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1、A Study of Polysemy in English Vocabulary Abstract: Polysemy is very common in English vocabulary. It is essential to analyze the structure, features and language context of polysemy for language learner. For the four different reasons：shift of application in different fields；mutual transformation b
2、etween common words and specialized words；ellipsis in language use and the reason explained in cognitive theory, polysemy comes into being. Keywords: English, Polysemy, causes, language context. 一、Causes of polysemy: Polysemy is the common feature in the whole natural language, especially in English
3、. With the development peoples needs of recognizing and explaining the world， the problem of shortage of already-existed words arises。Polysemy is come into being。 There are four different reasons：shift of application in different fields；mutual transformation between common words and specialized word
4、s；ellipsis in language use and the reason explained in cognitive theory. （一）shift of application in different fields This is the main cause of polysemy .Words have many meanings in different language context. Some are temporary, while some are permanent。Such as “mouth”， the original meaning is the m
5、outh of animal, Now it not only can refer to humans mouth but also can means the export of river and the entrance to the cave. （二）Mutual transformation between common words and Specialized words In some sense, this is one of the shifts of application. “Mouse” becomes the mouse locator in computer te
6、rminology while the original meaning is “a kind of animal”. Word meanings vary with social environment in different field. For mathematicians, operation means “calculation”, while it is naturally understood as “military action” for soldiers. （三）Ellipsis in language use The use of the word is limited
7、 by language context, so it is not random. That is to say, they are always used with collocation of certain words.In the process of the use of collocations ,their meanings are shifted in some ways, then the two words have the same meaning. Capital city, capital funds and capital letter. Because the
8、three phrases commonly appear and used frequently, the last word is omitted and its meaning shifted to capital (city, fund, and letter). （四）The reason explained in cognitive theory It is more acceptable to explain it in the usage of figurative languages (metaphor and metonymy) .It gives the addition
9、al meanings without losing the original meaning. Prototype theory was proposed by Eleanor Roach, an American psychologist in the middle of 1970s.This theory has great influence on the study of polysemy. In terms of polysemy, cognitive linguistics theory think that there are multiple meanings under e
10、ach key word. And these meanings are associated. 二、The classification of meaning in polysemy The meaning of English words have been formed in a historical changing process, which are composed of conceptual and associative meaning.To understand and grasp the meaning of polysemy， we must consider the
11、relationship between the senses of polysemy. There are mainly four types： （一）The original meaning and extended meaning The first meaning be found by Etymology research is the original meaning, the rest of them are extended meaning. The original meaning of some words may not have practical value. For
12、 example, the original meaning of candidate is the people who wear white clothes and the original meaning of pen is feather. They have left no track in todays meaning. （二）The ordinary meaning and special meaning The primitive meaning may be narrowed，broadened or completely altered in the process of
13、being use. The relationship between the original meaning and special meaning in polysemy suggest that it not only can present one collection of objection or action but also can express one or several objection or action of this kind. For example,“call me a bad doctor if you like. Call me what you li
14、ke, but dont call me at midnight for a headache that you have had for two weeks”.The first two meaning is “be known as”,And the meaning of the last one is “call up someone”.The former is the original meaning, while the latter is the special meaning. （三）The abstract meaning and detailed meaning The a
15、bstract meaning and detailed meaning are also the result of the change of word meaning. It is very common in word meaning of English. In general，the abstract nouns can refer to specific things. Such as grasp, which the detailed meaning is hold something tightly .later the abstract meaning of it was
16、connected with comprehend. （四）The literal meaning and figurative meaning The literal meaning and figurative meaning is another relationship in polysemy. “A mirror reflects light.” And “Their actions reflects their thoughts.”The first reflects means give back in literal meaning，and the second reflect
