Chapter: lexicology and its object subject matter of Lexicology

2. Synchronic and diachronic analysis of polysemy
Polysemy may be analised from two ways: diachronically and synchronically. If polysemy is analised diachronical-ly it is understood as the development of the semantic structure of the word or we establish how the meaning of the word has changed whether it has got new meanings in the course of the development of the language. From the historical point of view one of the meanings of the word will be primary meaning; that is such a meaning of a word which was first registered. All other meanings are secondary meanings. The term secondary meaning shows that the meaning appeared in the language after the primary meaning was already established.
For example, the primary meaning of the word «fox» is Jinca, л uca, лисица ( тулки ургочиси ) but such meanings of this word as лисий nyx ( тулки жуни ), первокурсник ( биринчи курс студенти ) are secondary meanings. Here are other examples: eye the primary meaning is глаз ( куз ), secondary is взгляд ( нигох ), глазок b двери ( эшикдаги курадиган тешик ), ушко иголки ( игна кузи ), петельки ( тугма такиладиган тешик ); «father» — the primary meaning is отец ( ота ), secondary is cmape йший член ( ёши улуг аъзо ), родоначальник ( кабила бошлиги ), духовный отец ( диний одам , рухоний ) etc «fish» — the primary meaning is рыба ( балик ), secondary is нахал , наглец (cy рбет ).
Synchronic study of word meaning words having one meaning are called monosemantic. Polysemy is the result of one process of the acqumilation of meanings. The principal cause of polysemy according to Vinogradov's theory is discrepancy between the limited number of words and the unlimited number of things meant.
1. Frequancy value. The more often a word is used the more meanings it has. For example. Man, hand, take, see are very often used in speech and they have many meanings.
2. Syllabic structure of words. The shorter a word is the more meanings it has. The more simple morphological structure a word has, the more meanings it has. For example. Man, woman, table, cat, head, hand etc.
3. Stylistic reference of words A word stylistically neutral having no emotive charge has more meanings while a word with a narrow stylistic reference and has less meanings. Father- daddy, a horse- steed, girl- girlie
From diachronical point of view we distinguish: primary meaning and secondary meaning. From synchronical point of view we distinguish between the central meaning and marginal meaning. Central meaning is the most generalized meaning. This is clear to us without any context. Marginal meanings are semantically connected with the central meaning, and they as if group around it.
Synchronically polysemy is understood as the coexistence of various meanings of the word at a certain historical period of the development of English. Synchronicaliy the main problem of polysemy is to establish whether all the meanings of a word are equally important. We divide the meanings of a word into two: the major (or basic) meaning of a word and the minor meaning. In most cases the surrounding context points out quite clearly which of the meanings of a word is intended
For example. 1. It is a fox. Here «it» shows that the word «fox» is used in the meaning " лиса " ( тулки ).
2. He is a fox. The presence of «he» shows that «fox» is in the meaning of « хитрый »(« айёр »).
3. She will fox him. We find the meaning from the position of «fox». It stands after the auxiliary verb «will» and the direct object «him». Here it is used in the meaning of обманывать ( алдамок )
The meaning which is not dependent on context is the major (or basic) meaning of the word and the meanings which are dependent on the context are minor meanings. By context we mean the minimal stretch of speech determining each individual meaning of the word. For example. «to make» means «to produce smth». This is its basic meaning but other meanings are minor meanings because they can be found only in a context.
The meaning of a word may be determined either by its lexical or by its grammatical context. For example, the verb «to take» in such lexical distributions as: take + tea (coffee, medicine) — its meaning is пить ( ичмок ); take + care - заботиться ( гамхурлик килмок ); take + off — раздеваться ( ечмок ); to take + tram, the metro, a bus — сесть на …( трамвайга . автобусга тушмок ); The meaning “ больной ” of the adjective «ill» is brought out only by a syntactical pattern in which «ill» is used as a predicative (ex, the man is ill) while the syntactical pattern in which the word «ill» is used as an attribute, brings out the meaning — плохой ( ёмон ) вредный an ill man — плохой человек ( ёмон одам )