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Polysemy Analysis for Linguistics Students

This document provides 5 examples of polysemy and asks the reader to choose 2 examples and discuss what allows for multiple meanings, provide other examples of polysemous words, and if not a native English speaker to provide examples from their native language. It examines the multiple meanings of words like "exam", "lunch", "classification", "treat", and others based on their usage in different contexts.

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36 views1 page

Polysemy Analysis for Linguistics Students

This document provides 5 examples of polysemy and asks the reader to choose 2 examples and discuss what allows for multiple meanings, provide other examples of polysemous words, and if not a native English speaker to provide examples from their native language. It examines the multiple meanings of words like "exam", "lunch", "classification", "treat", and others based on their usage in different contexts.

Uploaded by

BanI VercanI
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Polysemy Examples

CS216: Computation Semantics and Generative Lexicon Theory

September 1, 2009

Choose 2 of the following 5 examples of polysemy. For each example, discuss what is
going on that makes the example polysemous. Find other lexemes (words) that behave
the same way and give examples of the different meanings. Finally, if you are not a native
speaker of English, find examples of this polysemy in your native language.

(1) a. John slept through the exam.

b. Mary printed 30 copies of the exam.

(2) a. The lunch with her boss took longer than she expected.

b. She packed her lunch in her purse.

(3) a. The classification of the genetic data took two years.

b. The journal Science published the classification this month.

(4) a. the scratch in the cup

b. the coffee in the cup

c. the porcelain in the cup

d. the painting on the wall

e. the run on the floor

(5) a. Mary treated John for his injuries.

b. John treated Mary to a nice dinner.

c. They treated each other with respect.

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