LEXICAL POLYSEMY IN DIACHRONY AND SYNCHRONY

Abstract

The paper considers the peculiarities of the origin and functioning of lexical polysemy in different languages, in particular in Ukrainian, German and English. The author examines discourse of Ukrainian scholars in terms of the study of the polysemic words causes, the relationship between the meanings of polysemic words, the distinction between the phenomena of polysemy and homonymy, the linguistic functions of polysemic units. The opinion that the polysemy of words in different languages is not an accidental phenomenon was justified. It was emphasized that the presence of a limited amount of vocabulary, which is associated with the qualitative features of the physiological mechanism of the human brain (memory), leads to the emergence of ambiguous words. Each polysemic word has a relatively constant semantic core, independent of the context, which is a necessary basis for the functioning of polysemic units, and it ensures the semantic integrity of the word. Although the set of meanings of a polysemantic word in different languages differs, the phenomenon of polysemy is universal for all languages. It allows expanding the linguistic nominative potential and, given the cost-effectiveness of the language, to avoid increasing the number of lexical items. The need to determine the nature of the lexical meaning of a word at the level of language and speech, its frameworks, the concept of semantic structure of a polysemic word, the semantic core of the word, connections, relationships and functioning of different meanings was described. The major factors that influence semantic changes in a polysemic word and consist in various changes in the process of historical development of languages, in which words acquire new meanings, were characterized. It leads to the emergence of more semantic aspects, which are historically fixed in the minds of the people in connection with the relationship of words with certain phenomenon. The effectiveness of the phenomenon of polysemy as a means to increase the linguistic potential of language, due to the formatting of existing values and the emergence of new ones in the process of active development of the lexicon is substantiated.