Polysemy in language and thought

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Siergiej Grinev-Griniewicz
University of Białystok

Polysemy in language
and thought

Abstract. This paper focuses on the present state of investigation into polysemy, taking into account drawbacks of
the existing definitions of this phenomenon. It was found that in Polish and Russian linguistic manuals and encyclo-
paedias, polysemy as a phenomenon is equalled with a quality for which a new term – polysemantism may be sug-
gested. A brief survey of some of the existing directions in the research of this phenomenon from the point of view
of terminology science, translation, terminography and cognition makes it possible to identify some new types of
polysemy. A peculiar character of relations between polysemy and homonymy is shown, three sources of polysemy
are indicated and such varieties of polysemy as regular polysemy, hyponymic polysemy and consubstantivety are
revealed. In translation we come across interlingual hidden polysemy. The development of terminography leads to
discovering artificial polysemy and misleading polysemy which are causes of spoiling quality of both dictionaries
and translation. In cognition evolution research anthropolinguistic studies made it possible to discover diachronic
hidden polysemy of the early words. There are reasons to believe that the development of cognition is based on and
results in eliminating this type of hidden polysemy. The resulting tentative classification of types of polysemy reflects
progress in investigating this phenomenon and may be used in further research.

Keywords: types of polysemy, terminology, translation, translating dictionaries, evolution of cognition.

Introduction
Though polysemy has been known for more than 25 centuries, and used as an argument against
the theory of words formed by the nature of objects, there are still some unclear points about this
phenomenon. In the chapter “Polysemy” in the modern English manual on lexicology we read
that “…Despite the apparent simplicity, the concept of polysemy is complex and involves a cer-
tain number of problems” (Jackson, Amvela 2007: 69). The authors mention the problems of the
difficulty in recognizing polysemy (as opposed to homonymy), transference of meanings and the
problem of the number of meanings isolated by different specialists, but there are other problems
too. In this paper some of these problems, namely terminological problems of naming and defin-
ing polysemy, as well as advances in investigating polysemy in a number of directions, such as
terminology science, translation, terminography and cognition are going to be discussed.

10.15290/cr.2016.12.1.02

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Terminological problems of naming polysemy
It is well known in terminology science that the state of terminology may influence the rate of
growth of knowledge. For example, the term “chemical analysis” introduced by R. Boyle played
an important role in the understanding of manipulations with substances as purposeful activi-
ties and contributed to establishing chemistry as a science. Even more influence on development
of science came with an introduction of a system of terms (which usually presupposes systema-
tising respective concepts). Thus, the introduction of biological nomenclature in the 18th century
led to the extraordinary flourishing of biological sciences and stimulated the analogous activities
in chemistry. On the other hand, there are many instances of stagnation or complete absence of
progress in sciences due to inadequate terminology or absence of the necessary terminology. Such
was the case with polysemy – this phenomenon received its name (introduced by M. Breal) only at
the end of the 19th century. Since the absence of a name makes analysis of the corresponding con-
cept very difficult this means that for a very long period polysemy was not properly investigated.
With introducing the term there appeared possibilities of more detailed research of this phenom-
enon in the 20th century.

Nowadays there are certain difficulties with defining polysemy in some languages, especially
Slavonic, though the notion of polysemy seems to be well-known even outside linguistics. In Pol-
ish and Russian linguistic manuals and encyclopedias polysemy is equated with a quality of hav-
ing several meanings (polysemantism).

In Encyklopedia Języka Polskiego [Encyclopedia of the Polish Language] (1994) we read: “poli-
semia (wieloznaczność) polega na tym, iż jakiś element językowy posiada dwa lub kilka różnych
znaczeń” [polysemy (polysemantism) is based on the fact that a certain language element has two
or several different meanings; transl. author: S.G.-G.].

According to Encyklopedia Językoznawstwa Ogólnego [Encyclopedia of General Linguistics] (1999)
“polisemia or wieloznaczność – posiadanie przez wyrażenie językowe kilku znaczeń [polysemy or pol-
ysemantism – the possession by a linguistic expression of several meanings; transl. author: S.G.-G.]”.

