Revisiting semantic plurality I: mapping the terminology around semantic plurality in nineteenth-century French and German scholarly works

This paper examines how nineteenth-century French and German scholars mobilised semantic plurality in thirty key texts focused on linguistic meaning. Through historical and lexical-semantic analyses, the study traces how scholars from these linguistic traditions contributed to the construction of a terminology (understood as a ‘set of linguistic signs’) that has shaped contemporary understandings of semantic plurality (commonly referred to as polysemy since the end of the nineteenth century). By combining quantitative and qualitative methods, the research identifies key terminological trends in how semantic plurality was put into text, showing that French discourse leaned towards literary and symbolic terms and expressions. At the same time, German scholarship adopted a more holistic, meaning-driven approach. These findings challenge prevailing views in the history of linguistics by emphasising the multidimensional nature of semantic plurality – of which polysemy is only one facet. The paper ultimately calls for a more nuanced, data-driven approach to studying the development of linguistic ideas and highlights the importance of historical perspectives for enriching contemporary semantic theory.