Investigating the Impact of Polysemy and

Homonymy on Sentence Comprehension in

Urdu: A Comparative Analysis with English

Syeda Malika Batool F2022084007

Zerkaish Fatima f2022084024

Tooba Zubair S2023084016

Submitted to Dr. Bisma

Chapter1.......................................................................................................................................................4
Abstract....................................................................................................................................................4
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................4
Research Objectives................................................................................................................................5
Research Questions.................................................................................................................................5
Significance.............................................................................................................................................5
Delimitation.............................................................................................................................................5
Chapter 2......................................................................................................................................................6
Literature Review....................................................................................................................................6
Methodology............................................................................................................................................6
Chapter3.......................................................................................................................................................7
Data..........................................................................................................................................................7
Discussion................................................................................................................................................8
Chapter4.......................................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................9
1...............................................................................................................................................................9

Chapter1

Abstract

The complexity and effects of homonymy and polysemy in the English and Urdu languages are examined
in this study. The study focuses on the many word meanings and how they affect how well people
understand sentences. The study finds and analyses homonyms and polysemous terms by looking at
articles from the English newspaper Dawn and the Urdu newspaper Mashriq. Additionally, it looks into
how culture affects how these terms are understood. The results show that contextual and cultural
knowledge are essential for recognising the many meanings of these terms. The study advances our
knowledge of language processing and cross-linguistic analysis, which helps teachers and language
students improve their language comprehension.
Introduction
A complex and dynamic phenomenon, language is closely related to human intellect and
civilization. One of the most exciting and difficult characteristics of any language is its ability to
be ambiguous at the same time. Two linguistic phenomena where a single word can have many
meanings are polysemy and homonymy. Words with numerous meanings are related to the
notions of polysemy and homonymy. A term having multiple related meanings that all stem from
the same underlying idea, such as the English word "foot," is said to have polysemy. On the
other hand, homonomy refers to words that have the same spelling or pronunciation but various,
unrelated meanings, such as "bat," which can refer to either a sporting good or a flying mammal.
These linguistic occurrences enrich language but can also lead to ambiguity in the absence of
sufficient context. Because a single word can have numerous meanings, these serve as the focal
areas of attention and study. For those trying to understand Urdu, a language famed for the
cultural, historical, and linguistic diversity of its speakers, polysemy and homonymy can lead to
fascinating complexity.

The goal of this study is to look into the difficulties and enigmas surrounding homonymy and
polysemy in the English and Urdu languages. This study aims to examine in-depth the English
and Urdu meanings of terms. The ultimate goal is to draw attention to the significance of words
having many meanings, which is frequently disregarded and improves our comprehension of
language. Homonymy and polysemy, which are both instances of a single word having multiple
meanings that are not related to one another, can both significantly affect how sentences are
understood and how well a person comprehends the language system as a whole.

Research Objectives
1. To examine how homonymy and polysemy affect the meaning of phrases in both Urdu
and English.

2. To determine the cultural characteristics that influence how homonymous and

polysemous words in Urdu and English are distinguished.

Research Questions
1. 1. How do homonymy and polysemy impact the English and Urdu language's sentence
meaning?
2. What are the cultural characteristics that helps to distinguish between homonymous and
polysemous words in the Urdu and English languages?

Significance
The knowledge acquired from this research will help educators and language learners better
understand language and instructional techniques. It will help new language learners identify
similarities and differences between various language structures.

Delimitation
The researcher has narrowed the scope of the study by choosing just one newspaper from each
language, i.e., the English newspaper Dawn and the Urdu newspaper Mashriq

Chapter 2

Literature Review
Since 2016, specifically, the study of polysemy and homonymy has drawn more interest from
linguists, highlighting the crucial role that these occurrences play in comprehending linguistic
subtlety.

A book by Huang et al. (2017) offers a novel viewpoint on polysemy. It emphasizes the crucial
part played by semantic networks in comprehending the formation and operation of polysemous
words within a language system (Huang, n.d.).

Additionally, homonymy has been a focus of linguistic study. Recent research by Kim et al.
(2018) emphasizes the importance of homonymy in the complexity and comprehension of
language. (Kim, n.d.) They contend that because there is a chance for misinterpretation, learning
homonyms might be difficult for language learners.

Taking up the problem of polysemy and homonymy has been crucial for advancing language
processing systems in the field of computational linguistics. Riaz (2018) made a significant
contribution by investigating the difficulty of separating homonymous and polysemous terms in
Urdu in order to improve machine translation accuracy. Similar to this, a study by Javaid and
Ashraf (2020) explores the challenges associated with applying Natural Language Processing
(NLP) techniques to Urdu due to the language's rich vocabulary of homonymous and
polysemous words.
By providing a thorough quantitative examination of polysemy and homonymy in Urdu, this
research seeks to build on the previous studies in an effort to advance both linguistic
comprehension and cross-language analysis.

Methodology

The Dawn and Mashriq newspapers served as the primary sources for the sample. Homonymous
and polysemous terms are found and listed using manual data extraction in a few chosen
publications.Each word is then studied in context using critical reading strategies, and its effects
on the meaning of the sentence are noted. Cultural study is done to find cultural elements that
might affect how homonymous and polysemous words are understood.Native speakers of Urdu
and English were asked to evaluate sentences containing homonyms and polysemy, and the
interpretations were then compared to the analysis as a means of validation. Data synthesis
include gathering and analysing data, writing findings, and coming to conclusions.

Chapter3

Data
In this study, several instances of homonymy and polysemy in both English and Urdu were
analyzed.

