Читайте также:
|
Word-meaning isn’t homogeneous. W.-m. never remains stable. It m.b. narrowed (specialized) or widened (expanded). W.-m. m. become better (ameliorated — elevation) & worse (pejorated).
Why do words change their meaning?
They’re determined by the social nature of the language. Their meaning changes together with the progress of human civilization. A human mind achieves a more exact understanding of the surrounding world. These causes of the semantic change — extralinguistic.Linguistic causes of semantic change are of equal importance. They are determined by the introduction of new words due to ~ we observe the so-called redistribution of meaning.
land – ground – earth – soil – country
OE “land” — отрезок суши, земля, пашня, страна.
Under the influence of w-s, ~ came later, the w-d “land” preserved only “земля, суша”.
Each social group is characterized by peculiarities of nomination. And the w-d m. acquire these peculiarities. Thus, the noun “cell” means different things for different social groups; “cell” in different contexts suggests different notions for biologists (биологическая клетка), lawyers (камера), clergy (келья), electricians (изоляция).
Ring — кольцо; кольцо для спуска (mountaineer), кольцо корзины, цирковая арена, ринг, годовое кольцо древесины (woodcutter).
Historical analysis of w-m. helps us to trace how it develops & to reveal the primary meaning of w-s, ~ in some cases so far from modern meaning(s). Thus,
legend — originally a book describing the life of saint people
left — originally meant “weak”
hospital — originally a place to receive guests
train — originally шлейф пальто, платья
nice — originally ignorant (Latin) & silly (OF), nescius—ничего не знающий
sorrow—ulcer [ ] (L.—язва)
ponder—to measure the weight (взвешивать) < Lat.
Narrowing (Specialization) — a w-d, ~ formerly represented a notion of a broader scope has come to render a notion of a narrower scope.
fugol — a bird → fowl [au] — дом. птица
meat < OE mete — еда
writan—выцарапывать текст, рисунки на камне
room < OE пространство; the remnants of the old meaning is preserved:
There isn’t enough room here.
hound < OE hund (любая порода)
deer < OE wild animal girl < a child of any sex
Generalization — the scope of the new notion is wider than that of the original one. We may connect it with the higher order of abstraction than, in the previous meaning.
stock—orig. a supply of wood (вязанка дров) now: store of any goods
camp < OE the place of army location (a war camp) barn < a warehouse of barley (хранилище ячменя)
pipe < OE a musical instrument ready < OE ready for horse-riding (редингот—одежда для верховой езды)
person (L.) < the mask used by an actor per — through (L.), sonare — звучать
All the w-s belonging to the group of generic terms (w-s, ~ are semantically wide; applicable to a great № of individual members of a big class of w-s)—w-s expressing notions in ~ abstraction & generalization are so great that they can substitute any w-d of their class.
“state” denotes the class of all states
thing, job, affair, business, object, matter — generic terms
Specialization & generalization — the result of semantic change lies in the change of the denotational component.
The result of semantic change—in the change of the connotational component → Amelioration (elevation), Pejoration (degradation)
Elevation — a semantic shift undergone by w-s due to their referents coming up the social scale; the improvement of its originally neutral or having negative connotational meaning.
marchal < чистильщик лошадей; steward < тот, кто ухаживал за свиньями
Tory < gangster, bandit; minister < servant
knight < a boy-servant; queen < any woman
gentleman—translation loan gente (Fr.)
gentle, genteel — OE high-born, noble; in the course of time it came to denote “mild, quiet, careful”
gentleman (hist.) — a man of a good family attached to a court or to the house-hall of a noble man; now: a man who shows consideration for the feelings of others.
Pejoration is connected with derogatory & scornful attitude towards persons, things & objects, lowering them in the social scale;
~ the acquirement by a w-d of some derogatory meaning.
colonius—orig: living outside the city; now: clown
ruscle < OE peasant, boor (неуклюжий, плохо-воспитанный человек; деревенщина, неотесанный мужлан) < деревенский житель MdG Bauer
knave (подлец, мошенник, плут) < мальчик, слуга, лицо незнатного происхождения
silly < happy
gossip < godsip — a sponsor at baptism—тот, кто стоит у колыбели, когда крестят ребёнка — крёстный; приближённый к богу
blackguard — шантажист < a servant, who assisted his master’s travels to a new place & taking special care of black pots
Дата добавления: 2015-04-20; просмотров: 35 | Поможем написать вашу работу | Нарушение авторских прав |