3
INTRODUCTION
Among the word's various characteristics, meaning is certainly the most impor importa tant. nt. Gener Generall ally y spea speakin king, g, meanin meaning g can can be more more or less less desc describ ribed ed as a component of the word through which a concept is communicated, in this way endowing the word with the ability of denoting real objects, qualities, actions and abstract notions. Linguistic meaning is the content carried by the words or signs exchanged by people when communicating through language. language . Restated, the communication of meaning is the purpose and function of language. A communicated meaning will (more or less accurately) replicate between individuals either a direct perception or some sentient derivation thereof. Meanings may take many forms, such as evoking a certain idea, or denoting a certain real-world entity. Moreover meanings may change. /4, 15/ Language changes because so many people speak it and because even today it is impossible impossible to control the norm. Change in pronunciation, pronunciation, grammar, and usage signifies the collapse of the formerly accepted standard and puts the guardians of the norm on the defensive. Meaning changes unpredictably, so much that every now and then a word turns turns into its antonym. antonym. The fact is that words do change change in meaning, and sometimes radically so. Thus the research of semantic change seems to be very topical . It is interesting interesting to see how the meaning meaning of a word word can change change from something good to something bad. In conformity with everything foregoing the theme of the term paper is “Change of word meaning over the time”. The aim of the the rese researc arch h is to inves investig tigat atee ho how w words words can can chan change ge their their meanings. In order to attain the aim it should be done several tasks, such as: 1.
to perform the process of semantic change of words; 2. to describe describe scholars’ scholars’ points points of of view and and their their classifications classifications suggest suggested ed for semantic change;
4
to state main ways in which words change meanings.
3.
The object of the research, thereby, is word meaning as changing concept. Its subject comprises investigation of changes of word meaning. The following methods were used to solve the tasks mentioned above: study studying ing and and analy analysis sis of theo theoret retic ical al litera literatur turee on the theme theme;; the metho methods ds of comparison, observation, description, and means of semantic and componential analyses. Chan Change ge of word word meani meaning ng is the proce process ss that that takes takes place place no nowad waday ays. s. The process of development of a new meaning or a change of meaning is traditionally termed transference. The result of such transference is the appearance of a new meaning. Scientific novelty of the research is bringing out main types of semantic change and tracing such change by some examples analyzing them. The following hypothesis is proposed: change of meaning is the process when the old meaning is completely replaced by the new one and it may occur in different way. The theoretical significance of the work lies in the fact that through analysis of literature on the theme and examples of change of meaning semantic changes were found out and showed; generalization of results of the research and making up final conclusions have been performed in the enumeration of main types of semantic change. The practical significance of the research is potential employment results of the research by people who study lexicology and are interested in this theme. The results of the research can be used by students and teachers of English and English lexi lexico colo logi gist sts. s. As well well they they can can be used used as mate materi rial al for for spec specia iall cour course sess on lexicology for students of English department. The structure of the research includes introduction, two chapters, conclusion and bibliographical list.
5 1. CHANGE OF WORD MEANING.
1.1. Semantic changes over the time
If you have ever wondered why words change meanings, just imagine what language would be like if every word had only one meaning. We would have to invent hundreds of thousands of words for all the meanings we would wish to convey! How would we remember so many words? We would have to walk around with backpacks stuffed with dictionaries. We would become paralyzed by verbal gridlock. Communication would be so exhausting that many speakers would retreat to the grunts, squeals, and yowls of cavemen. /5, 72/ Changes in meanings make language flexible and malleable. But how do words take on new meanings? The study of meanings and the changes of meaning that words undergo is called semantics (from Greek semantikos “having meaning, signifying”). So semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word. word. Semantic change can be viewed dispassionately as a natural process. /12, 20/ An example of a recent semantic change is of the word mouse; with the advent of computer technology, the word for the rodent has been used to refer to the input device. device. Many English words have changed meaning in fascinating, unusual, and unexpected ways. Sometimes the meaning of of a word word can even change from something good to something bad. /15, 42/ For example, the English word "imp" once meant "a young shoot of a plant." Later, the word came to mean "child." Prayers made years ago for the Prince of Wales referred to him as "that most angelic imp." However, today, the word imp means "an evil creature." /3, 54/ Another example of an English word which has changed in meaning from good to evil is the word "gay." Not many years ago in the thirteenth century, the English word gay (from Old French gai, from Old Provençal, of Germanic origin) was an adjective which meant happily excited, merry and lively. Today, the predominant use of the word is as a noun, meaning homosexual. A few years ago,
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it would have been a compliment to say that Pastor Peters is a gay man and that the church he pastors is a "gay" church. Today, to say such would be libelous and slanderous - a complete lie. Today, it would be defamation of a Christian's character for the media to accuse him of being "gay," or to portray him as such. Just as the meaning of the words imp and gay have changed from something innocuous to something evil, so also the meaning of the word tawdry has changed from benign to evil. And vice versa, sometimes words change their meaning from something bad to something good. An example would be the word nice. Nice used to be an insult and meant foolish or stupid in the thirteenth century and it went through many changes right through to the eighteenth century with meanings like wanton, extravagant, elegant, strange, modest, thin, and shy or coy. Now it means a good and pleasing or thoughtful and kind. Silly meant blessed or happy in the eleventh century and went through pious, innocent, harmless, pitiable and feeble minded before ending up as foolish or stupid. Pretty started as crafty this changed to clever or skillfully made, then to fine and ended up as beautiful Some other changes are: In the thirteenth century awful meant deserving of awe and then ended up as terrible or horrible. Bead (Old English bed prayer; related to Old High German gibet prayer) started as prayer and prayer and now it means rosary, paternoster. In the fifteenth century brave meant cowardice (as in bravado) and changed to courageous, dauntless, and fearless. /2, 25/ The word girl of uncertain origin (perhaps related to Low German Göre boy, girl) had meaning “young person of either sex” in the thirteenth century and now it means a female child from birth to young womanhood.
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Neck means the part of an organism connecting the head with the rest of the body but the old meaning was a parcel of land (as in neck of the woods). In the fifteenth century nuisance (via Old French from nuire to injure, from Latin nocēre) started as injury, harm and ended up as a person or thing that causes annoyance or bother. Sophisticated means having refined or cultured tastes and habits and meant corrupted. In actual fact, all cases of development or change of meaning are based on some association. In the history of the word carriage (from Old Northern French caria cariage ge), ), in the the fourt fourtee eenth nth centu century ry the the new new trave travelli lling ng conv convey eyan ance ce was was also also naturally naturally associated in people's minds with the old one: horse-drawn horse-drawn vehicle > part of a railway train. Both these objects were related to the idea of travelling. The job of both, the horse-drawn carriage and the railway carriage is the same: to carry passengers on a journey. So the association was logically well-founded. Stalls and box formed their meanings in which they denoted parts of the theatre on the basis of a different type of association. The meaning of the word box "a small separate enclosure forming a part of the theatre" developed on the basis of its former meaning "a rectangular container used for packing or storing things". The two objects became associated in the speakers' minds because boxes in the earliest English theatres really resembled packing cases. They were enclosed on all sides and heavily curtained even on the side facing the audience so as to conceal the privileged spectators occupying them from curious or insolent stares. The association on which the theatrical meaning of stalls was based is even more curious. The original meaning was "compartments in stables or sheds for the accommodation of animals (e. g. cows, horses, etc.)". There does not seem to be much in common between the privileged and expensive part of a theatre and stables intended for cows and horses, unless we take into consideration the fact that theatres in olden times greatly differed from what they are now. What is now known as the stalls was, at that time, standing space divided by barriers into sections so as to prevent the enthusiastic crowd from knocking one other down and
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hurti hu rting ng thems themsel elves ves.. So, So, there there must must have have been been a certa certain in ou outwa tward rd resemb resemblan lance ce between theatre stalls and cattle stalls. It is also possible that the word was first used humorously or satirically in this new sense. /1, 148/ There are several reasons for words change meaning. One is the influence of othe otherr lang langua uage gess and and cult cultur ures es.. Th Thro roug ugho hout ut hist histor ory, y, many many nati nation onss thro throug ugh h conquering or intermixing with one another, introduced their own languages into the mix. Another reason is the predominate use of slang words. We get so used to using them that many times we forget that we even are. The discussion of meaning change is often emotionally charged, with the meanings meanings perceive perceived d as "improvi "improving" ng" (amelio (ameliorati ration) on) or "worsen "worsening ing"" (pejora (pejoration tion)) over time. As languages develop the meaning of words can change over time. This causes confusion and misunderstanding when communicating with other people. So if you communicate with other people, it is not only important to have clarity in your message, it is also important to think of your interlocutors and understand how they understand words and messages. On the positive side that words change meaning over time, it is a fact that languages that stay alive, adapt and grow over time.
