English LexicologyChanges in word meaning.ppt

English LexicologyChanges in word meaning Warming-up 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) Overview Definition of changes of word meaning Types of changes Specialization Extension Degeneration Elevation Transference Causes of changes Historical reason Social reason Psychological reason Linguistic reason Changes in word meaning 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. 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 Extension of meaning Narrowing of meaning Elevation of meaning Degradation of meaning Extension of Meaning 词义的扩大 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. 一个原本具有特殊意义的单词的词义被延伸，范围扩大，可以用来指代一种更普遍的词义。 salary (original) a sum of money given to Roman soldiers to enable them to buy salt (政府按时发给古罗马军人一些买盐的钱) (present) fixed payment made by employer at regular intervals to employees (薪水) holiday (original) holy day, a day of religious significance (宗教节日，神圣的日子） (present) day of festivity or recreation 收获 由专指“农业收成”扩大到指称 “一切行为的所得”，如“参观的收获”。 搁浅 由专指“船舶进入水浅的地方不能前进”扩大到指称 一切“事情遭到阻碍而不能进行”， 如“这次旅游的事无限期地搁浅了。” She is such a pretty little thing. I have to pack my things for the journey. There is another thing I want to ask you about. That only makes things worse. The thing is, can we finish the job