Semantic changes
1. Main ways
of semantic changes
a)
specialization;
b)
generalization;
c)
metaphor;
d)
metonymy
2. Secondary
ways of semantic changes
a)
elevation;
b)
degradation;
c)
hyperbole;
d)
litotes
The meaning of a word can change in the course of
time. Changes of lexical meanings can be proved by comparing contexts of
different times. Transfer of the meaning is called lexico-semantic
word-building. In such cases the outer aspect of a word does not change.
The causes of semantic changes can be extra-linguistic
and linguistic, e.g. the change of the lexical meaning of the noun «pen» was
due to extra-linguistic causes. Primarily «pen» comes back to the Latin word
«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. Still later any
instrument for writing was called «a pen».
On the other hand causes can be linguistic, e.g. the
conflict of synonyms when a perfect synonym of a native word is borrowed from
some other language one of them may specialize in its meaning, e.g. the noun
«tide» in Old English was polisemantic and denoted «time», «season», «hour».
When the French words «time», «season», «hour» were borrowed into English they
ousted the word «tide» in these meanings. It was specialized and now means «regular rise and fall of the sea caused by
attraction of the moon». The meaning of a word can also change due to ellipsis,
e.g. the word-group «a train of carriages» had the meaning of «a row of
carriages», later on «of carriages» was dropped and the noun «train» changed
its meaning, it is used now in the function and with the meaning of the whole
word-group.
Semantic changes have been classified by different
scientists. The most complete classification was suggested by a German
scientist Herman Paul in his work «Prinzipien des Sprachgeschichte». It is
based on the logical principle. He distiguishes two main ways where the semantic
change is gradual (specialization and generalization), two momentary conscious
semantic changes (metaphor and metonymy) and also secondary ways: gradual
(elevation and degradation), momentary (hyperbole and litote).
CHAPTER I. SEMANTIC CHANGES. TYPES OF SEMANTIC
CHANGES.
1. Definition.
The development and change of the semantic structure
of a word is always a source of qualitative and quantitative development of the
vocabulary.
All the types discussed depend upon some comparison
between the earlier (whether extinct or still in use) and the new meaning of
the given word. This comparison may be based on the difference between notions
expressed or referents in the real world that are pointed out, on the type of
psychological association at work, on evaluation of the latter by the speaker
or, possibly, on some other feature.
The order in which various types are described will
follow more or less closely the diachronic classifications of M. Breal and H.
Paul. No attempt at a new classification is considered necessary.
M. Breal was probably the first to emphasize the fact
that in passing from general usage into some special sphere of communication a
word as a rule undergoes some sort of specialisation of its meaning. The
word case, for instance, alongside its general meaning of
'circumstances in which a person or a thing is' possesses special meanings: in
law ('a law suit'), in grammar (e.g. the Possessive case), in
medicine ('a patient', 'an illness'). Compare the following:
One of Charles's cases had been a child ill with a
form of diphtheria. (C. P. SNOW) (case = a patient).
The Solicitor whom I met at the Holfords’ sent me a
case which any young man at my stage would have thought himself lucky to
get. (Idem) (case = a question decided, in a court of law, a law
suit)
The general, not specialized meaning is also very
frequent in present-day English. For example: At last we tiptoed up the
broad slippery stair case, and went to our rooms. But in my case not to sleep,
immediately at least. (Idem) (case = circumstances in which one is)
This difference is revealed in the difference of
contexts in which these words occur, in their different valency. Words
connected with illnesses and medicine in the first example, and words connected
with law and court procedures in the second, form the semantic paradigm of the
word case.
The word play suggests different notions to
a child, a playwright, a footballer, a musician or a chess-player and has in
their speech different semantic paradigms. The same applies to the noun cell as
used by a biologist, an electrician, a nun or a representative of the law; or
the word gas as understood by a chemist, a housewife, a motorist or a
miner.
In all the examples considered above a word which
formerly represented a notion of a broader scope has come to render a notion
of a narrower scope. When the meaning is specialized, the word can name fewer
objects, i.e. have fewer referents. At the same time the content of the notion
is being enriched, as it includes -a greater number of relevant features by
which the notion is characterized. The reduction of scope accounts for the term
"narrowing of the meaning" which is even more often used than the
term "specialization". We shall avoid the term "narrowing",
since it is somewhat misleading. Actually it is neither the meaning nor the
notion, but the scope of the notion that .is narrowed.
There is also a third term for the same phenomenon,
namely "differentiation", but it is not so widely used as the first
two terms.
H. Paul, as well as many other authors, emphasizes the
fact that this type of semantic change is particularly frequent in vocabulary
of professional and trade groups.
H. Paul's examples are from the German language but it
is very easy to find parallel cases in English. So this type of change is
fairly universal and fails to disclose any specifically English properties.
The best known examples of specialization in the
general language are as follows: OE dēor 'wild beast' > ModE deer'wild
rum,inant of a particular species' (the original meaning was still alive in
Shakespeare's time as is proved by the following quotation: Rats and mice
and such small deer); OE mete 'food' > ModE meat 'edible
flesh', i.e. only a particular species of food (the earlier meaning is still
noticeable in the compound sweetmeat). This last example deserves
special attention because the tendency of fixed context to preserve the
original meaning is very marked as is constantly proved by various examples.
