词汇学作业changes of word meaning.docxVIP

词汇学论文 外国语学院 题 目：causes and types of changes in word meaning Causes and types of changes in word meaning [ Abstract ] We have learned that vocabulary is the most unstable element of a language as it is undergoing constant changes both in the sign-shapes and sign contents. Comparatively, the latter is even more unstable than the former.[1] Almost every word we use today has a slightly different meaning from the one it had a century ago. The meaning of word is changing since the beginning of the language and will continue in the future because all sorts of reasons and from these changes we can summarize some of their characters and forms. The reason of changing about meaning can be very complicated, but generally speaking, we can divide them into two main causes, that are extra-linguistic factors and linguistic factors. And transformation of word-meaning follow a number of patterns, the major patterns are: extension, narrowing, degradation, elevation, transference, and euphemism. Of these major tendencies, extension and narrowing are by far the most common. It’s not only very fun to find the accounts and their relationship between old and new meaning of word but also have vital significance in the process of our study. In this thesis I will discuss in some details of the reasons of change and the major patterns of change.[摘要]由于词汇的形式和词义都在连续地发生变化，因而词汇是语言中最不稳定的元素。其中词义的变化更为不稳定。现在，几乎我们使用的每一个单词和一世纪之前的含义相比，都有轻微的改变。因为各种原因，词义从语言的开始就在发生变化并会在未来继续下去，我们可以从中总结出词义变化原因和形式。词义变化的原因很复杂但一般来讲，可分为两类：语言学外因素和语言学因素。词义变化的主要形式有：词义的扩大，缩小，词义的升华，降格及词义的转移和委婉表达。其中，词义的扩大和缩小是最常见的。了解词义变化的原因和新旧含义的关系不仅有趣还会对我们的学习产生重要意义。在这篇文章里，我将就词义变化的原因及形式进行详细的阐述。[ 关键词] word; cause ; change ; type提纲： Causes of change Extra-linguistic factors①Historical reason ②Class reason ③Psychological reason( 2 ) Linguistic factorsShortening ②borrowing ③competition of native words ④analogyPatterns of changeExtension of meaningpolysemic words ②technical terms ③words commonized from proper names④The changes in meaning are gradu