01-24-2014, 07:39 AM
Had to google it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemy
Heres a few selected examples from Wikipedia:
Man
1.The human species (i.e., man vs. animal)
2.Males of the human species (i.e., man vs. woman)
3.Adult males of the human species (i.e., man vs. boy)
Bank
1.a financial institution
2.the building where a financial institution offers services
3.a synonym for 'rely upon' (e.g. "I'm your friend, you can bank on me"). It is different, but related, as it derives from the theme of security initiated by 1
However: a river bank is a homonym to 1 and 2, as they do not share etymologies. It is a completely different meaning. River bed, though, is polysemous with the beds on which people sleep.
Book
1.a bound collection of pages
2.a text reproduced and distributed (thus, someone who has read the same text on a computer has read the same book as someone who had the actual paper volume)
3.to make an action or event a matter of record (e.g. "Unable to book a hotel room, a man sneaked into a nearby private residence where police arrested him and later booked him for unlawful entry.")
Crane
1.a bird
2.a type of construction equipment
3.to strain out one's neck
So basically, words that have multiple meanings or uses
Sorry I didnt see the comparison to Ambiguity in the title. I think the difference is that Polysemy actually DOES have concrete multiple meanings, while ambiguity is a matter of perception. Like the Alice in wonderland drawing on this wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiguity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemy
Heres a few selected examples from Wikipedia:
Man
1.The human species (i.e., man vs. animal)
2.Males of the human species (i.e., man vs. woman)
3.Adult males of the human species (i.e., man vs. boy)
Bank
1.a financial institution
2.the building where a financial institution offers services
3.a synonym for 'rely upon' (e.g. "I'm your friend, you can bank on me"). It is different, but related, as it derives from the theme of security initiated by 1
However: a river bank is a homonym to 1 and 2, as they do not share etymologies. It is a completely different meaning. River bed, though, is polysemous with the beds on which people sleep.
Book
1.a bound collection of pages
2.a text reproduced and distributed (thus, someone who has read the same text on a computer has read the same book as someone who had the actual paper volume)
3.to make an action or event a matter of record (e.g. "Unable to book a hotel room, a man sneaked into a nearby private residence where police arrested him and later booked him for unlawful entry.")
Crane
1.a bird
2.a type of construction equipment
3.to strain out one's neck
So basically, words that have multiple meanings or uses
Sorry I didnt see the comparison to Ambiguity in the title. I think the difference is that Polysemy actually DOES have concrete multiple meanings, while ambiguity is a matter of perception. Like the Alice in wonderland drawing on this wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiguity