英语词汇学9.ppt

词 汇 学 辅导课程九 Chapter Five Change of Meaning Word-meaning is liable to change in the course of the historical development of language. Changes of lexical meaning may be illustrated by a diachronic semantic analysis of many commonly used English words. The word fond (ME. fond) used to mean “foolish”; glad (O.E.) had the meaning of “bright”, “shining”; the word husband, in (Old English had a different sound-form (O.E. husbonda) and a different meaning as it denoted “master of the house”; and so on. Semantic changes may result in the change of the denotational or the connotational component of the lexical meaning. 5.2 Types of Semantic Changes Five major tendencies that lead to change of meaning: extension of meaning (or generalization); narrowing of meaning (or specialization); degradation of meaning (or degeneration); elevation of meaning (or amelioration); transference of meaning. In the following pages our task will be to examine the principal causes that have been operative in the development of new meanings and the disappearance of meanings that were formerly current. 5.2.1 Extension of Meaning See the following: Extension of meaning means extension of the word- range. Most words begin as specific names for things. Often, however, this precise denotation is quickly lost and the word’s meaning is extended and generalized. Extension of meaning is one of the most common features in the history of words. A good example is the word manuscript, a word that now refers to any author’s copy whether written by hand or typed, but originally meant only something handwritten. Some manufactured articles are still made by hand, (which is what the word meant, but the word manufactured now applies generally to all sorts of mechanical processes. A man may be a pioneer in any of variety of fields of endeavor without being afoot-soldier. Salary no longer, consists of salt money. 5.2.2 Narrowing of Meaning While extension of meaning is one of the most com