Transcript Semantic Change

Semantic Change



MoE - “kind and
loving,
affectionate”
MoE – “pleased,
delighted”
MoE – “man to
whom a woman is
married”



OE fond –
“foolish, foolishly
credulous”
OE glad – “bright,
shining”
OE husband –
“master of the
house”




Why do words develop new meanings?
What circumstances cause and stimulate
their development?
How do words develop new meanings?
What is the nature of the very process of
development of new meanings?
Semantic Change
development of a new
meaning
 change of meaning

Causes of Semantic Change

Why did the word change its
meaning?
Causes of Semantic
Change

linguistic factors

extra-linguistic (historical)
factors
Extra-linguistic Causes




various changes in the life of the speech
community
changes in economic and social structures
changes in culture, knowledge,
technology, arts
changes of ideas, scientific concepts, way
of life
Extra-linguistic Causes
e.g. pen
Latin penna –
“feather of a bird”
 mill – “a building in which corn is
ground into flour” (primary meaning)
“textile factory” (secondary meaning)

Linguistic Causes

factors acting within the
language system
Linguistic Causes

ellipsis – a change of meaning
when the meaning of a wordcombination is given to only
one word of this combination
Ellipsis
to starve
OE steorfan – “to die” – sterven of hunger
Modern E starve – “to die from hunger”
daily
daily – “happening every day” – a daily
newspaper
daily – “a daily newspaper”
Linguistic Causes

discrimination of
synonyms – conflict of
synonyms when a perfect
synonym of a native word is
borrowed from other language
Discrimination of Synonyms
tide
OE tide – 1)”time” 2)”season” 3)”hour”
from French – time, season, hour
Modern English tide – “regular rise and fall of
the sea caused by the moon”
deer
OE deor – “any beast”
animal – a borrowed word
deer – “a certain kind of animal”
Nature of Semantic Change
How do new meanings
develop?
 a condition for any semantic
change – association between
the old meaning and the new
one

Two Kinds of Association

similarity of meanings

contiguity of meanings
Similarity of Meanings
(linguistic metaphor)

appearance of a new meaning
as a result of associating two
objects (phenomena, qualities,
etc.) due to their resemblance
Similarity of Meanings
similarity of shape – e.g. head of a
cabbage, teeth of a saw, bottleneck
 similarity of position – e.g. foot of a
page, of a mountain
 similarity of function, behavior –
e.g. a bookworm, a (minute) hand

Similarity of Meanings
similarity of colour – e.g.
orange, hazel, chesnut
 complex similarity – e.g. a leg of
a table – similarity in shape,
position, function

Contiguity of Meanings
(linguistic metonymy)

association of two referents
one of which makes part of the
other or is closely connected
with it
Types of Metonymy


the material of which an object is made
may become the name of the object –
e.g. an iron, a mink (“mink coat”)
the name of the place may become the
name of the people or of an object placed
there – e.g. the city was exited, the White
House (“the administration of the USA”)
Types of Metonymy
names of musical instruments may
become names of musicians when
they are united in an orchestra – e.g.
the violin, the piano
 the name of some person may
become a common noun – e.g.
sandwich (Lord Sandwich), boycott
(the Boycotts)

Types of Metonymy
names of inventors very often
become terms to denote things
they invented – e.g. watt, om
 geographical names may be used
for things produced there – e.g.
china (porcelain), astrakhan (a
sheep fur)

Types of Metonymy
the name of a thing may be used
for its content – e.g. the kettle is
boiling
 the name of a painter is used for
his masterpieces – e.g. a Matisse
(a painting by Matisse)

Results of Semantic
Change
What was changed?
 change in the range of meaning

Changes in Denotational
Meaning

restriction of
meanings
(narrowing) –
restriction of the
types or referents
denoted by the word
e.g. OE “hound” – a dog of
any greed
Modern English “hound” – a
dog used in chase


extension of
meanings
(widening) –
application of the
word to wider variety
of referents
e.g. OE “trunk” – the main
stem of a tree
Modern English “trunk” – the
body of anything

Changes in Denotational Meaning

specialization - the
word with a new
meaning (restricted)
comes to be used in
the specialized
vocabulary
e.g. OE glide -“to move
gently and smoothly”
Modern English “glide” to fly with no engine


generalization – the
word with the extended
meaning passes from
the specialized
vocabulary into
common use
e.g. OE “salary” – money
given to soldiers to buy salt
with
Modern English “salary” –
money paid to clerks

Changes in Connotational Meaning

pejoration
(degradation,
degeneration) – a word
acquires some negative
derogatory emotive
charge
e.g. OE “boor”- a villager,
a peasant
Modern English “boor” – a
clumsy or ill-bred fellow


amelioration
(elevation) –
improvement of
the connotational
component
e.g. OE “minister” – a
servant, an attendant
Modern English “minister” – a
civil servant of higher rank

Other Changes of Semantic Meaning
hyperbole
 irony
 euphemism
 taboo
 litotes

Hyperbole



the exaggerated statement which
should not be understood literally
as it expresses an emotional
attitude of a speaker to what he is
speaking about
e.g. I haven’t seen you for ages
e.g. You’ll be the death for me
Irony

the expression of one mening by
words of opposite sense, usually it
is done for the purpose of ridicule

e.g. How nice! (when you are angry)
e.g. A pretty mess you’ve done of it!

Euphemism

referring to something unpleasant by
using milder words and phrases so
that a formerly inoffensive word
receives a disagreeable meaning

e.g. to pass away (to die)
e.g. diseased (dead)

Taboo

the case when it is prohibited
to pronounce a word and it is
replaced by another word or a
word-combination
Litotes

expressing the affirmative by
the negative of its contrary
e.g. not bad =good
 e.g. not small = great
