Multimeaningfulness In English And Serbian

Abstract

In this paper we examine conceptual structures that may communicate different meanings when employed in contemporary general and specialised English and Serbian. The analysis reveals that various word classes may be polysemic. The results suggest that the use of English and Serbian lexemes is context-dependent, and that lexeme usage in English is even more context-oriented than lexeme usage in Serbian. The findings also indicate that the same lexemes, slightly different or completely different lexical units can convey the same concept meanings in the two analysed languages.

Keywords

• cognitive theory
• english and serbian
• polysemous primary and secondary lexemes
• semantics and pragmatics
• synchronic approach