Other well-worn examples are: OE fuзol 'bird' (cf. Germ Vogel) >
ModE foal 'domestic birds'. The old, meaning is still preserved in
poetic diction and in set expressions, like fowls of the air. Among
its derivatives, fowlermeans 'a person who shoots or traps wild birds for
sport or food'; the shooting or trapping itself is called fowling; a
fowling piece is a gun. OE hund 'dog' (cf. . Germ Hund)
>hound 'a species of hunting dog'. Many words connected with literacy
also show similar changes: thus, teach<.OE tæcan 'to show', 'to
teach'; write <OE wrītan 'to write', 'to scratch', 'to
score' (cf. Germ reiβen)< writing in Europe had first the form of
scratching on the bark of the trees. Tracing these semantic changes the
scholars can, as it were, witness the development of culture.
In the above examples the new meaning superseded the
earlier one. Both meanings can also coexist in the structure of a polysemantic
word or be differentiated locally. The word token < OE tāce, ║
Germ Zeichen originally had the broad meaning of 'sign'. The semantic
change that occurred in it illustrates systematic interdependence within the
vocabulary elements. Brought into competition with the borrowed word sign it
became restricted in use to a few cases of fixed context (a
love token, a token of respect, a token vote, a token payment) and
consequently restricted in meaning. In present-day English token means
something small, unimportant or cheap which represents something big, important
or valuable. Other examples of specialization are room, which
alongside the new meaning keeps the old one of 'space'; cornoriginally
meaning 'grain', 'the seed of any cereal plant': locally the word becomes
specialized and is understood to denote the leading crop of the district;
hence in England corn means 'wheat', in Scotland 'oats', whereas in
the USA, as an ellipsis for Indian corn, it came to mean 'maize'.
As a special group belonging to the same type one can
mention the formation of proper nouns from common nouns chiefly in toponymies,
i.e. place names. For instance, the City,— the business part of
London; the Highlands — the mountainous part of Scotland; Oxford
— University town in England from ox+ford, i.e. a place where
oxen could ford the river; the Tower (of London) — originally a
fortress and palace, later a state prison, now a museum.
In the above examples the change of meaning occurred
without change of sound form and without any intervention of morphological
processes. In many cases, however, the two processes, semantic and
morphological, go hand in hand. For instance, when considering the effect of
the agent suffix -ist added to the noun stem art- we might
expect the whole to mean any person occupied in art, a representative of any
kind of art, but usage specializes the meaning of the wordartist and
restricts it to a synonym of painter.
The process reverse to specialisation is termed
generalisation
and widening of meaning. In that case the scope of the new
notion is wider than that of the original one (hence widening), whereas
the content of the notion is poorer. In most cases generalisation is combined
with a higher order of abstraction than in the notion expressed by
the earlier meaning. The transition from a concrete meaning to an abstract one
is a most frequent feature in the semantic history of words. The
change may be explained as occasioned by situations in which not all
the features of the notions rendered are of equal importance for the
message.
Thus, ready <OE ræde (a
derivative of the verb rīdan 'to ride') meant 'prepared for a
ride'. Fly originally meant 'to move through the air with wings'; now
it denotes any kind of movement in the air or outer space and also very quick
movement in any medium.
The process went very far in the word thing with
its original meanings 'cause', 'object', 'decision', 'meeting', and 'the
decision of the meeting', 'that which was decided upon'. (Cf. Norwegian storting 'parliament'.)
At present, as a result of this process of generalisation, the word can
substitute nearly any noun, and receives an almost pronominal force. In fact
all the words belonging to the group of generic terms fall into this category
of generalization. By generic terms we shall mean non-specific,
non-distributive terms applicable to a great number ; of individual members of
a big class of words. The grammatical meaning of this class of words becomes
predominant in their semantic components. Notice the very general, character of
the word business in the following: "Donald hasn't a very
good manner of interviews."—"All thisgood-manner business," Clun
said, "they take far too much notice of it now in my opinion" (A.
WILSON) ,
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the instances
of generalization proper from generalization combined with a fa-ding of lexical
meaning ousted by the grammatical or emotional meaning that take its place.
These phenomena are closely connected with the peculiar characteristics of
grammatical structure typical of each individual language. One observes them,
for instance, studying the semantic history of the English auxiliary and
semi-auxiliary verbs, especiallyhave, do, shall, will, turn, go, and
that of some English prepositions and adverbs which in the course of time have
come to express grammatical relations. The weakening of lexical meaning due to
the influence of emotional force is revealed in such words as awfully,
terribly, terrific, smashing.
