The polysemy and extended meanings of water or “Nước” lexeme in the Vietnamese language

Abstract

This article aims at illustrating the polysemy of water or “nước” lexeme in the Vietnamese language. The author chose the explanation of this polysemy in the view of Vietnamese scholars and under the prototype method. Both of these ways mentioned the idea of the first meaning of a lexeme and its extended meanings. The findings show that there are 8 meanings of the “nước” lexeme. They are 1) the first or prototypical meaning “colorless, odorless, transparent liquid- stays in lakes, rivers, seas” 2) level of something colored or covered, the shiny cover 3) a speed of a horse 4) general speed measurement 5) a turn in a chess game 6) a country 7) way of action in changing a situation 8) a good characteristic. The polysemous meanings of nước are produced by metaphor and metonymy. The significance of this research conveys that there is a relationship between a specific ethnic mind and its concept of forming its language.