The Meaning of Polysemous Adjective “Hao(Good)”

Abstract

It is difficult to explain the meaning of polysemous adjectives. Previous scholars have done a number of researches, but there are still two problems unsolved. First, how to describe the meaning of adjective in “Adj + N” compound word? Second, how to describe the meaning of Adjective in “Adj + N” contextual combination? Taking “Hao(Good)” as an example, this paper establishes a framework of semantic analyzing for adjective on the basis of Qualia Structure (see table 1). The research shows that:1) the framework is suitable for analyzing not only the meaning of “Hao(Good)” in “hao(good)+ N” compound word but also in “hao(good) + N” combination.2) The “hao(good) + N” might have multiple meanings, but the “to function well” is its basic meaning.