2. Metaphor.
"Specialization" and
"generalization" are thus identified on the evid-' ence of comparing
logical notions expressed by the meaning of words. If, on the other hand, the
linguist is guided by psychological considerations and has to go by the type
of association at work in the transfer of the name of one object to another and
different one, he will observe that the most frequent transfers are based on
associations of similarity or of contiguity. As these types of transfer are
well known in rhetoric as ; figures of speech called metaphor (Gr meta 'change'
and phero 'bear') and metonymy (Gr metonymia frommeta and onoma 'name')
and the same terms are adopted here. A metaphor is a transfer of name based on
the association of similarity and thus is actually a hidden comparison. It
presents a method of description which likens one thing to another by referring
to it as if it were some other one. A cunning person, for instance, is referred
to as a fox. A woman may be called a peach, a lemon, a
cat, a goose, etc. In a metonymy, this referring to one thing as if
it were some other one is based on association of contiguity. Sean O'Casey in
his one-act play "The Hall of Healing" metonymically names his
personages according to the things they are wearing: Red Muffler, Grey
Shawl, etc. Metaphor and metonymy differ from the two first types of
semantic change, i.e. generalization and specialization, inasmuch .as they do
not originate as a result of gradual almost imperceptible change in many
contexts, but come of a purposeful momentary transfer of a name from one object
to another belonging to a different sphere of reality.
In all discussion of linguistic metaphor and metonymy
it must be borne in mind that they are different from metaphor and metonymy as
literary devices. When the latter are offered and accepted both the author and
the reader are to a greater or lesser degree aware that this reference is
figurative, that the object has another name. The relationship of the direct
denotative meaning of the word and the meaning it has in the literary context
in question is based on similarity of some features in the objects compared.
The poetic metaphor is the fruit of the author's creative imagination, as for
example when England is called by Shakespeare (in "King Richard
II") this precious stone set in the silver sea, or when A.
Tennyson writes: What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow?/ To view
each loved one blotted from life's page.
In a linguistic metaphor, especially when it is dead
as a result of long usage, the thing named often has no other name. In a dead
metaphor the comparison is completely forgotten, as for instance in the
words gather, source and shadyin the following example dealing
with some information: / gathered that one or two of their sources were
shady, and some not so much shady as irregular in a most unexpected way. (SNOW)
The meaning of such expressions as a sun
beam or a beam of light are not explained by-allusions to a
tree, although the word is actually derived from OE beam 'tree' ||
Germ Baum, whence the meaning beam a long piece of squared
timber supported at both ends' has also developed. The metaphor is dead. There
are no associations with hens in the verb'brood 'to meditate' (often
sullenly),'though the direct meaning is 'to sit on eggs'.
There may be transitory stages: a
bottleneck 'any thing obstructing an even flow of work", for
instance, is not a neck and does not belong to a bottle. The transfer is
possibly due to the fact that there are some common features in the narrow top
part of the bottle, a narrow outlet for road traffic, and obstacles interfering
with the smooth working of administrative machinery.
Metaphors, H. Paul points out, may be based upon very
different types of similarity, for instance, similarity of shape:head of a
cabbage, the teeth of a saw. This similarity may be based on a similarity
of function. The transferred meaning is easily recognized from the context: the
head of the school, the key to a mystery. The similarity may be supported
also by position: foot of a page, of a mountain, or behaviour and
function: bookworm, wirepuller. The word ‘whip’ a lash used
to urge horses on' is metaphorically transferred to an official in the British
Parliament appointed by a political party to see that members are present at
debates, especially when a vote is taken, to check the voting and also to
advise the members on the policy of the respective party, etc.
In the kg of the table the metaphor is
motivated by the similarity of the lower part of the table and the human limb
in position and partly jn shape and function. Anthropomorphic metaphors are
among the most frequent. The way in which the words denoting parts of the body
are made to express a variety of meanings may be illustrated by the
following: head of an army, of a procession, of a household; arms and
mouth of a' river, eye of a needle, foot of a hill, tongue of a belland so on
and so forth. The transferred meaning is easily recognized from the context:
... her feet were in low-heeled brown brogues with fringed tongues. (PLOMER>
Numerous cases of metaphoric transfer are based upon
the analogy between duration of time and space, e.g. long distance:: long-
speech; a short path :: a short time. The transfer of space relations upon
psychological and mental notions may be exemplified by words and expressions
concerned with understanding: to catch (to grasp) an idea; to take a hint;
, to get the hang of; to throw light upon .
This metaphoric change from the concrete to the
abstract is also represented in such simple words as score, span, thrill.
Score comes from OE scoru 'twenty' from ON skor 'twenty'
and also 'notch'. In OE time notches were cut on sticks to keep a reckoning.
As score is cognate with shear, it is very probable that
the meaning developed from the twentieth notch that was made of a larger size.
From the meaning 'line' or 'notch cut or scratched down' many new meanings
sprang out, such as 'number of points made by a player or a side in some
games', 'running account', 'a debt', 'written or printed music', etc. Span from
OE spann 'maximum distance between the tips of thumb and little
finger used as a measure of length', came to mean 'full extent from end to
end' (of a bridge, an arch, etc.) and 'a short distance'. Thrill from
MEthriven 'to pierce' developed into the present meaning 'to penetrate
with emotion'.
Another subgroup of metaphors comprises transitions of
proper names into common ones: an Adonis, a Cicero, a Don Juan, etc.
