Homonymy in the book of Lewis Carroll "Alice in Wonderland" (стр. 5 из 6)

It should be stressed, however, that split polysemy as a source of homonyms is not accepted by some scholars. It is really difficult sometimes to decide whether a certain word has or has not been subjected to the split of the semantic structure and whether we are dealing with different meanings of the same word or with homonyms, for the criteria are subjective and imprecise. The imprecision is recorded in the data of different dictionaries which often contradict each other on this very issue, so that board is represented as two homonyms in Professor V. K. Muller's dictionary, as three homonyms in Professor V. D. Arakin's and as one and the same word in Hornby's dictionary.

II.2.2 Classification of Homonyms

The subdivision of homonyms into homonyms proper, homophones and homographs is certainly not precise enough and does not reflect certain important features of these words, and, most important of all, their status as parts of speech. The examples given in the beginning of this chapter show that homonyms may belong both to the same and to different categories of parts of speech. Obviously, a classification of homonyms should reflect this distinctive feature. Also, the paradigm of each word should be considered, because it has been observed that the paradigms of some homonyms coincide completely, and of others only partially.

Accordingly, Professor A. I. Smirnitsky classified homonyms into two large classes: 1. Full homonyms, 2. Partial homonyms

Full lexical homonyms are words which represent the same category of parts of speech and have the same paradigm.

Homonymy in the book of Lewis Carroll "Alice in Wonderland"

E. g match, n. — a game, a contest

match, n. - a short piece of wood used for producing fire

wren, n. - a member of the Women's Royal Naval Service wren, n. - a bird

Partial homonyms are subdivided into three subgroups:

A. Simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words which belong to the same category of parts of speech. Their paradigms have one identical form, but it is never the same form, as will be seen from the examples.

E.g. (to) found, v.

found, v. (Past Indefinite, Past Participle of to find)

to lay, v.

lay, v. (Past Indef. Of to lie)

to bound, v.

bound, v. (Past Indef, Past Part, of to bind)

B.Complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words of different categories of parts of speech which have one identical form in their paradigms.

E.g. rose, n.

rose, v. (Past Indef. Of to rise)

maid, n.

maid, v. (Past Indef, Past Part, of to make)

left, adj.

left, v. (Past Indef, Past Part, of to leave)

bean, n.

been, v. (Past Part, of to be)

one, num.

won, v. (Past Indef, Past Part, of to win)

C. Partial lexical homonyms are words of the same category of parts of speech which are identical only in their corresponding forms.

E.g. to lie (lay, lain), v.

to lie (lied, lied), v.

to hang (hung, hung), v.

to hang (hanged, hanged), v.

to can (canned, canned)

can (could)

II.2.3 Homonyms in the book

Lewis Carroll used many stylistic devices in his book. One of them is pun. This definition of pun is given in the dictionary of literary terms of J.A.CUDDON.1979 Published by Penguin Books: "Pun-a figure of speech which involves a play upon words. The Greek term is paronomasia. One of the earliest types of word-play, the pun is widespread in many literatures and gives rise to a fairly universal form of humour" Lewis Carroll used homonyms to create the humourous effect, some dialogues are based on the play upon words, and it causes misunderstanding. Here are the extracts from the book where homonyms are used on this purpose.

1. "Mine is a long tale!" said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing. "It is a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you call it sad?" And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this:

"Fury said to

a mouse, That

he met in the house, 'Let

us both go

to law: I

will prosecute you.

Come, I'll

take no denial; We

must have

a trial:

For really

this morning I've

nothing

to do.'

Said the

mouse to

the cur,

'Such a trial,

dear Sir, With

no jury

or judge,

would

be wasting our

breath.'

I’ll be

judge,

I'll be

Jury,’

Said cunning

old

Fury:

'I'll

try

the

whole

cause,

and

condemn

you to

death.'"

This way L. Carroll realizes the unwanted mistake of Alice, caused by homonymy

of the words "tale" and "tail": and there appeared the verse in the shape of mouse's

tail.