Czesław Lachur states that “Wieloznaczność (polisemia) polega na tym, że dany leksem ma
kilka (co najmniej dwa – wtedy mówi się o “dwuznaczności” jako przypadku polisemii) dających
się wyodrębnić znaczeń (zakresów znaczeniowych), które łącznie dają się podporządkować
określonemu pojęciu nadrzędnemu [Polysemantism (polysemy) is based on the fact that a given
lexeme has several (at least two – then it is called “ambiguity”, a type of polysemy) possible to dis-
criminate between meanings (semantic domains) which collectively might be subordinated to a
definite subordinate concept; transl. author: S.G.-G.]” (Lachur 2004: 175).

In Russian manuals and encyclopedias we find the same approach:

“Polysemy – polysemantism of a word, one word having several lexical meanings” (Кондаков 1976; transl.

author);

“Polysemy, i.e. ‘polysemantism’ is a feature of majority of everyday words” (Реформатский 1996: 81; transl.

author: S.G.-G.);

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“Polysemy – the presence in one and the same word of several lexical meanings; polysemantism” (Ефремова

2000; transl. author: S.G.-G.);

“Polysemy – polysemantism of a word” (Ганеев 2001: 64; transl. author: S.G.-G.)

“Polysemy ling. polysemantism of a word, the presence of several meanings” (Крысин 2008; transl. author:

S.G.-G.);

“Polysemy. In linguistics: the presence of more than one meaning in a word, polysemantism” (Ожегов

2008-2009; transl. author: S.G.-G.)

“Polysemy – polysemantism, multi-variance, that is the presence in a word (language unit, term) of two or

more meanings, historically conditioned or inter-related in meaning and origin” (ru.wikipedia.org; transl.

author: S.G.-G.).

Equating polysemy with polysemanticism may take the form of simply presenting the two terms
as synonyms:

“…relation “one more than to one”, one phonetic word in relation to many objects and meanings, i.e.

polysemantism of a word. Sometimes the same phenomenon is called by the term polysemy” (Степанов

1975: 20; transl. author: S.G.-G.);

“…the ability of words to have several meanings is called polysemantism, or polysemy” (Фомина 1978: 37;

transl. author: S.G.-G.);

“…for the vast majority of words of language polysemantism or polysemy is typical” (Маслов 1987: 102;

transl. author: S.G.-G.);

“Polysemy (polysemantism) – the presence in a language unit of more than one – two or more – meanings”

(Лингвистический… 1990; transl. author: S.G.-G.).

“Polysemy, polysemantism – the presence of more than one meaning in a word” (Энциклопедия “Русский

Язык” 1997; transl. author: S.G.-G.);

“polysemantism of a word, or polysemy – is a presence in one and the same word of several interconnected

meanings” (Вендина 2002: 136; transl. author: S.G.-G.);

“polysemantism or polysemy of a word (from Latin poly – «many»+ sema – «sign») – is a presence in a

language unit of more than one meaning on condition of semantic relation between them or of transfer

of the common or adjacent features of functions from one denotate to another” (Елисеева 2003: 17; transl.

author: S.G.-G.);

“…one of the results of development of lexical meaning is polysemantism of a word (polysemy)” (Головин

2005: 62; transl. author: S.G.-G.).

Equating the two terms may also be noticed in descriptions of the phenomenon in question in
which these terms are used as synonyms:

“Polysemy – the ability of a word to have more than one meaning. … Polysemantism – is a universal language

phenomenon, existing in a vast majority of words of any “living” (modern) language” (Алефиренко 2007:

207, 209; transl. author: S.G.-G.).

Jan Malczewski who defines polysemy as a phenomenon – “Zjawisko polegające na tym, że
jeden element językowy ... posiada więcej niż jedno znaczenie” [A phenomenon which is based on
the fact that one language element …has more than one meaning; transl. author: S.G.-G.], presents
“wieloznaczność (polysemantism)” as another name for this phenomenon (Malczewski 1993).

