The conflict of homonyms : does it exist?

Abstract

The present article is concerned with the study of the conflict of homonyms. Allegedly the merging of different lexical units under one form can explain a number of linguistic processes, such as the loss of one of the words, the distributional restriction or narrowing in meaning, and the modification of the form of the elements involved. We will assess under which circumstances the interference may occur and conclude that the homonymic clash is not accountable for many of the changes that have been traditionally ascribed to it, since it is not likely to happen due to the disambiguating effect of the context.