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             Chapter 7  Changes in Word Meaning

                                   词义的演变

 学习目标：

了解词义变化的必然性，词义变化的主要方式和原因。

考核要求：  本章共有两节

1. 词义变化的方式/种类

识记以下术语的基本概念：

词义的扩大、词义的缩小、词义的升华、词义的降格

领会：四种变化方式在英语词汇发展中的作用。

2. 词义变化的原因

领会：词义演变的原因

语言外部原因：历史原因、阶级原因、心理原因。

语言内部原因：缩略、借用、类推。

 

All languages change through time——historic change, hence  diachronic studies of language.

Modern English—Middle English—Old English

现代汉语—近代汉语—古代汉语:

比如，佛教中的“南无阿弥陀佛”, 南无二字的语音变化

nan’wu or na mo?

Language change：all parts of grammar may change:

Sound change        南无…

morphological change莫须有。thee

syntactic change   不知何适？

vocabulary change   addition of new words

loss of words

                    change in the meaning of words

l        Sound change       

stan     stone; ham, home; mice/i:/, mice /ai/; mouse /u:/ /au/; broke /br哦ken/；

l        morphological change： thee——you;

l        syntactic change  

I love thee not →I do not love you.

He saw you not→ He didn’t see you.

l       vocabulary change   

Vocabulary is the most unstable element of a language as it is undergoing constant changes both in form and content.

 

7.1 Four major Types of Changes 词义变化的四种类型

识记基本概念：

7.1.1 Extension/ generalization语义扩展

Extension refers to the widening of word meaning

the meaning of a word becomes broader.

e.g.  tail once referred to “the tail of a horse”, but now it is used to mean “the tail of any animal”.

holiday originally meant holy day, i.e., a day of religious significance. Today, this word signifies any day on which we don’t have to work.

So, tail and holiday have widened their meaning, from specific to general.

 

7.1.2 Narrowing: is also called specialization语义变窄/专业化

Narrowing is a process by which a word of wide meaning acquires a narrower or specialized sense.

In the course of several generations, semantic change has narrowed the meaning of a word to what it is in Modern English.

For instance, “hound” , which used to be the general term for “dog”, has been narrowed to a special kind of dog.

Other examples are

deer    any animal → a particular species 

meat    food→edible part of an animal

corn     grain→ a particular grain

wife     woman→a married woman

girl    young person of either sex→female young person

 

7.1.3 Elevation 语义提升

    Elevation refers to the process by which words rise from humble beginnings to positions of importance, i.e., changes their meaning from low or humble to something agreeable, pleasant.

    e.g. the meaning of nice, originally meant “ignorant”, then “foolish”, now elevated to mean “delightful, pleasant”.

    Other examples are:

    angel         messenger→messenger of God

    fond          foolish→affectionate

    governor      pilot→head of a state

    minister      servant→head of a ministry

    success            result→good result

marshal & constable  keeper of horses→high ranking army officer/ policeman

 

7.1.4 Degradation 语义降格

     Degradation or pejoration of meaning is the opposite of semantic elevation. It is a process in which words of good origin fall into ill reputation or non-affective words come to be used in derogatory sense.

     e.g.  

boor     peasant→rude, ill-mannered person

     wench   country girl→a prostitute

     villain   person who worked in a villa→evil or wicked person

     silly     happy→foolish

criticize  appraise→find fault with

 

另外，常见的语义变化还有：

Transfer语义转换

Semantic transfer (P140): words which were used to designate one thing but later changed to mean sth. else have experienced the process of semantic change.

4 类语义转换

l        Associated transfer联想转换

the meaning is transferred through association.

e.g. purse for ‘money’, dish for ‘food’, glass for ‘cup’.

腰包鼓起来了吗？把好处装入自己的腰包

    今年暑假我妹妹拣了个大皮夹子（股市、房市）。

l        Transfer between abstract and concrete meanings.

concrete→abstract: 具体向抽象转换

e.g. aftermath: second crop of grass after mowing→consequence,result

   threat: crowd, army人群、军队→威胁

   apprehend: take hold of, arrest抓住、逮捕 →understand 理解、领悟

  grasp抓住→understand掌握、领会

   nitpick从身上挑虱子→挑剔、找小毛病

 

abstract→concrete 抽象向具体转换

e.g. hope→Tom is the hope of his mother.

He is the pride of the school.

The government issued an order for derequisition of transportation.

