdepartmental collection, vol. 1. - Mn., 1981.

Lexical homonyms(gr. homos"same" and onyma“name”) are two or more words of different meanings that coincide in spelling, pronunciation and grammatical design. For example: outfit1"clothes" and outfit2"document"; block1"union, agreement of states" and block2"device for lifting weights"; beat1"musical size" and beat2"knowing of limits".

There are two types of lexical homonyms - complete and incomplete. Full lexical homonyms- these are words of the same part of speech, in which the whole system of grammatical forms coincides. So the words above outfit1"clothes" and outfit2"document" are full lexical homonyms, since they coincide in all case forms of the singular and plural. The same type of homonyms include: key1"master key" and key2"spring"; shop1"bench" and shop2"small trading establishment"; motive1"melody" and motive2"cause"; braid1"hair style" braid2"agricultural implement" braid3"sandbank"; vulture1"bird", vulture2"long narrow part of stringed instruments", neck3"seal, stamp"

Incomplete lexical homonyms also refer to the same part of speech, but do not coincide in all grammatical forms x. Yes, the words boron1"coniferous forest" and boron2"chemical element"; beat1"musical size" and beat2"knowing of limits"; boom1"gymnastic apparatus" and boom2"hype" are incomplete lexical homonyms, since the second member of each homonymous pair is not used in the plural form, since it refers to real ( boron2) or abstract ( beat2, boom2) nouns. Incomplete homonyms are verbs insist1"strengthen to achieve something" and insist2“to prepare a tincture” (the first of them is intransitive, and the second is a transitive verb); force1"furnish" and force2"compel" (the second homonym does not have participial passive forms).

Lexical homonyms are characterized primarily by the fact that they correlate with different phenomena of reality, therefore, there is no semantic connection between them, which is characteristic of the meanings of polysemic words.

Homonymy as a linguistic phenomenon is observed not only in vocabulary. In the broad sense of the word, homonyms are sometimes called different language units (in terms of content) that coincide in sound (in terms of expression). For example, the suffix -to- belongs to the homonymous pair: -to-1(nouns with the meaning of a female person: student, graduate student) and -k-2(nouns with the meaning of an abstract action: cleaning, sending).

Unlike proper lexical (or absolute) homonyms, all other word matches are relative.

Homonyms that arise as a result of the phonetic laws of a language are called homophones(gr. homos"same", phone"voice, sound"). These are words that have the same sound, but different meanings and spellings. So, in Russian, the law of stunning voiced consonants at the absolute end of a word and in the middle of a word before deaf consonants operates, as a result of which words of different meanings can coincide in sound terms: cat(animal) and the code[cat] (cipher); onion(plant) and meadow[bow] (field); sadness(state) and breast[sad't'] (mushroom); darling (-soul) and shackle[dush] (- arc). In an unstressed position, some vowels - (a), (o); (e), (i)- are pronounced the same, which is also the reason for the appearance of homophones: pretend to be – pretend, company – campaign, tank – barrel.

should be distinguished from homophones paronyms(from lat. para"near", onyma"name") - words with a close, similar, but not identical sound and different meanings: subscription"a document certifying the right to use something" and subscriber"subscription holder"; general"main, main" and general's"relating to the general"; ignoramus"rude, ill-mannered person" and ignoramus"poorly educated person, ignoramus"; deed"action done by someone" and misdemeanor, "an act that violates the norms of behavior."

Paronyms can also appear at the interlingual level, that is, when comparing the lexical systems of closely related languages ​​(for example, Russian and Belarusian): Rus. outfit"document" - white. Narada"meeting, session"; puc. father"a man in relation to his children" - Bel. egg"Priest"; Russian sofa"upholstered furniture" - white. duvan"carpet"; Russian change"to commit betrayal, to betray" - white. flutter"replace with something else."

It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of "interlingual paronyms" and "interlingual paralexes". paralexes- these are the words of the Russian and Belarusian languages, which coincide in meaning, but differ in accentological, phonetic, morphological and derivational features. For example: rus. relate- white adnose, rus. basic- white clear; Russian hunting- white ahvota, rus. collar- white ashhynik; Russian dog(female) - white. dog(m. R.), rus. pain(female) - white. pain(m. R.); puc. thresher- white malaria etc.