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Thus both in Polish and in Russian, polysemy, which is a phenomenon, is equated with “poly-
semantism” – a quality of having several meanings. It is clearly seen in the form of the two terms
– “polisemia (polysemy)” and “wieloznaczność (polysemantism)” that only the first one is formally
suitable to name a phenomenon, while the second is proper to name a quality. Confusing phenomena
and properties which are different ontological and epistemological categories constitutes an episte-
mological outrage which unfortunately may be noticed in many basic manuals and encyclopaedias.

In some publications the term “wieloznaczność (polysemantism)” is used to name the phenom-
enon, i.e. Danuta Butler views “wieloznaczność wyrazów (polysemantism of words)” as a phenom-
enon (Butler 1987: 132). What is quite surprising is the absence of information on polysemy in
some linguistic publications. Thus Władysław Miodunka in a manual of lexicology and lexicogra-
phy (where polysemy should be given special attention) completely ignores polysemy (Miodunka
1989). The only Polish author who notices the danger of confusing two different concepts is Adam
Weinsberg, who differentiates between “polisemia (polysemy)” and “polisemiczność (polyseman-
tism)”, suggesting a new appropriate term for the quality (Weinsberg 1983: 42, 45).

Another approach towards this problem (in conformity with the well-known tendency for di-
vergence of meanings of synonyms) might be using the term polisemia (polysemy) for the phe-
nomenon and wieloznaczność (polysemantism) for the quality. This approach is used by A. Ja.
Szajkiewicz – “If between several similarly expressed meanings may be established a semantic re-
lation, they are regarded as different meanings of one and the same word. Such a word is called
mnogoznaczny (polysemantic), and the phenomenon itself is called polysemy (Шайкевич 2005:
141; transl. author: S.G.-G.). In both cases the authors evade confusing phenomenon and property.

In English publications this problem does not exist, since there is only one term used; the au-
thors of linguistic publications understand polysemy only as a phenomenon (Lyons 1976: 447;
McArthur 1992, Koskela and Murphy 2006: 742; Jackson and Amvela 2007). In this case the re-
spective quality is ignored and lacks a name, which may hinder research in this direction. We may
suggest a respective name – “polysemanticity” or “polysemantism” (which both exist in English as
shown in the Oxford English dictionary).

Quite a separate position is taken by Pius ten Hacken from the Swansea University who firmly
rejects the possibility of applying a quantitative approach in exploring polysemy, stating: “I see the
entire enterprise of counting the number of senses for a particular word as rather dubious”. He is
critical of the existing practice of presenting polysemic words in dictionaries by enumerating their
meanings. Nevertheless, though sometimes it is quite difficult to separate between close meanings
lexicologists and lexicographers still present numerous examples of polysemy, while in the major-
ity of modern defining, translating, educational dictionaries, and dictionaries of synonymy most
entries contain several definitions, translations or groups of synonyms. Unfortunately, a hesitant
attitude towards the phenomenon of polysemy does not seem to solve this problem.

We may also observe the insufficient state of exploration of polysemy as reflected in failing to
perceive varieties of this phenomenon in the manuals, dictionaries and encyclopedias. The few ex-
ceptions are manuals of Czesław Lachur and A.Ja. Szajkiewicz and works of Ju. D. Apresjan.

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Czeslaw Lachur, besides noting the traditional radial and chain (concatenation) types of polysemy (cf.

Apresjan 1971: 2; 1995: 178; Griniewicz and Dubieniec 2004: 65) introduces two new types – polysemy with

a broadening of secondary meanings: family – 1) parents and children; 2) all relations; 3) all people living

together in the same house, that is the household; 4) a large class of objects, esp. in biology; and polysemy

with narrowing meanings: number – 1) a place in order; 2) size (of boots, etc.); 3) next copy (of newspaper);

4) next performance in a concert; 5) a hotel room (Lachur 2004: 175-176).

