UNIT 11

THE WORD AS A LINGUISTIC SIGN. HOMONYMY, SYNONYMY, AND

ANTONYMY. FALSE FRIENDS AND LEXICAL CREATIVITY.

Outline

1. INTRODUCTION. 1

2. THE WORD AS A LINGUISTIC SIGN. 1

3.1. Homonymy 2
3.1.1. Types of homonyms. 3
3.2. Synonymy. 4
3.2.1. Types of synonyms. 4
3.3. Antonymy. 5
3.3.1. Types of antonyms. 5
3.4. Minor types of semantic relationships 6

4. FALSE FRIENDS. 7

5. LEXICAL CREATIVITY. 7

6. CONCLUSION. 9

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 10

1. INTRODUCTION.

Semantics is traditionally regarded as a branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words
and the relationships that are established between words through their meaning.

The present study is aimed to provide an analysis of the notion of the word as a linguistic sign,
of the major processes of homonymy, synonymy, and antonymy, and other minor processes, such as
hyponymy and hypernymy and meronymy, together with the concepts of false friends and lexical
creativity, which in relation to words leads us to consider multiple and metaphoric designation,
metonymy, people's etymology and ellipsis.

The paper also offers future orientations on some lexical implications for language teaching.

2. THE WORD AS A LINGUISTIC SIGN.

Baugh, A. & Cable, T. (1993) A History of the English Language We owe the idea of “the word
as a linguistic sign” to Ferdinand de Saussure. Sign is a feature of language or behavior which conveys
meaning, especially when used conventionally within a system (such as speech, writing, gesture, dance).
The term was particularly used by Saussure to summarize the two-way, arbitrary relationship which
exists between a vehicle (a signifier) and a meaning (a signified). The relationship itself is known as
signification.

According to Saussure, every linguistic sign has two sides: the signifier or material part of the
sign and the signified or mental image suggested by the signifier. We still have to add a new element:
the referent or real, existing element, to which both signified and signifier refer. The word that
designates a referent is not the same as the referent itself.

The names given to things are not innate features of those things but something man has
established. Things exist independently of whether they have a name or not or the name they have.

Moreover, for Saussure, everything in the language system is based on the relations that can
occur between the units that compose it. These relations are of two types: syntagmatic and paradigmatic.

Syntagmatic relations are linear relations between the words that are present in the sentence. In
spoken or written language, words appear one after the other, in a linear fashion, and syntagmatic
relations relate one word to the previous one and to the one that comes after it. In these relations, the
order is important; "the house is big" is not the same as "the is big house").

On the other hand, a paradigmatic relation is a particular relation between a word in the
sentence and another word which is not present in the sentence, but which is part of the language.
Paradigmatic relations occur in the brain of the speaker who associates elements that have something in
common. For example, there is a paradigmatic relationship between the pronoun "he" and the rest of the
pronouns (I, she, we, us,...) or between the words "study", "teaching", "education" because they share
specific features of meaning or between the words “house”, “flat” , “mansion”, “iglo”.

In the communicative act, the speaker chooses a word from others with which it shares a
paradigmatic relation (vertically) and combines them with others thanks to syntagmatic relations
(horizontally).

house
flat
The mansion of my friend
igloo
cottage
3. SEMANTIC RELATIONS

There are linguistic signs in which a single signifier corresponds to a single meaning: abbot,
hospital... But there are also a large number of words which are related according to the meaning and
signifier they present. If we consider the nature of these relationships, we can describe three
phenomena: Homonymy, if there is identity of signifiers; Synonymy, if there is identity of meanings;
and Antonymy, if there is an opposition of meanings.
 3.1. Homonymy

Homonyms as Aitchinson, J. (1987) defines in Words in the mind: An introduction to the

mental lexicon are words which have the same pronunciation, same spelling but different meaning (i.e.
‘bank’ as ‘financial institution’ vs. ‘sloping side of a river’), that is, words that have the same form but
different meanings.

In order to understand the concept of homonymy, a distinction must be made between

homonymy and polysemy on the one hand, and between absolute and partial homonymy on the other.

We must point out that whereas homonymy (whether absolute or partial) is a relation that
holds between two or more distinct lexemes while polysemy, or multiple meaning, is a property of
single lexemes (i.e. plain: clear, unadorned, obvious). Yet, this traditional distinction is not always
clear. Polysemy results when multiple meanings develop historically from the same word and usually
preserve some perceptible semantic link marking the development of one meaning out of the other, as
in the leg of chair and the leg of person; or the face of a person vs. the face of a clock.

