Р е ф е р а т homonyms in the English language Знобищева Мария Сергеевна ученица «Г» класса Головко Ольга Владимировна Тамбов 2013 Lyceum 29 Report Homonyms in the English language Znobishcheva Masha g teacher: Golovko O

2. The main part

2.1. Common analysis of homonyms


In modern English the phenomenon of homonymy is widely developed. This phenomenon has attracted many linguists to study this problem and try to classify homonyms in English. However, despite the fact that the study of homonyms has lasted for a long time, there isn’t a generally accepted definition of homonyms and the current terminology in this field.

The most common definition of homonyms is: they are words which are identical in sound and spelling, or, at least in one of these aspects, but different in their meanings. And their meanings are usually determined by the context in which they appear.

Homonyms are one of the most important sources of humor.

Mona: “Wherever I’m down in the dumps I buy new clothes.”

Lisa: “So that’s where you get them.”

To be in the dumps means to be in a bad mood. But the second meaning of the word dump is the place where rubbish is kept.
We can determine the meaning of the word “dump” only by the context in which it appears. So the word “dump” in the example is used in the first meaning (To be in the dumps means to be in bad mood)

English vocabulary is rich in such pairs and even groups of words. Their identical forms are mostly accidental: the majority of homonyms coincide due to phonetic changes which they suffered during their development.

If synonyms and antonyms can be regarded as the treasury of the language’s expressive resources, homonyms are of no interest in this respect, and one cannot expect them to be of particular value for communication. Metaphorically speaking, groups of synonyms and pairs of antonyms are created by the vocabulary system with a particular purpose whereas homonyms are accidental creations, and therefore purposeless.

A common opinion is that synonymy and polysemy are natural phenomena in the language and that the language as a means of communication and learning is not possible without these phenomena. As for homonymy, on the contrary, it is widely regarded as linguistic phenomenon that prevents communication. In the process of communication there is one more encumbrance, leading sometimes to confusion and misunderstanding. So, it is a typical characteristic feature of homonyms.