英语专业词汇学课件9.changes in word meaning
Chapter IX Changes in Word Meaning
2. from abstract to concrete
• Catch “抓住” – “窗钩，门扣，拉手” • Room “空间，地方”– “房间”
3. from common nouns to proper nouns
• city: 城市 - the City 伦敦的商业区 • Prophet 预言者，先知 – the Prophet = “Mohammed” （伊斯兰教）
9.1 General Remarks
• Vocabulary is the most unstable element of a language as it is undergoing constant changes both in form and content. Comparatively speaking, the content is even more unstable than the form.
4. from common words to terms
• • • • Memory 记忆-存储器（电脑） Recovery 恢复- （航天器的）回收 Pack 包裹- “软件暗包” （摄影技术） Soft 柔软的 – 清音的（语音学） 易极化的（化学） （市场）疲软的 （经济学）
5. the shrinking of meaning of alien words
Four kinds of extension
1. 2. 3. 4.
From specific to general From technical terms to general words From concrete to abstract From proper nouns to common nouns
(完整版)Chapter9Changesinwordmeaning
Chapter 9 Changes in word meaning一.Cause of changes in word meaning1.Historical cause: It often happens that thought a word retain its original form,its meaning haschanges because the object which it denotes（表示）has changed, this is the historical cause of semantic change.Pencil is from Latin word meaning—a little tail or a fine brush, like our chinese pen 毛笔，later, when it was made of wood and graphite石墨，it was still called a “pencil”2.Social caus e: change in word meaning resulting from a constant verbal traffic between commonwords and various technical words is referred to as social cause of semantic changeHot and cold have changed their meaning in the field of politics, as in “cold war”,”hot war” and “hot line”3.Foreign influences : a particularly important cause of change of meaning in words has been theinfluence of foreign wordsThe native word stool originally meant any kind of seat for one person, and could be used for a king’s seat, it got its present humble(粗陋) meaning because the French word chair was adopted to denote a more comfortable piece of furniture4.Linguistic cause 语言的影响:a. Towards ellipsis 省略A general---a general officerUniform—uniform dressb.Towards analogy 类推Energetic(精力旺盛)—formerly meant” to operate, effect” as in “the most energeticchemicals”, now energetic means” of , having or showing energy, vigorous, forcefull” as if it had been derived from energy5.Psychological cause 心理上的影响1）Euphemism（委婉词）：It refers that the word changed after people use mild,agreeable language when speaking of an unpleasant or embarrasing fact and of taboo subjects as sex and the excretive processes of the boby.Such as death can be used as '' go west''.2）Grandiloquence（夸张）：It refers to the use of long,important-sounding words for effect.The disire to upgrade or raise the social status of a position,occupation,or institution bychanging its common name to one felt to confer greater dignity or importance is another psychological factor in the change of word meaning.In a sense,it is a form of euphemism.e.g. ''hair stylist'' was upgraded as ''hairologist'' for barbers.3）Cynicism（挖苦语）：It refer that the disire to sneer(冷笑) and to be sarcastic (讽刺)cause the semantic change. e.g. sanctimonious (假装神圣)means''devot,holy or scared'' and now means ''pretending to be very holy or pious''.二.Four tendencies in semantic change1. Restriction(限制, 约束)(or narrowing or specialization) of meaning（词义的缩小）：It isthe opposite of widening, is a process by which a word or wide meaning acquires(获得, 学到)a narrower or specialized sense.e.g. “meat”originally means “ food,solid food” but now res tricted to mean “the flesh of animals used as food,excluding fish and birds”.2. Extension (generalization) of meaning（词义的扩大）:A process by which a word whichoriginally had a specialized meaning has now become generalized. e.g. “holiday” originally means “holy day,a day for religious significance” but now extended to mean “ day of festivityor recreation when no work is done” Restriction and extension refer to change in the range of the denotative(外延) meaning of words, either narrowed or widened,they are so closely associated that they can hardly be treated separately.3. Degeneration of meaning(pejoration)（词义的贬降: A process whereby words of goodorigin fall into ill reputation or non-affective words come to used in derogatory(贬低)sense. .e.g. "silly" originally means "blessed and happy" but now degenerated to mean "foolish".4. Elevation (or amelioration) of meaning（词义的扬升）:Elevation is the process by whichwords rise from humble beginings to positions of importance.Elevation of meaning is one of the tendencies of meaning change,which changes the meaning of a linguistics from "low" to "high" ,e.g. "minister" originally means “a servant of master” to presently "head of adepartment in a nation”.*Degeneratio and elevation refer to change in connotative(内涵),stylistic(风格), andaffective(感情) meanings.三．