'Tale' and 'tail' are homophonesTale.

tale-['teil]-w., a story, number, count (Practical English Dictionary)

tale —n., a story, told story <Old English talu ; Old German zala (german Zahl "number"); Old Island tola "story; number" (A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms)

Webster's School Dictionary:

- Tale \ ʹtāl \ n 1 : man oral relation or recital <a tale of woe> 2: a story about imaginary event <a fairy tale> 3 : a false story : LIE 4: a piece of harmful gossip <all sorts of tales were going around about them> 5 a : COUNT 1, TALLY b : anumber of things taken together : TOTAL [ Old English talu ]

Tail

Tail-n.,<Old English taegel; Old German zagal (german dial. Zagel); Old Island tagl "a tail of a horse"; got. tagl "hair"(A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms)

Webster's School Dictionary:

-tail \ʹtāl \ n 1: the rear end or a lengthened growth from the rear end of the body of an animal 2: something resembling an animal's tail <tail of a kite> [Old English tegel]

Tail-[teil]-n., the projecting continuation of the backbone at the hinder end of an animal(Practical English Dictionary)

2. "You can draw water out of a water-well," said the Hatter; "so I should think youcould draw treacle out of a treacle-well - eh, stupid?"

"But they were in the well," Alice said to the Dormouse, not choosing to notice thislast remark.

"Of course they were," said the Dormouse: "well in".

Here Carroll continues playing upon words: by changing the word order he changes words' meaning. He used the proper homonym 'well' in this joke.

Well

Well-['wel]-adv. In a good manner or degree. - a. In good health; suitable. Well-[wel]-n. a deep hole for water; a spring. - v. i. to flow out or up (Practical English Dictionary)

well[wel] >(A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms)

I n., a deep hole for water <Old English wella; Old German wella (Germ. Welle) "a wave"; Old Island veil "boiling"; relative Lit. vilnis "wave"; Russian eonna II adv., in a good manner or degree <Old English wel; Old German wela, wola (Germ. wohl); Old Island vel, Got. waila; relative Latin velle "to want"

Webster's School Dictionary:

Well \ʹwel\ n 1 a : an issue of water from the earth : a pool fed by a spring b: a source of supply: WELLSPRING <was a well of information> 2: a hole sunk into earth to reach a natural deposit (as of water, oil, or gas) 3 something suggesting a well (as in being damp, cool, deep, or dark) [Old English welle] Well adv.la: in a pleasing or desirable manner <me party turned out well> b : in a good or proper manner < did the work well> 2; in a full or generous manner < eat well> <the orchard bore well> 3: with reason to courtesy: PROPERLY <we could not very well refuse> 4: in all respects <a well deserved ovation> 5: in an intimate way<know a person well> 6: without trouble or difficulty <I could well have gone> 8: exactly la <remember it well> [Old English wel]

3. "It's a mineral, I think," said Alice.

"Of course it is," said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree to everything that Alice said: "there's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is - 'The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours." The author uses the homonymy of the word "mine". It's a proper homonym.

Mine

Mine-pron., that belonging to me(Practical English Dictionary)

Mine-n., a deep hole for digging out coal, metals, etc.; an underground gallery with a charge of explosive; a large shell or canister of explosive placed in the sea to destroy ships. (Practical English Dictionary)

A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms: Mine

Ipron., that belonging to me < Old English mīm; Old German mīm (Germ, mein); Old Island minn, Got. meins; relative Russian меня>

IIn., an underground gallery with a charge of explosive; a deep hole for digging out coal, metals, etc. <XIII, from (Old) French mine, perhaps from Celt. (Middle Island, Gael, mein "ore")>v., to obtain from a mine <XIV>

Webster's School Dictionary:

ˡmine \min, 'mīm\ adj., archaic : my - used before a word beginning with a vowel or h <mine eyes> <mine host> or sometimes as a modifier of a preceding noun<mother mine> [Old English mm]

²mine \'mīn\ pron., sing or pl in construction : that which belongs to me : thosewhich belong to me - used without a following noun as an equivalent in meaning tothe adjective my

