LessonsDefining Literal Usage: Linguistic Assignment and Speech ConventionQuiz

A shared or homonymous expression may have more than one separately recognized sense. An indicator can select which of those senses a speaker intends without necessarily making that use figurative.

“ʿAyn” can denote an eye, a spring, or another established sense. A construction such as “ʿaynu l-māʾ” selects a water spring. The need for such an indicator does not by itself dissolve the lexical assignment.

It is important to distinguish a selector among established senses from an indicator supporting a figurative transfer. The former resolves ambiguity; the latter participates in a different rhetorical operation.

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How context selects the meaning of a shared term

Defining Literal Usage: Linguistic Assignment and Speech Convention

A shared or homonymous expression may have more than one separately recognized sense. An indicator can select which of those senses a speaker intends without necessarily making that use figurative.

“ʿAyn” can denote an eye, a spring, or another established sense. A construction such as “ʿaynu l-māʾ” selects a water spring. The need for such an indicator does not by itself dissolve the lexical assignment.

It is important to distinguish a selector among established senses from an indicator supporting a figurative transfer. The former resolves ambiguity; the latter participates in a different rhetorical operation.