1.2. Scholars’ classifications of semantic change
Bloomfield’s classification
Recent overviews have been presented by Blank and Blank & Koch (1999). (1999 ). Semantic change had attracted academic discussions already in ancient times. The first major works of modern times were Reisig (1839), (1839 ), Darmesteter (1887), (1887 ), Bréal (1899), (1899), Paul (1880), (1880 ), Stern (1931), (1931 ), Bloomfield (1933) (1933 ) and Stephen Ullmann. Ullmann . Studies beyond the analysis of single words have been started with the word-field analyses of Trier of Trier (1931), (1931 ), who claimed that every semantic change of a word would
9
also affect all other words in a lexical field. His approach was later refined by Coseriu (1964). (1964 ). As stated above, the most currently used typologies are those by Bloomfield (1933) (1933) and Blank (1998) (1998 ) and other typologies are listed below. A nu numbe mberr of class classifi ifica catio tion n sche scheme mess have have been been sugg sugges este ted d for for seman semantic tic change. The most widely accepted scheme in the English-speaking academic world is from Bloomfield (1933): (1933 ): Changee from from supe supero rordi rdina nate te level level to subor subordin dinate ate level. level. For For Narrowing : Chang example, skyline used to refer to any horizon, but now it has narrowed to a horizon decorated by skyscrapers. Widening : Change from subordinate level to superordinate level. There are
many examples of specific brand names being used for the general product, such as with Kleenex. Kleenex. Metaphor : Change based on similarity of thing. For example, broadcast
originally meant "to cast seeds out"; with the advent of radio and television, the word was extended to indicate the transmission of audio and video signals. Outside of agricultural circles, very few people use broadcast in the earlier sense. Metonymy: Change based on nearness in space or time, e.g., jaw "cheek" →
"jaw". Synecdoche: Change based on whole-part relation. The convention of using
capital cities to represent countries or their governments is an example of this. Litotes: Change from stronger to weaker meaning, e.g., astound "strike with
thunder" → "surprise strongly". meaning, e.g., kill "torment" → Hyperbole: Change from weaker to stronger meaning, "kill". Degeneration: e.g., knave "boy" → "servant". Elevation: e.g., knight "boy" → "knight". /9, 121/
Howev However er,, the categ categori oriza zatio tion n of Blank Blank (1998 (1998)) has has gain gained ed incr increa easi sing ng acceptance:
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Change ge base based d on simi simila lari rity ty betw betwee een n conc concep epts ts,, e.g. e.g.,, mous mousee Metaphor : Chan "rodent" → "computer device". Metonymy: Change based on contiguity between concepts, e.g., horn "animal
horn" → "musical instrument". Synecdoche: Same as above. Specialization of meaning : Downward shift in taxonomy, e.g., corn "corn"
→ "wheat" (UK). Upward rd shif shiftt in a taxo taxono nomy my,, e.g. e.g.,, ho hoov over er Generali Generalizatio zation n of meaning meaning ; Upwa "Hoover vacuum cleaner" → "any type of vacuum cleaner". confusion of Cohyponymic transfer : Horizontal shift in a taxonomy, e.g., the confusion mouse and rat in some dialects. Antiphrasis: Change based on a contrastive aspect of the concepts, e.g.,
perfect lady in the sense of "prostitute". Auto-antonymy: Change of a word's sense and concept to the complementary
opposite, e.g., bad in the slang sense of "good". Auto-converse : Lexical expressions of a relationship by the two extremes of
the respective relationship, e.g., take in the dialectal use as "give". Ellipsis: Semantic change based on the contiguity of names, e.g., car "cart"
→ "automobile", due the to invention of the (motor) car. Folk-etymology: Semantic change based on the similarity of names, e.g.,
French contredanse, orig. English country dance). Blank’s classification