Semantic development or change resulting from the figurative (比喻)use of words The figurative use refers to the expression of saying something is another thing.Thus can make the speech or article become vivid and stimulus the reader to imagine.The original thing is called tenor,the another thing is called vehicle.1.Metaphor（隐喻）：Metaphor is a figure of speech containing an implied comparison basedon association of similarity,in which a word or a phrase ordinarily and primarily used for one thing is applied to another,a process which often results in semantic change or figurative extension of meaning. e.g. a beautiful woman may be described as a vision.A cunning person is often referred to as a fox2.Metonymy（换喻）：Metonymy is a figure of speech by which an object or idea is describedby the name of something closely related to it. That is to say, a transfer of names occurs between two things associated by actual contiguity, either by physical contact, or contact through various though associations. Metonymy does not reveal any new relations but arises between words already related to each other in different ways, for example. The white house for the president or for the presidential sraff of the Unitd States.1）Sign for the person or thing signified. e.g crown, sceptre, throne for king.2）Container for its contents. e.g. the bottle for alcoholic drink.3）The abstract for the concrete. e.g. the management for governing body,board of directors etc.4）The concrete for the abstract. e.g. tongue for language.5）A part for the whole and vice versa. e.g. a sail for a ship,the army for a soldier etc.6）The material for the thing made. e.g. silver for coins made of silve or for silver vessels,dishes,articles.课后习题---回家再做1.Explain why change of word-meaning is fundamental in a living language2.How do the historical and social causes account for changes in the meanings of words3.How are changes of meaning frequently brought about by linguistic causes?4.Why have many words changed their meaning as a result of being used euphemistically5.how have the following words become specialized in meaning?Fowl, hound,deer,meat,to stink, to starve, pipe6.What is extension of meaning? how have the following words become extended inmeaning?Plant, bird,holiday,salary, picture,thing,to arrive7.What are the two main forms of degeneration of meaning? Give examples to illustrateyour point8.Describle the process of elevation of meaming for the following words9.Pioneer, minister,marshal, job,black10.How have metaphor and metonymy played an important part in semantic developmentand semantic change?11.Find out the original meaning of the following words by consulting an etymologicaldictionary, suggest explanations as to how they have acquired their present meanings: Style,clue,cunning, horrible12.Give examples of words from chinese, the meaning of which have changed with time,and suggest explanations as how these changes have taken place.。
现代英语词汇学概论9 Changes in Word Meaning
7.2.1 Extra-linguistic Factors
? a star around which the earth and other planets revolve... (WNWD)
? atom from atomos (Greek) ? any of the indivisible particles
3. Elevation
? governor
?
? minister
?
? lord
pilot head of a state servant head of a ministry loaf giver
Examples:
word Minister
Marshal shrews
Original meaning a servant
5. Transfer/transference
? The teacher was suspicious of the student's excuse.
? The teacher suspected the student's excuse. (subjective)
5. Transfer/transference
1. Extension
? Technical terms used as common words :
? feedback (computer) = response ? allergic (medicine) = averse to
anything
2. Narrowing
? Narrowing= specialization:
more general one
1. Extension
Changes in Word Meaning
Changes in Word Meaning曹礼华5101100327 1003The vocabulary is the most unstable element of a language. Its meaning is undergoing changes all the time. And often, the meaning of a word changes into new service when a new linguistic need is felt. So the changes do not have regular pattern for us to follow. And there also are many kinds of types of changes in word meaning. The issue is so complex and hard to research.First of all, I want to talk about the reason for the changes in word meaning. Although there are many reasons for the changes in word meaning, in my opinion, there are four main reasons for this:1.Historical Reason. English originate form Britain around after the 5th century. Then it hadexperienced a long time social development and changes. Especially, the intruders from the mainland exacerbate the changes in word meaning.2.Social Reason. Society moves forward with the development of economy and technology.So there would be more needs for words to define the new things.3.Linguistic Reason. Words are used by people to communicate. So we want to use itconveniently. And with this purpose, a lot of complicated words are becoming simple and general.4.Mental Reason. With the development of our civilization, everyone wanted to be gentler toothers especially when they want to express something to refuse others. So a new word meaning maybe come out.There are two main types of word changes named extension of meaning and narrowing of meaning.(1)Extension of Meaning.Extension of meaning, also known as generation, is the name given to the widening of meaning which some words undergo. It is a process by which a word which originally hada specialized meaning has now become generalized or has extended to over a broaderand often less definite concept. For example, pen just means “quill”which is made by different kind feather. But the pen-nib was invented later. People started to use pen to define pen-nib. Obviously, now “pen”has a big difference from “pen”people know before.The word “car” comes form the Latin word “carrus”. Carrus means carriage with two or four wheels. But now it has a extended meaning. Automobile and tramcar can be defines with car. The morphology of this word does not change, but it has different meaning when the referents