Taking into account such regular differences in the vocabulary of the Russian and Belarusian languages ​​is very important when teaching the Russian language in conditions of closely related bilingualism. In 1985 The publishing house "Narodnaya Asveta" published a manual for teachers "Belarusian-Russian paralexical dictionary-reference book". This is a kind of dictionary of the difficulties of the Russian language for people who speak Belarusian.

The assimilation of paronyms creates considerable difficulties for foreigners studying Russian. In 1984, in Moscow, the Russian Language publishing house published the Dictionary of Paronyms of the Russian Language (author -). The dictionary includes about 1000 pairs of paronyms of the modern Russian language, the possibilities of their combination with other words are shown, their synonyms and antonyms are given. In some cases, expressive illustrations (drawings) are given, which is especially important for foreigners.

Homonyms formed as a result of the action of grammatical reasons are called homoforms, or grammatical homonyms. These are words that coincide in sound only in certain grammatical forms: flying(from fly) and flying(from treat) (in the form of the 2nd person, there is no coincidence of grammatical indicators, therefore, homonymy no longer exists: flying and treat); ruble(1st person singular from the verb chop) and ruble(Date form of the noun ruble); saw(past feminine form of the verb drink) and saw(noun); three(numeral) and three(the imperative form of the verb rub); verse(noun) and verse(past tense masculine form of the verb subside).

Homonyms also include homographs (Gr. homos"same" and grapho“I write”) - words that coincide in spelling, but sound differently and have different meanings: castle - castle, flour - flour, carnations - carnations, soar - soar, perfume - perfume.

The following types of homographs are distinguished: a) lexical: atlas(geographic Maps) - atlas(matter); b) lexico-grammatical: village(verb) - village(noun); running(verb) - running(noun); c) grammatical: addresses – addresses; Houses – Houses; d) stylistic: compass(lit.) - compass(marine); spark(lit.) - spark(professional).

The assignment of such pairs of words to homonyms is conditional, since they do not sound the same, differing in stress. For homonyms, complete coincidence in sound is a prerequisite.

There are also interlingual homonyms- words that sound the same but have different meanings in closely related languages, for example, Russian and Serbo-Croatian, Russian and Belarusian. Comp. rus, bath- S.-Chorov. baњa"resort"; Russian grief- S.-Chorov. grief"up, up"; Russian a gun- S.-Chorov. a gun"gun"; Russian on right(on the right side) - S.-Horv. on right"tool"; Russian leaf fall"the time of falling leaves of trees" - Bel. listapad"november"; Russian coward"a person who gives in to a feeling of fear" - white. coward"rabbit"; Russian score"drive deep, to the end" - white. slaughter"deprive of life, kill"; Russian peace"a state of silence, rest" - Bel. pack"living space, room", etc.

In 1980 in Minsk (Universitetskoe publishing house) the dictionary "Interlingual homonyms and paronyms" was published. This dictionary contains 550 pairs of Russian-Belarusian homonyms and paronyms. Each of the words in the dictionary is accompanied by a brief explanation and example illustrations.

The appearance of lexical homonyms in modern Russian is due to several reasons. Depending on the nature of these reasons, three types of homonyms are distinguished: semantic, etymological and derivational.

Semantic homonyms are the result of the breakdown of polysemy, i.e., the semantic splitting of a polysemantic word. In the process of historical development, different meanings of the same word are so far apart from each other that they begin to be perceived as different words. The initial semantic similarity in this case can only be established by etymological analysis. For example: belly1"life" → belly2 part of the body"; rook1"boat" → rook2"chess piece; light1"lighting" light2“world, universe; fist1"part of the hand with clenched fingers" → fist2"wealthy peasant"; dashing1"bringing misfortune, evil" → dashing2"brave".

