#polysemy

Polysemous / Polysemy Identity ( illustrative flags )

Polysemy is the capacity of a single word or symbol to have multiple meanings / definitions / more than one connotation ( even if some of those definitions / meanings seemingly contradict each other. )

When related to one's identity it can refer to multiple things

One who is a specific identity, with that identity having multiple meanings / definitions, who identifies with all possible meanings /definitions of that identity ( including those which seem to contradict each other. )

One who is a specific identity, with that identity having multiple meanings / definitions, who identifies with most ( but not all ) meanings / definitions of that identity ( including those which seem to contradict each other. )

One who is a specific identity, with that identity having multiple meanings / definitions, who cycles through all possible meanings / definitions of that identity.

Any combination of the above ( even if putting those definitions together seems to lead to a contradictory identity. )

... and probably a few other definitions which I forgot to include. Obviously it's incredibly broad and inclusive!

( You could also replace "identity" in the above with "symbol" if you wanted to refer to your use of a specific symbol in relation to your identity. )

The flag was inspired by how purple seems to be used for ambiguity or multiplicity in concepts ( here it's for Polysemy itself. ) The outer stripes having contrasting colors and overlapping represents how definitions which seem to be contradictory still encompass the same identity and overlap.

The symbols on the bars ( a cross symbol and an asterisk ) are both used to indicate multiplication. I decided they'd be the best fit for symbols because despite being different shapes, they retain the same symbolic meaning in arithmetic, and fit in with the "multiple" theme. I made plain versions for those who dislike symbols or want to reposition them.

I made a simplified version without the overlap on the top / bottom bars for icons, edits, etc. that can't fit them in. As for how I generally intend for flags to be combined with these, you can check out my Polysemous Bi / Polysem Bi / Polysembi post here.

Similar to Recursive Gender / Recursigender and Dichotomyless / Non-Dichotomy this was mostly a fun exercise in playing around with a broader "concept" identity. I keep bringing math into these flags which is hilarious to me but I really hope I can make similar projects more often.

As always these are free to use anywhere by anyone, just throw me a credit and a link if someone asks for a source! I've uploaded the full .PSD template to my Deviantart ( isobug ) and you can find it at the post source link! It has everything for all versions of the flag and for making combo flags.

Noma- or noman- (nomasexual, nomanromantic, etc.): Having attraction to every gender but binary men; or feeling attraction to all genders except men.

Lesbian: Label for queer attraction to women (QLW/WLQ); being gay for women (gay4women); homo sapphic (WLW/NBLW); or nonman attracted to nonmen (NMLNM).

Some forms take this as a challenge - for instance the rakugo comedian who tells a complicated story without standing up or using more than 1-2 very mild props. Or formal bhara-natyam, where dancers are expected to perform alone for a period of roughly two hours and convey a story from a repertoire of eleven gestures.

But this irks me: from my notes I have what turns out to be a part-quote from Marie-Laure Ryan, that "while polysemy is good for poetry it is bad for science".

Is polysemy good for poetry? I've read a little philosophy of poetry and encountered the idea that what makes a poem 'unparaphrasable', its warp and weft of meanings, is an artifact of the poetic reading itself - much like hyperintensionality, the condition where replacing a term with a logical equivalent no longer works as we would hope, is a byproduct of a context where we care about something (anything) more than logical equivalence. Put more poetically, taking a thing as unique is the recognition of its own self-contained unity, where otherwise from synonymy springs a counterfactual forest.

And while sciences expand language by coining new terms, where we might say that the arts coin new meanings, that's all in service of an ultimate simplification. It benefits us very much to speak polysemically of things we once took to be unrelated, like electricity and magnetism or the motion of planets and the fall of pianos. The Standard Model and the axioms of ZFC both attempt to speak of, ground, all possible phenomena without losing their structure and dissolving into simple reflection ("for all A, A is A"). A model's use is the number of things it can faithfully represent, and useful models proliferate.

I'm being a bit unfair to Ryan, whose next (full) sentence is "It is better to work with a large collection of sharp tools that fulfill precise tasks, rather than a single blunt one, even if everyone cannot share the tools." This is pragmatically and straightforwardly true, and yet the struggle against polysemy that produces these tools, the attempt at doing/saying/pointing-out exactly one thing (and thereby taking that thing as unique), is just as desperately needed in the arts.

Bibliothèque, f: library, bookshelf

Croissant, m: croissant, increasing/growing

Échelle, f: ladder, scale

Ensemble, m: set, co-ord, together

Faire: do, make

Femme, f: woman, wife

Fille, f: girl, daughter

Gauche: left, clumsy

Milieu, m: (social) background, circle, middle

Nœud, m: knot, bow, bond

Nul, m: null, non-existent, hopeless/crappy

Opération, f: operation, surgery

Personne, f: no one, person

Plat, m: dish, flat (adj.)