change.The word “arrive” comes form the Latin word “arripare” which means pulling in to shore.In the ancient times, traveling is so dangerous especially traveling on the sea that people are safe when people pull in to shore. Nowadays, arrive still has the meaning of pulling in to shore, but its extended meaning is often used by people.There are more examples of extension of word meaning listed below.And, to be specific, there are several cases as follow1)Form special use to general use. With the development of society, some words whichwere just used to define one thing become general to define a group of things.Examples: journal (daily paper → all kinds of paper); countdown (countdown beforea bomb explode → a situation that is very serious)2)Form specific use to abstract use. Examples: make, grasp, place.3)Form proper nouns to common nouns. There are many common nouns that comeform people names, place name, book name, and organization name.(2)Narrowing of meaningThe narrowing of meaning is opposite form extension of meaning. For example, the original meaning of meat is food especially liquid diet. But now the word is only used to define the meat expect fish and bird. And there are more examples listed below.And the Narrowing of word meaning can be divided into several cases as follow:1)From general use to special use. Examples: the word “fowl” was used to describe theall birds, but now it means birds kept in house by human. And dear means animal2)From abstract use to specific use. Stink represent foul smell instead of all smellbefore.3)From common nouns to proper nouns. For example, the city represents the downtownof London.(3) Extension and narrowing of meaning in Chinese words.1) Extension of meaning in Chinese wordsModern Chinese is much different form the ancient times. We often use the word “cry” to describe the situation when tears drop form our eyes nowadays. But in ancient times, there are different words or sentences to represent different cry. And the words “ci” and “xiong” are only used to describe the birds’ sex. But now they can be used to all creatures. Generally, extension of meaning in Chinese words is more obvious between modern times and ancient times.2) Narrowing of meaning in Chinese words.There also are many examples of narrowing of meaning in Chinese words. The word “wa” means earthenware, but now it just means bile on the roof. Another example which we all know is “wife”. Wife is called “qizi” in Chinese. But “qizi” means both of mother and child. So if we want to do a good job in reading writings in classical Chinese, you must know well about the extension and narrowing of meaning in Chinese words.(4) Conclusion of changes in word meaningChanging in word meaning has never ceased since the beginning of the language and will continue in the future. And it is a symbol of development of our society. And we can see the changes of culture, economy, and tradition form the changes of word meaning. It just likes a mirror to the society. Language is not just a tool for us ,it is a kind of culture itself. And there is no doubt for us that we should know well about these changes in word meaning. It is a good way to study the history of one nation.。
词汇学_Changes_in_Word_Meaning
Now: anything worthless
Sandwich: It now denotes a popular fast food.
It originates from John Montague, Fourth earl of Sandwich in 18th -century England. He was so fond of gambling that he often forgot his meals. He often ordered slices of bread with thick pieces of roast beef stuffed between them be brought to him so he could eat while playing. Later, people used his name to refer to all similar food.
专有名词通过转类法转为普通形容词: Mickey Mouse: the name of a cartoon character created by Walter Disney, known for his simple-minded attitudes,hen the meaning:ineffective, trivial and insignificant
How pregnant sometimes his replies are! stupid
I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records .
Changes in Word Meaning
1. Extension of meaning 2. 3. 4. 5. Narrowing of meaning Elevation of meaning Degeneration of meaning Transference
Lecture 9 Changes inMeanings 词汇学 教学课件
Sixteenth century subtle
Eighteenth century
Agreeable
Task 1 Guessing :
A. stupid B. next C. agree D. nice
❖ Task 2 Brainstorming ❖ What ห้องสมุดไป่ตู้bout the meaning of “nice” nowadays?
❖Changes of meaning might be brought about by many causes
as follows:
1) Historical causes
❖ Changes of lexical meaning can be illustrated by a diachronic development of words. Although objects, conceptions, ideas, etc, change in the course of time, the name is retained.
❖ The word, “companion” provides another example. It used to mean ‘someone who eats bread with you’, now it means:
‘someone who is with you’.
The word “broadcast”, which only a couple of centuries ago meant ‘to sow seed’, has now, in this technological age, been extended to include the spreading of information on television and radio
英语词汇学Changes_in_meaning共42页PPT资料
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
Diplomatic: Diplomacy
Diplomatic (original) skillful in dealing with international relations (present) skillful in dealing with any kind of relations
Analogy
Contents
Causes of changes Types of changes Transference of meaning Process of meaning change Tendency of meaning change
Causes of Change
Linguistic factors
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.
