er the surgeon's probe. One of the most debatable problems in semasiology is the demarcation line between homonymy and polysemy, ie between different meanings of one word and the meanings of two homonymous words. Synchronically the differentiation between homonymy and polysemy is wholly based on the semantic criterion. It is usually held that if a connection between the various meanings is apdivhended by the speaker, these are to be considered as making up the semantic structure of a polysemantic word, otherwise it is a case of homonymy, not polysemy.the semantic criterion implies that the difference between polysemy and homonymy is actually reduced to the differentiation between related and unrelated meanings. This traditional semantic criterion does not seem to be reliable, firstly, because various meanings of the same word and the meanings of two or more different words may be equally apdivhended by the speaker as synchronically unrelated/For instance, the meaning 'a change in the form of a noun or pronoun' which is usually listed in dictionaries as one of the meanings of case! - 'something that has happened', 'a question decided in a court of law' seems to be just as unrelated to the meanings of this word as to the meaning of case 2 - 'a box, a container', etc . in the discussion of lexico-grammatical homonymy it was pointed out that some of the mean of homonyms arising from conversion (eg seal in-seal 3 v; paper n-paper v) are related, so this criterion cannot be applied to a large group of homonymous word-forms in Modern English. This criterion proves insufficient in the synchronic analysis of a number of other borderline cases, eg brother-brothers-'sons of the same parent' and brethren-'fellow members of a religious society'. The meanings may be apdivhended as related and then we can speak of polysemy pointing out that the difference in the morphological structure of the plural form reflects the difference of meaning. Otherwise we may regard this as a case of partial lexical homonymy. The same is true of such cases as hang-hung-hung-'to support or be supported from above' and hang-hanged-hanged-'to put a person to death by hanging' all of which are traditionally regarded as different meanings of one polysemantic word. It is sometimes argued that the difference between related and unrelated meanings may be observed in the manner in which the meanings of polysemantic words are as a rule relatable. It is observed that different meanings of one word have certain stable relationships which are not to be found between the meanings of two homonymous words. A clearly perceptible connection, eg, can be seen in all metaphoric or metonymic meanings of one word (cf., eg, foot of the man-foot of the mountain, loud voice-loud colors, etc., 1 cf. Also deep well and deep knowledge, etc.). semantic relationships are commonly found in the meanings of one word and are con...