In simpler terms, as Aitchinson states the main difference between homonyms and polysemes
is that homonyms are similar by coincidence, while polysemes are related by their history and
meaning. Deciding which category words fall into can be difficult for dictionary writers, and there can
be disagreement on the distinction.

Regarding absolute vs. partial homonymy, we shall state that absolute homonyms involve
three main conditions: to be unrelated in meaning, all their forms to be identical, and the identical
forms to be grammatically equivalent. Absolute homonymy is quite common as in ‘sole’ ( bottom of
foot or shoe) vs. ‘sole’ (kind of fish).

There are also many different kinds of what we refer to as partial homonymy, that is, those
cases where there is identity of minimally one or two conditions in the word-form (pronunciation,
spelling, and meaning), but not all the three. For example, the verbs `find´ and `found´ share the form
found, but not finds, finding, or founding, etc., and found as a form of `find´ is not grammatically
equivalent to found as a form of `found´.

3.1.1. Types of homonyms.

Using the broad definition in which any two words that share the same spelling or the same
pronunciation are homonyms, it’s possible to define five types of homonyms, according to
Aitchinson, J. (1987), in the English language. These are capitonyms, heteronyms, homographs and
homophones.

Capitonyms are words that change their meaning but have the same spelling. The only
difference between these words is that one word is capitalized and the other is not. Take the example
of polish (‘to clean until shiny’) and Polish (‘the language from Poland’)
 Heteronyms (also known as heterophones) are those words that are spelled the same but
have different pronunciations and meanings. An example would be desert (noun) (‘a dry region of
Earth’) and desert (‘to abandon’). These words are pronounced differently due to their different word
stress: (noun) /ˈdɛzərt/, (verb) /dɪˈzɜːrt/

Homographs are words, according to Aitchinson, which share different meanings but
identical spellings. Two homographs with identical pronunciation are bark (verb meaning ‘the sound
a dog makes’) and bark (a noun meaning ‘the skin of a tree’).

Homophones are words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings and
spellings. Examples of homophony would be the three words there, their and they’re, which each
have different meanings but identical pronunciation.

3.2. Synonymy.
Synonymy is the second sense-relation which is at the core of lexical semantics in our study.
Synonyms refer to a relationship between two or more lexical units (or expressions) which have
identical or a slightly different meaning as another and which differ only with respect to their context
(i.e. look at, gaze, stare at, watch, see, and so on).

Often, synonyms occur together in certain types of expressions, such as explanations and
clarifications on the meaning of another word. The relationship between the two words is frequently
signaled by expressions such as that is to say, or, in other words, or, more exactly,

Regarding absolute vs. partial synonymy, Aitchinson, J. (1987), we shall state that absolute
synonyms refer to two expressions that have the same descriptive meaning and are not affected by
emotive, dialectal, collocational, geographical, and contextual factors among others as in start and
begin and bachelor and unmarried man. They are quite rare in English, and even, they have been
denied by some linguists. However, they have been recently admitted in scientific, medical, industrial
and technological fields (i.e. water/H2O, cosmetic surgery/lifting, salt/sodium chloride).

On the other hand, partial synonymy occur when two words have very closely related
meanings. The meanings are not exactly the same, only partially, but close enough to relay the same
message (i.e. fast, rapid, quick; begin, commence).

3.2.1. Types of synonyms.

Apart from the differentiation absolute vs. partial synonymy, synonyms have been subject to
many different categorisations.

The first type, stylistic synonyms are also called expressive. They are the most common ones
and are defined as ‘a lexical unit that has a similar range of reference but is differentiated by the
speaker’s intention, the audience, and the situation’. Stylistic synonyms are, in fact, affected by several
factors, such as generality (i.e. say-demand ), intensity (i.e. like-love), emotion (i.e. soft-tender),
professional (i.e. fill in -write), literary (i.e. rise-ascend, liberty-freedom), legal (i.e. last will-
testament, goods and chattels), and children’s talking (i.e. mother-mum, dog -puppy) among others.
This type is mainly applied in literature (prose and verse) since synonyms are quite useful when
providing the appropriate quantity of emotion and emphasis to a literary work.

The second type, Aitchinson, J. (1987), refers to generic nouns and trade names (i.e.
tissues/kleenex, cola/Coca-Cola). As to expressions which differ in the nature of their expressive
meaning, the most obvious difference is between those which imply approval or disapproval and those
which are neutral with respect to expressivity, such as ‘statesman’ versus ‘politician’, ‘thrifty’ versus
‘mean’ or ‘stingy’ versus ‘economica l’.

