Classification of Homonyms in English
Contents
Introduction
1. Determination of Homonymy
2. Classification of Homonyms
A. The standard way of classification (given by I.V. Arnold)
a) Homonyms proper
b) Homophones
c) Homographs
B. Classification given by A.I. Smirnitsky
a) Full homonyms
b) Partial homonyms
C. Other aspects of classification
3. Sources of Homonymy
4. Problems of Homonymy
a) Distinguishing homonymy from polysemy
b) Different meanings of the same homonym in terms of distribution
c) Difference between patterned and non-patterned homonymy
Conclusion
Literature
Introduction
Language processing considerations have often been used to explain aspects of language structure and evolution. According to Bates and MacWhinney, this view "is a kind of linguistic Darwinism, an argument that languages look the way they do for functional or adaptive reasons". However, as in adaptationist accounts of biological structures and evolution, this approach can lead to the creation of "just so" stories. In order to avoid these problems, case-by-case analyses must be replaced by statistical investigations of linguistic corpora. In addition, independent evidence for the relative "adaptiveness" of certain linguistic structures must be obtained. We will use this approach to study a linguistic phenomenon – homonymy. That seems to be maladaptive both intuitively and empirically and has been frequently subjected to informal adaptationist arguments. A statistical analysis of English homonyms then uncovered a reliable bias against the usage of homonyms from the same grammatical class. A subsequent experiment provided independent evidence that such homonyms are in fact more confusing than those from different grammatical classes. In a simple code each sign has only one meaning, and each meaning is associated with only one sign. This one-to-one relationship is not realized in natural languages. When several related meanings are associated with the same group of sounds within one part of
Introduction
1. Determination of Homonymy
2. Classification of Homonyms
A. The standard way of classification (given by I.V. Arnold)
a) Homonyms proper
b) Homophones
c) Homographs
B. Classification given by A.I. Smirnitsky
a) Full homonyms
b) Partial homonyms
C. Other aspects of classification
3. Sources of Homonymy
4. Problems of Homonymy
a) Distinguishing homonymy from polysemy
b) Different meanings of the same homonym in terms of distribution
c) Difference between patterned and non-patterned homonymy
Conclusion
Literature
Introduction
Language processing considerations have often been used to explain aspects of language structure and evolution. According to Bates and MacWhinney, this view "is a kind of linguistic Darwinism, an argument that languages look the way they do for functional or adaptive reasons". However, as in adaptationist accounts of biological structures and evolution, this approach can lead to the creation of "just so" stories. In order to avoid these problems, case-by-case analyses must be replaced by statistical investigations of linguistic corpora. In addition, independent evidence for the relative "adaptiveness" of certain linguistic structures must be obtained. We will use this approach to study a linguistic phenomenon – homonymy. That seems to be maladaptive both intuitively and empirically and has been frequently subjected to informal adaptationist arguments. A statistical analysis of English homonyms then uncovered a reliable bias against the usage of homonyms from the same grammatical class. A subsequent experiment provided independent evidence that such homonyms are in fact more confusing than those from different grammatical classes. In a simple code each sign has only one meaning, and each meaning is associated with only one sign. This one-to-one relationship is not realized in natural languages. When several related meanings are associated with the same group of sounds within one part of