Have you ever come across a word whose meaning you thought you knew for sure only to realize that it meant something completely different in that context? You might not be wrong — you encountered a polysemous word; one word that has more than one meaning.
Our language is full of examples of polysemous words and expressions, but this is not exclusive to English, since they are also present in many other languages such as English, Galician, Spanish or Finnish.
What is the Difference between Polysemous Words and Homonymous Words?
In order to differentiate whether a word is polysemous or homonymous, we must examine three fundamental aspects: how they are written, their grammatical category and their origin.
As we said at the beginning of this article, polysemous words and expressions are those that feature more than one meaning. They are written identically, since they share etymological origin, and their grammatical category does not vary. Thus, they are included in the same entry within the dictionaries.
On the other hand, homonymous words are not always written the same and, as such, they are divided into two categories:
1. Homographs: words that are pronounced and written identically. An example of homograph words of different grammatical categories would be “kind” (“a group united by common traits or interests”) and “kind” (“of a sympathetic or helpful nature”).
2. Homophones: words that are pronounced the same but are spelled differently. This is the case of “buy” (“to acquire possession, ownership, or rights to the use or services of by payment especially of money”) and “bye” (“used as a shortened form of goodbye to express farewell”).
But then, what difference is there between polysemous words and homograph words, if both are pronounced and written the same?
Contrary to what happens in the case of polysemous words, homograph words always have different origins, and they do not always share their grammatical category. For this reason, each homograph word will appear in a different entry in the dictionary.
For English students ―and even for those of us who are native speakers of this language―, this type of words can be a challenge in written language, and they usually give headaches to children who discover them for the first time during dictations at school.
The Origin of Polysemy
Where do polysemic expressions and words come from? Several authors have defined its origin in order to discover what are the main reasons that cause a word to have multiple meanings. Some of these causes or situations are:
– Changes in the application of certain words.
– The specialization of a social medium.
– Figurative language.
– The reinterpretation of homonymous words.
– Foreign influence or semantic borrowing.
Examples of Polysemous Words in Spanish
Let’s now review some of the most common examples of polysemic expressions and words that we can find in the daily use of the Spanish language according to (some of) the meanings that appear recorded in the entries of the RAE’s Dictionary of the Spanish Language:
banco: “a long seat for two or more persons” y “an establishment for the custody, loan, exchange, or issue of money, for the extension of credit, and for facilitating the transmission of funds.”
cabo: “a point or extension of land jutting out into water as a peninsula or as a projecting point” y “officer, captain, chief.”
falda: “item of clothing that falls from the waist” and “brim of a hat.”
gato: “a carnivorous mammal (Felis catus) long domesticated as a pet and for catching rats and mice” y “a usually portable mechanism or device for exerting pressure or lifting a heavy body a short distance.”
hoja: “each of the sheets, generally green, flat and thin, that cover plants, joined to the stem or branches by the petiole or, sometimes, by an elongated basal part, in which the functions of transpiration and photosynthesis are mainly carried out” and “in books and notebooks, each of the equal parts that result from folding the paper to form the sheet.”
sierra: “tool for cutting wood, stone, or other hard objects” and “part of a mountain range.”
Examples of Polysemous Words in Multiple Languages
Polysemous Words in Galician
copa: “glass with base to drink” and “set of branches and leaves that forms the top of a tree.”
tapa: “piece that closes boxes or containers at the top” and “small portion of food that is served as a side dish to a drink.”
espiña: “spike that comes from the woody or vascular tissue of some plants” and “long and thin bone process.”
pote: “a usually rounded metal or earthen container used chiefly for domestic purposes (as in cooking or for holding liquids or growing plants)” and “bulge that as a result of a blow in the head.”
Polysemous Words in Catalan
llenya: “part of the vegetables that, cut into pieces, is used to make fire” and “shrubs that grow among the trees of the forest.”
cap: “upper part of the human body separated from the trunk by the neck” and “piece of land that goes into the sea.”
cua: “back of the body of animals when it is different from the rest and forms an appendage” and “part of a thing that is dragged on the ground.”
illa: “portion of land surrounded by water on all sides” and “in a town, building or set of adjoining houses separated from the others by streets, squares, etc.”
Polysemous Words in English
bar: “a solid piece or block of material that is longer than it is wide” and “a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks and sometimes food are served.”
bank: “an establishment for the custody, loan, exchange, or issue of money, for the extension of credit, and for facilitating the transmission of funds” and “a person conducting a gambling house or game.”
smart: “having or showing a high degree of mental ability” and “stylish or elegant in dress or appearance.”
Polysemous Words in Finnish
kuusi: “fir” and “number six.”
kuurku: “neck” and “cucumber.”
paala: “to burn” and “individual objects.”
aito: “true” and “reindeer tracks in the snow.”
Professional translators, as expert linguists, must know in detail polysemous words and their meanings. Did you know all these examples of polysemous words? Are there any that have particularly surprised you?