英语词汇学chapter9 Changes in word meaning
Diplomacy (original) the art of dealing with international relations (present) ??? art of or skill in dealing with people
7
• Figurative use of words
– The figurative use refers to the expression of saying something is another thing thereby making the speech or article vivid and stimulating the readers’ imagination. The original thing is called tenor while thing compared to is called vehicle.
3
Causes of Change in word meaning
Linguistic causes
Ellipsis Borrowing Analogy Figurative use of
words Metaphor Metonymy
Extra-linguistic causes
– Historical reason – Social reason – Psychological reason
• A beautiful woman may be bed as a vision. • A cunning person is often referred to as a fox.
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.
英语词汇学Changes_in_meaning
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.
(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 (original) holy day, a day of religious significance (present) day of festivity or recreation
English Lexicology Unit 9
Changes in Meaning
Contents
Causes of changes Types of changes Transference of meaning Process of meaning change Tendency of meaning change
Changes in Word Meaning
Four kinds of extension
A. From specific to general
B. From proper nouns to common nouns C.From concrete to abstract D.From technical terms to general words
2:Extension of Meaning (词义的扩大)
• Extension of meaning,the opposite of restriction,means the widening of a word’s sense until it covers much more than what it originallly conveyed.
A. From specific to general (从
特指到泛指)
• arrive（登陆→到达） • bird（幼鸟→鸟）
• journal（日报→一切期刊）
Hale Waihona Puke B. From proper nouns to common nouns(从专有名词到普通名词)
• 专有名词只用于指称（reference）而没有意义 （sense），专有名词普通化的过程可以看作是 这些词从没有意义到具有意义的过程，是词义扩 大的过程。例如：newton（牛顿），ampere（安 培），farad（法拉），joule（焦耳），pascal （帕斯卡），watt（瓦特），ohm（欧姆），volt （伏特）等等原来都是科学家的名字，已被用来 命名各种物理学单位，这是先人为地规定它们转 化，然后才加以使用。
B. Class cause
villain clown（小丑）的原义是“农民”，在济慈 （John Keats） 的《夜莺颂》 （Ode to the Nightingale）里还保留了这样的意思： The voice I hear this passing night was heard In ancient days by emperor and clown; Perhaps the selfsame song that found a path Through the sad heart of Ruth, when sick for home, he stood in tears amid the alien corn.
Chaper7changesinwordmeaning
Word
Old Meaning Elevate Meaning
minister servant
head of the government ministry
angel
messenger
messenger of God
knight servant
rank below baronet
earl
man
count （伯爵）
Some words early in their history signify something quite low or humble, change as time goes by to designate something agreeable or pleasant.
examples
examples
Word Old Meaning Specialized Meaning
girl liquor
young person female young person of either sex
liquid
alcoholic drink
meat
food
flesh of animals
disease discomfort illness
4) Synesthesia （通感）
This kind of transfer takes place between words of sensation. That is, words usually associated with one sense are used to describe another sense , e.g. clear-sounding (from sight to hearing), loud colours (from hearing to sight), sweet music (from tasted to hearing), warm colours (from touch to sight)
英语词汇学词义的变化
Narcissus 水仙花
Munchausen 说大话得人
He was a German soldier、 After his retirement from his service in the Russian Army against the Turks, he told exaggerated stories of his campaigning adventures,thus the meaning:a person who boasts;exaggerated、
红白赤
词义得变化
a、Extension of meaning
b、Restriction of meaning c、Degeneration of meaning d、Elevation of meaning
e、Transformation of meaning
2
Extension of Meaning
involves heating the milk to 1450168F for 30 minutes、 To pasteurize is to sterilize by pasteurization、
James Watt(瓦特)is a Scottish
engineer who made fundamental
Argus百眼巨人
Greek myth: a giant with 100 eyes、 After he was killed, his
eyes were transferred to the Peacock’s tail
Exቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱmple: We have decided it
is impossible to cheat when that Argus-eyed professor gives an
Changes in Word Meaning(types, causes,resuilts) 英语词义变化解析
Place
Square
Any location or position
LOGO
Generalization
• From technical terms to general words As science knowledge popularizes, many technical terms enter our daily life, at the same
Business
Be busy doing something
Busy-ness
Commercial dealings
Meat
Solid food
the flesh of animals used as
food, excluding fish and
birds
LOGO
Specialization
• From general to specific
Some words originally referred to a kind of thing
and narrow down to refer to only a certain type.
