Semantic change. Semantic change Semantic change — changes

Semantic change

Semantic change Semantic change - changes of both synchronic and diachronic nature, which concerns the semantic content of the word, i.e. change of meaning. The development and change of the semantic structure of a word is always a source of qualitative and quantitative development of the vocabulary. Examples: Wife => OE 'woman' =>'woman of humble rank or low employment' => 'married woman, spouse‘ «Journey» was borrowed from French with the meaning «one day trip», now it means «a trip of any duration» www.themegallery.com Company Name

Forces triggering semantic change The causes of semantic changes can be extra-linguistic and linguistic. I. Extra-linguistic causes of semantic change. 1) Historical causes. Examples: The word “car” goes back to Latin “carfus” which meant a four wheeled (vehicle) wagon, despite of the lack of resemblance. “Pen” comes back to Latin “ penna ” (a feather of a bird). As people wrote with goose pens the name was transferred to steel pens which were later on used for writing. www.themegallery.com Company Name

2) Psychological causes. Taboos of various kinds. Words are replaced by other words, sometimes people do not realize that they use euphemisms. Examples: “Lady’s room” instead of the “lavatory” “Pass away” or “go to heaven” to denote the meaning of death www.themegallery.com Company Name

II. Linguistic causes of semantic change. 1) Differentiation of synonyms is a gradual change observed in the course of language history, sometimes, but not necessarily, involving the semantic assimilation of loan words. Example: The noun “tide” in OE – time, season, hour. French words time, season, hour ousted the word tide in these meanings. Now tide means regular rise and fall of the sea caused by attraction of the moon. www.themegallery.com Company Name

2) Ellipsis [ɪ'lɪpsɪs] – the omission of one or more words that are obviously understood but that must be supplied to make a construction grammatically complete. Examples: “Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater.” (William Hazlitt) ; Sale comes to be used for cut-price sale, Propose for propose marriage, Media for mass media. www.themegallery.com Company Name

3) Linguistic analogy. If in a semantic series one of the word acquires a new meaning the other members of the series also change their meaning by analogy. Example: Similarly verbs synonymous with catch, e.g. grasp, get, etc., by semantic extension acquired another meaning — ‘to understand’. www.themegallery.com Company Name

Types of semantic change The most widely accepted scheme in the English-speaking academic world is from Bloomfield (1933): Narrowing (specialization): the restriction of the semantic capacity of a word in the course of its historical development. The process by which a word's meaning becomes less general or inclusive than its earlier meaning. Examples: Skyline => in OE any horizon, => now a horizon decorated by skyscrapers. Hound => OE hund 'dog in general' => species of dog (long eared hunting dog). www.themegallery.com Company Name

Widening (generalization or widening): changes of meaning resulting in the application of a word to a wider variety of referents. It includes the change both from concrete to abstract and from specific to general. Examples: ready => in OE (a derivative from the verb «ridan» - «ride») meant «prepared for a ride», => now «prepared for anything». Kleenex => brand name => the synonym for “handkerchief” www.themegallery.com Company Name

Degeneration (pejoration [¸pəʤə‘reɪʃ(ə)n] of meaning): the appearance of a derogatory and scornful emotive charge in the meaning of the word (when a word with a positive sense develops a negative one). Ex.: knave "boy" => "servant" => "deceitful or despicable man". Elevation (amelioration): the improvement of the connotational component of meaning (in the direction towards a more positive value in the minds of the users) Ex.: knight => OE "boy" => "nobleman". www.themegallery.com Company Name

Metaphor ['metəfə]/[-fɔː]: Transfer of meaning on the basis of a similarity of some sort (in shape, in size, in function, in colour, etc.) between the established referent of a word and some new referent. Examples: Broadcast => OE "to cast seeds out" => now indicates the transmission of audio and video signals. A stony heart, the head of cabbage, star => a leading actress. Metonymy [me'tɔnəmɪ]: Change based on nearness in space or time. Examples: Jaw "cheek" => "mandible". Town => meaning the inhabitants of the town.

Synecdoche [sɪ'nekdəkɪ]: Change based on whole-part relation. Examples: Describing a complete vehicle as "wheels" Calling workers "hands", e.g. Many hands make light work; All hands on deck! Meiosis [maɪˈoʊsɨs]: Change from stronger to weaker meaning, Example: Astound "strike with thunder" → "surprise strongly". www.themegallery.com Company Name

Hyperbole [haɪ'pɜːb(ə)lɪ]: an exaggerated statement not meant to be understood literally but expressing an emotional attitude of the speaker to what he is speaking about. Examples: For ages, heaps of time – масса времени, Floods of tears – потоки слёз, Litotes [laɪ'təutiːz]: a transfer of the meaning when the speaker expresses the affirmative with the negative or vice versa. Examples: Not bad (it is good) ; No coward – “brave”; www.themegallery.com Company Name

According to Lyle Campbell, common types of semantic change include: Amelioration Pejoration Broadening Semantic narrowing Bleaching (*) Metaphor Metonymy www.themegallery.com Company Name

Bleaching ['bliːʧɪŋ] – semantic content of a word becomes reduced as the grammatical content increases. Ex.: in the development of intensifiers such as awfully, terribly, horribly (awfully late, awfully big, awfully small) or pretty (pretty good, pretty bad . . .) www.themegallery.com Company Name

Sources http://www.uni-due.de/SHE/HE_Change_Semantic.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_change#Typology_by_Darmesteter_.281887.29 http://e-learning.udsu.ru/mod/page/view.php?id=8264 www.themegallery.com Company Name