Blan Blank k cons consid ider erss it prob proble lema mati tic, c, thou though gh,, to incl includ udee amel amelio iora rati tion on and and pejo pejorat ratio ion n of mean meaning ing as well well as stren strength gthen enin ing g and and weake weakeni ning ng of meani meaning ng.. According to Blank, these are not objectively classifiable phenomena; moreover, Blank has only shown that all of the examples listed under these headings can be grouped into the other phenomena. /8, 56/ Reisig’s classification
Reisig's Reisig's ideas ideas for a classifi classificat cation ion were published published posthu posthumous mously. ly. He resorts resorts to classical rhetorics and distinguishes between
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Synecdoche: shifts between part and whole Metonymy: shifts between cause and effect Metaphor Paul’s classification •
Specialization: enlargement of single senses of a word's meaning
•
Specialization on a specific part of the contents: reduction of single senses of a word's meaning
Transfer on a notion linked to the based notion in a spatial, temporal, or causal way Darmesteter’s classification •
Metaphor
•
Metonymy
•
Widening of meaning
•
Narrowing of meaning
The last two are defined as change between whole and part, which would today be rendered as synecdoche. Bréal’s classification •
Restriction of sense: change from a general to a special meaning
•
Enlargement of sense: change from a special to a general meaning
•
Metaphor
•
"Thickening" of sense: change from an abstract to a concrete meaning
Stern’s classification •
Subs Substi titu tuti tion on:: Chan Change ge rela relate ted d to the the chan change ge of an ob obje ject ct,, of the the knowledge referring to the object, of the attitude toward the object, e.g., artillery "engines of war used to throw missiles" → "mounted guns", atom "insepa "inseparabl rablee smalles smallestt phy physica sical-ch l-chemic emical al element" element" →
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"physi "physicalcal-chem chemical ical element element consis consisting ting of electro electrons" ns",, scholasticism "philosophical system of the Middle Ages" → "servile adherence to the methods and teaching of schools" •
Analogy: Change triggered by the change of an associated word, e.g., fast adj. "fixed and rapid" ← faste adv. "fixedly, rapidly")
•
•
Shortening: e.g., periodical ← periodical paper Nomination: "the intentional naming of a referent, new or old, with a name that has not previously previously been used for it" (Stern 1931: 282), e.g., lion "brave man" ← "lion"
•
Regular transfer: a subconscious Nomination
•
Permutation: non-intentional shift of one referent to another due to a reinterp reinterpreta retation tion of a situatio situation, n, e.g., e.g., bead "pra "praye yer" r" → "pea "pearl rl in a rosa rosary" ry" (Adeq (Adequa uatio tion: n: Chan Change ge in the attitu attitude de of a conc concept ept,, which which makes the distinction from Substitution unclear).
This This class classifi ifica catio tion n do does es no nott neatl neatly y distin distingu guish ish betwe between en proc proces esse sess and and forces/causes of semantic change. /15, 31/ Ullmann’s classification Ullman Ullmann n dinti dinting ngui uish shes es betwe between en natu nature re and and cons conseq eque uence ncess of sema semanti nticc
change: Nature of semantic sem antic change
•
•
Metaphor : change based on a similarity of senses
Metonymy : change based on a contiguity of senses
Folk-etymology: change based on a similarity of names
Ellipsis: change based on a contiguity of names
Consequences of semantic change
Widening of meaning : raise of quantity
Narrowing of meaning : loss of quantity
Amelioration of meaning : raise of quality
Pejoration of meaning : loss of quality /16,42/
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2. THE MAIN TYPES OF MEANING GHANGE.