The third type refers to variant names for concepts, new or existing (i.e. arid zones/deserts,
coast/seaside).

The fourth type refers to current names and older terms (i.e. swimming costumes/bathers),
namely refer to loanwords, which are ‘a nearly synonymous lexical unit, borrowed from another
language to fill what is perceived to be a semantic gap’.

The fifth type refers to current jargon or slang terms (i.e. graffiti/pieces, bloody/disgusting).

And the sixth type refers to cultural or dialectal variants, due to differences arising from
different cultural contexts within different English-speaking countries or from dialectal differences
within the same country (i.e. film/movie, lift/elevator, holiday/vacation).

3.3. Antonymy.

Antonymy is the third major type of sense-relations at the core of lexical semantics in our
study and is a significant aspect of lexical semantics in our study. It pertains to the notion of opposite
meanings, such as good and bad, happy and sad, or love and hate.

Aitchinson, J. (1987)The basis of oppositeness lies in the concept of complementary pairs,

where the presence of one quality or state indicates the absence of the other and vice versa. This is
established through a binary system, which does not factor in spelling and pronunciation, but does
consider the role of morphology in forming anonymous dualities (e.g. suffixes and prefixes, such as
care-careless, or usual-unusual).

The meaning of words can be better understood through contrasting semantic features, as one
term implies the negative of the other (e.g. tall-short). Therefore, each term's description should
contain at least one positive feature and one negative feature.

3.3.1. Types of antonyms.

Three pairs of antonyms are differentiated: complementary pairs or true type (i.e.
male/female), gradable pairs (i.e. hot/cold ) and relational opposites (i.e. employer/employee).
 The complementary pairs (also contradictory pairs or true type) as in married/single,are
words that describe opposite features in a binary manner. This means that a certain entity can only
have one of the two features at a time, but not both. The difference between the two words is absolute,
with no room for intermediate states. For instance, a person can be either dead or alive, but not both at
the same time.

These words form a complete description and are used together to give a full understanding of
the entity being described. They cannot be graded or have degrees of difference, like hot and cold. An
example of complementary pairs antonyms is "on" and "off." A switch can only be in one of the two
positions, it can either be on or off, but not both at the same time.

Therefore, complementary pairs antonyms represent two opposite and exclusive features of an
entity, and both terms are required to give a full understanding of the entity

The second type is referred to as gradable pairs. They are words that describe opposite
features on a continuous scale, allowing for a gradual transition between two extremes. These
antonyms represent opposite ends of a spectrum, such as hot and cold, wide and narrow, or big and
small.

Aitchinson, J. (1987)Between these two extremes, there are usually a number of intermediate
terms, making it possible to describe varying degrees of the feature being described. For example,
there are various levels of heat that exist between hot and cold, such as warm, tepid, or cool. This
allows for more precise and nuanced descriptions of the entity being referred to.

In contrast to complementary pairs, gradable antonyms provide a gradual transition between

two extremes.

The third type are relational antonyms are words that describe opposite roles in an
interdependent relationship. This type of antonymy refers to two words that are opposite in meaning,
but are dependent on each other and share the same semantic features.

For example, "buy" and "sell" are relational antonyms, as one cannot occur without the other.
In order for someone to buy something, there must be someone else selling it. Similarly, "give" and
"receive," "teacher" and "pupil," and "doctor" and "patient" all describe interdependent relationships
between two entities.

Relational antonyms differ from complementary pairs and gradable antonyms in that their
meanings are dependent on real-world attitudes and the focus or direction of the relationship is
reversed.

3.4. Minor types of semantic relationships

Once we have examined the major types of semantic relationships, we shall briefly examine
other minor types of relationships, such as hyponym and hypernymy, taxonomy and meronymy.
 Thus, hyponymy is the lexical relation which refers to relationships of ‘inclusion’ of one class
in another regarding meaning (i.e. rose- flower, car-vehicle, dog-animal). Thus, ‘apple’ and ‘orange’
are hyponyms of ‘fruit’, where the more general term, ‘fruit’ is known as a hypernym..

