Java e Shkencës 2012 - Universiteti i Prishtinës

KUMTESA
Metaphorization of human body parts names leads to the enrichment of the lexicon
with different terms and words which are used in different contexts enrich the lexicon and
knowing of the meanings of different words. The two types of lexicon enrichment in English
language are: Horizontal Enrichment differently called lexicon enrichment and is realized
through word formation and Vertical Enrichment related to polisemy.
Thus, horizontal enrichment, or lexical one, which is related to the word formation is
the most noticed form of semantic structures. According to David Crystal, when we speak
about word formation or semantic structures, then we refer to the relation of the meanings’
nets which link the lexemes together. As a result, when we speak about semantic structures
and lexical enrichment then we should bear in mind all the possible meaning links of a word.
There are included here even the terms that name the human body parts. The below example
of the word eye I will illustrate the aforementioned theory bringing at the limelight that only
one word can generate many other words in relation to the meaning or word formation:
a
“Eye: each of a pair of globular organs of sight in the head of humans and
vertebrate animals:
Eyebrow: the line of hairs above each of the two human eyes
Eyelid: one of the pieces of covering skin which can move down and close
each of the eyes
Eyeball: the whole of the eye including the part inside the head which forms
more or less round ball.” 236
Whereas when we refer to polisemy as another way of lexicon enrichment, then we
should bear in mind which effects or features of the word we are concentrating on. Thus,
polisemy is “the phenomenon when a single word has two or more meanings, despite the
way it is defined meaning in a certain context.” 237 Multi-meaning words lead as well to the
enrichment of the lexicon on basis of contexts. Consequently, if we refer to an illustrator
example with terms naming human body parts in English language, we would notice as it
follows with the word blood.
“Blood – 1. The red liquid that circulates in the arteries and veins of humans and
other vertebrate animals, carrying oxygen to and carbon dioxide from the tissues of
the body: drops of blood an internal bodily fluid in invertebrates which performs a
236
David Crystal (2002). ‘The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language’.
Cambridge University Press, 2001
237
Gergely Peth, Department of German Linguistics, University of Debrecen, Hungary “What is
Polysemy?– A Survey of Current Research and Results”
~ 202 ~