Bilexicality

Bilexicality refers to the linguistic phenomenon where a single word or morpheme in one language corresponds to two distinct words or morphemes in another language. This concept is often explored in comparative linguistics and historical linguistics to analyze semantic shifts, lexical borrowing, or structural differences between languages. Unlike direct one-to-one translations, bilexicality highlights cases where a single concept or meaning in one language is expressed by two separate lexical units in another, sometimes due to differences in cultural or conceptual framing.

An example of bilexicality can be observed in the English words "father" and "mother," which in some languages may be expressed by distinct terms, but in others, a single word might cover both concepts (e.g., "parent" in some contexts). Conversely, languages like German or Russian often have separate words for "father" and "mother," while English may use a single term like "parent" in certain contexts, demonstrating bilexicality in reverse. Another instance is seen in the translation of "happiness" into languages that distinguish between joy (*glück*) and contentment (*zufriedenheit*), where a single English word corresponds to two German terms.

Bilexicality can also arise from semantic specialization or generalization. For instance, the Latin word *frater* ("brother") and *soror* ("sister") may correspond to broader terms in some modern languages, while others retain separate words for male and female siblings. This phenomenon is particularly relevant in studying language evolution, where lexical items may split or merge over time due to cultural or grammatical changes.

Research on bilexicality often involves corpus linguistics and computational methods to identify patterns across languages. It provides insights into how languages encode meaning differently and can influence translation, lexicography, and cross-linguistic communication. Understanding bilexicality helps linguists and translators navigate the complexities of lexical equivalence and semantic representation across linguistic boundaries.