When a proper name like Falstaff is used referring specifically to
the hero of Shakespeare's plays it has a unique reference. But when people
speak of a person they know calling him Falstaff they make a proper
name generic for a corpulent, jovial, irrepressibly impudent person and it no
longer denotes a unique being. Cf. Don Juan as used about attractive
profligates. To certain races and nationalities traditional characteristics
have been attached by the popular mind with or without real justification. If a
person is an out-and-out mercenary and a hypocrite into the bargain they call
him a Philistine, ruthlessly destructive people are called Vandals.
3.Metonymy
If the transfer is based upon the association of
contiguity it is called metonymy. It is a shift of names between things that
are known to be in some way or other connected in reality. The transfer may be
conditioned by spatial, temporal, causal, symbolic, instrumental, functional
and other relations.
Thus, the word book is derived from the name
of a tree on which inscriptions were scratched: ModE book <
OE boc'beech'. ModE win <. OE winnan 'to fight';
the word has been shifted so as to apply to the success following fighting.Cash is
an adaptation of the French word caisse 'box'; from naming the
container it came to mean what was contained, i.e. money; the original meaning
was lost in competition with the new word safe. Spatial relations are
also present when the name of the place is used for the people occupying
it. The chair may mean 'the chairman', the bar 'the
lawyers', the pulpit 'the priests'. The word town may
denote the inhabitants of a town and the word house the members of
the House of Commons or of Lords. Cello, violin, saxophone are often
used to denote not the instruments but the musicians who play them.
A causal relationship is obvious in the following
development: ModE fear < ME feere < OE fær,
fēr 'danger', 'unexpected attack'. States and properties serve as names
for objects and people possessing them: youth, age, authorities,
forces. The name of the action can serve to name the result of the action:
ModE kill < ME killen 'to hit on the head', ModE stay ||
Germ schlagen.. Emotions may be named by the movements that accompany
them: to frown, to start.
There are also the well-known instances of symbol for
thing symbolized: the crown for 'monarchy'; the instrument for the
product: 'hand 'handwriting'; receptacle for content, as in the
word kettle, and some others. Words for the material from which an
article is made are often used to denote the particular article: glass,
iron, copper, nickel are well known examples. The pars pro toto where the
name of a part is applied to the whole may be illustrated by such military
terms asthe royal horse for 'cavalry' and foot for 'infantry',
and the expressions like / want to have a word with you. The
reverse process is observed when OE cēol 'a ship' develops among
other variants into keel 'a barge load of coal'.
A place of its own within metonymical change is
occupied by the so-called functional change. The type has its peculiarities: in
this case the shift is between names of things substituting one another in
human practice. Thus, the early instrument for writing was a feather or more
exactly a quill (OE pen, from OFr penne, from It penna, from
Lat. penna'feather'). We write with fountain-pens that are made of different
materials and have nothing in common with feathers except the function, but the
name remains. The name rudder comes from OE roper 'oar' ||
Germ Ruder 'oar'. The shift of meaning is due to the shift of
function: the steering was formerly achieved by an oar. The steersman was
called pilot;with the coming of aviation one who operates the flying
controls of an aircraft was also called pilot. For more cases of
functional change see also the semantic history of the words: filter,
pocket, spoon, stamp, sail .
Common names may be derived from proper names also
metonymically, as in macadam and diesel, so named after their
inventors.
Many physical and technical units are named after
great scientists: volt, ohm, ampere, watt, etc.
There are also many instances in political vocabulary
when the place of some establishment is used not only for the establishment
itself or its staff but also for its policy: the White House, the
Pentagon, Wall Street, Downing Street, Fleet Street.
Examples of geographic names turning into common nouns
to name the goods exported or originating there are exceedingly numerous, e.g.
astrakhan, bikini, boston, cardigan, china, tweed.
arments came to be known by the names of those who
brought them into fashion: mackintosh, raglan, wellingtons.
4. Other types of
semantic changes.
Following the lead of literary criticism linguists
have often adopted terms of rhetoric for other types of semantic change,
besides metaphor and metonymy. These are: hyperbole, litotes, irony, e u p h e
m i s m. In all these cases the same warning that was given in connection with
metaphors and metonymy must be kept in mind: namely, there is a difference
between these terms as understood in literary criticism and in lexicology.
Hyperbole (from Gr huperballō'exceed') is an exaggerated statement not
meant to be understood literally but expressing an intensely emotional attitude
of the speaker to what he is speaking about. The emotional tone is due to the
illogical character in which the direct denotative and the contextual emotional
meanings are combined.
A very good example is chosen by I. R. Galperin from
Byron, and one cannot help borrowing it:
When people say "I've told you fifty
times," They mean to scold and very often do,
The reader will note that Byron's intonation is
distinctly colloquial, the poet is giving us his observations concerning
colloquial expressions, So the .hyperbole here is not poetic but linguistic.
The same may be said about expressions like: It's
absolutely maddening, You'll be the death of me, I hate troubling you, It's
monstrous, It's a nightmare, A thousand pardons, A thousand thanks, Haven't
seen you for ages, I'd give the world to, I shall be eternally grateful, I'd
love to do it, etc.
The most important difference between a poetic
hyperbole and a linguistic one lies in the fact that the former creates an
image, whereas in the latter the denotative meaning quickly fades out and the
corresponding exaggerating words serve only as general signs of emotion
without specifying the emotion itself. Some of the most frequent emphatic words
are:absolutely! awfully! terribly! lovely! magnificent! splendid! and so
on.