The process of splitting the polysemy of a word and turning its meanings into independent homonyms is a very long and gradual process. Yes, the word duty in the 17-volume dictionary of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (M.-L., 1964, vol. 3) it is given as polysemantic with the following meanings: 1) duty; 2) what is borrowed. Word homonymy debt1"duty" and debt2"borrowed" was first reflected in 1972 in the dictionary. In further editions of this and other explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language, only homonyms are given debt1 and debt2.

Etymological homonyms- the result of the coincidence of the original and borrowed or only borrowed words. The following types of etymological homonyms are distinguished:

a) An accidental coincidence in the sound of a native Russian and a borrowed word. Yes, the word club in the meaning of "organization, society", having come into the Russian language from English, coincided with the original Russian word club(club of smoke, dust). This also includes: lava1"kill" - lava2"molten mass of metal" (French); Russian bow1"weapon, sports equipment" - it. bow2"plant", Russian. felling1"cutting apart" - Dutch. felling2"room on the upper deck of the ship", Rus. mink1(reduced from Nora) - Finnish. mink2"animal" in Russian tour1"animal" in French tour2"period";

b) Coincidence in the sound of words borrowed from one language: pump1"pump" pump2"splendor" (French) mine1"projectile" mine2 facial expression (French) quarry1"fast running horse" quarry2" open-pit mining" (French); radical1"supporter of the left bourgeois parties" - radical2“a mathematical term is a sign of extraction from a root” (lat.);

c) Coincidence in sound and spelling of two words borrowed by the Russian language from different languages: English. raid1"raid" and Dutch. raid"water space"; lat. focus1"optical term" and German. focus2"trick"; Persian. checkmate1"chess term" and English. mate2"soft bedding"; fr. block1"association, union" and English. block2"mechanism".

Derivational homonyms- words formed from one root with the help of polysemantic or homonymous morphemes. Usually, the function of such morphemes is performed by homonym prefixes, which are written and pronounced the same way, but give completely different meanings to the verbs formed with their help. For example: revise1"change mind" rethink one's point of view) – revise2"a lot to see" watch all movies); work out1"work for a while" work 10 years at school) – work out2"criticize" work out the violator of discipline); speak1"start talking" he talked about work) – speak2"influence with words" ( talk toothache).

Less common are derivational homonyms-nouns with homonymous suffixes: wallet1"purse for papers" - wallet2"paper industry worker".

The distinction between different homonymous words and polysemantic words (one word with several meanings) causes a lot of difficulties. Despite the obvious difference, homonymy and polysemy are interconnected primarily by the identity of the sound complex. In addition, the commonality of these two phenomena is indicated by the possibility of the emergence of homonyms as a result of the splitting of the polysemy of the word.

The objective difficulty of distinguishing between homonymy and polysemy is reflected in modern lexicographic practice. So, many words that are given as polysemantic in one dictionary are considered in another (or others) as different words, homonymous to each other. For example, the word glorious in the four-volume "small" academic dictionary (M., 1984, vol. IY) is given as polysemantic: glorious 1) famous, famous; 2) unfold very good, accommodating. The 16th edition of the Dictionary of the Russian Language, published in the same year, contains two independent words: glorious1"famous, famous" and glorious2 (unfold) "very good, pleasant, cute." The word qualifies differently in these dictionaries. thin. The "small" academic dictionary contains two words with homonymous relationships: thin1"skinny" and thin2 with two meanings: 1) unfold bad, bad and 2) unfold full of holes. The dictionary gives three independent homonym words: thin1"skinny", thin2 unfold"bad" and thin3 unfold"leaky".

There are several ways to distinguish between homonymy and polysemy.

a) Selection of related (single-root) words, i.e., the establishment of derivational connections of words. For example, world"Universe" - world, world; world"peace, a state opposite to war" - peaceful, put up. The derivative words for both compared words are different, therefore, we have before us - lexical homonyms. The homonymy of words is proved similarly fist1"brush clenched into a fist" and fist2"exploiter": fist1- fist, fist2- kulak.