Plus: more, no more

Porter: carry, wear

Preuve, f: proof, evidence

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/supernatural-season-15-episode-18-review-despair/ 

“I’m still numb about this whole scene. A subset of Supernatural shippiers, the Destiel fans, were likely cheering at this point, watching as Cass professed his love for Dean and all that he represents. This love may not necessarily be described as romantic love, but it is no less significant.”

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/supernatural-fans-are-freaking-out-over-despair-and-tonights-big/ 

“In an emotional farewell speech, Castiel reminded Dean (and the audience) of the deal he made with The Empty -- that if he were to ever find a moment of true happiness, The Empty would come and consume him. Cas found that happiness when he told Dean how he really felt about him -- that Dean was the kindest and most loving man he had ever known, that he loved him, and that through Dean, he had come to love the rest of the world as well.

Cas pushed Dean out of the way, leaving a handprint on his friend's shoulder the same way he had when he rescued Dean from Hell...”

https://www.tvfanatic.com/2020/11/supernatural-season-15-episode-18-review-despair/

“What made that the supposed conclusion to Castiel's arc so sad is that he told Dean he loved him, and Dean didn't say it back.“

https://ew.com/tv/supernatural-despair-castiel/

“It's not the first time Castiel has died, but it's safe to say it will be the last, and as traumatizing as it was, he went out with a smile on his face, saving someone he loved.”

https://www.whattowatch.com/reviews/supernatural-1518-review-despair

“Dean is left behind with dueling realizations that his best friend was in love with him and that he is gone....   Let’s ignore the fact that many fans have waited for this moment for a decade for a second and talk about how much courage it takes to look someone in the eye and tell them how much you love them for everything that they are with the knowledge that they can never love you the same way.”  

https://www.themarysue.com/destiel-reset-2020-timeline/

“Destiel went canon...  But romantic love, even just on one side of this ship, wasn’t new. It was the writers confirming something fandom had seen for, and I cannot stress this enough, OVER A DECADE.It’s almost impossibly rare that a queer ship that was never intended to be seen this way goes from subtext to text.”

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a34600894/supernatural-destiel-season-15-episode-8-castiel/ 

“Two episodes before the end, 'Despair' finally made Supernatural's biggest ship canon... only to then rip it apart just moments later... the timing of this particular farewell doesn't sit right given how often queer characters are killed after finally confessing their love...  it's hard not to see Destiel's final moment as just an extension of the show's "no homo" approach to all-things queer.”

https://www.looper.com/274715/the-outrage-over-supernatural-season-15s-latest-episode/

However, in the latest episode, "Despair," the show not only killed its queer characters all over again, it did so by finally affirming what many fans had long suspected — Castiel is queer and in love with Dean... many long-time fans are disappointed and angry that series writers decided to finally acknowledge the fan belief that Cas and Dean were in love only to immediately kill the one queer character of the two.”

To Summarize the Diversity of Views:

1) Not necessarily romantic

2) They’re best friends

3) It’s romantic on Castiel’s side

4) Dean didn’t say (feel) it back

5) Dean doesn’t love Cas the same way

6) Destiel is now (one-sided) “canon”

7) Castiel is queer (but not Dean)

Close?! I don’t think so!

Man the ship! *Hombrea el bote!

I’m a root beer man. ??Soy un root beer hombre/un hombre de root beer.

How many men (lives in a video game) do you have? ?¿Cuántos hombres tienes?

Man, I’m tired! *¡Hombre, estoy cansado!

Nah, if you want to find words that are used almost the same in every language, you have to go way in the other direction. I’m talking words like “caesium” and “interdimensional”—words whose meanings are so specific and so specialized that they’re unlikely to be used in any other context than their literal context. (E.g. how many idioms do you know involving caesium?)

To answer your question, yes, of course—and so are you, by default. Every single word in every single language covers a range, even if that range is too trivial to note. If it didn’t, each word would apply to one and only thing throughout the history of time, and it would be impossible to generalize. When you create a word, you’re creating (most likely) its initial range, and its initial range may be small. But as you use the word, you expand its range. Sometimes the expansion is so great and so non-obvious that the new expansion has to be listed as a separate definition in the dictionary. Even if the expansion makes sense, you’ll often have to list it. For example, adere in High Valyrian means “slippery”. It also means “fast”. I think it’s pretty obvious how you got from the first one (the initial one) to the second one. Nevertheless, this is nothing that anyone would assume by default. Thus, if you’re making a useful dictionary, you have to list that as a secondary meaning.