A.Ja. Szajkiewicz in a separate chapter devoted to polysemy introduces monocentric polysemy
(with one original meaning) and polycentric polysemy, presupposing two or more semantic cen-
tres (Шайкевич 2005: 144).

In his works Ju.D. Apresjan conducts a profound analysis of polysemy and introduces a number of new types

of this phenomenon. Firstly, on the basis of the way of meaning transfer he discerns between metonymic

and metaphorical motivated polysemantism. It should be mentioned that those ways of semantic change

in connection with polysemy are discussed in many publications, but without proposing any respective

types of polysemy. Moreover, from the point of view of regularity in forming derivative meanings of a

certain type he suggests establishing regular (in which the relation between the senses is predictable in

that any word of a particular semantic class potentially has the same variety of meanings) and non-regular

polysemy or polysemantism (Апресян 1971: 2, 7; 1995: 178, 189-190; Apresjan 1995: 174, 181-204).

Fourthly, in the last 50 years some new aspects of investigating polysemy from the point of view of

terminology science, translation theory, terminography, evolution of cognition and human mentality

have appeared. As the result of that, new types of polysemy have been discovered.

Polysemy from the point of view
of terminology science
In terminology science the problem of polysemy took a controversial character. In the 1960-70s
many terminologists disputed the existence of such phenomena as polysemy in terminology, be-
cause, due to strict definiteness of scientific and technical concepts the respective terminological
meanings must be also strictly defined and separated. Therefore, in reality we are dealing not
with meanings of one and the same term, but with homonymous terms (i.e. terminological form
morphology is used in quite different meanings in linguistics, biology and geology). Even in the
process of metaphorical formation of a new term, semantic analogy or common characteristics
are realised only immediately at the moment of formation of a new term and soon after that
are consciously ignored. Usually new terms belong to different terminologies and this promotes
alienation of kindred meanings and gaining by respective terms the status of homonyms, i.e.
terms glyba in construction (cob, angular stone more than 200 mm in size) and in pedology (clod
10-200 mm in size), rehabilitation in medicine and law (Grinev 1993: 7; 1994: 52; ��и�ев-��и�е-��и�ев-��и�е--��и�е-��и�е-
вич 2008: 96-97).

Then it was noticed that in some cases of metaphorical formation of a new term, both terms
often stay in the same terminology and their kinship is quite visible. For example, assimilation in
linguistics has 2 meanings:

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• Assimilation /1/ – a process of adjusting the articulation of the adjacent sounds that happens
between the same types (usually consonants) of sounds.

• Assimilation /2/ – a process of bringing a borrowed word into correspondence with the
graphic, phonetic, grammatical and lexical norms of the accepting language.

There are three such cases. Firstly, in creating new terms with the help of metonymic transfer
there is a tendency to use names of processes also for the results of these processes e.g. roofing,
flooring, carpeting, classification, definition, borrowing, assimilation, isolation, cladding. This phe-
nomenon has a regular character and according to the results of our research in Russian, it hap-
pens in 65% cases (��и�ев-��и�евич 2008: 133). In such cases, the old and the new terms exist
side-by-side, which is inconvenient.

Secondly, there are cases when the same form is used simultaneously in the broader and the
narrower meanings. For example, the term walls in its broader meaning includes partitions, but in
a narrow meaning it is opposed to partitions because inner walls carry loads, while partitions do
not. In the same way water treatment is divided into mineral water treatment and water treatment
proper. Balneology in a broader meaning includes fangotherapy (mud treatment) while in the nar-
row meaning is opposed to it. In these cases the same form functions as hypernym and hyponym,
and situation of hyponymic relation between meanings constitutes hyponymic polysemy.

Thirdly, in a number of cases in the same discipline independently appear terms with the same
form and similar meanings: in linguistics we have idiom/1/ (language or dialect) and idiom/2/
(phraseological unit functioning only in a given language) (McArthur 1992), also assimilation/1/
and assimilation/2/. In lexicology we have doublets/1/ (two or more words originating from one
source) and doublets/2/ (absolute synonyms).

