A Comparative Analysis of Polysemy and Homonymy in Tajik and Russian Sports Terminology

Ikran K

Published on: 2026-03-16

Abstract

This article is devoted to a comprehensive linguistic analysis of the mechanisms of the formation of polysemy and homonymy in the sports subsystem of the Tajik and Russian languages. In the context of globalization, sports vocabulary is considered a dynamic system that actively interacts with the standard literary language and other terminological domains. The aim of this work is to identify and comparatively describe semantic processes (polysemy and homonymy) that determine the trajectory of the development of sports terminology in two structurally different languages - Tajik and Russian. To achieve this goal, the following tasks are addressed: To investigate the derivational potential of sports lexemes and their role in the formation of word-formation families. To analyze the phenomenon of cross-sectoral semantic interference and secondary terminologization. To describe models of multi-stage polysemy using the concepts of “field” and “maydon” as examples. To identify the specifics of the emergence of homonyms as a result of terminological differentiation. The results of the study show that sports vocabulary is a powerful source of metaphorical transfers in media and political discourse (e.g., the terms "start," "finish," and "pahlavon"). It has been established that polysemy develops both within the sports sphere (e.g., differentiation of the meanings of the word "double") and beyond it. Particular attention is paid to cognitive differences: while the Russian word “pole” tends toward an agrarian-natural archetype, the Tajik word “maydon” embodies an arena-activity model of struggle and the manifestation of will. The author demonstrates that homonymy in modern sports vocabulary is often secondary, arising in the process of “budding” specialized meanings from commonly used bases (e.g., scout, boxing, character). In conclusion, the intensive development of polysemy and homonymy directly stimulates derivational processes, accelerating the expansion of the lexicon in both languages. The interconnection between these phenomena is confirmed by the use of common methodological approaches and synonymous definitions in the interpretation of terms. This work fills a gap in the comparative study of the Tajik and Russian sports terminological systems.