POLYSEMY

·      DEFINITION

Polysemy (or polysemia) is an intimidating compound noun for a basic language feature. The name comes from Greek poly (many) and semy (to do meaning, as in semantic). Polysemy is also called radiation or multiplication. This happens when a lexeme acquires a wider range of meanings.

A polyseme is a word or phrase with different, but related senses. Since the test for polysemy is the vague concept of relatedness, judgments of polysemy can be difficult to make. Because applying pre-existing words to new situations is a natural process of language change, looking at words' etymology is helpful in determining polysemy but not the only solution; as words become lost in etymology, what once was a useful distinction of meaning may no longer be so. Some apparently unrelated words share a common historical origin, however, so etymology is not an infallible test for polysemy, and dictionary writers also often defer to speakers' intuitions to judge polysemy in cases where it contradicts etymology. English has many words which are polysemous.

Many meanings of a word polysemy it still has nothing to do with the original meaning, because the meaning is derived from the existing components in the original meaning. The meanings are not the original meaning of a word is not the lexical meaning because it refers not to the referent of the word.

As said earlier, these terms refer to "words" or other "items of language with two or more senses"; for example, "walk" as in "The child started to walk" and "They live at 500 High Walk". Such senses may be more or less distant from one another: walk, "action", walk, "street" are relatively close, but crane, "bird" and crane, "machine" are much further apart.

It is generally agreed that in each case only one word is being discussed, not two that happen to have the same form; to which the name homonym is given.

Senses of the same word are seldom ambiguous in context, but the less specific the context, the greater the possibility of ambiguity; for example, if someone who is looking at a picture says "What big cranes!", it may not be immediately clear to anyone who can not see the picture whether the comment refers to birds or machines.

In the case of this polysemy, usually the first meaning (which is listed in the dictionary) is the the real meaning, lexical meaning, meaning denotatifnya, or conceptual meaning. While others are meanings that are developed based on a component of the meaning of words or units owned by the speech. Therefore, the meanings of a word or utterance unit that polysemy is still related to each other.

Many meanings of a word polysemy it still has nothing to do with the original meaning, because the meaning is derived from the existing components in the original meaning. The meanings are not the original meaning of a word is not the lexical meaning because it refers not to the referent of the word.

Examples:

ü  The verb "to get" can mean "procure" (I'll get the drinks), "become" (she got scared), "have" (I've got three dollars), "understand" (I get it) etc.

ü  For example, paper comes from Greek papyrus. Originally it referred to writing material made from the papyrus reeds of the Nile, later to other writing materials, and now to things such as goverment documents, scientific, reports, family archives or newspaper.

ü  In Indonesian, the word ‘kepala’ has many different usages, such as:

-          The object at the top or front, for example: kepala tongkat (head stick) and kepala surat (letter head).

-          Leader or chairman, example: kepala kantor, kepala pasukan, and kepala daerah.

-          As a figure of speech or expression, eg kepala udang, kepala batu, kepala dua, and besar kepala.

·      THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN POLYSEMY AND HOMONYMS

According to Saeed (2000:64) similar to polysemy homonymy, polysemy but in the sense that there is a close relation between the shape and the same words.

Homonyms are usually presented as different entries, one below the other, while polysemy is presented in numbers, as a nuances in the meaning. 

The criteria is clear although not always respected. When there is uncertainty one of the best ways to differ is looking at the root of words. Homonyms almost always have different linguistic root, while polysemy develops through the interpretation of the same linguistic root. Still this is not absolute, as for example both fleet (naval vehicles) and fleet (swift) have the same root (fleotan = to float, to swim), but are obviouslly things different enough.

1.      Example: Word “have”

have kb. haves j. the haves and the have-nots si-kaya dan si-miskin. -kkt. (had) 1 mempunyai. 2 memiliki 3 memegang. 4 memperoleh. 5 mengizinkan. 6mengalami. 7 ada, punya. 8 merasa. 9 mendapat. 10 ingin.11 ber-. 12 memberi. 13 menyuruh. 14 menyimpan, memegang.

Polysemy is presented in numbers, as a nuances in the meaning.

Homonyms usually presented as different entries, one below the other.

2.      Example: Words “Anak” and “Rapat” (in Indonesian)

Dia adalah anak kandung saya (born of (in family))

Ratih adalah anak bahasa Inggris (The member of some group)

Kami anak Indonesia (The origins of someone)

Anak sungai itu mengaliri sawah-sawah masyarakat (the smallest part)

Polysemy develops through the interpretation of the same linguistic root: Anak (noun)

Jangan berdiri terlalu rapat. (close)

Rapat ini akan dimulai pada pukul 09.00. (meeting) 

Homonyms almost always have different linguistic root: rapat as a noun and also rapat as an adjective.