2.1. Common ways of semantic change
Word Wordss often often chan change ge their their meani meaning ngs. s. A word's word's new new mean meaning ing some sometim times es replaces the old one entirely. At the simplest level, words do undergo only two types of meaning change, not amelioration and pejoration, but generalization (a word's meaning widens to include new concepts), and specialization (a word's meaning contracts to focus on fewer concepts). Here are some common ways in which words change meanings: Generalization
Also known as extension, generalization is the use of a word in a broader realm of meaning than it originally possessed, often referring to all items in a class, rather than one specific item. For instance, place derives via Old French from Latin platēa “courtyard” or "broad street", but its meaning grew broader than the street, to include "a particular city", "a business office", "an area dedicated to a specific purpose" before broadening even wider to mean "area". In the process, the word place place displac displaced ed the Old English English word stow and became became used instead instead of the Old Englis English h word word stede stede (whic (which h survi survive vess in stea stead, d, stea steadfa dfast, st, stea steady dy and and of cours coursee instead). Generalization is a natural process, especially in situations of "language on a shoestring", where the speaker has a limited vocabulary at her disposal, either because she is young and just acquiring language or because she is not fluent in a second language. A first-year Spanish student on her first vacation in Spain might find herself using the word coche, "car", for cars, trucks, jeeps, buses, and so on. One child when he was two, he used the word oinju (from orange juice) to refer to any any type type of juic juice, e, includ includin ing g grap grapee juic juicee and and apple apple juice; juice; wawa wawa (from (from water) water) referred to water and hoses, among other things.
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Some examples of general English words that have undergone generalization include: Word
Old Meaning
(it Pants
was
shortened
from
pantaloons) in the nineteenth century it meant "men's wide breeches extending from waist to ankle"
place
(the thirteenth century) "broad street"
Specialization
The opposite of generalization, specialization is the narrowing of a word to refer to what previously would have been but one example of what it referred to. For instance, the word meat originally referred to "any type of food", but came to mean "the flesh of animals as opposed to the flesh of fish". The original sense of meat survives in terms like mincemeat, "chopped apples and spices used as a pie filling" filling";; sweetmea sweetmeat, t, "candy "candy"; "; and nutmeat, nutmeat, "the edible portion portion of a nut". nut". When When developing your model language, it is meet to leave compounds untouched, even if onee of their on their morp morphe hemes mes has has und under ergo gone ne spec special ializa izatio tion n (or (or any any other other meanin meaning g change). For an example from another another language, the Japanese word koto originally originally referred to "any type of stringed instrument" but came to be used to refer only a specific instrument with thirteen strings, which was played horizontally and was popular in the Edo Period. Other examples of specialization, from the development of English, include: Word
Old Meaning
(it was derived derived from Latin affectiōnaffectiōnaffection
disp dispos osit itio ion) n) in the the thir thirte teen enth th cent centur ury y it meant "emotion"
deer
"animal" (the thirteenth century)
forest
"countryside" (the thirteenth century)
15
girl
"a yo youn ung g pers person on"" (the (the thir thirte teen enth th century)
starve
"to die"
2.2 A taxonomy of semantic change
All other semantic change can be discussed discussed in either terms of generalization or specia specializa lization tion.. The followin following g diagram diagram shows shows differen differentt subtype subtypess of meaning meaning change. •
•
Generalization, or extension o
Metonymy
o
Metaphorical extension
o
Radiation
Specialization or narrowing o
•
•
Contextual specialization
Shift o
Amelioration
o
Pejoration
o
Semantic reversal
o
Contronyms
Meaninglessness A shift in meaning results from the subsequent action of generalization and
specialization over time: a word that has extended into a new area then undergoes narrowing to exclude its original meaning. In the unlikely event that all the senses of place except for "a business office" faded away, then place would be said to have undergone a shift.
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Generalization
Metonymy
Metonymy is a figure of speech where one word is substituted for a related word; the relationship might be that of cause and effect, container and contained, part and whole. For instance, Shakespeare's comment "Is it not strange that sheep's guts should hale souls out of men's bodies?" (from Much Ado About Nothing) uses "sheep's "sheep's guts" to refer refer to the music produced produced by harpst harpstring rings. s. Had guts come to mean "music", then the meaning would have shifted due to metonymy. The Greek word dóma original originally ly meant meant "roof". "roof". In the same way English English speakers speakers will metonymically metonymically use roof to mean "house" (as in "Now we have a roof over our heads"), the Greeks frequently used dóma to refer to "house", so that that is now the standard meaning of the word. A Russian word will provide a similar example: vinograd, "vineyard", was so frequently used to refer to "grapes", as in "Let's have a taste of the vineyard" that it has come to mean "grapes".