Word-building series for individual meanings of a polysemantic word usually coincide: fog 1) opaque air; 2) something obscure, incomprehensible: foggy, nebula, foggy;

b) Substitution of synonyms for each of the words with the subsequent comparison of these synonyms with each other. If they turn out to be close in meaning, then we have a polysemantic word, otherwise we will deal with homonymy. For example: fight1"battle"; fight2"servant boy" Synonyms matched to words fight1 and fight2 different in meaning, therefore, they are homonyms. The battle(sea battle) and the battle(bullfight) are not homonyms, since the synonyms selected for them (marine the battle –battle, battle and the battle bulls - competition are synonymous with each other).

c) Definition of lexical compatibility of words. If you make a sentence with each of the homonym words radical1"supporter of the left bourgeois parties" and radical2"mathematical sign", it can be noted that the compatibility of an animated word radical1 and inanimate radical2 different: The presidium of the congress invited the famous radical ; In this formula, you forgot to write radical .

These methods are not perfect in distinguishing between polysemy and homonymy. The main criteria in this case can be semantics and origin: 1) analysis of the meanings of polysemic words and homonyms, establishing the presence or loss of a connection between these meanings; 2) the use of information about the origin of such words contained in the etymological dictionaries of the Russian language.

5. The first Russian dictionary of homonyms is the Dictionary of Homonyms of the Russian Language (M., 1974, 2nd edition - 1976).

The dictionary contains 2300 dictionary entries, which include root and service homonyms of various origins. Each homonymous word is interpreted. The interpretation includes grammatical and stylistic marks, an indication of the origin and word-formation connections with other words, translation into English, French and German, some illustrative examples of use in speech.

The dictionary outlines three types of homonym formation: 1) words in which homonymy is expressed by a morphemic structure: prickly1(grass) - pungent2(sugar); flue1"what the gas goes through" and flue2“that which walks with the help of gas”; 2) divergent homonymy: fist1"Part of the hand" fist2"peasant-exploiter"; 3) primordially different words: bow1"plant" - bow2"weapon".

The dictionary is not only the most complete collection of Russian lexical homonyms, but also a good reference tool that allows you to distinguish between homonymy and polysemy.

In 1979, the Dictionary of Homonyms of the Russian Language was published in Tbilisi. The dictionary contains 4000 “homonymous associations, among which are not only lexical homonyms, but also phenomena similar to them, for example, homoforms like Roy(bee) and Roy(the imperative form of the verb to dig). In terms of the quality of the lexicographic development of homonyms, this dictionary is inferior to the dictionary. In 1978 the dictionary was republished with some corrections and additions.

Homonymy is a fairly common phenomenon in almost every language. It is characterized by the presence of identical words, which, however, have different meanings. Lexical words deserve special attention, showing that this type is the most common and active. This phenomenon enriches the language, making it more artistic and figurative.

concept

Homonyms are the same morphemes, words and other lexical units that have different meanings. Such a term is often confused with ambiguous words or paronyms, however, in terms of their functions and characteristics, these are completely different categories.

The term is of Greek origin and was introduced by Aristotle. Literally, the concept means “same” and “name”. Homonyms can both be present within the framework of one part of speech, and appear in different ones.

Homonymy and polysimy

In linguistics, in relation to the same words of one part of speech, there are two different concepts. We are talking about polysemy and homonymy. The first concept implies the presence of identical words with different meanings, however, which have a common historical origin. For example, if we consider the word "ether" in its two meanings. The first is organic matter and the second is television or television broadcasting. The meaning of the words is different, but it was formed from one common lexical unit, namely from the Greek term, which literally means “mountain air”.

As for homonymy, here we are also talking about different meanings of words, however, there is no historical connection between them, and identical spelling is a coincidence. For example, the word “boron”, which has two meanings: a chemical element and There is no connection between these words, and even the lexical units themselves came to the Russian language in different ways. The first is Persian, and the second is Slavic.

Some linguists, however, see it differently. In accordance with this, polysimy is if two words have a common semantic connotation and lexical meaning. Homonyms have no such meaning. It does not matter the historical origin of the word. For example, the word "braid". The connecting element is that the two lexical items describe something long and thin.

