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English Lexicology Unit 7,Changes in Meaning,Contents,Causes of changes Types of changes Transference of meaning Process of meaning change Tendency of meaning change,Causes of Change,Linguistic factors Ellipsis Borrowing Analogy Figurative use of words Metaphor Metonymy,Extra-linguistic factors Historical reason Social reason Psychological reason,Ellipsis,The meaning of a word may change when a phrase is shortened to one word which retains the meaning of the whole. This is called ellipsis. gold: gold medal daily: daily newspaper,The meaning of the word “gold” has changed from material to refer to the whole phrase “gold medal”. This kind of change often occurs in habitual collocations.,Borrowing,The influx(流入) of borrowings has caused some words to change in meaning. deer (original) a wild animal of any sort from a lion to a mouse. In Middle Ages, the French word beste (=beast) became the general word. In 16th century, the Latin word animal was also adopted into the English vocabulary. Today deer can only refer to a particular kind of animal.,Analogy,If an adjective develops a new meaning, the derived noun from the adjective will have a corresponding new meaning by analogy. The process can be applied to a word of any word class.,Diplomatic (original) skillful in dealing with international relations (present) skillful in dealing with any kind of relations,Diplomatic: Diplomacy,Diplomacy (original) the art of dealing with international relations (present) ? art of or skill in dealing with people,Analogy,Figurative use of words-Metaphor,Metaphor is a figure of speech containing an implied comparison based on similarity. A cunning person may be referred to as a fox. Here “fox” means something other than its literal meaning. The word “fox” gets the figurative meaning of “a cunning person”.,Example: foot,foot 1. Lowest part of the leg, below the ankle, on which a person or animal stands. 2. The lowest part; the bottom. the foot of a mountain the foot of a page,This meaning is derived through the metaphor “The last line on this page is the foot of the page.”,Metonymy,Metonymy is a figure of speech by which an object or an idea is described by the name of something else closely related to it. Seat Please take a seat. (a piece of furniture) He lost his seat in House of Commons.,The word “seat” has acquired the meaning of “the right to sit as a member” through metonymy.,More Example: cradle,Cradle 1. A small low bed for an infant, often furnished with rockers 2. The earliest period of life; infancy from the cradle to the grave 3. A place of origin; a birthplace the cradle of civilization.,These meanings are derived through the following metonyms.,Historical reason,A word has retained its original form, though its meaning has changed because the referent has changed. pen car,Social reason,Language records the speech and attitude of different social classes, so different social varieties of language have come into being. The attitude of classes have penetrated into lexical meaning, particularly in the case of elevation and degradation. Churl, hussy, villain which were originally neutral have been down-graded as “ill-manned or bad people”.,Psychological reason,The associated transfer of meaning and euphemistic use of words, etc. are often due to psychological factors. People change word meaning owing to various psychological motives: love, respect, courtesy, suspicion, pessimism, sarcasm, irony, hatred, contempt, avoidance of embarrassment, etc.,Types of changes,Widening/Extension Narrowing/Specialization Elevation/Amelioration Degeneration/Pejoration Euphemism Lexical revivals Loss of old meanings,Extension of Meaning: Generalization,Generalization of Meaning: It is a process by which a word which originally had a specialized meaning has now become generalized or has extended to cover a broader concept. salary (original) a sum of money given to Roman soldiers to enable them to buy salt (present) fixed payment made by employer at regular intervals to employees holiday (original) holy day, a day of religious significance (present) day of festivity or recreation,Generalization of meaning is also found in many technical terms, which are confined to specialized use. allergic (original) too sensitive to medicine 患过敏症的 (present) averse or disinclined to 反感的；厌恶的 alibi (original) a legal term signifying “the plea that the accused is not at the place when the crime is committed” (present) excuse (借口),Generalization,Narrowing of Meaning: Specialization,It is a process by which a word of wide meaning acquires a narrow or specialized sense.,Narrowing of Meaning,For economy, some phrases are shortened and only one element of the original, usually an adjective, is left to retain the meaning of the whole. Such adjectives have thus taken on specialized