Homonymy: Arabic Language and Words
1
Babylon University
Homonymy in English and Arabic: A
Contrastive Study
By:
Lecturer Ahmed Mohammed Ali Abdul Ameer (ME in Methods of Teaching English as a Foreign Language)
Department of English
College of Education (Safi yil Deen Al-Hilli)
University of Babylon
Asst. Lecturer Areej As’ad Ja’far Altaie (MA in English
Language and Linguistics)
Department of English
College of Education (Safi yil Deen Al-Hilli)
University of Babylon
2010
2
Introduction
In fact, although homonymy is defined differently in English, yet in general, a word is similar in form with another word either in pronunciation (i.e. homophone) or in spelling (homograph), or both, but differs from it in meaning.
On the other hand, in Arabic, there is a general agreement that the homonym is an expression with one enunciation (or form) and more than one meaning.
Actually, this phenomenon creates lexical and syntactic ambiguity in both languages. Thus, it should be studied and examined. In addition, homonymy has its own features, specifications and forms in each language. Hence, this research aims at:
1- investigating homonymy in English and Arabic.
2- making a comparison between the two languages to show the similarities and differences between them.
Homonymy in English
Definitions of Homonymy
Originally, the word "homonym" comes from the conjunction of the Greek prefix homo-, meaning "same", and suffix -ṓnymos, meaning "name". Thus, it refers to two or more distinct concepts sharing the "same name" or signifier (Wikipedia
2010: 1).
Lyons (1982: 72; Oxford Wordpower 2000:366; Richards and Schmidt
2002:241; and for lexical items that are identical in spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings. Examples of homonyms are lie as in you have to lie down and lie in
Don’t lie, tell the truth. The above definition does not involve anything about homophones and homographs; in addition, it creates a problem with polysemy.
Hartmann and Stork
Babylon University
Homonymy in English and Arabic: A
Contrastive Study
By:
Lecturer Ahmed Mohammed Ali Abdul Ameer (ME in Methods of Teaching English as a Foreign Language)
Department of English
College of Education (Safi yil Deen Al-Hilli)
University of Babylon
Asst. Lecturer Areej As’ad Ja’far Altaie (MA in English
Language and Linguistics)
Department of English
College of Education (Safi yil Deen Al-Hilli)
University of Babylon
2010
2
Introduction
In fact, although homonymy is defined differently in English, yet in general, a word is similar in form with another word either in pronunciation (i.e. homophone) or in spelling (homograph), or both, but differs from it in meaning.
On the other hand, in Arabic, there is a general agreement that the homonym is an expression with one enunciation (or form) and more than one meaning.
Actually, this phenomenon creates lexical and syntactic ambiguity in both languages. Thus, it should be studied and examined. In addition, homonymy has its own features, specifications and forms in each language. Hence, this research aims at:
1- investigating homonymy in English and Arabic.
2- making a comparison between the two languages to show the similarities and differences between them.
Homonymy in English
Definitions of Homonymy
Originally, the word "homonym" comes from the conjunction of the Greek prefix homo-, meaning "same", and suffix -ṓnymos, meaning "name". Thus, it refers to two or more distinct concepts sharing the "same name" or signifier (Wikipedia
2010: 1).
Lyons (1982: 72; Oxford Wordpower 2000:366; Richards and Schmidt
2002:241; and for lexical items that are identical in spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings. Examples of homonyms are lie as in you have to lie down and lie in
Don’t lie, tell the truth. The above definition does not involve anything about homophones and homographs; in addition, it creates a problem with polysemy.
