Diachronic and synchronic approaches to homonymy

1.

Diachronic and synchronic approaches to homonymy.
Criteria of differentiation between polysemy and
homonymy. Historical homonymy.
Frolova K. ZIN-41

2.

• The diachronic approach focuses on the historical
development and evolution of words and their meanings
over time. It examines how homonyms may have
originated from a common source and diverged in
meaning over the course of language change. For
example, the words "bank" (financial institution) and
"bank" (river edge) were originally the same word but
developed different meanings over time.

3.

• On the other hand, the synchronic approach looks at
homonyms from a contemporary perspective, focusing on their
current meanings and usage in a particular language at a
given point in time. It analyzes how homonyms coexist in a
language system and how they are distinguished in terms of
context and usage. For example, the words "bat" (animal) and
"bat" (sports equipment) are homonyms in English, but they
are differentiated by their context and usage.

4.

• Differentiating between polysemy and homonymy can be
based on several criteria:
• 1. Semantic Relatedness: Polysemy refers to the
phenomenon where a single word has multiple related
meanings that can be traced back to a common core
sense. Homonymy, on the other hand, involves unrelated
meanings for the same word.

5.

• 2. Etymology: If two or more meanings of a word can be
traced back to a common origin or historical connection, it
is more likely to be considered polysemy. If the meanings
have different origins or do not share a historical
connection, they are more likely to be considered
homonyms.

6.

• 3. Context and Usage: The context in which a word is
used and its specific usage can also help differentiate
between polysemy and homonymy. If different meanings
of a word are used in related contexts or share similar
patterns of usage, it suggests polysemy. If the meanings
are used in unrelated contexts or have distinct patterns of
usage, it suggests homonymy.

7.

• Historical homonymy refers to cases where homonyms
have a shared origin or were once the same word but
have diverged in meaning over time. This can happen due
to various factors such as language change, semantic
shifts, or borrowing from other languages. Historical
homonymy is often studied in the diachronic approach to
understand how words and meanings have evolved over
time.