The reverse figure is called litotes (from Gr lītos 'plain',
'meagre') or understatement. It. might be defined as expressing the affirmative
by the negation of its contrary: e.g. not bad or not half
bad for 'good', not small for 'great', no coward for
'brave'. Some understatements do not contain negations: rather decent; I
could do with a cup of tea. It is, however, doubtful whether
litotes should be considered under the heading of semantic change at all,
because as a rule it creates no permanent change in the semantic structure of
the word concerned. The purpose of understatement is not to deceive but to
produce a stronger impression on the hearer.
Also taken from rhetoric is the term irony, i.e.
expression of one's meaning by words of opposite meaning, especially a simulated
adoption of the opposite point of view for the purpose of ridicule. One of the
meanings of the adjective nice is 'bad', 'unsatisfactory'; it is
marked off as ironical and illustrated by the example: You've got us into
a nice mess! The same may be said about the adjective pretty: A
pretty mess you've made of it!
Changes depending on the social attitude to the object
named, connected with social evaluation and emotional tone, are called
amelioration and pejoration of meaning. Amelioration or elevation is a
semantic shift undergone by words due to their referents coming up the social
scale. For instance OE cwen 'a woman'> ModE queen, OE cniht 'a
young servant' > ModE knight. The words steward and stewardess (the
passengers' attendant on ships and airliners) have undergone a great
amelioration. Steward < OE stigweard from stigo 'a
sty' and weard 'a ward', dates back from the days when the chief
wealth of the Saxon landowner was his pigs, of whom the stigweard had
to take care. The meaning of some words has been elevated through associations
with aristocratic life or town life. This is true about such adjectives
as civil, chivalrous, urbane.
The reverse process is pejoration or degradation; it
involves a lowering in social scale connected with the appearance of a
derogatory and scornful emotive tone reflecting the disdain of the upper
classes towards the lower ones. A knave < OE cnafa \\ Germ Knabe meant
at first 'boy', then 'servant', and finally became a term of abuse and scorn.
Another example of the same kind is blackguard. In the lord's retinue
of Middle Ages served among others the guard of iron pots and other kitchen
utensils black with soot. From the immoral features attributed to these
servants by their masters comes the present scornful ' meaning of the
word blackguard. A similar history is traced for the words boor,
churl, clown, villain.
Euphemism (Gr euphemismos from eu 'well'
and pheme 'speak') is the substitution of words of mild or vague
connotations for expressions rough, unpleasant or for some other reasons
unmentionable.
Within the diachronic approach the phenomenon has been
repeatedly classed by many linguists as taboo. This standpoint is hardly acceptable
for modern European languages. With primitive peoples taboo is a prohibition
meant as a safeguard against supernatural forces. Names of ritual objects or
animals were taboo because the name was regarded as the equivalent of what was
named. S. Ullmann returns to the conception - of taboo several times
illustrating it with propitiatory names given in the early periods of language
development to such objects of superstitious fear as the bear (whose name
originally meant 'brown') and the weasel. He treats both examples as material
of comparative semantics. The taboo influence behind the circumlocutions used
to name these animals becomes quite obvious when the same phenomenon is
observed in similar names in various other languages. There is no necessity to
cite them here as they are given in any book on general linguistics. It should
be borne in mind that taboo has historical relevance. No such opposition as
that between a direct and a propitiatory name for an animal, no matter how
dangerous, can be found in present-day English.
With peoples of developed culture, euphemism is
intrinsically different, has nothing to do with taboo and is dictated by
social usage, moral tact and etiquette. Cf. queer 'mad', deceased 'dead', perspire v
'sweat'.
From the semantical point of view euphemism is
important because meanings with unpleasant connotations appear in words
formerly neutral, as a result of their repeated use instead of other words that
are for some reason unmentionable.
The material of this chapter shows that semantic
changes are not arbitrary. They proceed in accordance with the logical and psychological
laws of thought, otherwise changed words would never be understood and could
not serve the purpose of communication. The various attempts at classification
undertaken by traditional linguistics, although inconsistent ( and
often subjective, are useful, since they permit the linguist to find his way
about an immense accumulation of semantic facts. However, they say nothing or
almost nothing about the causes of these changes.
CHAPTER II. CAUSES OF SEMANTIC CHANGE
In comparison with classifications of semantic change
the problem of their causes appears neglected. Opinions on this point are
scattered through a great number of linguistic works and have apparently never
-been collected into anything complete. And yet a thorough understanding of the
phenomena involved .in semantic change is impossible unless the whys and
wherefores become known. This is of primary importance as it may lead
eventually to a clearer, interpretation of language development. The
vocabulary is the most flexible part of the language and it is precisely its
semantic aspect that responds most readily to every change in the human
activity in whatever sphere it may happen to take place.
The causes of semantic changes may be grouped under
two main headings, linguistic and extralinguistic ones. Of these the first
group has suffered much greater neglect in the past and it is not surprising
therefore that far less is known of it than of the second. It deals with
changes due to the constant interdependence of vocabulary units in language and
speech, such as differentiation between synonyms, changes taking place in
connection with ellipsis and with fixed contexts, changes resulting from
ambiguity in certain contexts, and some other cases.