This leads to hesitations in viewing such cases as homonymy or polysemy and though the for-
mer seems to be preferable from the point of view of logic, now in terminological practice, as well
as in theory, the second case of using of one and the same lexeme to denote two related concepts
within the boundaries of a subject field is considered polysemy.

Thus in terminology, we may find both homonymy and polysemy where in both cases one lexi-
cal form is used for naming different concepts. The criterion for discriminating between them in
terminology was proposed by V.M. Leichik. If in the process of splitting of the meaning or transfer
of the name in the semantic structure of the resulting terms the main seme remains common and
the secondary semes differentiate then we have polysemy; if the main seme is different then we have
homonymy (Лейчик 1991: 119). This is true for the third case when it is clearly seen that the same
form is used to denote similar but different concepts. Additionally at the annual international termi-
nological conference organized in 2011 by the Russian Technical Committee 55 “Terminology” an
agreement was reached to regard the transfer of names of processes on the results of these processes
as homonymy, since processes and their results belong to different ontological and logical categories.

Thus we may consider the existence in terminology of both homonymy and polysemy as es-
tablished. The difference between them lies in the fact that in polysemy in the meaning of both
terms the common seme is principal, while in homonymy the common seme is secondary. At

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the same time there are types of polysemy which are generally unknown and not yet sufficiently
investigated, especially various types of hidden polysemy. Generally speaking we may divide poly-
semy types into overt (open, explicit) and covert (hidden, implicit) types. The latter may be said
to include consubstantibility – the use of the same form in different functional types of lexemes –
words, terms and proto-terms.

Polysemy in professional translating
Since the end of the 20th century in translating special vocabulary, numerous cases of the so-
called hidden polysemy have been identified, when a term in one language corresponds to two
or more terms in another language due to the disparity of national terminologies. Disparity and
peculiarities of national terminologies in many cases result from their unrelated autonomous de-
velopments. For example, the most popular translation of the Polish term budownictwo is build-
ing, which is not always correct because the English term has a much narrower meaning and refers
only to building dwellings. It is supplemented by the term civil engineering, which should be used
in a number of cases. Historically, the term building was used only with reference to living houses.
Everything else built (such as roads, bridges and tunnels, waterworks, etc.) was regarded as engi-
neering. Roads and accompanying artificial structures (such as bridges, tunnels, retaining walls,
etc) initially were built for military purposes and, together with defence structures were referred
to as military engineering. Some communal buildings and structures as, for example, water supply,
sewage system, and waterside structures were the domain of civil engineering. Therefore the Polish
term corresponded to two English terms. Finally lately there came into usage industrial structures,
large agricultural buildings and irrigation structures, communication structures, main pipelines
– that were out of this scheme. Therefore, the term construction appeared, that unites nowadays all
kinds of building activities. Thus, in translating we have to pay attention to the proper use of vari-
ous equivalents (Griniewicz 2010: 80).

Problems of treating polysemy in terminography
Terminography, which is the theory and practice of compiling terminological dictionaries, is
closely connected with translation. We should bear in mind that the dictionary is a main tool of
the translator and influences both the quality of translation and the time needed to find the nec-
essary term or to choose between the proposed variants of translating a term. Unfortunately the
majority of the present dictionaries have faults and perhaps the most grave is the excess of the
variants of translation making the choice of the right equivalent a painstaking job.

