A5. Introduction to Sense Discrimination

✅ Summary: 201EN A5 – Introduction to Sense Discrimination

This lesson introduces the foundational concepts of homonymy and polysemy, which are critical for determining how to handle multiple meanings of a word in dictionary entries using FLEx.

🎯 Learning Objective

By the end of the lesson, learners understand:

• When to create one entry with a single sense
  
  

• When to add multiple senses to one entry
  
  

• When to create entirely separate entries for the same form
  
  

🔍 Key Concepts

1. Semantic Continuum

• Meanings of words range from completely unrelated to very closely related.
  
  

• The degree of relatedness determines how entries and senses are handled.
  
  

2. Homonymy

• Homonyms: Same form, unrelated meanings (e.g., bear the animal vs. bare).
  
  

• Types:
  
  

  • Homographs: Same spelling, different meanings (e.g., tear [teɪr] vs. tear [tɪər])
    
    

  • Homophones: Same pronunciation, different meanings (e.g., two, too)
    
    

• In dictionaries, homonyms are treated as separate entries.
  
  

3. Polysemy

• A single form with related meanings (e.g., hand as a body part, a clock hand, or a helping hand).
  
  

• These are grouped in one entry with multiple senses.
  
  

• Involves conceptual extendedness: core meaning gradually expands into abstract uses.
  
  

4. Homosemy

• Meanings are so closely related they can be treated as one sense in the entry.
  
  

🔤 FLEx Tools & Practice

• Where to record pronunciation: Either in the Pronunciation field or in the Lexeme Form using an IPA writing system.
  
  

• FLEx Activities:
  
  

  • Identify and enter homophones (e.g., maire vs. mère)
    
    

  • Create and edit homographs (e.g., fier ‘to trust’ vs. fier ‘proud’)
    
    

  • Insert figurative senses and classify them (e.g., fort → ‘strong’ vs. ‘expensive’)
    
    

🧠 Types of Senses

1. Primary Sense – Core literal meaning
   
   

2. Secondary Sense – Related but slightly shifted meaning
   
   

3. Figurative Sense – Abstract meaning via metaphor, metonymy, etc.
   
   

📚 Additional Resources

• Bartholomew & Schoenhals (2019)
  
  

• Roberts, Hedinger, and Gravina (2014)
  
  

This is the first of two lessons on Sense Discrimination. The second lesson (A6) offers practical guidelines for applying these concepts during dictionary entry creation.

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