There is a contiguous type related to hyponymy, that of taxonomy. The taxonyms of a lexic al
item are a sub-set of its hyponyms. Taxonomy, then, is defined as the division which gives rise to
well-formed groups (i.e. from ‘dogs’ we get ‘spaniel, bulldog, shepherd, etc’, and so on). Taxonomy is
often framed in a useful diagnostic where ‘An X is a kind/type of Y’. Humans and whales are two
unrelated organisms from different perspectives; however, both are considered mammals and
taxonomically related

Aitchinson, J. (1987)On the other hand, meronymy is defined as ‘the semantic relation
between a lexical item denoting a part and that denoting the corresponding whole’. Thus, a finger is
part of a hand and a sepal is part of a flower. In this relation meronyms are the ‘part’ and holonyms are
the ‘whole’.

4. FALSE FRIENDS.

Another related issue to the word as a linguistic sign in lexical semantics, according to Bauer
L (1983) English Word-Formation, is the term false friends or false cognates. A false friend is a word
in the foreign language which resembles a word in one’s mother tongue, but has a different meaning.
Thus, for a Spanish learner of English, the following words may be false friends: actually (resembles
'actualmente', but means 'in fact'), eventually (resembles 'eventualmente', but means 'at last'), or realize
(resembles 'realizar', but means 'notice').

The orthographic relatedness of Spanish and English sometimes poses potential dangers to the
translator regarding nuances in meaning since words that look similar may be used in very different
ways, or have completely different meanings.

For instance, the words “constipated” and “recipe” are usual in everyday language and
misleading at the same time. In English if you are‘constipated’ you may ask for a ‘prescription’ at the
doctor’s. However, in Spanish, you would not be ‘constipado’ but ‘estreñido’, and you would ask for a
“receta” (medicine) and not a “recipe” (food).

Often, the term 'false friends' refers to words with a common ancestry (often loanwords from
Latin or Greek) that have undergone a different development in the different languages. A good
example is the word pair ‘policy’ (English=political theory) and ‘policía’ (Spanish=police). Also, the
pair ‘pretend’ (English=fake, hide) and ‘pretender’ (Spanish=to try).

5. LEXICAL CREATIVITY.

Words go up and down in the social scale, and it often happens that a term, which is now part
of our daily vocabulary, used to be rejected not long ago as being vulgar or slang. The term joke,
Nelson Francis, W. 1974. The English language, which appeared in the second half of the 17th c.,
probably coming from the Latin word jocus, used to be originally a slang term.

Lexical creativity is a term which is connected to form and meaning in linguistic creativity. It
can be defined as one of the main distinguishing features of human language, by which it is possible to
give several signifiers to one signifier, as will be shown in the different cases with this phenomenon.

It must be pointed out that there are lots of rhetorical figures or figures of speech, yet most of
them may be used within the context of literature where language displays its most powerful
"coloring". We will mainly concentrate on metaphor and metonymy, the main components of lexical
creativity. But the modification of meaning may also derive from the particular context in which a
word is used; this is called contextual modulation. Another important aspect in relation to creativity
is the concept of "multiple designation" which is a result of the ability of a given speaker to relate an
object to several signifiers.

In addition to its literary use, metaphors are a device frequently used by speakers to designate
an object. It consists of the substitution of a word by another one, whose meaning is involved in an
analogical relationship with the replaced word. For example, in literature or poetry, the concept
"warrior" is expressed with the word "lion".

Nelson Francis, W. 1974. Within metaphor there are two types: on the one hand metaphors
which have become part of the linguistic system.

● Man-related metaphors. For example, "The lungs of a town", "The sinews of a war".
● Animal-related metaphors. For example, some plants are given names of animals as in "dog's
tail" and "cock's foot", etc.
● Metaphors from the concrete to the abstract: e.g.: "light" in "to throw light on something", and
"high-lights" meaning interesting details.
● Synaesthetic metaphor, that is, the transference from one sense to another: e.g.: "warm voice",
"cold voice", "piercing sounds", etc.

On the other hand, there are metaphors which are the result of the individual use of language,
that is the result of invention, as in the example "he's an eagle" meaning someone with a very good
sight.

Metonymy is another device which refers to a thing by the name of something associated with
it. The word that replaces the original thing is called a metonym (i.e. police for red caps, “The White
House” for “The presidential administration”, “The Crown” for “The Monarch”). The use of an author
by his works can also be metonymy (i.e. I'm reading Shakespeare). There is a metonymy where the
product of the activity stands for the activity itself. For example, in "The book is moving right along,"
the book refers to the process of writing or publishing.

Another "instrument",Nelson Francis, W. 1974. The English language , of lexical creativity is

"contextual modulation". In other words, the modification of the sense of a word by the context.
"Contextual modulation" has two different effects; on the one hand, the effect of "promotion" which
can be seen in the following example: "Arthur poured the butter into a dish", in this sentence, context
helps us realize that the butter in question is hot. On the other hand, the effect of "high-lighting" or
"backgrounding" which in a sentence like "we cannot afford that car” emphasizes the price of the car.