17、s means mirroredin figurative meaning. To know the classification of meaning in polysemy, we can avoid memorizing words mechanically so as to help us to master the English words and learn English efficiency. 三、Linguistic context （一）linguistic context The English word “context” is a polysemy in itsel
18、f. It has two meanings as follows: circumstance and the relationship between two sentences or paragraphs in the article .We usually use the second meaning of it. Thats exactly the linguistic context in a narrow meaning. In a broader sense, time places, scenes, even the whole cultural background. We
19、call them ex-tra-linguistic context or situational context. As mentioned both in Zhang Weiyou and Zhang Junpeis article. （二） The influence of broad context on words The word meaning is very much influenced by what circumstances we used a word. For example, “its a difficult operation”. How can we und
20、erstand the meaning of operation in different circumstances? It can all dependent on where we say it. When we say it in the hospital, it means surgery; when we say it in the factory, it means handle. It can all dependent on where we say it. Ambition has no derogatory sense in western country, but it
21、 is a derogatory word in Chinese meaning. While peasant has derogatory sense in American, it only means farmer in china. There are endless examples. （三）The influence of narrow context on words The excusive context also called language context. The language context is the situation in which the sourc
22、e test is produced, and the source texts are located. It can be further divided into lexicon-context and grammatical-context. The emergency of vocabulary in context is not arbitrary, but always in a certain structure, restricted by the grammatical structures and vocabulary structure.Grammatical-text
23、, namely the grammatical context of the vocabulary refers to the word framework of grammar.lexical-text is the vocabulary context of the vocabulary. And its the embodiment of grammatical structure.For example, we can say: have a dinner, have a rest, have a party, have a baby and so on. The word have
24、 has different meanings in different context. In the phrases get to do something and get someone to do something. The word get has different meanings because of the grammatical context. 四、The impacts of polysemy in English As a common phenomenon in English, polysemy has brought lots of impacts to th
25、e English learners. There is no doubt that they will meet a lot of problems caused by polysemy. No matter they are learning the English or communicating with those who speak English as their native language. They will make mistakes in English-Chinese translation. Especially for the new learners who
26、learn the translation. When they encounter a polysemous word, it is very easy for them to translate it literally without real understanding Context plays a crucial role for the elimination of polysemy ambiguities in the course of usage. learners should focus on cultivating the ability to understand
27、polysemy in English learning.In order to improve the efficiency of English teaching，and master polysemy in a simply way.To achieve good teaching effect, we should combine the new words and grammatical context in a way which is suitable for learners level. At the same time, we should pay attention to
28、 polysemy in the real meaning of life.English vocabulary system is a complex system of expression,and polysemy is particularly complicated.The founder of the English language school Firth once said: Each word when used in a new context is a new word. It is really complicated. It will have a huge boo
29、st for language teaching and language use if you master as well as understand its exact meaning in the article. 参考文献 1段满福,谈英语一词多义现象J.内蒙古大学学报,2004， （3）. 2林承璋，英语词汇学引论M.武汉大学出版社，2001. 3汪榕培，英语词汇学教程M.上海:上海教育出版社.1997.135. 4张韵裴，现代英语词汇学概论M.北京:北京师范大学出版社，1987. 5张维友，英语词汇学M. 北京：外语教育与研究出版社，1999. 课程论文评分标准 1. 立论正确，
30、结构清楚，格式规范，论述过程清晰，结论合理，语言通顺流畅，字数 达到 1500 英文单词以上，有自己的见解，可得 90-100 分； 2. 立论正确，结构清楚，格式规范，论述过程清晰，结论合理，语言通顺，虽有少量 错误但不影响意义表达，字数达到 1500 英文单词以上，可得 80-89 分； 3. 立论正确，结构清楚，格式规范，论述过程基本清楚，结论合理，语言较为通顺， 有少量错误但基本不影响意义表达，字数达到 1500 英文单词以上，可得 70-79 分； 4. 立论正确，结构基本清楚，格式基本规范，有一定论述过程，结论合理，语言基本 通顺，有较多错误但不影响整体意义表达，字数达到 1500
31、 英文单词以上，可得 60-69 分； 5. 立论基本正确，大体结构清楚，但内部结构较不清，格式基本规范，有一定论述过 程但逻辑不严密，结论基本合理，语言有较多错误但不影响整体意义表达，字数达到 1500 英文单词以上，可得 50-59 分； 6. 立论基本正确，大体结构与内部结构均不清，格式不够规范，有一定论述过程但逻 辑不严密，结论基本合理，语言有较多错误且影响整体意义表达，字数未达到 1500 英文单 词以上，可得 40-49 分； 7. 立论基本正确，大体结构与内部结构均不清，格式不够规范，有一定论述过程但逻 辑不严密，结论基本合理，语言错误多且严重影响意义表达，字数未达到 1500
32、英文单词以 上，可得 30-39 分； 8. 立论不正确，结构混乱，格式凌乱，论述过程粗陋，逻辑不清，结论不合理，语言 错误过多且严重影响意义表达，字数未达到 1500 英文单词以上，可得 20-29 分； 9. 立论错误，结构与格式凌乱，无论述过程，逻辑混乱，结论不合理，语言错误过多， 无法表达意义，字数未达到 1500 英文单词以上，可得 10-19 分； 10. 立论完全错误，无结构与格式可言，无论述过程，无逻辑，无结论，语言错误过多， 无法卒读，字数未达到 1500 英文单词以上，可得 0-9 分； 11. 未撰写论文的不得分。抄袭（剽窃）者（含抄袭同学作业/论文或将自己的作业/ 论文 交其他同学抄袭的）判零分，抄袭量不大的，视情况酌情判分。 课程论文得分_（满分 60 分）