Semantic change due to the 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. Consider,
for example, the words time and tide. They used to be
synonyms. Then tide took on its more limited application to the
periodically shifting waters, and time alone is used in the general
sense.
Another example of semantic change involving synonymic
differentiation is the word twist. In OE it was a noun,
meaning 'a rope' whereas the verb thrawan (now throw) meant
both 'hurl' and 'twist'. Since the appearance in the Middle English of the
verb twisten ('twist') the first verb lost this meaning. But threw in
its turn influenced the development ofcasten (cast), a Scandinavian
borrowing. Its primary meaning 'hurl', 'throw' is now present only in some set
expressions.Cast keeps its old meaning in such phrases as cast a
glance, cast lots, cast smth. in one's teeth. Twist has very many
meanings, the latest being 'to dance the twist'
Fixed context may be regarded as another linguistic
factor in semantic change. Both factors are at work in the case oftoken .
When brought into competition with the loan word sign, it became
restricted in use to a number of set expressions such as love token, token
of respect and so became specialized in meaning. Fixed context has this
influence not only in phrases but in compound words as well. OE mete meant
'food', its descendant meat refers only to flesh food except in the
set expression meat and drink and the compound sweetmeats.
No systematic treatment has so far been offered for
the syntagmatic semantic changes depending on the context. But such cases do
exist showing that investigation of the problem is important.
One of these is ellipsis. The qualifying words of a
frequent phrase may be omitted: sale comes to be used for cut-price sale,
propose for to propose marriage, to be expecting for to
be expecting a baby. Or vice versa, the kernel word of the phrase may seem
redundant: minerals for mineral waters. Due to
ellipsis starve which originally meant 'die' (cf. Germsterben) came
to substitute the whole phrase die of hunger, and also began to mean
'suffer from lack of food' and even in colloquial use 'to feel hungry'.
Moreover as there are many words with transitive and intransitive variants
naming cause and result, starve came to mean 'to cause to perish with
hunger'.
English has a great variety of these regular
coincidences of different aspects, alongside with cause and result, we could
consider the coincidence of subjective and objective, active and passive
aspects especially frequent in adjectives. E.g. hateful means
'exciting hatred' and 'full of hatred'; curious— 'strange' and
'inquisitive'; pitiful— 'exciting compassion' and 'compassionate'.
Compare the different use of the words doubtful and healthy in
the following: to be doubtful :: a doubtful advan tage, to
be healthy :: a healthy climate.
The extralinguistic causes are determined by the
social nature of the language: they are observed in changes of meaning
resulting from the development of the notion expressed and the thing named and
by the appearance of new notions and things. In other words, extralinguistic
causes of semantic change are connected with the development of the human mind
as it moulds reality to conform with its needs.
Languages are powerfully affected by social,
political, economic, cultural and technical change. The influence of those
factors upon linguistic phenomena is studied by sociolinguistics. It shows that
social factors can influence even structural features of linguistic units,
terms of science, for instance, have a number of specific features as compared
to words used in other spheres of human activity.
The word being a linguistic realization of notion, it
changes with the progress of human consciousness. This process is reflected in
the development of lexical meaning. As the human mind achieves an ever more
exact understanding of the world of reality and the objective relationships
that characterize it, the notions become more and more exact reflections of
real things. The history of the social, economic and political life of people,
the progress of culture and science bring about changes in notions and things
influencing the semantic aspect of language. For instance, OE eorpe meant
'the ground under people's feet', 'the soil' and 'the world of man' as opposed
to heaven that was supposed to be inhabited first by Gods and later
on, with the spread of Christianity, by God, his saints and the souls of the
dead. With the progress of science earth came to mean the third planet from the
sun and the knowledge of it was constantly enriched.
The word space from the meanings of
'extension' or 'intervening distance' came to mean 'the limitless expanse in
which everything exists' and more recently came to be used especially in the
meaning of 'outer space'. Atoms (Gr.atomos 'indivisible'
from a 'not' and tomos 'cut') were formerly thought to be
indivisible smallest particles of matter and were usually associated in
layman's speech with smallness. The word could be metaphorically used in the
meaning of 'a tiny creature'. When atoms were found to be made up of a
positively charged nucleus round which negatively charged electrons revolve,
the notion of an atom brought about connotations of discrete (discontinuous)
character of matter. With the advances made since science has found ways of
releasing the energy hidden in the splitting of the atomic nucleus, the notion
is accompanied with the idea of immense potentialities present, as, for
instance, in the phrase Atoms for peace. Since the advent of the
atomic bomb the adjective atomic distinctly connotes in the English
language with the threat of a most destructive warfare (atomic bomb,
atomic warfare).
The tendency to use technical imagery is increasing in
every language, thus the expression to spark off in chain reaction is
almost international. Some expressions tend to become somewhat obsolete: the
English used to talk of people being galvanized into activity, or going
full steam ahead but the phrases sound out dated now.