We also have to take into account within lexical creativity the so-called "multiple
designation". This is the possibility of giving a particular meaning several signifiers. This is due to a
little difference in those particular meanings. The case can be illustrated in the following example: The
possibility of calling a "book" a "volume", when it belongs to an encyclopaedia, "essay", "treatise",
"paper", "work", etc., that is depending on some minimal distinguishing features.

Another "component" of lexical creativity, is what Nelson Francis, W. 1974. The English
language calls "people's etymology". Speakers of a given language can alter the form or the content of
a word by connecting it to another word which is similar to the former in sound as can be seen in the
following example: The word "boon" means "request" or "favour", but the second meaning derives
from an analogy with the adjective "boon" meaning "generous" from French "bon".

As a last point we will deal with "ellipsis". This phenomenon consists of two words which are
often together and therefore have a great influence on each other, being the consequence that one of
them is omitted and its meaning is included in the other. For instance, this can be seen in the following
example: "daily paper", "daily"

6. CONCLUSION.

The notion of meaning and use are closely interrelated. It means that the meaning of a word
cannot be entirely separated from its use in speech. The nature of meaning is best described with
reference to functions of language in human communications.

Lexicology investigates various meaning relations existing in the language, how the lexicon
works to provide and support meaningful communication. Lexicology is a branch of linguistics which
deals with the analysis of words.

In this unit we have taken into account different phenomena which are studied by Semantics.
Therefore, the content includes all the different aspects which make the language seem rich, varied,
and object of a stylistic study.

Words have been approached from the point of view of meaning, therefore, we have analysed
the linguistic sign, homonymy, synonymy, antonymy, false friends, to end up with lexical creativity,
in the last section of this topic.

In the Spanish curriculum, the study of vocabulary, has been considered an important
element of language teaching, and also word-meaning devices. The popularity of the communicative
method has left the ‘teaching’ of specific linguistic information on the sidelines, but in order for ESL
teachers to help students recognize new L2 words, the teachers need to know the linguistic
information themselves.

Language learners do not automatically recognize similarities which seem obvious to

teachers; learners need to have these associations brought to their attention. As we have seen,
understanding the notions of semantic features and sense relations is important to teachers because
they are typical means of defining new words. Teachers commonly define new words by giving
synonyms and antonyms, for instance, ‘come accross’ and ‘meet by chance’ or ‘shallow’ and ‘not
deep’.

However, we must be aware that very few words are completely synonymous or exact
opposites, and so such definitions will only be inexact representations of the word’s true meaning. In
addition, once synonyms, homonyms, and antonyms are learned, learner must be exposed to
numerous contexts in order to apply particular meanings to it. One must know more than meaning to
master a word. A person must be able to perceive or produce words in verbal or written modes in
terms of its grammatical constraints.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Aitchinson, J. (1987). Words in the mind: An introduction to the mental lexicon. Oxford:
Blackwell.

Bauer, L. 1983. English Word-Formation. Cambridge University Press.

Baugh, A. & Cable, T. 1993. A History of the English Language. Prentice-Hall Editions.
Nelson Francis, W. 1974. The English language. Norton and Company.
 ESQUEMA
2. THE WORD AS A LINGUISTIC SIGN

● Idea “word as a linguistic sign” → Ferdinand Saussure. Sign → feature of language or

behavior → meaning → used conventionally within a system (speech, gesture..). Used by S

to summarize the two-way relationship btw vehicle (signifier) and meaning (signified).

Relationship → signification.

● Saussure → linguistic sign two sides: signifier (material part) and signified (mental image

suggested). New element → referent or real ( existing element). Both signified and signifier

refer. The word → not the same as referent

● Names given to things → something man has established. Things exist if we name it or not.

● Everything → based on relations occure between the units compose it. Relations:

syntagmatic and àradigmatic:

○ Syntagmatic relations → linear relations between words → sentence. One word after

the other Relation one word with the previous one and after it. Order is important

(the house is big = the is big house)

○ Paradigmatic relations → relation of words not in the same sentence. Association of

the brain o teh speaker (elements in common). (he and she, we, us…) or between

study and teaching → specific features of meanin. House, flat, mansion….