English (Dawn newspaper):

1. Bat: In an English (Dawn newspaper) sports item, the word alluded to cricket's equipment; in
a wildlife one, it denoted a nocturnal mammal.
2. Well: A noun (a source of water), an adjective (signifying excellent health), and an
interjection.
3. Spring refers to both a mechanical item and the season in a technology article.
4. Bear: a subject of a wildlife report and a verb meaning "to tolerate" in a piece of opinion.
5. Race: In athletics, it referred to a race, but in sociocultural contexts, it also referred to an
ethnic group.
6. Star: A celestial object mentioned in a science article and a well-known individual in
entertainment news.
7. Saw: A tool and the past tense from a DIY article8. Rock: A scientific article on a geological
feature and an entertainment article about a musical style.
9. Cold feet: Literal meaning in a weather report, but in a relationship-related piece, it refers to
backing out of a commitment.
10. Head: A physical feature in health news and a leader in corporate news.
Urdu (Mashriq newspaper):
1. (Dhaar): Used to describe a knife's edge in a recipe and rain in a weather report in Urdu
(Mashriq newspaper).
2. (Koh): In geography, a mountain, and in poetry, sadness.
3. (Baat): A linguistic term that refers to a legal issue.
4. (Pathar): A science paper with stone in it and a cultural piece with heartlessness.
5. (Chamcha): A flatterer in a political analysis and a spoon in a cookery column.
6. (Bal): Power in a religious piece and hair in a beauty column.
7. (Garam): Trendy in entertainment news and hot in weather reports.
8. High in a geographic environment and proud in a social issue.
9. (Karam): Kindness in a social setting and a worm in a scientific article.
10. (Door): Distinction in an opinion piece and distance in a trip story.

It is evident from contextual analysis that these homonymous and polysemous words have
various meanings that have a big influence on how sentences are understood as a whole.
Moreover, how these terms are understood depends greatly on cultural context. demonstrating
how the understanding of such phrases is greatly influenced by the cultural environment.

Discussion

A selection of articles from the Dawn and Mashriq newspapers was carefully picked to begin the
research. The chosen compositions include themes on politics, culture, and sports. We look at a
total of 4 pieces, two from each publication.
Homonym and polysemy incidence in the selected publications is carefully examined. The words
"bat," "well," "spring," and others are examples of homonyms in the English newspaper Dawn.
Polysemy includes words like "head," "race," "star," and others. The Urdu newspaper Mashriq
classifies some terms as homonyms, such as "‫" "بات‬,‫" "کوہ‬,‫دھار‬," while classifying others as
polysemous, such ‫" "بل‬,‫" "چمچہ‬,‫پتھر‬," and others are recognized as polysemy.

The term "bark" is discovered in the data extraction phase to be a homonym in English since it
may refer to both the bark of a dog and the outer layer of a tree in various circumstances. The
word "" is considered a homonym in Urdu since it may be used to refer to both "rain" and the
"edge of a knife" in various contexts. Similar polysemous terms were discovered, including
"head" (a physical component, the person in charge) in English and "" (a word, stuff) in Urdu.

By examining these examples, it can be shown that homonymy and polysemy have a major
influence on the meaning of sentences in both languages. The precise meanings of these words
and, by extension, the sentence's overall meaning, depend on the context in which they are
employed. For example, the English phrase "The head will be here soon" had a completely
different connotation depending on whether the word "head" was used to refer to a physical
bodily component or a person in authority.
The circumstances in which these terms are used reveal that the meanings of these words vary
greatly depending on the text in which they are used. Depending on the content of the article, the
term "bat" could refer to a nocturnal animal or a piece of sporting equipment.

The context in which these words are used indicates variations in meaning. For instance, 'khoo'
might, depending on the situation, either represent a mountain or sadness.
The distinction between the meanings of these nouns depends on cultural traits as well. For
instance, in Western culture, the phrase "cold feet" frequently denotes hesitation or a lack of
bravery before an important event.
The interpretation of these terms is also influenced by cultural factors. For instance, the
homonym "‫ "چمچہ‬in Urdu can signify either a spoon or a flatterer. Only with a knowledge of the
cultural implications of this word in a political context is it conceivable to interpret "‫ "چمچہ‬as a
flatterer.
The discovered sentences are presented to a group of native English and Urdu speakers during
the validation phase. These people's interpretations were generally consistent with the
researcher's study. It's particularly fascinating to see how culture affects how words are
understood. For instance, in a statement concerning marriage, English speakers who are familiar
with Western wedding customs quickly understood the meaning of "cold feet," but Urdu
speakers understood "" to be flattering in a political context.

Chapter4

Conclusion

The investigation concluded that homonymy and polysemy considerably alter sentence meaning
in both languages, and that cultural awareness aids in the differentiation of these terms. The
findings of the study illuminated the complex interrelationship between language and culture.
It is clear from the research that homonymy and polysemy have a major influence on sentence
meaning in both Urdu and English, with contextual and cultural variables being key in
identifying and comprehending these terms. It highlighted the significance of context and
cultural familiarity in reading homonymous and polysemous words, illuminating the intricacies
of language interpretation.

Huang, C.-R. (n.d.). Mandarin Chinese Words and Parts of Speech: A Corpus-based Study.
Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved May 10, 2023, from https://www.routledge.com/Mandarin-
Chinese-Words-and-Parts-of-Speech-A-Corpus-based-Study/Huang-Hsieh-Chen/p/book/
9780367598372

Kim, K. (n.d.). A Humanized View of Second Language Learning Through Creative Writing A
Humanized View of Second Language Learning Through Creative Writing: A Korean Graduate
Student in the United States. Retrieved May 19, 2023, from
https://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1089&context=jcws