CAMBRIDGE
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED
UNIT 91
One word, many meanings
A
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Polysemy
A
great many words in English have more than one meaning. Linguists call this
aspect of vocabulary polysemy.
Look
at these sentences and think about how you would translate the words in
italics into your own language.
You
probably need a different word to translate fair, flat, capital
and mean in each sentence. Sometimes the meanings are clearly
related – flat as in countryside has a connection with flat as
in apartment in that they both include an idea of being on one level. Sometimes,
however, there is no connection at all. For example, the meaning of fair as
in Book Fair has no obvious connection with any of the other meanings
of fair. Words like this can be called homographs (words with
the same spellings but different meanings).
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B
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Being aware of polysemy
It
is useful to be aware of polysemy in English for several reasons.
•
You need to remember that the meaning you first learnt for a word may not be
the one that it has in a new context.
•
You need to be aware that in English, words can sometimes be used as
different parts of speech. Flat with its apartment
meaning, for instance, can become an adjective, e.g. a set of flat keys.
•
Learning about the range of meanings that a word can have can help you to
learn several meanings for the price of one.
•
It will also help you to understand jokes in English, as these are often
based on polysemous words.
Language
help
The
context of a word with multiple meanings will usually make it absolutely
clear which of the word’s possible meanings is intended. So you can
understand what, for example, the noun drill
probably means in (a) a dental context, (b) an army context, (c) a
road-building context, or (d) a languagelearning context.
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EXERCISES
91.1
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Find
the example sentence in A opposite in which fair, flat, capital or mean has
the following meaning.
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91.2
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What
part of speech is the italicised word in each of the example sentences in A?
Write
a synonym or explanation for each of the examples not used in 91.1.
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91.3
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Here
are some more examples of polysemous words in English. Which word can fill
all the gaps in each group of sentences?
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91.4
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Look
at the Language help box. What does drill
mean in each of the four contexts suggested?
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91.5
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What
would the given word be most likely to mean in each of the contexts
suggested? Use a dictionary if necessary.
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91.6
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Explain
these one-line jokes. They are all based on polysemy.
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ANSWER KEY
91.1
1
intend: I didn’t mean to hurt you.
2 exactly: She finished the exercise in five minutes flat. 3 proper, just: It’s only fair that we should share the housework. 4 city with the seat of government: Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. 5 light in colour: I’ve got fair hair and burn easily in the sun. 6 unkind: You shouldn’t be so mean to your little sister. 7 fixed: To join the Fitness Club you pay a flat fee of £500. 8 neither very good nor very bad: His marks in his final exams ranged from excellent to fair. 9 money: You need plenty of capital to open a restaurant. 10 unwilling to spend money: He’s far too mean to buy her flowers.
91.2
It’s
only fair: adjective (right)
The Frankfurt Book Fair: noun (large show) the weather to stay fair: adjective (pleasant) I’ve got fair skin: adjective (light) ranged from excellent to fair: adjective (satisfactory) the burning third-floor flat: noun (apartment) terribly flat and boring: adjective (level) a flat fee of £500: adjective (fixed) B flat minor: noun (♭ = a note that is a semitone lower than B itself)
in
five minutes flat: adverb (only; emphasises how quick a time is)
in capital letters: adjective (upper case) the capital of New Zealand: noun (city where the country’s government sits) capital to open a restaurant: noun (money) Capital punishment: adjective (punishable by death) ‘coagulate’ mean: verb (convey a meaning, express an idea) mean to hurt you: verb (intend) too mean to buy her flowers: adjective (opposite of generous) be so mean: adjective (unkind)
91.3
1
match 4 post
2
bill 5 mark
3
set 6 run
91.4
a
an instrument a dentist uses to make holes in your teeth
b
training for marching
c
a powerful tool used for making holes in a road
d
an exercise practising grammar in a fairly mechanical way
91.5
1
a the list on which students are marked present or absent every day
b to send a letter or parcel in a special way so it has protection against being lost 2 a how much performers might appeal to the public b money earned on an investment or paid for a loan 3 a to cut up into small cubes (usually vegetables) b a cube with a number from one to six on each side 4 a throwing the ball into the air and hitting it at the start of a turn b the attention given to customers by staff 5 a specific problem being dealt with by lawyers b a piece of luggage 6 a the long stick that players use in snooker or billiards b the words or actions that tell an actor that it is his or her turn to speak
91.6
1
Then it hit me! This means ‘then I suddenly understood and then the ball
suddenly struck my body.’
2 This is based on the traditional saying that babies are delivered to a home by a big bird called a stork. A crane is another kind of large bird rather like a stork. But a crane can also be a piece of heavy machinery used to lift heavy objects. 3 In the first sentence, flies is a verb and like is a preposition – the sentence is comparing the flight of time with that of an arrow. In the second sentence, flies is a noun and like is a verb and the sentence says that fruit flies [very small insects] enjoy bananas. 4 As well as being a preposition, down is the word for very soft feathers used to stuff, for example, pillows or winter jackets. If prices are up, they have risen and if they are down they have fallen. |
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