Metaphorical extension
Grace Murray Hopper, the late Admiral and computer pioneer, told a story of an early computer that kept calculating incorrectly. When technicians opened up its case to examine the wiring, which physically physically represented the machine's logic, a huge dead moth was found, shorting out one of the circuits and causing the faulty logic. That moth was the first of its kind to achieve immortality. Because of it, software is now frequently plagued with "bugs". The use of bug to refer to an error in compute computerr logic logic was a metapho metaphorica ricall extension extension that became so popular that it is now part of the regular meaning meaning of bug. The computer industry has a host of words whose meaning has been extended through such metaphors, including mouse for that now ubiquitous computer input device (so named because the cord connecting connecting it to the computer made it resemble that cutest of rodents).
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Meta Metaph phori orica call exten extensio sion n is the the exten extensio sion n of meani meaning ng in a new new direc directio tion n through popular popular adoption of an originally metaphorical metaphorical meaning. The crane at a construction site was given its name by comparison to the long-necked bird of the same name. When the meaning of the word daughter was first extended from that of "one "one's 's female female child child"" to "a femal femalee desc descen endan dant" t" (as in daug daughte hterr of Eve), Eve), the the listener might not have even noticed that the meaning had been extended. Metaph Metaphoric orical al extensio extension n is almost almost a natural natural process process und undergo ergone ne by every every word. We do not even think of it as meaning change. In its less obvious instances, we do not even see it as extending the meaning of a word. For example, the word illuminate originally meant "to light up", but has broadened to mean "to clarify", "to edify". These meanings seem so natural as to be integral parts of the words, where senses such as "to celebrate" and "to adorn a page with designs" seem like more obvious additions. A few specific metaphors are common to many different languages, and words can be shown to have undergone similar, if independent, developments. Thus the Welsh Welsh word haul and the Gaelic word súil, both meaning meaning "sun", "sun", have have both come to mean "eye". Nor is this metaphor a stranger to English, where the daisy was in Old English originally a compound meaning "day's eye", from its yellow similarity to the sun. More often, languages will differ in the precise correspondences between words, so that some languages have broad words with many meanings, which must be transla translated ted into multiple multiple words words in another another language. language. A word like paternos paternoster, ter, discussed earlier, with senses ranging from the "Lord's Prayer" to "a magic spell" to "a large bead" to "a weighted fishing line" will have to be translated into four different words in another language. Word
illuminate
Old Meaning
"to light up" (the sixteenth century)
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Radiation
Radiation is metaphorical extension on a grander scale, with new meanings radiating from a central semantic core to embrace many related ideas. The word head originally referred to that part of the human body above the rest. Since the top of a nail, pin or screw is, like the human head, the top of a slim outline, that sense has become included in the meaning of head. Since the bulb of a cabbage or lettuce is round like the human head, that sense has become included in the meaning of head. The meaning of the word head has radiated out to include the head of a coin (the side picturing the human head), the head of the list (the top item in the list), the head of a table, the head of the family, a head of cattle, $50 a head. Other words that have similarly radiated meanings outward from a central core include the words heart, root and sun.
Specialization
The only specific subtype of specialization that was identified is contextual specialization.
Contextual specialization
Thee word Th word un unde dert rtak aker er orig origin inal ally ly mean meantt "one "one who who un unde dert rtak akes es a task task,, especially one who is an entrepreneur". This illustrates contextual specialization, where the meaning of a word is reshaped under pressure from another word that had frequen frequently tly co-occu co-occurred rred with it: thus thus und underta ertaker ker acquire acquired d its meaning meaning from cons constan tantt use use of the ph phra rase se funer funeral al un unde derta rtake ker; r; even eventua tually lly,, un unde derr the the press pressur uree towards euphemism, the word funeral was dropped. Another Another example example of context contextual ual specia specializa lization tion is doctor, doctor, which which origina originally lly meant "a teacher" and then later "an expert", where it came to be used in the phrase medical doctor; now of course this is redundant and medical is omitted, with the primary sense of doctor having become more specialized.