政府发布一项条令，发放原来被征用的车辆。（抽象→具体）

 

l        Transfer between subjective and objective meanings. 主观与客观之间的转换

e.g. pitiful ‘full of pity’ (subjective)→deserving pity(objective)

hateful: 充满仇恨的、有敌意的（主观意义）→可恨的、讨厌的（modern English:客观意义）

painful: painstaking, laborious苦干的、勤劳的（17st）

a painful preacher（a complimentary phrase）

→objective meaning: 使痛苦的、伤脑筋的

l        Transfer of sensations感官感觉的转换

 such as clear-sounding (sight-hearing),

loud colors (hearing to sight), sweet music (taste to hearing).

l        Transfer of Proper nouns to common nouns专有名词转化为普通名词

e.g. Don Juan：a legendary figure in Spain, a noble who intentionally play around

→ a Don Juan一个调戏女性的人（a philanderer）

Epicurus伊壁鸠鲁 (a philosopher of ancient Greece，著名的无神论者，其人生观就是人生在世就是为了追求享受)。

→Epicurean: 享乐者、讲究饮食的人

Sandwich：earl伯爵. 赌棍gamester, to save time

 

7.2         Causes of changes词义变化的原因

要求领会

Lexical meaning is changed to meet the functional needs of language users.

Two major causes

 Extra-linguistic factors

 Linguistic factors

 

7.2.1Extra-linguistic factors语外因素：历史、阶级和心理因素

 historical reason，Class reason，Psychological reason

l        historical reason: ensure tradition and continuity

Ullman (1977: 198): language is more conservative than civilization, marterial as well as moral.

It is often the case that a word is retained for a name though the meaning has changed for the referent has changed.

 e.g. pen

     car战争中使用的马拉的四轮马车→汽车automobile

     computer: a person who computes→ electronic machine

Increased scientific knowledge and discovery also contribute to the change of word meaning.

 

l        Class reason: the attitudes of classes have made inroads into lexical meaning in the case of elevation or degradation.

 

l        Psychological reason:

the associated transfer of meaning and euphemistic use of words are often due to psychological factors.

People change word meaning owing to various psychological motives: love, respect, courtesy, suspicion, pessimism, sarcasm, irony, contempt, hatred, etc.

 

b. Linguistic factors

The change of meaning may be caused by internal factors within the language system.

Four types:

A phrase shortened as one word retaining the meaning of the whole.

The influx of borrowings causes meaning change of some words.

The competition of native words results in semantic division.

Analogy also causes semantic change.

l       A shortened word retains the meaning of the whole.

e.g. gold→gold medal

gas→coal gas

bulb→light bulb

private→private soldier列兵（the lowest rank in army）

l       Borrowings cause meaning change of some words.

l       competition of native words

l       Analogy

Exercises:  P146-7

 

 

                        Chapter 8 Meaning and Context

                         意义与语境 (Words in Context)

Revision of Chapter 7

Four modes of word-meaning change are _____, ____, ___, and ___.

Major causes of word-meaning change are ____ and ____.

 

学习目标：

了解两种不同的语境，语境对词义的重要作用，能运用语境争取理解词义并猜测新词的意义。

考核要求：  本章共有两节

1.       语境的种类

识记：非语言语境和两种语言语境

领会：语境对词义的影响。

2.       语境的作用

领会：语境如何消除歧义，限定所指和提供线索。

运用：利用语境知识猜测词义。

 

Major points in this chapter

l       Types of context

Extra-linguistic context

Linguistic context

l       The role of context

Elimination of ambiguity

Indication of referents

Providing clues for inferring word-meaning

 

Meaning and context are two main concepts and research topics in pragmatics. Therefore, we can see that lexicology is closely related to almost all branches of linguistics, including pragmatics.

Pragmatics is concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker (or writer) and interpreted by a listener (or reader) (Yule 1996:3).

Run the egg-and-spoon race

Run for the doctor

Run for one’s life

Run from danger

 

8.1          Types of context  语境的类型

In a narrow sense, context refers to the words, clauses, sentences in which a word appears. This is linguistic context.

语言语境，又称为上下文。狭义上来讲，语境指的是某特定的词所出现的上下文，即它所在的句子、段落或更大的语篇单位。

但是，使用语言离不开一定的客观条件和背景，语言活动总是在特定的时间、特定的空间、特定的情景、特定的人之间进行的。这种语言外的因素就是语外语境。这是从广义上来说的。

e.g.