Word Garage Originally Any safe place Now A place for storing cars
Disease
discomfort
illness
LOGO
Specialization
• From common words to proper words
The meaning of the words are narrowed
accordingly.
Word The city Refer to the business center of London
Chapter-9-Changes-in-Word-Meaning
Tendencies in Semantic
change
Restriction of meaning
Extension Degeneration Elevation of meaning of meaning of meaning
English Lexicology
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Restriction of meaning (specialization)
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humour
1. One of the four liquids: blood; phlegm; bile; and black bile or melancholy.
2. The balance or mixture of the humors = a man’s temperament = his complexion
A word of wide meaning acquires a narrower, specialized sense which is applicable to only one of the objects it had previously denoted.
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Examples
Meat->food->solid food->the flesh of the animal
Starve = to die => ME to die of cold and hanger => to die of hanger
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The formation of neologisms
A. By word-formation B. By adding new meanings to existing words, such as dove and hawk C. By borrowing words from other languages D. By analogy in which a word derives from the form of another existing word, such as apolune and perilune coming from the words aphelion and perihelion (see p110)
But some obsolete words may be still used at the present time: a. obsolete words survived in some fixed phrases or idioms: such as many a little makes a michle (large amount) b. some obsolete words survive but different from its original meaning, such as trident, armour, albeit (all be it, though).
b. A word becomes less respectable because of euphemism: undertaker: from ‘an influential person in the 17th century England who undertook to procure particular legislation, especially to obtain supplies from House of Commons if the king would grant some concession” to ‘one whose business is to carry out arrangements for funerals’
Words with a commendatory meaning may become ones with a derogatory sense. a. A word falls into disrepute because of social pes and occupations
C. Elevation of meaning (Amelioration)
That is the acquisition by a word of good implication: success, minister, marshal, politician
D. Degradation of meaning (Deterioration)
Changes in word meaning
Neologisms are newly coined words or words that are given new meaning to suit new situation because of social, economic, political, cultural, scientific and technical changes in human society. Archaisms are also called obsolete words, which are not used now except for special purposes.
a. animal metaphors: an ass: a stupid foolish person a pig: a dirty, greedy person a mouse: especially a woman, who is quiet and easily afraid a goose: a silly person, especially female a cat: a nasty person
c. Some obsolete words remain in Modern English as purely historical terms, or in poetry and fiction, for example: 1. The boy is fair, of female favour ( looks, countenance,from Shakespeare: As You Like It) 2. “ I saw the potamus take wing Ascending from the damp savannas, And quiring angels round him sing The praise of God, in loud hosannas.” (quire: choir, T.S. Eliot: The Hippopotamus)
c. synesthetic metaphors: Synesthetic metaphors are metaphors used to refer to a direct association between the form and the meaning of language. warm or cold voice loud colors sweet sound or music piercing (acute) sound grave news stormy quarrel golden opportunity stony heart dirty night
The Sources of New Words
The rapid development of modern science and technology environment-friendly, lunar rover, instant coffee Political, economic, social and cultural changes hire purchase, supermarket, spokeswoman
Semantic Changes from the Literal Use of Words to Their Figurative Use
Metaphor（隐喻） Metonymy（换喻） Synecdoche(提喻） Euphemism(委婉语） Analogy(类比)
Metaphor
a. anthropomorphic metaphors: Many inanimate objects are compared to the parts of the human body, for example, eye the eye of a needle, the eye of a potato, the eye of an axe, the eye of a flower, the eye of a peacock’s tail, the eye of a dome, the eye of the hurricane, the eye of the revolution, the eye of the law, in one’s mind’s eye
B. Narrowing of meaning(Specification)
a. from general to specific: meat, wife, starve b. from abstract to concrete: gear, habit, manners c. from common nouns to proper nouns: the Mediterranean
Four Tendencies in Semantic Changes
A. Extension of meaning (Generalization) a. from specific to general: picture b. from proper nouns to common nouns: champagne c. from concrete to abstract: matter, thing d. from technical terms to general words: catalyst
1.
2. 3.
The reasons for the disappearance of words could be: the thing that the word denotes has disappeared the existence of synonyms the collision of two homonyms
an owl: a solemn person, wise-looking dullard a mule: a stupid or obstinate person an ape: a person who copies the behavior of others a monkey: a child who is full of annoying playfulness and tricks a parrot: a person who repeats, often without understanding, the words or action of another
a jackal: a person who does preparatory drudgery , etc. or who assists another’s immoral behavior a black sheep: a person regarded with disfavor or shame compared to others in a group a dark horse: a person whose abilities are hidden or unknown