In modern world one of the leading branches in linguistics is cognitive semantics which studies the meanings of language units as the result of human cognitive activity and the way of representation of knowledge.   

In contemporary linguistics extremely important aspect is the investigation of typological features of semantic universals. One of the most significant semantic universals is regular polysemanticism and secondary lexical nomination.   

English vocabulary is polysemantic, that is, it possesses polysemanticism.  In the English language the notions «multilingualism» and «polysemy» are synonyms, which  denotes that words have two or more interrelated and historical meanings [1].

The currency of this topic is grounded on undeveloped theory of cognitive and semantic basis of polysemanticism as one of the principal mental processes that is conductive to the meanings of the words being changed and developed, the verbs in particular. Revelation of mental structures standing for polysemantic expressions and determination of their composition and also the rules of generation of these units allow toremove many obstacles when developing the samples of artificial intelligence, modern dictionaries and translating machines.

Most scholars consider polysemy as an objective language feature, besides, one of the conditions of its existing and developing as the main semasiological law. Polysemy is rightly considered to be one of the language universals. One scholars note that polysemantic words are of majority: ≈80, the others - ≈50% [2].

Therefore, polysemy is a fundamental characteristic of human language. It is polysemy that predetermines the universal character of the language as means of communication.

But in each language as a result of concrete peculiarities of its historical development there emerges a distinctive system of external divergences which forms an individual, unique system of language meanings.

Linguists differentiate different reasons of emergence of polysemy. It was V. V. Vinogradov who defined the idea of causality of lexical polysemanticism most distinctly and categorically: "None of the language could express each concrete idea by means of an independent word or root element. Concreteness of experience is boundless, the resources of the very language are severely restricted" [6].

Let us conclude:

1) polysemy is the result of disproportion which exists between the number of signs of speech and  enormous number of notions that seek for being expressed in language;

2) polysemy is caused by antinomy of the designated and  one that designates by antinomy predetermined by asymmetry of the language sign: one meaning may relate to the two designated;

3) lexical polysemy of a word is the result of operation of the law of parsimony;

4) the causes of polysemy – in the context;

5) polysemy is predetermined by correlation of the very objects and phenomena which are reflected in the human consciousness in the form of "clusters" of the meanings;

6) cause – in special nature of human thinking which reflects an intention of human being to cognize reality in correlation and interdependence of its objects and phenomena. Lexical polysemy thus reflects universal laws of thinking.  

The emergence of a new meaning in the word is always a complex and interesting question. Wordage is not something invariable. Indeed, the semantic history of words in many cases represent changes in life conditions of society.

The most widespread in communication are the verbs that can have up to 15 different meanings [5]. The verbs from the point of view of syntax are the central elements of simple sentences and have a direct influence on the presence and realization of the other parts of the sentence.

Also multiple meaning of words makes difficulties in translating, as one is to take into consideration a position of the verb, that is, what preposition is before or after the word, and also time, context and the other factors.  One of the brightest examples is the verb выполнить (to do) that has many variations such as, выполнитьжелание – fulfill a dream, выполнятьправила – abide by rules, выполнятьобязательство – accomplish, выполнитьработу – put through, выполнитьобещание – keep a promise.  In its turn, any of the listed verbs will have additional meanings: fulfill – удовлетворять; abide – терпеть, выносить; accomplish – оформлять, достигать; put through – соединятьпотелефону; keep – держать, хранить, управлять and so on.

The most commonly used classification of the verbs is the classification by Z. Vendler [7]. He distinguishes four classes of predicates: states, activities, achievements and accomplishments.

Levin has also proposed  the classification where the cognitive peculiarities are taken into account more than the semantic characteristics.  The important aspect is an assumption that the behaviour of the verb especially in relation to interpretation of its arguments is determined more by its meaning. The presence of regular correlations between the verb meaning and verb function is indicative of the fact that not all the meanings of the verb are to be registered by dictionaries, as the speaker has an ability to guess,  to develop a conceptual guesswork and to define by himself the features of the verbs in the given context.  In other words, lexical knowledge of language users must obligatorily comprise knowledge of the meanings of separate words, of the meanings of the components determining syntactic behaviour of the verb, and the information about general principles that specify functioning of the verb based on its meaning.

