R. S. Ginzburg, S. S. Khidekel, G. Y. Knyazeva, A. A. Sankin a course in modern english

§ 11. Polysemy and Homonymy


As is known, language is never stable: sounds, constructions, grammatical elements, word-forms and word-meanings are all exposed to alteration. Derivational affixes are no exception in this respect, they also undergo semantic change. Consequently many commonly used derivational affixes are polysemantic in Modern English. The following two may well serve as illustrations. The noun-suffix -er is used to coin words denoting 1) persons following some special trade or profession, e.g. baker, driver, hunter, etc.; 2) persons doing a certain action at the moment in question, e.g. packer, chooser, giver, etc.; 3) a device, tool, implement, e.g. blotter, atomiser, boiler, eraser, transmitter, trailer, etc.

The adjective-suffix -y also has several meanings, such as 1) composed of, full of, e.g. bony, stony; 2) characterised by, e.g. rainy, cloudy; 3) having the character of, resembling what the base denotes, e.g. inky, bushy.

The various changes that the English language has undergone in the course of time have led to chance coincidence in form of two or more derivational affixes. As a consequence, and this is characteristic of Modern English, many homonymic derivational affixes can be found among those forming both different parts of speech and different semantic groupings within the same part of speech. For instance, the adverb-suffix -ly added to adjectival bases is homonymous to the adjective-suffix -ly affixed to noun-bases, cf. quickly, slowly and lovely, friendly; the verb-suffix -en attached to noun- and adjectival bases is homonymous to the adjective-suffix -en tacked on to noun-bases, cf. to strengthen, to soften and wooden, golden; the verb-prefix -un₁ added to noun- and verb-bases

¹ ‘informer, complainer’ (sl.)

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is homonymous to the adjective-prefix -un₂ affixed to adjectival bases, cf. to unbind, to unshoe and unfair, untrue, etc.

On the other hand, there are two homonymous adjective-suffixes -ish₁ and -ish₂ occurring in words like bluish, greenish, and girlish, boyish. In some books on English Lexicology the suffix -ish in these two groups of words is regarded as one suffix having two different meanings. If We probe deeper into the matter, however, we shall inevitably arrive at the conclusion that we are dealing with two different homonymous suffixes: one in bluish, the other in girlish. The reasons are as follows: the suffix -ish, in bluish, reddish, etc. only modifies the lexical meaning of the adjective-base it is affixed to without changing the part of speech. The suffix -ish₂ in bookish, girlish, womanish, etc. is added to a noun-base to form an adjective. Besides, the suffixes -ish₁ and -ish₂ differ considerably in the denotational meaning so that no semantic connection may be traced between them: the suffix -ish₁ means 'somewhat like' corresponding to the Russian suffix -оват- in such adjectives as голубоватый, красноватый, etc.; the suffix -ish₂ means 'of the nature of, resembling', often derogatory in force, e. g. childish — ребяческий, несерьезный (cf. childlike — детский, простой, невинный; hoggish — свинский, жадный, etc.)