Classification

Taking into account vocabulary, morphology and phonetics, homonymy can be as follows:

• Lexical homonyms. Examples of words: key (as a spring and as a tool for opening doors), peace (no war and the whole planet), etc.
• Homonyms of morphological or grammatical type, which are also known as homoforms.
• Phonetic or homophones.
• Graphic, or homographs.

There are also full and incomplete homonyms. In the first case, the words coincide in all their forms, and in the second - only in some.

Differences between lexical homonyms and other types

Lexical homonyms are often confused with other types of this category, however, they have distinctive characteristics and their own specifics:

• As for homoforms, they have the same spelling or sound only in a few specific forms. For example, the word “dear”, which denotes a masculine and feminine adjective: “expensive textbook” and “give flowers to a dear woman”.
• Homophones are distinguished by identical pronunciation, but different spelling of lexical units, which lexical homonyms do not have. Examples: eye - voice, wet - could, etc.
• Differences are also characteristic of homographs. This refers to words that have the same spelling but different pronunciation. This is not the case for lexical homonyms. Example sentences with the word “lock”: 1. She opens the door lock. 2. The king and queen went to their castle.

These phenomena in the language are used for a variety of lexical purposes, from the expressiveness and richness of artistic speech to puns.

Features of lexical homonyms

This type of homonymy is characterized by coincidence in all their forms. In addition, belonging to one part of speech is a mandatory attribute that lexical homonyms have. Examples: graphic - as a plan and as an artist.

There are two types of such lexical homonyms:

• Complete or absolute. They are characterized by the coincidence of all morphological and grammatical forms. For example, a cage (bird and nervous), a shop (trading and a bench), etc.
• Partial or incomplete lexical homonyms. Examples: measure (as a sense of proportion and as a musical unit).

Regardless of the type, this phenomenon appears due to certain reasons.

Appearance methods

Lexical homonyms appear in the language for various reasons:

• The discrepancy between the meanings of one lexical unit is so far that it is no longer perceived as one word. For example, a month (part of the year and a celestial body).
• Coincidence of national vocabulary and borrowings. For example, a club (in Russian - a mass of dust or smoke; in English - a public organization or a meeting of people).
• The coincidence of words that have been borrowed from different languages. For example, a tap (from the Dutch language - a tube that allows you to pour liquid; from German - a special mechanism for lifting loads).

Homonyms in the language do not appear immediately. Most often, this requires a lot of time, as well as certain historical conditions. At the initial stage, words may be slightly similar in sound or spelling, however, due to changes in the structure of the language, in particular its morphology and phonetics, lexical units may become homonyms. The same applies to the splitting of the meanings of one word. In the process of historical development, the connecting semantic element between interpretations of the word disappears. Because of this, homonyms are formed from polysemantic lexical units.

Homonymy is an active phenomenon in almost any language in the world. It is characterized by the presence of words with the same spelling or sound, but with different meanings. Homonyms, in particular their lexical types, change the language, making it more figurative and artistic. This phenomenon arises for various reasons, most often historical or structural, and has its own characteristics and characteristics in each particular language.

Words that are the same in sound and spelling but different in meaning are called homonyms.

Examples:

wrench (wrench, crane);

onion (vegetable, tool);

Wednesday (environment, day of the week).

Types of homonyms

Homonyms are lexical and morphological.

Lexical homonyms are complete and incomplete, full homonyms coincide in pronunciation and writing in all grammatical forms. Incomplete homonyms coincide with each other only in a number of grammatical forms. Morphological homonyms, as a rule, belong to different parts of speech and coincide in sound in one form.

Example: goal (noun), goal (short adjective).

Words that are identically transmitted in writing, having different meanings, but not the same in pronunciation, are called homographs. Example: castle (stress on the second syllable) - castle (stress on the first syllable).

Lexical homonyms have two sources of origin.

Arise as a result of the penetration of foreign words. Focus is a term for optics, from Latin and focus is a trick from German.

Another source is connected with word-formation processes. On the basis of the Turkic word "pipe", the word cradle appeared, a homonym for the original Russian word cradle - a baby's cradle.