meanings. a general = a general officer an editorial = an editorial article Some material nouns are used to refer to objects made of them and thus have a more specific sense. glass a cup-like container or a mirror iron device for smoothing clothes,Elevation of Meaning (amelioration),It is the process by which words rise from humble beginnings to positions of importance. Some words early in their history signify something quite low or humble, but change to designate something agreeable or pleasant. A “snarl” word becomes a “purr” word, or a slang becomes a common word.,Examples of elevation,nice ignorant foolish delightful, pleasant fond foolish affectionate awesome terrible terrific marshal a keeper of horses a high ranking army officer constable a keeper of horses a policeman,Degradation of Meaning (degeneration, pejoration),It is a process by which words with appreciatory or neutral affective meaning fall into ill reputation or come to be used in a derogatory sense. (A “purr” word becomes a “snarl” word.) silly blessed and happy innocent simple or simple-minded foolish sad full, satisfied, contented calm serious sorrowful,Euphemism,garbage collectorsanitation engineer gardenerlandscape architect I used to think I was poor. Then they told me I wasnt poor, I was needy, I was deprived. Then they told me underprivileged was over used. I was disadvantaged. I still dont have a dime. But I have a great vocabulary. old (person)seasoned, well-preserved, advanced in age, past their prime, senior citizen, an elder statesman, the longer living,circumlocution 迂回说法(委婉的极端),lie show difficulty in distinguishing between imaginary and factual material steal need help in learning to respect the property rights of others lazy need ample supervision in order to work well,Lexical revivals,IT vocabulary: a virtual library, virtual shopping, visit a website, counter, hit, icon, open, chat, stream, mail, compress, attachment, crack, burn, infected bar：raise the bar for approving new drugs（标准） bomb：drop a bomb with her resignation（极大的震动 corridor：industrial corridor（地带） serious：make serious money (挣大钱); serious drinking (酗酒) breeze (轻易地通过考试); detail(全面清洗车辆); gatekeeper(把关人),Loss of old meanings,obsolete: there is no evidence of use since 1755. 过时的 archaic: old and no longer used. 古旧的 Word Old Meaning undertaker entrepreneur doctor teacher,Transference of Meaning,Transference of meaning: a meaning change process in which a word that designates one thing changes to mean something else.,Transference of meaning are mostly found in figures of speech. Metaphor Metonymy Synecdoche Transferred epithet Synaesthesia Onomatopoeia,Metaphor,Basic Element of metaphor: vehicle (喻体): the item(s) used metaphorically tenor (本体): the metaphorical meaning of vehicle ground (喻底): the basis for the metaphorical extension; essentially the common elements of meaning, which license the metaphor. Example: the foot of the mountain (vehicle: foot; tenor: lower portion; ground: the spatial parallel between and) p.138,Synecdoche,Synecdoche covers those cases where we use a part for a whole or the whole to talk about the part. Metonymy is the category where something closely connected (but not a part) is used to refer to the whole. We need some gray beards (part of an old man) to help us out. (Synecdoche) The ham sandwich (food a person ordered) is a lousy tipper. (Metonymy),Transferred epithet 移就/移位修饰,Transferred epithet: a rhetorical device in which a modifier, usually an adjective, is applied to the “wrong“ word in the sentence. a sorry state of affairs（可悲的事态） a hopeless case（绝症） a doubtful question（难料的问题） a curious fact（奇妙的事实） I spent the night on a sleepless pillow.,Synaesthesia/Synesthesia 通感,Synesthesia: the description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another. sharp pepper（辛辣的辣椒：味觉） a sharp smell（刺鼻的气味：嗅觉） sharp words （刺耳的话语：听觉） sharp eyes （锐利的眼光： 视觉） sharp wind（刺骨的寒风：触觉）,Transferred epithet vs Synesthesia,Transferred epithet a hospitable board a careless shoe-string Synesthesia sweet voice soft butter delicious perfume a heavy silence dumb anger drunken fury,“我将深味这非人间的浓黑的悲凉”(鲁迅记念刘和珍君 -Transferred epithet “微风过处,送来缕缕清香,仿佛远处高楼上渺茫的歌声似的。”(朱自清荷塘月色) -Synesthesia,Process of meaning change,radiation 放射型 hand (手): 钟表等的指针；人手，雇员；手艺，才能；字迹，手迹；签字；帮助；方面，面； concatenation 连锁型 candidate: (拉丁语)“穿白衣的人”“穿着白衣，谋求官职的人” “谋求官职的人”。 comprehensive 综合型 board，一块木板桌子董事会；一块木板板床住宿提供膳宿。,Tendency of meaning change,Elizabeth Traugott: Exterior description of real world becomes interior description of perception and evaluation. touch 触摸感动 Interior and exterior description becomes textual meaning. but 在外面 但是(Its perfect, but its too expensive.) Meaning depends more on the speakers view and attitude. insist “坚持、继续”(persevere, continue) “坚决要求”(demand) “坚决主张”(believe strongly),The End,
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