Abstract
HOMONYMY WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF EXPERIENCE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Structural semantics, while attempting to elucidate the reasons behind the selection of linguistic signs, examines them within a system where they are positioned alongside other related signs, and seeks to identify their distinctive features. The French linguist Bernard Pottier advanced F. de Saussure’s conception of the sign and analyzed the signified in two components: substance and form. With the semic analysis he developed, in order to determine the substance of the signifieds, he first establishes a domain of experience and displays the lexemes in a matrix designed to reveal their distinctive semes. This is because meaning is not confined to an isolated lexeme, but is established within a semantic field. The bundles of semes obtained through this matrix help clarify not only paradigmatic relations but also the interrelations among multiple meanings tied to a single lexeme. Within this framework, the structural manifestation of polysemy is demonstrated by the presence of at least one common seme, whereas homonymy is defined as the absence of a common seme.
In this study, 17 polysemous lexemes within the domain of experience of domestic animals, whose bundles of semes were determined using Bernard Pottier’s method, have been examined in terms of homonymy.
Keywords
semic analysis, sememe, semantics, homonymy, polysemy, domestic animal names