● Communicative act → speaker chooses a word → shares a paradigamtic relation and

combines with other thanks to syntagmatic relations

3. SEMANTIC RELATIONS
● Linguistic signs → single signifier → single meaning (abbot, hospital..). Large number of

words related. Nature of these relationships → homonym, synonymy, antonymy.

3.1 Homonymy
● Words → same pronunciation, same spelling but different meaning (bank). Same form but

different meaning
● Important to make distinction between polysemy vs homonymy and absolute vs partial
homonymy.
○ Homonymy (partial or absolute) → relation between two or more distinct lexemes.

Polysemy → single lexemes (plain: clear, unadorned…). Not very clear distinction
○ Absolute and partial homonyms:
■ Absolute → three main condition → unrelated in meaning, all their forms

identical, grammatically equivalent (sole vs sole)

■ Partial → one or two condition in the word-form (pronunciation, spelling

and meaning)
3.1.1 Types of homonyms
● Capitonyms → words that change meaning when capitalized

● Heteronyms → words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and

meanings

● Homographs → words that are spelled the same but have different meanings

● Homophones → words pronounced the same but have different meanings and spellings

3.2 Synonym
● Relation between two or more lexical units (or expressions) which have identical or a

slightly different meaning as another → differ only in context

● Occur → expressions (explanations, clarifications on the meaning of another word).

Frequently accompanied by expressions such as that is to say, in other words..

● Two main groups
○ Absolute → two expressions have same descriptive meaning. Rare in English .

Accepted scientific, industrial fields → (water / H2O, cosmetic surgery / lifting)

○ Partial → two words very colesly meanings (fast, rapid, begin, commence)

3.2.1 Types of synonyms

● Stylistic/ expressive → most common. affected by different factors: generality (say-demand)

● Generic & trade names →

● Variant names for concepts → arid zones / deserts

● Current names and older names → (swimming costumes / bathers)

● Current jargon or slang terms → (graffiti / pieces)

● Cultura or dialectal variants → (film/movie)

 3.3 Antonymy
● Third major type of sense-relations lexical semantics. Oppositeness in meaning.
● Essence of oppositeness → complementary pairs. Presence of one quality signifies the

absence of the other. Binary system → leaves out spelling and pronunciation but not

morphology → important role in the formation of antonyms (suffixes and prefixes → care-

careless)

● Semantic features → one word implies the negative of the other. At least have one positive

feature in one’s term and a negative in the other’s

3.3.1 Types of antonyms
● Complementary pairs (contradictory pairs or true types) → member is either one or the

other but not both.

● Gradable pairs → opposite end of a continuum or scale (hot-cold) → natural gradual

transition between two poles → number of intermediate terms

● Relational antonyms → opposite roles in a interdependent relationships (buy / sell)

3.4 Minor types of semantic relationships

● Once examined → homonymy, synonymy and antonymy
● Hyponymy, hyperymy, taxonomy, meronymy
● Hyponymy → orange, lemon, grapes.. – fruit

● Hyperonym → fruit – orange, lemon, grape..

● Taxonomy → sub-set dog: rottweiler, spaniel, bulldog, shepherd…

● Meronymy → part of a whole (finger → body)

4. FALSE FRIENDS
● False friend = false cognate. Word in a foreign language → similar mother’s tongue

(different meaning)
● Ie: actually, eventually, realize
● constipated and recipe
● Often false friends refers to words with common ancestry → undergone development

(policy = political theory and policía)

5. LEXICAL CREATIVITY
● Wors go up and down. Example of joke → jpcus 17th century

● Lexical creativity is a term connected → form and meaning → linguistic creativity. Possible

to giver several signifiers to one signifier.

● Lots of rhetorical figures of speech → most of them used in the context of literature →

language “coloring”. Metaphor and metonymy → main components of lexical creativity.

Modification of meaning derives → context → contextual modulation. Multiple designation

→ result of the ability → given speaker to relate an object to several signifiers.

● Metaphor → device used by speakers to designate an object. Substitution of a word by

another one → meaning is involved.

● Metaphor → become a part of the linguistic system or result of the individual use of

language (result of an invention)

● Metonymy → device refers to a thing → name of something associated with it (Crown →

the Monarch)

● Contextual modulation → modification of the sense of a word by the conext → two effects

(promotion, the effect of “high-lighting”)

● Multiple designation → give a particular meaning several signifiers, Difference in those

particular meanings (book - volume)

● People’s etymology → alteration of a content by connecting it to another word with similar

to the former in sound (boon “request” — “boon” generous in French)

● Ellipsis → two words often together have a great influence. One is omitted meaning is

included in the other (daily paper — daily)