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explosive noise" – bang, n. "a fringe of hair combed over the
forehead"; mew, n. "the sound a cat makes" – mew, n. "a sea gul").
One of the most debatable points in semasiology is the
demarcation line between homonymy and polysemy, i.e. between
different meanings of one word and the meanings of two or more
homonymous words. Scientists use different criteria to distinguish
between polysemy and homonymy.
1. Semantic criterion. It is usually held that if a connection
between various meanings is apprehended by the speaker, they are
to be considered as making up the semantic structure of a
polysemantic word, otherwise it is a case of homonymy. This
traditional criterion implying that the difference is reduced to the
difference between related and unrelated meanings is not reliable
due to its subjectivity and to the fact that it cannot be applied to a
large group of Modern English words made as a result of
conversion.
2. The criterion of distribution. It is helpful in cases of
lexico-grammatical homonyms (e.g. the homonymic pair paper n.
– paper v.) but it fails in case of lexical polysemy.
3. The criterion of spelling. Homonyms differing in graphic
forms such as flower-flour are easily perceived to be two different
lexical units but there are numerous exceptions to the validity of
the present criterion. That is why it is lexicographers’ duty to
define the boundaries of each word, i.e. to differentiate homonyms
and to unite lexico-grammatical variants deciding on the nature of
the object analyzed.

3. Synonymy
Synonyms are traditionally described as words different in
sound-form but identical or similar in meaning. This definition has
been severely criticized on the following points:
1) it cannot be applied to polysemantic words (e.g. the verb
to look is usually regarded as a synonym of to watch, to observe,

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