többértelmségébl

többértelmségébl is a proposed linguistic concept describing the phenomenon whereby a linguistic unit can carry multiple interpretable senses in discourse beyond conventional polysemy. In this view, sense realization is context-sensitive, with different domains or speakers activating distinct yet related interpretations. The term is a neologism used in Hungarian linguistic discussions to describe flexible meaning in language.

Etymology: The term blends elements of többertelműség (polysemy) with an abstract-noun formation pattern common in linguistic terminology. It is a coinage rather than a standard category, appearing mainly in theoretical debates and lacking a single authoritative origin.

Nature and scope: It covers polysemy, homonymy, metaphorical extension, metonymy, and domain-specific jargon, treated as an analytic lens rather than discrete categories. It emphasizes dynamic sense drift across contexts, speakers, and genres, including media, technology, and literature. The framework seeks to capture how multiple senses can be activated, suppressed, or shifted within a single lexical item in different discourse episodes.

Examples and applications: In bilingual or multilingual discourse, a word such as “bank” may denote a financial institution in financial talk and a riverside edge in travel narratives. In technology contexts, “cloud” can refer to storage services or meteorological phenomena. Applications include refining sense inventories in lexicography, improving word-sense disambiguation in natural language processing, and illuminating polyphonic or multi-layered narration in literary studies.

Criticism: Some scholars argue that existing concepts such as polysemy and homonymy already cover these phenomena, and that többértelmségébl may risk blurring distinctions or complicating analyses without offering clear diagnostic criteria.