For example, in the most popular English-Russian building dictionary (Амбу�ге� 1961) the
term aeration is translated as aeracija (the right translation), prowetriwanije (airing, slightly differ-
ent, narrower term), and ventilacija (ventilation, quite a different term, wrong translation). To the
right translation ballast of the term ballast (in railroads) two unnecessary and somewhat wrong
translations are added – shcheben’ (crushed stone) and gravij (gravel). The term boulder is also
translated as bulyzhnik (for which we have the exact equivalent – cobble), gal’ ka (for which we have

CROSSROADS. A Journal of English Studies

the exact equivalent – pebble), and гравий (for which we have an exact equivalent – gravel). In the
internet the present situation looks even worse. On the site translate.yandex.ru we find the follow-
ing variants of translating boulder – valun (the exact equivalent), kamen’ (stone – a much broader
general concept), glyba (angular stone of the same size, a different concept), bulyzhnik (cobble –
smaller stones), skala (rock – quite a different concept). The last four variants are erroneous and
lead to fallacious translations.

Numerous similar examples of superfluous and erroneous equivalents in English-German –
German-English special dictionaries were presented in Grinev (1999). I think we may call such
practice of supplying unnecessary equivalents creating an artificial polysemy and misleading pol-
ysemy in the case of providing erroneous equivalents.

In the domain of professional medicine we also come across artificial polysemy in translating
dictionaries. In the Occupational Safety and Health Glossary we find: bezpeczenstwo pracy – oc-
cupational safety, industrial safety (the second term is narrower and not an exact equivalent, it
is redundant); candidiasis – kandidoz, kandidamikoz; moniliaz; drozhzhevoj mikoz; oidiomikoz;
poverhnostnyj blastomikoz (the last 5 terms are exact equivalents, but in the presence of the first,
preferable term they are unnecessary and misleading), danger symbol, hazard symbol – predupre-
zhdajushchij (predosteregajushchij) simvol; znak bezopasnosti; simvol opasnosti – the right Russian
term is preduprezhdajushchij znak, while the second variant of translation is a disorienting ant-
onym; inspector truda – labour inspector, factory inspector (the second term is narrower, not an
exact equivalent, and therefore redundant); fabrichnaja inspekcija – labour inspectorate, factory in-
spectorate (here the first variant of translation is a broader term); loss of pigmentation (of the skin),
achromy, depigmentation, vitiligo – ischeznovenije pigmentaciji na kozhe – this variant of transla-
tion is not a term, while there are accepted terms, i.e. vitiligo; machine guard, guard – zashitnoje
ustrojstvo, predohranitelnoje ustrojstvo; ograzhdenije – the second variant is a term denoting quite
a different concept. According to our estimates, more than 90% of the existing translating diction-
aries contain excessive and often – misleading translations. Even when the additional translation
variants are correct, they induce hesitation; create an illusion of slight differences between the
offered equivalents and cause embarrassment of the translator. In our opinion such artificial poly-
semy is unnecessary and therefore harmful.

The role of polysemy in the evolution
of cognition
Diachronic investigation of terminologies has led to the discovery of one more type of hidden
polysemy – multitemporal (or diachronic) hidden polysemy, taking the form of semantic syncre-
tism. In a number of cases the original meaning was quite dissimilar from the modern one – the
analysis of the basic terms of emotion showed that in many cases the initial meaning was different.
In some cases it firstly named the cause of emotion: wonder – something causing surprise; fear –
danger, grief – something causing suffering; anger – something causing pain or irritation, distress
– stress, fun – practical joke.

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It was also found that in the history of human evolution there is hidden fused polysemy in the
semantic characteristics of the early word-stock. We can find rich evidence of loose bunches of
meanings in old languages or old stages of modern languages. One of the remarkable features of
Anglo-Saxon words is the diversity of meanings included in their semantic structure, e.g. beodan
– to bid, command, proclaim, offer, give; bliþ – joyful, merry, gentle, kind, sweet, calm; brucan
– to use, enjoy, eat, employ. In many cases the meaning of an Anglo-Saxon word encompasses
many present-day notions, e.g. aldor – life, age, parent; cynn – a sort, kind, race, family, nation;
cyst – choice, election, what is chosen, excellence, virtue, goodness; cræft – power, might, art, skill,
trade, knowledge, cunning, any kind of ship; feoh – cattle, money, value, fee, reward, property; rūn
– whisper, mystery, secret, letter; talu – tale, story, talk, account.

