Enantiosemia and lexical dynamics in medical French terminology

Bobokalonov, Odilshoh, Бобокалонов, Одилшох, Bobokalonov, Odilshoh

Хорижий лингвистика ва лингводидактика · 2025-yil

Annotatsiya

Enantiosemia defined as the phenomenon where a single lexical item expresses two diametrically opposed meanings presents a compelling subject of inquiry within the broader field of lexical semantics. While often explored in general language, this study investigates its manifestation within the specialized domain of French medical terminology, an area where semantic precision is critical. The research aims to identify contemporary enantiosemic terms used in medical contexts, trace their historical and semantic evolution, and evaluate the linguistic mechanisms that enable their functional disambiguation. To achieve this, we conducted a qualitative and quantitative analysis of selected terms—hôte, accoucher, sanctionner, and drogue—drawing on corpora of modern French medical texts, historical dictionaries, and terminological databases. Our findings reveal that enantiosemia in medical French often stems from diachronic semantic bifurcation, where historical polysemy evolves into distinct, contextually bound meanings. For example, hôte may denote either a host or a guest, but in biomedical discourse it unequivocally refers to the organism hosting another. Similarly, accoucher alternates between the meanings “to give birth” and “to deliver a baby,” depending on grammatical structure and agency. Furthermore, the study highlights how syntactic roles, lexical collocations, and pragmatic conventions contribute to disambiguating these terms in clinical usage, effectively neutralizing potential confusion. Notably, statistical data reflect a semantic shift over time—such as the transformation of drogue from a neutral term for remedy to one primarily associated with illicit substances—illustrating how cultural attitudes and professional practices shape lexical dynamics. The study concludes that, although enantiosemia remains a marginal phenomenon in specialized discourse, it holds significant value in revealing the interplay between historical language development and contemporary communicative needs. It also underscores the necessity for terminological awareness among practitioners, linguists, and lexicographers working with medical texts. By examining enantiosemia not as an anomaly but as an adaptive feature of language, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of semantic flexibility and the evolution of terminological precision.

Maqola ma’lumotlari
MualliflarBobokalonov, Odilshoh, Бобокалонов, Одилшох, Bobokalonov, Odilshoh
JurnalХорижий лингвистика ва лингводидактика
Nashr sanasi2025-04-25
Jild3
Son4/S
Betlar222-232
TilIngliz
DOI10.47689/2181-3701-vol3-iss4/s-pp222-232

Kalit so‘zlar

enantiosemia, lexical dynamics, French medical terminology, semantic shift, diachronic semantics, polysemy, specialized discourse, linguistic disambiguation, энантиосемия, лексическая динамика, французская медицинская терминология, семантический сдвиг, диахроническая семантика, полисемия, специализированный дискурс, разрешение лексической многозначности., enantiosemiya, leksik dinamika, fransuz tibbiyot terminologiyasi, semantik o‘zgaruvchanlik, diaxron semantika, polisemiyalik, ixtisoslashgan nutq, ko‘p ma’nolilik chegarasi

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