Polysemy vs. Homophony (was RE: Dakota zipA ...)

[Alan Knutson]

Perhaps they are connected in the following chain :

1: to trail or drag
2. to aim (ie gun or binoculars) (by visually dragging across a field of
view)
3. to bring to bear upon
4. to condition or educate
5. to prepare for an atletic event

Alan K
----- Original Message -----
From: "Koontz John E" <John.Koontz at colorado.edu>
To: <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 4:11 PM
Subject: Polysemy vs. Homophony (was RE: Dakota zipA ...)


> On Mon, 14 Oct 2002, Rankin, Robert L wrote:
> > So, are 'bridal TRAIN', choo choo TRAIN and TRAIN for the Olympics
examples
> > of homophony or polysemy?  ;-)
>
> I should probably let Alan Hartley answer this one, but I think that the
> first two are etymologically related.  Something about 'following'.  I'm
> not sure about the second.  I don't have access to a dictionary at
> present.
>
> Actually, in this case the point is probably moot.  The existence of a
> historical connection doesn't mean that there is a connection in a given
> English speaker's mind.  If things grow far enough apart, they aren't
> related anymore?
>
> JEK
>
>