Setting up hence significance a word possess is probably might step when you look at the lexical semantic lookup
The fresh new semantic recommendations that’s of item next-door neighbor when you look at the the new lexicon doesn’t, quite simply, have a specs regarding sex; neighbor is unclear (or standard, otherwise swinglifestyle unspecified) to what aspect out-of gender
Polysemy is the well-known label for the situation in which good lexical product enjoys several definition, including when late can indicate ‘adopting the typical, requested, otherwise consented time’ (I am late once again), ‘cutting-edge for the big date otherwise night’ (a belated dining), or ‘no more alive’ (my later aunt Polly). Terminologically talking, polysemy must be compared having homonymy and you will, furthermore, vagueness. Whenever two (or higher) words have the same contour, such as for example financial (‘slope, level when you look at the sea otherwise lake bed’) and bank (‘monetary institution’), he or she is homonyms; while polysemy means multiplicity off meaning contained in this one word, new multiplicity is distributed more than certain terms and conditions when it comes to homonymy. Therefore, to make a big change between polysemy and you will homonymy boils down to deciding whether our company is dealing with you to definitely additionally the same phrase otherwise which have two different ones. The fresh new distinction between vagueness and you may polysemy involves the matter-of whether or not a particular bit of semantic data is the main root semantic construction of the product or perhaps is the result of a good contextual (and hence pragmatic) requirements. Such as, next-door neighbor is not polysemous between your indication ‘male dweller 2nd door’ and you may ‘lady dweller next door,’ in the same way the utterance my neighbor is a good civil servant won’t be thought to be demanding disambiguation about manner in which the woman is wise you will (Do you really mean ‘bright’ or ‘stylish’?).
To decide anywhere between polysemy and you may vagueness, loads of examination are invoked. The 3 main of them are the after the. Earliest, out-of a facts-theoretic views, a good lexical items is actually polysemous in the event it can concurrently end up being demonstrably real and clearly not the case of the identical referent. Considering the readings ‘harbor’ and ‘fortified nice drink regarding Portugal’ regarding vent, the brand new polysemy of the goods is established of the sentences such as Sandeman was a port (within the a bottle), but not a slot (with boats). That it traditional generally captures an effective semantic instinct: are two interpretations away from confirmed term naturally good enough unlike therefore you could feel considered incorporate therefore the almost every other perhaps not?
Especially, he’s predicated on acceptability judgments on sentences that contain two related situations of your own items under consideration (one of and that matical relationships ranging from each other incidents means its semantic term, the brand new resulting phrase is generally an indicator into polysemy regarding the object
Second, linguistic evaluating involve syntactic in place of semantic intuitions. As an instance, the fresh new therefore-named name sample relates to ‘identity-of-feel anaphora.’ Hence, at midnight brand new watercraft enacted the fresh vent, and so did brand new bartender are shameful when your a couple lexical definitions from vent reaches share. Ignoring puns, it will just imply that brand new watercraft additionally the bartender exactly the same passed the newest harbor, otherwise conversely one each other went a certain kind of wine of you to definitely place to another. A mixed reading, in which the first occurrence away from port is the harbor plus the 2nd so you’re able to drink, is sometimes omitted. By contrast, the reality that brand new impression ‘classic sweet drink away from Portugal’ and you will ‘mixed sweet wines from Portugal’ would be combined when you look at the Antique Noval was a slot, and so is mixed Sandeman shows that port is obscure alternatively than just polysemous pertaining to the newest difference between mixed and you will antique wine.
3rd, the newest definitional standards determine you to a product or service has actually multiple lexical meaning if there’s zero minimally specific definition within the extension of your own product as a whole, and this doesn’t have so much more lexical significance than just discover maximally standard significance necessary to establish its expansion. Meanings of lexical facts is maximally general in the same way which they is safety once the high a subset of expansion out of something that one can. Therefore, independent significance to have ‘mixed nice fortified wine regarding Portugal’ and you can ‘antique nice strengthened drink off Portugal’ cannot qualify definitions of lexical significance, as they can become lead together with her under the meaning ‘nice fortified drink regarding A holiday in greece.’ Additionally, definitions will be minimally specific in the same manner which they is be adequate to distinguish the object off their nonsynonymous facts. A maximally standard meaning covering one another port ‘harbor’ and port ‘kind of wine’ in definition ‘issue, entity’ was omitted because it cannot just take new specificity out of port as the different from almost every other words.