He was born here twenty years ago.

Who does “he”refer to?

 

In a broad sense, context includes also the physical situation, i.e. extra-linguistic or non-linguistic context, which embraces the people, time, place, and even the whole cultural background. 语外语境、非语言语境

e.g.,

1. A: How is he?

B: A couple of pills will cure him.

2. A: How’s he?

  B: He will be hospitalized.

3. A: How’s he?

  B: An ambulance must be sent for at once.

(based on background information, three responses are all propriate.)

e.g.

4. A: You speak beautiful English.

  B: Thank you. I had very good teachers in the university.

5. A: You speak beautiful English.

  B: No, no. My English is very poor.

     (cultural background)

 

8.1.1  Extra-linguistic context 语外语境

Non-linguistic context, context of situation, can have greater effect on the meaning of words. 情景语境

e.g., P150.

e.g., 2.

Dickens “David Copperfield”:

Miss Trotwood (to Janet, the servant of her family): Janet! Donkeys!

 

That’s why it is common to differentiate sentence-meaning and utterance-meaning. e.g.,

“Dog!”

a.      There is a dog at the gate. We’d better keep away.

b.     There’s a dog!

c.      I order you to fire!

 

Extra-linguistic context also includes cultural background, which also influences word meaning. 语外语境包括文化背景，后者对词语的意义也有影响。

Members of different cultures look differently at the world around them. Some believe that the physical world is real. Others believe that it is just an illusion. Some believe everything around them is permanent while others say it is transient. Reality is not the same for all people.

e.g. different meaning of “饭” in northern and southern part of China米饭.

A successful intercultural communication appreciates similarities and accepts difference.

 

→intercultural communication

To avoid misunderstanding

 

8.1.2 Linguistic context

   The second factor of the change of meaning is from internal linguistic system. Linguistic context can be subdivided into lexical context and grammatical context.

语言语境包括：词汇语境和语法语境

8.1.2.1 Lexical context

This refers to the words that occur together with the word in question. The meaning of the word is often affected and defined by the neighbouring words.

In a single sentence, a word usually has one meaning, for instance:

a.      a drop of water

b.     If you want more wine, there’s a drop left.

c.      Without even a drop of mercy

d.     A big drop in the value of the U.S. dollar.

e.      His reputation took a rapid drop.

f.        A drop of 100 meters. (落差)

g.     A peach drop (桃树上落下来的桃子)

 

8.1.2.2 Grammatical context

In some cases, the meanings of a word may be influenced by the structure in which it occurs. This is grammatical context.

 

8.2 The role of context 语境的作用

8.2.1 Elimination of ambiguity

Ambiguity arises due to polysemy and homonymy. When a word with multiple meanings is used in inadequate context, it creates ambiguity.

John ran the egg and spoon race.

John ran the egg and spoon race and won second place.

Homonymy also causes ambiguity for two separate words share the same form.

They saw her duck.

The ball was attractive.

Grammatical structure can also lead to ambiguity.

The fish is ready to eat.

I like Mary better than Jean.

 

8.2.2 Indication of referents

Without context, the reference can be confusing.

Now/ then, here/ there, I/ you, this/ that, …

Referring expressions

 

8.2.3 Providing clues for inferring word-meaning

Context is valuable in guessing the meanings of new words.

When a new word appears for the first time, the author usu. gives hints to help the readers to grasp the concept or understand the idea.

Context clues vary a great deal but can be summed up as follows:

情景线索可分为如下几类：

1)    Definition：对生词所指代的术语给出定义

2)    Explanation：用熟悉的词对术语进行解释

3)    Example：给出例子来说明某术语的意义

4)    Synonymy：用同义词或同义短语来解释生词

5)    Antonymy：用反义的词或短语也可以用于解释生词

6)    Hyponymy：上下义词superordinates and subordinates可以互相定义、互相解释。它们构成一种重要的语境线索。

  

7)    relevant details：与所指物——生词——相关的细节，比如其功能、特征、本质等。

8)    word structure：词的词素结构morphemic structure of words, 尤其合成词和派生词通常可以指明所指物的意义。

Copernicus believed in a heliocentric universe, rather than in the geocentric theory.

 

Exercise One:

1.    The police were ordered to stop drinking about midnight.

2.    Visiting aunts can be boring.

3.    I have lost Betty’s picture.

4.    Mr. Webster, the amiable priest, is going to marry Jane at the church.

Exercise Two:

P160