英语词汇学--词义的变化.ppt

第五章 词义的变化Change of Meaning 外语学院 徐红新 When a word loses its old meaning and comes to refer to something altogether different, the result is a change of word meaning. “… Change of meaning is a commonplace, and indeed it would appear to be fundamental in living language, …… almost every word we use today has a slightly different meaning from the one it had a century ago: and a century ago it had a slightly different meaning from the one it had a century before that.” _________ Quirk 1963:123-124 Causes of changes in word meaning 1. the world is changing 社会是语言的外部因素（索绪尔，1980：43），但是社会又不是一般的外部因素，而是客体世界中最重要的外部因素， 因为语言是特殊的社会现象，语言跟社会诸因素有千丝万缕的关系。 1.1 旧词添新义 car\ship 1.2 科技发展 光环 1.3 普通义位与科技义位间的转变 menu, window 1.4 社会集团社会地位的变化 governor, lord 1.5 经济的发展 狗、马 1.6 民族或种族矛盾的原因 Dutch 2. Human being is changing 2.1 认识水平在提高 heart,brain 2.2 思想观念的更新 天堂、老板、演员、士兵 2.3心理感情因素 求新： 净面、洗脸、飚客、粉丝, 闪族 求美：春风、教室 求省：机票、机场、机群、客机、班机 gold metal 求雅：euphemism 下岗、老、战略性撤退、穷 circumlocution lie\steal\lazy 感情因素（移情）：冤家 3.The language is changing 3.1 semantic reason harvest\autumn motor 左右 红白赤 3.2 grammatical reason 廉颇老矣，尚能饭否？ 3.3 pragmatic reason 斗 闻 Narcissus水仙花 Narcissus: Greek myth: a beautiful youth who fell in love with his ref-lection in a pool, hence the word : narcissism and the meaning:an interest in or admiration for oneself. Fire storm: It takes place when a bomb explodes; strong winds rush into it to take the place of the hot air that is rising, causing the blaze to burn uncontrollably.核弹引起的大火暴 Now: strong reaction The revelations about the CIA’s activities in Chile broke in the press just as the fire storm over the Nixon pardon put an abrupt end to Congress’s honey-moon with Gerald ford. 报界揭发了中央情报局在智利的活动，与此同时，赦免尼克松所引起的强烈反应使得国会同杰拉德。福特的蜜月猝然终止。 Restriction of Meaning Examples liquor Old Meaning Specialized meaning liquid alcoholic drink ex