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Word
undertaker doctor
Old Meaning
"entrepreneur" "tea "teach cher er""
(the (the
four fourte teen enth th
century; from Latin teacher)
Shift
I heard an American student at Cambridge University telling some English friends how he climbed over a locked gate to get into his college and tore his pants, and one of them asked, 'But, how could you tear your pants and not your trousers?' Norman Moss, "British/American Language Dictionary"
Shifts occur when the sense of a word expands and contracts, with the final focu focuss of the the mean meanin ing g diff differ eren entt from from the the orig origin inal al.. For For some some reas reason on,, word wordss describ describing ing clothin clothing g tend to shift shift meaning meaningss more frequently frequently than than other other words, words, perha perhaps ps beca becaus usee fashio fashion n tren trends ds come come and and go go,, leavin leaving g words words to seem seem as old old fashio fashione ned d as the the cloth clothing ing they they desc describ ribe. e. Who Who toda today y wants wants to wear wear bloome bloomers rs,, knickers or pantaloons? The word pants has an interesting history. It is ultimate etymon is Old Italian Pantalone. In the 1600s, Italy developed commedia dell'arte, a style of comedy based on improvisation using stock characters. Pantalone was a stock character who was portrayed as a foolish old man wearing slippers and tight trousers. Through regular metonymy, speakers of Old French borrowed his name to describe his Italian Italian trouse trousers. rs. Their Their word was then then borrowe borrowed d into English English as pantaloo pantaloon, n, which in time was shortened to pants and came to mean trousers in general. British speakers of English have modified the meaning again to the sense of "underpants", resulting in the confusing situation described in Norman Moss' quote above. The divide separating British and American English are quite a few words for clothing, as the following table shows. Word
Meaning
jumper
Etymon:
English
dialect
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jump Original:
"loose jacket"
American:
"pinafore"
British:
"a light pullover"
Etymon:
knickerbockers
Original:
"bree "breech ches es band banded ed below knee" "boy's
knickers
American:
baggy
trou trouse sers rs band banded ed belo below w knee" "blo bloomers mers,,
British:
old-
fashioned
female
underpants" Etymon:
pantaloon,
from
Old French pantalon "men's
pants
Original:
wide
breeches extending from waist to ankle"
American:
"trousers"
British:
"underpants"
Etymon:
suspend
(unchanged) suspenders
Original:
"straps
to
support
trousers"
tights
American:
(unchanged)
British:
"garter"
Etymon:
tight , adj.
(unchanged) "snug, Original:
stretchable
apparel worn from neck to toe; typically worn by dancers or acrobats"
American:
(unchanged)
21
"pantyhose"
British:
Old Frenc French h veste
Etymon:
vest
It. Lat. vestis
Original:
"clothing"
American:
"waistcoat"
British:
"undershirt"
Amelioration
Amel Amelio iora rati tion on is the the proc proces esss by whic which h a word word's 's mean meanin ing g impr improv oves es or becomes elevated, coming to represent something more favorable than it originally referred to. Suffield's poem gave many good examples of amelioration, including priest from "old man". A complementary term, pastor, likewise underwent amelioration, originally meaning "shepherd" (a sense surviving in the word pastoral), but coming to mean its current sense of "minister" by the extensive Christian references to "the Lord is my shepherd" as a call to ministry. /14, 6/ The following table shows other examples, including pluck in the sense of He has a lot of pluck. Word
Old Meaning
enthusiasm
"abuse"
guts
("courage")
"entrails"
pastor
"shepherd"
pluck
"act
("spirit") queen
of
tugging" "woman"
Pejoration
Pejoration is the process by which a word's meaning worsens or degenerates, coming to represent something less favorable than it originally did.