Let us consider the most polysemantic verbs in the English language.

The verb to take:

- Взять, брать

Ann took your pencil. – Анна взяла твой карандаш.

- Пить, принимать пищу

It’s useful to take some water before meal. – Полезно выпить немного воды перед едой.

- Ловить, поймать на месте преступления

My friend and I like to take fish. – Мой друг и я любим ловить рыбу.

- Сесть (в транспорт), занимать место

Jonh takes bus every evening. – Джон садится на автобус каждый вечер.

Theverb to make

- Делать

She must make a telephone call. – Она должна сделать телефонный звонок.

- Создавать

My mom made a cake. – Моя мама сделала торт.

- Причинять

The children made such a mess in a sitting room. – Дети сделали беспорядок в гостиной.

- Заставить кого-то сделать что-то

He can’t make her learn, if she doesn’t want to. – Он не может заставить её учиться, если она не хочет.

- Стать

I think she’ll make a good lawyer. – Я думаю, она станет хорошим адвокатом.

- Зарабатывать

Mike makes $70 000 a year as an engineer. – Майк зарабатывает 70 000 долларов в год, работая инженером.

The verb to keep:

- Хранить

I keep my copybooks in a bookcase. – Я храню свои тетради в книжном шкафу.

- Сохраняться, держаться

The weather keeps warm. – Погода держится теплой.

- Вести

Father keeps house in our family. – Отец ведет хозяйство в нашей семье. Miranda does not like to keep a diary. – Миранда не любит вести дневник.

- Продолжать

She kept discussing this theme. – Она продолжала обсуждать эту тему.

The verb to get is one of the most polysemantic in the English language. These are its examples:

It is often translated as «получать» (receive) in combination with a pronoun or noun:

I have got his gift. – Я получила его подарок.

If an adjective follows after get, the verb usually has meaning «становиться» (become):

He got annoyed after that meeting. – Он стал раздраженным после той встречи.

It is used in the meaning of «покупать что-либо» (buy): We got this dress for our mother. – Мы купили это платье для нашей мамы.

Приносить (что-либо для кого-то) ( bring):

I’ll get you a cup of tea. – Я принесу тебе чашку чая.

Сделать, закончить (справиться с какой-то работой) (finish):

She’ll get the article by morning. – К утру она закончит статью.

Уговорить (настоять на том, чтобы кто-либо сделал что-то) (insist on):

He got her to work in his company. – Он уговорил её работать в его компании.

Переносить (что-либо) (carry), сменять (профессию, занятие) (change profession):

I want to get the armchair to the bedroom. – Я хочу перенести кресло в спальню. He got to court of law last year. – Он начал работать в суде в прошлом году.

Добираться, приезжать (reach to, arrive):

It takes three hours to get to the railway station. —Необходимо три часа, чтобы добраться до железнодорожной станции.

Зарабатывать (earn)

She has gotten USD 15 000 this year. – Она заработала 15 000 долларов в этом году.

Понимать (understand)

I didn’t get the topic. –Я не поняла тему

The verb to have

Polysemantic verb to have is influenced by the words standing after it and having influence on it.

If a noun stands after have, its usual meaning is «иметь»

I have this collection of books in my library. – Я имею эту коллекцию книг в своей библиотеке.

It is translated as «мочь» (be able to), «хотеть» (want), «быть в состоянии», if a noun or infinitive stands after to have.

I have a task you to do. – Я хочу, чтобы ты выполнил задание. They have a possibility to help you. – Они могут помочь тебе.

To have means «надо», «нужно» (need+to, must+Inf.), if it is followed by Infinitive. You have to come to classes every day. – Ты должен приходить на уроки каждый день.

If have is followed by the verb in the third form, it is indicative of  Perfect Tenses. This group of tenses is needed to indicate that the action occurs (have occurred or will have occurred) before another action. In such cases have is an auxiliary verb and not translated into the Russian language.
When we arrived, they had just left. – Когда мы приехали, они только что уехали.

