Understanding Ambiguity, Polysemy, and Homonymy in Language
The Double Scale: Saxon vs. Latin
In most cases, the native word is more spontaneous, informal, and unpretentious. There may be emotive differences: the Saxon term is apt to be warmer, homelier than its foreign counterpart, for example, bodily vs. corporeal, brotherly vs. fraternal, and inner vs. internal. Phonetically too, the latter tend to be longer than the native word, which has been subjected to the erosive effect of sound change. The influx of Graeco-Latin terms during the Renaissance introduced new overtones, such as help and aid.
Ambiguity
There are three main forms of ambiguity: phonetic, grammatical, and lexical.
Phonetic Ambiguity
When sentences are spoken, different words can become homonymous and ambiguous. For example, near could be confused with a near or an ear.
Grammatical Ambiguity
Prefixes and suffixes can have more than one meaning. Equivocal phrasing, where word combinations can be interpreted in two or more ways, also contributes to grammatical ambiguity. For example, “I met a number of old friends.”
Lexical Ambiguity
This is the most important type of ambiguity. Lexical factors include polysemy, where the same word may have two or more different meanings, and homonymy, where two or more words may be identical in sound. It should be noted that both polysemy and homonymy may be accompanied by syntactical differences. Homonymy may also come from different word classes, such as grave (adjective and noun) or bear (noun and verb).
Polysemy
Polysemy involves a shift in applications, noticeable in the uses of adjectives. Specialization in a social milieu can also lead to polysemy, for example, the word paper.
Figurative language, such as metaphors, plays an important role in motivation and emotive overtones. A word can be given one or more figurative senses without losing its original meaning, such as old, new, or eye.
Homonyms are reinterpreted when two words are identical in sound and the difference in meaning is not very great. We are apt to regard them as one word with two senses. Historically, these are cases of hyponymy, but modern speakers will establish a link between them on psychological grounds.
Foreign Influence
One of the many ways in which a language can influence another is by changing the meaning of a word. For example, the French word parlement originally meant “speaking,” then “judicial court,” influencing the English word parliament to mean “legislative assembly.”
Semantic Borrowing
When there is intimate contact between two languages, one serves as a model to the other. For example, parlement and parliament.
Special Safeguards
Gender and inflection, word order, and adding another term (e.g., an adjective) can help to discriminate between different senses of a term. Sometimes, a meaning is distinguished by slight modifications in form, such as phonetic changes, as in gallant.
Homonymy
Phonetic Convergence
Under the influence of ordinary phonetic changes, two or more words that once had different forms coincide in the spoken language, and sometimes in writing. Another factor is the loss of final consonants.
Semantic Divergence
Two or more meanings of the same word drift apart, and there will be no connection between them. For example, ear as an organ and ear as a spike of corn.
Foreign Influence
When a loanword becomes firmly established in its new surroundings, it will be adapted to the local phonetic system and will take part in the normal sound changes. It may coincide with other words in the receiving language.