Lecture 4 the semantic structure of words

grasp, seize. When combined with the lexical group of words denoting some means 
of transportation (to take a bus, a train) it acquires the meaning synonymous with the 
meaning of the verb to go. The meanings determined by lexical contexts are 
sometimes referred to as lexically or phraseologically bound meanings which implies 
that such meanings are to be found only in certain lexical contexts. 
In grammatical contexts it is the grammatical (mainly the syntactic) structure 
of the context that serves to determine various individual meanings of a polysemantic 
word. 
e.g.: One of the meanings of the verb to make (to force, to induce) is found 
only in the grammatical context possessing the structure make + N+Infinitive ( to 
make somebody do something). Another meaning to become is observed when make 
is followed by an adjective or noun (to make a good teacher) . Such meanings are 
sometimes described as grammatically or structurally bound meanings. 
In a number of contexts, however, we find that both the lexical and the 
grammatical aspect should be taken into consideration. If, for example, we compare 
the contexts of different grammatical structures (to take+N and to take to+N) we can 
assume that they represent different meanings of the verb to take, but it is only when 
we specify the lexical context, i.e. the lexical group with which the verb is combined 

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in the structure to take+N (to take tea, books, a bus) that we can say that the context 
determines the meaning. 
The same pattern to take+N may represent different meanings of the verb to 
take dependent mainly on the lexical group of the nouns with which it is combined. 
There are cases when the meaning of the word is ultimately determined not by 
linguistic factors but by the actual speech situation in which this word is used. The 
meaning of the phrase I’ve got it is determined not only by the grammatical or 
lexical context but by the actual speech situation. To get may mean to possess or to 
understand. 
Monosemantic words are comparatively rare in the English language. These 
are pronouns and numerals. The greatest number of monosemantic words can be 
found among terms, the very nature of which requires precision. But even here we 
must mention that terms are monosemantic only within one branch of science. 
e.g.: to dress – to bandage a wound (medical terminology); 
to dress – to prepare the earth for sowing (terminology of agriculture); 
to dress – to decorate with flags (naval terminology). 
Words belonging to the most active, vitally important and widely used part of 
the English vocabulary are generally polysemantic.