From the modern point of view, the next remarkable feature of initial polysemy is combining
hardly compatible meanings, e.g. feolah – to cleave, stick, adhere, to reach, come, pass; dreorig –
bloody, sorry, sorrowful, cruel, wounded; duguð – manhood, multitude, glory, power, advantage,
prosperity. Sometimes it even takes the form of enantiosemy: dreogan – to do, to work, to perform,
to endure, to suffer; to enjoy; gretan – to welcome, to bid farewell.

There are reasons to believe that what we now describe as polysemy in old languages took the
shape of vagueness of meaning based on the absence of differentiation between notions which are
quite different from the present-day, but which are somewhat similar or may have something in
common. In many cases we may observe the absence of stable borders of meanings of an old word
such as in the following OE words: dōm – judgement, decree, law, command, power, dignity, free
will, choice; lāþ – something hateful, something harmful, something evil, injury, grief, pain, en-
mity; searo – device, design, craft, artifice, arms, equipment.

In some cases the meaning of an Old English word points to a certain general idea underlying
particular meanings: ansyn – face, countenance; sight, form, figure; beah – ring, bracelet, collar;
flota – ship, fleet, sailor; facen – deceit, evil, crime; greot – sand, dust, grit (Griniewicz 2007: 39-41).
Commenting on polysemy of Old English words one of the investigators concludes that it is practi-
cally impossible to differentiate between the meanings even with the help of the context, because
we are dealing here rather with a broad meaning combining into dissoluble whole notions which
are quite diverse for the present-day reader (Доб�у�ова 1980: 9). We may suspect that what we
now apprehend as polysemy of the majority of words was not viewed as such by the contemporary
speakers. Perhaps they did not see the need to differentiate between the kinds of a notion they had
not yet fully investigated.

Conclusions
As a result of recent advancement in a number of directions of linguistics the number of the known
types of polysemy has grown and may be organised into the following tentative classification: we
start with dividing polysemy into overt (explicit, open) and covert (implicit, hidden) polysemy.

The first may be further subdivided (on the basis of ways of formation) into metaphoric and
metonymic subtypes, and also (on basis of the character of development) into radial polysemy

CROSSROADS. A Journal of English Studies

(when the primary meaning stands in the centre and the secondary meanings proceed out of it
like rays) and concatenation or chain polysemy (when secondary meanings of a word develop in
succession like a chain). The same category comprises systematic (or regular) polysemy, in which
the relation between the senses is predictable in that any word of a particular semantic class po-
tentially has the same variety of meanings. In terminology we find polysemy with hyponymic
relation between meanings of a term that may be called hyponymic. To these varieties of polysemy
we should add the well-known in linguistics enantiosemy – combining the opposite meanings in
one word, “‘…enantiosemy,’ the presence of polysemies in which one sense is in some respect the
opposite of the other” (Traugott 2006: 129). Examples are: scan – 1) careful observation from point
to point; 2) cursory glancing from point to point; eye – 1) to look at sth (ice-cream) with desire; 2)
to look coolly. Traditionally it is viewed as antonymy (cf. Новиков 1990: 36).

To the covert polysemy belong interlingual polysemy (monosemic word having several mean-
ings in a different language) and diachronic polysemy (almost every old word used to have several
meanings).

Strictly speaking, since man began to form ideas about the surrounding world and to find
words to name those ideas, eliminating hidden polysemy of initial words has been the most effec-
tive means in forging a better understanding of the world we live in, as well as ourselves. Remov-
ing such hidden diachronic polysemy contributes to enhancing our cognition, to the development
of science and to the evolution of the human mind. However accurate and precise we may view
meanings of words (even terms) belonging to the present-day vocabulary, there is no guarantee
that in the next century they (or at least some of them) will not be perceived as inexact and am-
biguous. Perhaps one of the essential characteristics of human knowledge growth and anthropo-
genesis in general is an eternal quest for the elimination of polysemy.

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