英语词汇学第9讲.pptVIP

English Lexicology Lecture IXMeaning Change Readings Task VIII Check Chapter 5 6 of A Survey of English Lexicology Key points in the book will be discussed next week Lecture IX Meaning Change 1. Change of Meaning 2. Types of Change Meaning Extension Meaning Narrowing Meaning Elevation Meaning Degradation Meaning Transference 3. Motivations of Change Internal linguistic factors external linguistic factors Meaning Is Changing Do you think the following two words are related or not? In what way are they related? salt salary holy holiday awe awesome awful (awesome/awful day?) fond foolish nice know ne (Latin: not)+scire (Latin: know) lady loaf loaf+kneader (lady) lord loaf lo(af+wa)rd (lord) Meaning Is Changing When a word loses its old meaning and comes to refer to something different, the result is a change in word meaning. Change of meaning refers to the alternation of the meaning of existing words, as well as the addition of new meaning to a particular word. Meaning Is Changing Changing word meaning has never ceased since the beginning of the language and will continue in the future. The changes in meaning are gradual, and words are not changed in a day. Types of Change: Meaning Extension Meaning extension 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. It’s also called Generalization of Meaning. Meaning Extension Examples: 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 Meaning Extension A large proportion of polysemous words of modern English have their meanings extended sometime in the course of development. Some words are generalized to such a degree that they can mean almost everything. Meaning Exten