It is impossible to determine «basic» aspect type in most of predicates, but,  for convenience of description,  most types of events are given the type on default. So,  the verb take has primary type  «accomplishment». But influenced by the changes occurring in the structure of frame, this verb can be referred to the verbs of «activity» in the second cluster of its meanings .

Polysemy in the group of verbs in English can be described in terms of cognitive approach which considers it as conceptual phenomenon that manifests in the lexical units grouped around a prototype and forming polysemantic conceptual categories of special type – radial categories. The radial categories are characterized by relatedness of the meanings via common cognitive principles and formalized in radial networks.

Polysemanticism of the English verb reflects its frame structure actualized by various meanings of this verb. All the additional meanings and augments of the meaning can be obtained as a result of different modifications of frame structures and their transformation into the frames of another concept when filling in the slots not by conventional fillers but simply compatible with the semantics of the whole constructions.

One differentiates lexico-semantic variants of the word – these are separate meanings of the word being to each other in relations of semantic derivation and expressed by one sound. The term «lexico-semantic version of the word» is introduced  by A. I. Smirnitsky. Polysemantic word is the unity of  LSV, the number of which equals the number of individual meanings. LSV is the unity of sounding and one of the meanings of the word [4].

For example: дупло (hollow): 1) пустота в стволе дерева(in tree); 2) отверстие, дырочка в зубе (in a tooth); потолок (ceiling): 1) верхнее внутреннее перекрытие помещения (in the room); 2) предельная степень чего-либо (upper limit of smth);  jug: 1) deep vessel with a handle and lip; 2) prison; preach: 1) deliver a sermon; 2) give moral advice; 3) urge, recommend; correct: 1) true, right; 2) proper, in ace, with good taste or convention. It is impossible to consider LSV as ideal entity.

Thus, V.А. Zvegintsev writes about «lexico-semantic variant of the meaning»; F.А. Litvin notes that «variation of lexical meaning of the word represents its lexico-semantic variants» writes further about signs by means of which the considered ideal objects are differentiated  – lexico-semantic variants. LSV – is a totality of sound and meaning, it is a sign taken in one of its system meanings [3].

It is important to emphasize that polysemy in the English language becomes the reason that we cannot choose an appropriate method for memorizing the words. We learn the words, one or two meanings of it, and when encounter this word in quite different context, realize then that we cannot translate it because we do not get the point. Therefore, I would recommend to enrich vocabulary in the following way: learn English words not in isolation but in context obligatory. Let it be word-combinations or even the whole sentences showing one or another meaning of the polysemantic word. Try to memorize not only one meaning of the word but several, if any, of course. Do not forget about direction:  various prepositions or their absence,  objects, which follow after the word  and determine its grammatically right use. That is,  the verb «ждать» should be memorized not only as  «wait», but as «wait for somebody / something», as this verb is used only in this way.

It is important to differentiate lexical meaning of the word in speech and its semantic structure in language. The meaning in context is a contextual.  Polysemy exists only in language but not in speech.  The summaries of many contexts where the word can be met make it possible for us to trace and note all the occurrences of identical meaning and occurrences of differences in meaning. They are registered and classified by lexicographers  and they can be found in dictionaries.

The word that has more than one meaning in language is called polysemantic. Polysemy is not connected with the communicative function of language, as in any concrete occurrence the situation and context, that is, the environment of the word, leaves only one of the all possible meanings and makes transmission to be monosemantic.

Polysemy is imitative in the very nature of words and notions, as they always contain generalization of several features of the object. Some of these features are inherent in the other objects as well. Hence, there is a possibility of identical names for the objects for which the common features are characteristic.

Thus, polysemy – is the description of many words in many languages, whatever different they were. Word polysemanticism – is a direct evidence of that the vocabulary of language is always in dynamic state reflecting changes in the reality.  Polysemy (polysemanticism) is characteristic of both the words and the morphemes (both root and affix), it is also intrinsic in the structural objects (word combinations, sentences, texts). Polysemanticism characterizes the overwhelming majority of words (both content and functional), wherein one can easily be convinced by having opened the dictionary of any language.

Polysemy in the English language can make difficulties but if to take the indicated advice, it is possible to memorize not only the words but the whole expressions without wasting time.