The changes of notions and things named go hand in
hand. As they are conditioned by changes in the economic, social, political and
cultural history of the people, the extralinguistic causes of semantic change
might be conveniently subdivided in accordance with these. Social relationships
are at work in the cases of elevation and pejoration of meaning discussed in
the previous section where the attitude of the upper classes to their social
inferiors determined the strengthening of emotional tone among the semantic
components of the word.
Euphemisms may be dictated by publicity
needs—hence ready- tailored and ready-to-wear clothes instead
of ready-made. The influence of mass-advertising on language is
growing; it is felt in every level of the language. Innovations possible in
advertising are of many different types. A kind of orange juice, for instance,
is called Tango. The justification of the name is given in the
advertising text as follows: Get this differ ent tasting Sparkling
Tango. Tell you why: made from whole oranges. Taste those oranges. Taste the
tang in Tango. Tingling tang, bubbles — sparks. You drink it
straight. Goes down great. Taste the tang in Tango. New Sparkling Tango. The
reader will see for himself how many expressive connotations are introduced by
the salesman in this commercial name in an effort to attract the buyer's
attention.
Economic causes are obviously at work in the semantic
development o! the word wealth. It first meant 'well-being', 'happiness'
from weal from OE wela whence well. This original
meaning is preserved in the compounds commonwealthand commonweal. The
present meaning became possible due to the role played by money both in feudal
and bourgeois society. The chief wealth of the early inhabitants of Europe
being the cattle, OE feoh means both 'cattle' and 'money', likewise
Goth faihu; Lat. pecu meant 'cattle' and pecunia meant
'money'. ME fee-house is both a cattle-shed and a treasury. The
present-day English fee most frequently means the price paid for
services to a lawyer or a physician. It appears to develop jointly from the
above mentioned OE feoh and the Anglo-French fe,
fie, fief, probably of the same origin, meaning 'a recompense' and 'a
feudal tenure'. This modern meaning is obvious in the following example:Physicians
of the utmost Fame/Were called at once; but when they came/ They answered as
they took their fees,/ "There is no cure for this disease." (BELLOC)
CONCLUSION
We have dialled in detail with various types of semantic
change. This is necessary not only because of the interest the various cases
present in themselves but also because a thorough knowledge of these
possibilities helps one to understand the semantic structure of English words
at the present stage of their development. The development and change of the
semantic structure of a word is always a source of qualitative and quantitative
development of the vocabulary.
The constant development of industry, agriculture,
trade and transport bring into being new objects and new notions. Words to
name them are either borrowed or created from material already existing in the
language and it often happens that new meanings are thus acquired by old
words.
LITERATURE:
1. Rinaburg R. “A course in Modern English”. Moscow
1976.
2. Griberg S. I. “Exercises in Modern English”. Moscow
1980.
3. Antrushina. “English Lexicology”. 1985.
4. Kunin A. “English Lexicology” Moscow 1972.
5. Mednikova E. M. “Seminars in English Lexicology”
Moscow “Vyshaja shkola” 1978.
6. Cruise. “Lexical semantic” Cambridge University
press 1995.
7. “English Word Formation” Cambridge University press
1996.
Semantic changes
1. Main ways
of semantic changes
e)
specialization;
f)
generalization;
g)
metaphor;
h)
metonymy
2. Secondary
ways of semantic changes
e)
elevation;
f)
degradation;
g)
hyperbole;
h)
litotes
SEMANTIC CHANGES
The meaning of a
word can change in the course of time. Changes of lexical meanings can be
proved by comparing contexts of different times. Transfer of the meaning is
called lexico-semantic word-building. In such cases the outer aspect of a word
does not change.
The causes of semantic changes can be extra-linguistic and linguistic, e.g. the
change of the lexical meaning of the noun «pen» was due to extra-linguistic
causes. Primarily « pen» comes back to the Latin word «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. Still later any instrument for writing
was called « a pen».
On the other hand causes can be linguistic, e.g. the conflict of synonyms when
a perfect synonym of a native word is borrowed from some other language one of
them may specialize in its meaning, e.g. the noun «tide» in Old English was
polisemantic and denoted «time», «season», «hour». When the French words
«time», «season», «hour» were borrowed into English they ousted the word «tide»
in these meanings. It was specialized and now means «regular rise and fall of
the sea caused by attraction of the moon». The meaning of a word can also
change due to ellipsis, e.g. the word-group «a train of carriages» had the
meaning of «a row of carriages», later on «of carriages» was dropped and the
noun «train» changed its meaning, it is used now in the function and with the
meaning of the whole word-group.
Semantic changes have been classified by different scientists. The most
complete classification was suggested by a German scientist Herman Paul in his
work «Prinzipien des Sprachgeschichte». It is based on the logical principle.
He distiguishes two main ways where the semantic change is gradual (
specialization and generalization), two momentary conscious semantic changes
(metaphor and metonymy) and also secondary ways: gradual (elevation and
degradation), momentary (hyperbole and litote).
SPECIALIZATION
It is a gradual
process when a word passes from a general sphere to some special sphere of
communication, e.g. «case» has a general meaning «circumstances in which a
person or a thing is». It is specialized in its meaning when used in law (a law
suit), in grammar (a form in the paradigm of a noun), in medicine (a patient,
an illness). The difference between these meanings is revealed in the context.