Hartmann and Stork
Bibliography: Akmajian, A.; Demers, R. A.; Farmer, A. K.; and Harnish, R. M. (1997). Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication Allan, K. (1986). Linguistic Meaning. Vol.1. London: Routeledge and Kegan Paul. Atichison, J. (1993). Teach Yourself Linguistics. London: Hoddor and Stoughton. Attia, Mohammed A. 2006. An Ambiguity-Controlled Morphological Analyzer for Modern Standard Arabic Modelling Finite State Networks. Crystal, D. (2003). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. 5th ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Fasold, R. W. and Connor-Linton, J. (2006). An Introduction to Language and Linguistics Fromkin, V.; Rodman, R.; and Hyams, N. (2003). An Introduction to Language. 7th ed Gramley, S. and Pätzold, K. (1992). A Survey of Modern English. London: Routledge. Hartmann, R. and Stork, F. C. (1976). Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Ladefoged, P. (2006). A Course in Phonetics. USA: Thomson Wadsworth. Leech, G. N. (1976). Semantics. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books. Literary Dictionary. (2004). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chris Baldick. Lyons J. (1982). Language and Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Oxford Wordpower. (2000). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Palmer, F. R. (1984). Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pyles, Thomas. (1971). The Origin and Development of the English Language. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. Razzaq, F. A. and Helen Al-Hassan. (1981). College composition. Baghdad, Iraq: The Institute for the Development of English Language Teaching in Iraq. Richards, J.C. and Richard Schmidt. (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Riggs, F.W. 1999. Homonyms, Heteronyms and Allonyms: A Semantic/Onomantic Puzzle. Yule, G. (2006). The Study of Language. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University .Press اﻟﺨﻮﻟﻲ، ﻣﺣﻣد ﻋﻠﻲ. ١٠٠٢. ﻋﻠم اﻟدﻻﻟﺔ: ﻋﻠم اﻟﻣﻌﻧﻰ. ﻋﻣﺎن: دار اﻟﻔﻼح ﻟﻠﻧﺷر واﻟﺗوزﯾﻊ. داود، ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ اﻟﺪرﺳﻮﻧﻲ، ﺳﻠﯿﻤﺎن ﻧﺎﺻﺮ. ٠١٠٢. اﻻﺧﺘﻼف ﺣﻮل وﺟﻮد اﻟﺘﺮادف ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ. اﻟﺼﺎﻟﺢ، ﺻﺒﺤﻲ اﻟﻀﺎﻣﻦ، ﺣﺎﺗﻢ ﺻﺎﻟﺢ. ٠٩٩١ . ﻓﻘﻪ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ. ﺑﻐﺪاد. ﻣﻄﺒﻌﺔ ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ ﺑﻐﺪاد ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺘﻮاب، رﻣﻀﺎن ﻋﻤﺮ، اﺣﻤﺪ ﻣﺨﺘﺎر. ٢٨٩١. ﻋﻠﻢ اﻟﺪﻻﻟﺔ. ﻣﻜﺘﺒﺔ دار اﻟﻌﺮوﺑﺔ ﻟﻠﻨﺸﺮ واﻟﺘﻮزﯾﻊ. اﻟﻜﻮﯾﺖ: ﻣﻜﺘﺒﺔ دار اﻟﻌﺮوﺑﺔ ﻟﻠﻨﺸﺮ واﻟﺘﻮزﯾﻊ. ﻋﻮن، ﻧﺴﯿﻢ. ٥٠٠٢. اﻷﻟﺴﻨﯿﺔ: ﻣﺤﺎﺿﺮات ﻓﻲ ﻋﻠﻢ اﻟﺪﻻﻟﺔ. ﺑﯿﺮوت: دار اﻟﻔﺎراﺑﻲ. ﻣﺤﺠﻮب، ﺣﺴﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺣﺴﻦ.8002 .ﻣﺼﻄﻠﺢ اﻟﺜﻨﺎﺋﯿﺎت اﻟﺼﻐﺮى أم اﻟﺠﻨﺎس ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺎل ﺗﻌﻠﯿﻢ اﻷﺻﻮات ﻟﻐﯿﺮ ﻧﺎﺻﺮ اﻟﺪﯾﻦ، ﺳﻌﺪ. ٠١٠٢. اﻟﺠﻨﺎس. واﻓﻲ، ﻋﻠﻲ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ ﯾﻌﻘﻮب، إﻣﯿﻞ ﺑﺪﯾﻊ. ٩٩٩١. ﻓﻘﻪ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ وﺧﺼﺎﺋﺼﻬﺎ. اﻟﻄﺒﻌﺔ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﯿﺔ. اﻟﻤﻮﺻﻞ: دار اﻟﻜﺘﺐ ﻟﻠﻄﺒﺎﻋﺔ واﻟﻨﺸﺮ. ﯾﻮﺳﻒ، ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﻓﻬﻤﻲ. ٩٠٠٢. اﻟﺘﺮادف ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ. -