A6. Sense Discrimination Guidelines

Summary: 201EN A6. Sense Discrimination Guidelines

This lesson builds on the previous module, “Introduction to Sense Discrimination,” and provides practical guidelines for determining whether meanings should be:

• Separate entries (homonyms),
  
  

• Multiple senses in one entry (polysemy), or
  
  

• A single unified sense (homosemy).
  
  

🔍 Key Concepts:

• Homonymy: Same form, unrelated meanings → separate entries
  Example: “band” (a strip of cloth vs. a group of musicians)
  
  

• Polysemy: Same form, related meanings → one entry with multiple senses
  Example: “walk” as a verb and noun
  
  

• Homosemy: A single clear meaning → one entry with one sense
  Example: “hut” may be treated this way depending on analysis
  
  

✅ Guidelines for Sense Discrimination:

1. Form: Different spelling or pronunciation = different entries
   
   

2. Meaning: Shared core meaning = polysemy; no shared meaning = homonymy
   
   

3. Origin: Same etymology = one entry; different origin = separate entries
   
   

4. Grammatical Category: Distinct parts of speech → separate senses
   
   

5. Native Speaker Intuition: How speakers interpret the senses
   
   

6. Phonological Underspecification: Lack of stress/tone marking can mask distinct meanings
   
   

🔧 Tools & Activities in FLEx:

• Merge Entries: Combine homographs that share meaning
  
  

• Split Entries: Separate meanings that don’t belong together
  
  

• Reorder Senses: Organize by category, core meaning, or frequency
  
  

• Create Subsenses: Group related senses within a main sense
  
  

• Move Senses Between Entries: Adjust misfiled senses
  
  

📚 Criteria for Fine-Grained Sense Distinction:

• Grammatical (e.g., noun vs. verb)
  
  

• Syntagmatic (collocations/context)
  
  

• Paradigmatic (replacement tests)
  
  

• Pragmatic (specialized or figurative meanings)
  
  

• Form-Based (singular vs. plural forms)
  
  

• Usage (restricted social or cultural contexts)
  
  

• Zeugma Test (dual use in one sentence with different meanings)
  
  

• Gloss Caution: Don’t rely solely on translation glosses to define senses
  
  

📝 Final Note:

Learners are encouraged to practice these techniques in FLEx using their own data or the provided sample project. The module ends with a quiz and links to additional resources for deeper study.

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