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King James II called the just completed St. Paul's Cathedral amusing, awful and artificial. Call the just completed completed rock and roll museum in Cleveland amusing, awful and artificial, and you may be accurate but you will mean something quite different from King James. When he lived, those words meant that the cathedral was "pleasing, impressive and artful" respectively. The meaning of each word has grown more negative with time. People seem much more likely to drag words down than to lift them up, to build museums instead of cathedrals, as the following examples may demonstrate. Word
Old Meaning
crafty
"strong"
cunning
"knowing" "distinguished,
egregious
standing out from the herd"
harlot
"a boy"
notorious
"famous"
obsequious
"flexible"
vulgar
"popular"
Semantic reversal
Occasionally a word will shift so far from its original meaning that its mean meanin ing g will will near nearly ly reve revers rse. e. Fasc Fascin inat atin ingl gly y enou enough gh,, the the word word manu manufa fact ctur uree originally meant "to make by hand". Word
Old Meaning
counterfeit
"an original"
garble
"to sort out"
manufacture
"to make by hand"
Contronyms
A contronym is like a word that has undergone semantic reversal, only the tension has not eased: the word still preserves its original meaning, along with a contradictory -- if not exactly counterposed -- meaning.
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Word
bimonthly biweekly ravish
Meanings
"happening every other month", "happening twice monthly" "happening every other week", "happening twice weekly" "to "to
over ov erwh whel elm m
rape"*, "to overwhelm with emotion, enrapture" "aut "autho hori rita tati tive ve
sanction
with with forc force, e, espe especi cial ally ly
meas measur uree
of
appr approv oval al"* "*,,
"coe "coerc rciv ivee meas measur uree of disa disapp ppro rova vall of nati nation on against nation" Brit. "to put on the table for discussion",
table
Amer. "to set aside a motion rather than discuss it"
*The older of the two senses given Interestingly, biannual means only "twice each year", with no recorded sense of "every other year" in Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary. The word cleave (meaning "to split or separate" or "to adhere or cling") is actually two different words, both from the Old English ( cle-ofan and cleofian respectively) respectively) but by changes in pronunciation, pronunciation, these words have evolved evolved the same current form.
Meaninglessness
The nadir of semantics is meaninglessness. The final semantic change. The death of meaning. The defeat of sigor. The word sigor is Old English for "victory". It is now meaningless to almost all English speakers, except for those familiar with Old English or with German (where its cognate survives in Seig). Few Few no now w kn know ow what what sigor sigor means. means. Is this a chang changee in its mean meaning ing or a change in the very state of the word? Is death part of life?
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Word Wordss frequ frequen ently tly chang changee their their meani meaning ngss ov over er time, time, and and pu pursu rsuin ing g such such change often illustrates cultural and historical shifts. The extended meanings are branches that have split off from the trunk, and this research has simply traced them back to the root. /13, 7/
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CONCLUSION
Havin Having g studi studied ed diffe differe rent nt po point intss of view view of diffe differen rentt scho scholar larss and and their their classification suggested for semantic change we stated main ways in which words change meanings and illustrated the process of semantic changes of words in this research. And on the basis of this we came to the following conclusion that semantic change is the natural process which has occurred over time. Language changes because our life constantly changes, so meaning of the word also changes. In this work it was investigated how words can change their meanings and main types of semantic change were brought out: •
Generalization, or extension – the use of a word in a broader realm of meaning than it originally possessed, often referring to all items in a class, rather than one specific item. Generalization has several types and among them are metonymy, metonymy, metaphorical extension extension,, radiation; radiation ;
•
Specialization or narrowing – narrowing – the narrowing of a word to refer to what previously would have been but one example of what it referred to. The only specific subtype of specialization that was identified is contextual specialization;
•
Shift – the process when the sense of a word expands and contracts, with the final focus of the meaning different from the original. Different types of shift are amelioration, amelioration , pejoration, pejoration , semantic reversal, reversal , contronyms; contronyms ;
•
Meaninglessness - the nadir of semantics. It is really a fact that words do change in meaning, and sometimes radically
so. Thus change of meaning is the process when the old meaning is completely replaced by the new one and it may occur in different way. Meaning is certainly the most important word’s characteristic. From the semantic point of view when word changes own meaning it exerts influence on other words, so even language undergoes change. Words change meaning over time, it is a fact that let us to arrive at a conclusion that language has stay alive, adapt and grow over time.
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