THE polysemy represents the multiplicity of meanings of a word. from the greek cops, means "many", while week it refers to "meaning".
Therefore, a polysemic term is one that can have different meanings according to the context. Despite this, they have the same etymology and are related in terms of idea.
examples of polysemy
Let's look at some examples where the same words are used in different contexts:
Example 1
- THE letter Chico Buarque's music is amazing.
- THE letter that student is intelligible
- my name starts with the letter D.
Therefore, we find that the word "letter" is a polysemic term, as it encompasses different meanings depending on its use.
So, in sentence 1, the word is used as "music, song". In 2 it means "calligraphy". Already in clause 3 indicates the "letter of the alphabet". Despite the many meanings, they all relate to the idea of writing.
Example 2
- THE mouth of the beer bottle has rust.
- Her João keeps sending her mouths to the neighbor of the 1st D.
- How about if you closed the mouth?
In clause 1, the mouth of the bottle is the opening of the container, while in clause 2, it has the sense of provocation. Only in clause 3 is reference made to the body part. All, however, are related to the function of the mouth: opening, speaking.
Example 3
- The beach looked like a anthill on Saturday.
- The patient complained to the doctor at the anthill in the hands.
- It was all chopped right after stepping on a anthill.
In clause 1, tingling has the meaning of crowd, in clause 2, it has the meaning of itch. And finally, in clause 3, the anthill refers to the ant den. All are related to the idea of a crowd, many ants passing by give the sensation of itching, for example.
Polysemy and Ambiguity
Ambiguity it is the variety of interpretation that a speech can contain.
Example: Nobody could approach the pig of uncle, so angry he was.
- This prayer can be understood with irony, in that it can be interpreted as an offense to the uncle. At the same time, the uncle may actually have a pig that is angry.
Polysemy and Homonymy
There are other terms that, despite their similarities in graphics and pronunciation, have different meanings. These are the perfect namesakes.
The difference between polysemic terms and homonyms is that their etymological origin, in addition to the idea they express, are different.
Examples:
- There was a huge line at the Bank because of the workers' pay day.
- Joan sat on the Bank from the square to finish reading his book.
- If you don't have money, I Bank our trip abroad.
In the example above, we can see that the term "bank" is homonymous. The same word means: financial institution (sentence 1); seat (prayer 2) and pay the expenses, pay (prayer 3).
Read too:
- Homonyms and Paronyms
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- Connotation and Denotation
- Exercises on denotation and connotation