8 October 2013, Logic Tea, Jonathan Shaheen

Abstract

This talk will begin with a presentation of lexicographic, semantic, and metaphorical definitions of the categories of homonymy, polysemy, and monosemy. It will then introduce and discuss a range of tests for lexical ambiguity developed by Lakoff, Kripke, and others, with reference to paradigmatic examples of homonymy, polysemy, and monosemy. In particular, the efficacy of the tests will be evaluated and explained. The talk will end with a discussion of some subtleties involved in applying the tests to the causal connective `because'.

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