The Phenomenon of Polysemy across Languages: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach

Abstract

Polysemy is considered one of the fundamental features of natural languages, as words are not assigned a single, specific meaning distinct from all other meanings, but are rather used to express multiple different meanings linked by a certain degree of relatedness. This study aims to explain the patterns of polysemous relations in natural languages, as identified by linguists across historical and contemporary traditions, and across various human civilizations that have produced linguistic thought. This is also evident in the Arabic linguistic tradition, particularly within rhetorical and stylistic studies, through relations that are mainly classified under metaphor and metonymy. The study is based on the hypothesis that polysemy is a constrained and non-arbitrary phenomenon within conceptual structure, and that patterns of linguistic semantic relations are grounded in an innate biocognitive foundation referred to as “core knowledge,” which consists of explanatory conceptual structures that impose constraints on a substantial part of conceptual structure and on the relations that arise within it. Within this framework, the study seeks to explain how patterns of polysemy and semantic generation are grounded in this structure, while highlighting its role in accounting for the systematic organization and semantic extension of meaning.