³mine \'mīn\ n ; a pit or tunnel from which mineral substances (as coal or gold) are

taken 2 : a deposit of ore 3: a subterranean passage under an enemy position 4a : acharge buried in the ground and set to explode when disturbed (as by an enemy) b :an explosive device placed underwater to sink enemy ships 5: a rich source ofsupply <a mine of information> [Middle French]

mine \'mīn\ vb l : to dig a mine 2: to obtain from a mine <mine coal> 3: to work in a mine 4a : to burrow in the earth : dig or from mines under a place b : to lay military mines in or under <mine a harbor>

4."And how many hours a day did you do lessons?" said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.

"Ten hours the first day," said the Mock Turtle: "nine the next and so on." "What a curious plan!" exclaimed Alice.

"That's the reason they're called lessons," the Gryphon remarked: "because they lessen from day to day."

The character gives the funny etymology of the noun lesson. Of course, he is not as serious as I am. The author used the pair of homophones:

Lesson

Lesson-[lesn]-n., a portion of scripture read in church; something to be learnt by a pupil; a part of course of teaching; an experience that teaches. (Practical English Dictionary)

A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms:

Lesson (96,83%) n., a part of course of teaching; <XIII, from (Old) French leqon\ -Latin lectio, lection "collecting, reading" from lect-, stem pp from legere "to collect; to read">

Webster's School Dictionary:

Lesson \ʹles-n\ n 1 : a passage from sacred writings read in a worship servise

2 : a piece of instruction <the story carries a lesson>; esp : a reading or exercise to be studied by a pupil <master each lessori> 3 a : something learned by study or experience <the lessons of life> b: a rebuke or punishment meant to forestall the repetition of an offence <gave the naughty child a lessori> [Old French legon, from Latin lectio "act of reading", from legere "to read"]

Lessen

A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms:

(3,17%) v., to decrease <XIV, from less, comparative of little a.,"small": Old English lÿtel, compar. Iæssa; Old Friz. lēssa>

Webster's School Dictionary:

Lessen \'les-n\ vb : to make or become less less \ʹles\ adj. 1 : of a small number: FEWER <less than three> 2 : of lower rank, degree, or importance < no less a person than the principal> 3a : of reduced size or extent b : more limited in quantity <in less time> [Old English læs, adv. and n., and læssa, adj.]

Lessen-[lesn]-v. t. to diminish. (Practical English Dictionary)

5."Nothing can be clearer than that. Then again - before she had this fit' - you never had fits, my dear, I think?" said the King to the Queen.

"Never!" said the Queen furiously, throwing an inkstand at the Lizard as she spoke.

"Then the words don't fit you," said the King looking round the court with a smile. There was a dead silence.

"It's a pun!" the King added in an angry tone, and everybody laughed, "Let the jury consider their verdict," the King said, for about the twentieth nine that day.

-The King's pun is based on two different meanings of the word 'fit':

1. fit-[fit]-n., a sudden passing attack of illness; a seizure with convulsions, spasms, loss of consciousness, etc., as of epilepsy, hysteria, etc., a sudden and passing state and mood. (Practical English Dictionary)

2. fit-a. well-suited, worthy; proper, becoming; ready; in good condition. (Practical English Dictionary)

A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms: Fit

In., a sudden passing attack of illness <Old English fitt "a struggle";

IIn., "part of a ballad; musical stanza" <Old English fitt; perhaps relative German Fitze; Old Island fit

IIIa., suitable, ready < XIV, source is unknown, perhaps it's connected with II n. v., to suit; to supply <XIV, from IIIa.>

Webster's School Dictionary:

ˡfit \ʹfit\ n 1 : a sudden violent attack of a disorder (an epilepsy) especially whenmarked by convulsions or loss of consciousness 2 : a sudden flurry (as of activity)

˂completed the assignment in a fit of efficiency> 3 : an emotional outburst <afit ofanger> [Old English fitt "strife"]