Re: Homonyms & polysemes, etc.

In my view, a good way to look for true (and less controversial)
polysemes is to trace a word's historical origin.

For example, Prof. Eve Sweetser has published works on the development
of English modals like "may" and "can." She argues that the synchronic
polysemous uses of the two modals have stemed from metaphorical
extension, so that "may" and "can" originally only denoted the
(objective) obligation/permission, and later on came to denote the
speaker's subjective evaluation/attitude on a situation or event.

So I guess historical data can lend more robust proof to the polysemous
status of a given word.

(Of course, for some words, I believe modern speakers may "forge" links
among their contemporary multiple senses (even if there's actually no
historical relation), whether by analogy, similarity, metaphor, or some
other cognitive mechanisms...)

Chueh-chen

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