现代英语词汇学概论最强版复习资料chapter9

现代英语词汇学概论最强版复习资料

chapter9

Chapter 9 Changes in Word Meaning

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9.1

Causes of Changes in Word Meaning

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9.2

Four Tendencies in Semantic Change

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9.3

Semantic Development or Change Resulting from the Figurative Use of Words

Definition: Change of meaning refers to the alteration of the meaning of existing words, as well as

the addition of new meaning to established words.

9.1 Causes of Changes in Word Meaning

A.

Historical cause

历史原因

It often happens that though a word retains its original form ,its meaning has changed

because the object which it denotes has changed .

*Changes of meaning because of increased knowledge of the object described are common

in the history of science.

Eg.

pencil

==is from a 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 ,it was still called a

―

pencil

‖

.

atom

==It was borrowed though Latin and French from Greek

arouos

,invisible. Thus atom meant

originally

―

an particle too small to be

divided‖. This

meaning is now out-of-date, because scientist

have found out that atom can be split.

B.

Social cause

社会原因

Change

in

word

meaning

resulting

from

a

constant

verbal

traffic

between

common

words and various technical words is referred to as social cause of semantic change.

Some technical words have lost their specialized meaning and have come to be used in

more general senses.

Eg.

feedback

(Electr.) =means

―

response

‖

in common use ,as in

―

The

teacher likes to have feedback

from his students

‖

;

allergic

(Med.)=means

―

being

unusually

sensitive

to

the

action

of

particular

foods,

pollens,

insect-bites ,etc.

‖

*A specific environment may add a fresh and highly technical sense to a word of general

use .

Eg.

energy

=(Phys.) ability of matter or radiation to do work

decline

=(Gram.) inflect, state the case-forms of

C.

Foreign influences

外来文化影响

A particularly important cause .

eg.

-pig

,sheep

,ox(cow)

denote

the

names

of

both

the

animals

and

their

meat

in

the

Old

English

period

,but

since

the

meat

was

called

pork

,mutton

and

beef

respectively

among

the

Norman

conquerors, the original terms are now used only as the names of the animals.

-

dream

meant

―

joy

‖

in OE, it gets its modern sense from the related Scandinavian word

draumr.

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现代英语词汇学概论最强版复习资料

chapter9

D.

Linguistic cause

语言上的原因

*Two tendencies:

towards ellipsis

省略

and

towards analogy

类推

.

-

Ellipsis

as

a

cause

of

semantic

change

often

occurs

in

habitual

collocations,

such

as

adj.+n

.

,or

attributive

n.+n

.

,in

which

the

noun

is

often

deleted

and

only

the

first

element

(the attributive )is left ,but retaining the sense of the whole phrase .

eg.

a general

–

a general officer

一位将军

an editorial

–

an editorial article

一篇社论

bugle

–

bugle horn

号角

gold

–

gold

medal

,as

in

the

Olympic

Games

金牌

uniform

–

uniform dress

制服

transist or

–

transistor radio

收音机

daily

–

daily newspaper

日报

duplicate

–

duplicate copy

副 本

-

Analogical

tendency:

New

meanings

developed

in

one

part

of

speech

are

passed

on

to

other parts of speech from the same lexical base.

eg.

diplomatic

(

外交的，外交上的

)which had earlier meant only

―

skillful in managing international

relations,

‖

had

by

1826

developed

the

sense

of

―

tactful

in

the

management

of

relations

of

any

kind artful management it dealing with others.

‖

By 1848

，

this new meaning had been passed on to

the noun

diplomacy

.

（外交；外交手腕；交际手段）

E.

Psychological cause

心理学上的原因

*Three forms

a)

Euphemism

委婉

People have a tendency to use mild, agreeable language when speaking of an unpleasant or

embarrassing

fact

(such

as

death,

disease,

unfortunate

events

or

crime),

and

of

taboo

subjects as sex and the excretive processes of the body.

eg.

hence

death

and

things related to death

-to pass away

-to breathe one

’

s last

-to cease to think

-to fall asleep

-to go west

-to kick the bucket

-to be no more

b)

Grandiloquence

夸张

Grandiloquence refers to the use of long, important-sounding words for effort .The desire

to upgrade or raise the social status of a position, occupation, or institution by changing its

common name to one felt to confer greater dignity or importance is another psychological

factor in the change of word meaning.

eg.

janitor

看门人；守卫；门警

–

custodian< /p>

管理人；监护人；保管人

garden er

园丁；花匠；园艺家

–

lands cape architect

造园技师；环境美化设计家

reform school

教养院；少年犯管教所