The meaning of a word can specialize when it remains in the general usage. It
happens in the case of the conflict between two absolute synonyms when one of
them must specialize in its meaning to remain in the language, e.g. the native
word «meat» had the meaning «food», this meaning is preserved in the compound «sweetmeats».
The meaning «edible flesh» was formed when the word «food», its absolute
synonym, won in the conflict of absolute synonyms (both words are native). The
English verb «starve» was specialized in its meaning after the Scandinavian
verb «die» was borrowed into English. «Die» became the general verb with this
meaning because in English there were the noun «death» and the adjective
«dead». «Starve» got the meaning «to die of hunger» .
The third way of specialization is the formation of Proper names from common
nouns, it is often used in toponimics, e.g. the City - the business part of
London, Oxford - university town in England, the Tower -originally a fortress
and palace, later -a prison, now - a museum.
The fourth way of specialization is ellipsis. In such cases primaraly we have a
word-group of the type «attribute + noun», which is used constantly in a
definite situation. Due to it the attribute can be dropped and the noun can get
the meaning of the whole word-group, e.g. «room» originally meant «space», this
meaning is retained in the adjective «roomy» and word combinations: «no room
for», «to take room», «to take no room». The meaning of the word «room « was
specialized because it was often used in the combinations: «dining room»,
«sleeping room» which meant «space for dining» , «space for sleeping».
GENERALIZATION
It is a process
contrary to specializaton, in such cases the meaning of a word becomes more
general in the course of time.
The transfer from a concrete meaning to an abstract one is most frequent, e.g.
«ready» (a derivative from the verb «ridan» - «ride») meant «prepared for a
ride», now its meaning is «prepared for anything». «Journey» was borrowed from
French with the meaning «one day trip», now it means «a trip of any duration».
All auxiliary verbs are cases of generalization of their lexical meaning
because they developed a grammatical meaning : «have», «be», «do», «shall» ,
«will» when used as auxiliary verbs are devoid of their lexical meaning which
they have when used as notional verbs or modal verbs, e.g. cf. «I have several
books by this writer» and «I have read some books by this author». In the first
sentence the verb «have» has the meaning «possess», in the second sentence it
has no lexical meaning, its grammatical meaning is to form Present Perfect.
METAPHOR
It is a transfer
of the meaning on the basis of comparison. Herman Paul points out that metaphor
can be based on different types of similarity:
a) similarity of shape, e.g. head (of a cabbage), bottleneck, teeth (of a saw,
a comb);
b) similarity of position, e.g. foot (of a page, of a mountain), head (of a
procession);
c) similarity of function, behaviour e.g. a whip (an official in the British
Parliament whose duty is to see that members were present at the voting);
d) similarity of colour, e.g. orange, hazel, chestnut etc.
In some cases we have a complex similarity, e.g. the leg of a table has a
similarity to a human leg in its shape, position and function.
Many metaphors are based on parts of a human body, e.g. an eye of a needle,
arms and mouth of a river, head of an army.
A special type of metaphor is when Proper names become common nouns, e.g.
philistine - a mercenary person, vandals - destructive people, a Don Juan - a
lover of many women etc.
METONYMY
It is a transfer of
the meaning on the basis of contiguity. There are different types of metonymy:
a) the material of which an object is made may become the name of the object ,
e.g. a glass, boards, iron etc;
b) the name of the place may become the name of the people or of an object
placed there, e.g. the House - members of Parliament, Fleet Street - bourgeois
press, the White House - the Administration of the USA etc;
c) names of musical instruments may become names of musicians, e.g. the violin,
the saxophone;
d) the name of some person may becom a common noun, e.g. «boycott» was
originally the name of an Irish family who were so much disliked by their
neighbours that they did not mix with them, «sandwich» was named after Lord
Sandwich who was a gambler. He did not want to interrupt his game and had his
food brought to him while he was playing cards between two slices of bread not
to soil his fingers.
e) names of inventors very often become terms to denote things they invented,
e.g. «watt» , «om», «rentgen» etc
f) some geographical names can also become common nouns through metonymy, e.g.
holland (linen fabrics), Brussels (a special kind of carpets) , china
(porcelain) , astrachan ( a sheep fur) etc.
ELEVATION
It is a transfer
of the meaning when it becomes better in the course of time, e.g. «knight»
originally meant «a boy», then «a young servant», then «a military servant»,
then «a noble man». Now it is a title of nobility given to outstanding people;
«marshal» originally meant «a horse man» now it is the highest military rank
etc.
DEGRADATION
It is a transfer
of the meaning when it becomes worse in the course of time. It is usually
connected with nouns denoting common people, e.g. «villain» originally meant
«working on a villa» now it means «a scoundrel».
HYPERBOLE
It is a transfer
of the meaning when the speaker uses exaggeration,
e.g. «to hate»(doing something), (not to see somebody) «for ages».
Hyperbole is often used to form phraseological units, e.g. «to make a mountain
out of a molehill», «to split hairs» etc.
LITOTE
It is a transfer
of the meaning when the speaker expresses affirmative with the negative or vica
versa, e.g. not bad, no coward etc.
