- •English lexicology a course of lectures
- •Introduction
- •1. Lexicology as a branch of linquistics
- •2. Kinds of lexicology
- •3. Links of Lexicology with other branches of Linguistics
- •Lecture 1. Word-meaning
- •1.1. Semantics as a branch of Lexicology studing meanihg
- •1.2. Approaches to the study of meaning
- •1.2.1. Referential approach to meaning
- •1.2.2. Functional approach to meaning
- •1.3. Types of word-meaning
- •1.3.1. Grammatical meaning
- •1.3.2. Lexical meaning
- •1.3.3. Part-of-speech meaning
- •1.3.4 Denotative, significative and connotative meanings
- •1.3.5. Connotative meaning
- •1.3.6. Emotive charge and sociostylistic reference of words
- •1.3.7. Pragmatic meaning
- •1.4. Types of morpheme-meaning
- •1.4.1. Lexical meaning of morphemes
- •1.4.2. Functional or part-of-speech meaning of morphemes
- •1.4.3. Differential meaning of morphemes
- •1.4.4. Distributional meaning of morphemes
- •1.5.2.2. Morphological motivation of words
- •1.5.2.3. Semantic motivation of words
- •Lecture 2. Change of Meaning
- •2.1. Causes of semantic change
- •2.1.1. Extralinguistic causes of semantic change
- •2.1.2. Linguistic causes of semantic change
- •2.2. Nature, results and types of semantic change
- •2.2.1. Similarity of meanings or metaphor
- •2.2.2. Contiguity of meanings or metonymy
- •2.2.3. Types of semantic change without the transfer of name
- •2.2.3.1. Specialization and generalization of meanings
- •2.2.3.2. Amelioration and pejoration of meaning
- •2.2.3.3. Hyperbole, litotes, irony, euphemism, disphemism, taboo
- •Lecture 3. Polysemy
- •3.1. The notion of polysemy
- •3.2. Approaches to polysemy
- •3.2.1. Diachronic approach to polysemy
- •3.2.2. Synchronic approach to polysemy
- •Lecture 4. Homonymy
- •4.1. Definition of homonymy
- •4.2. Homonymy of words and homonymy of word-forms
- •4.3. Classification of homonyms
- •4.3.1. Full and partial homonymy
- •4.3.2. Classification of homonyms by the type of meaning
- •4.3.3. Classification of homonyms by the sound-form, graphic form and meaning
- •4.4. Sources of homonymy
- •4.4.1. Diverging meaning development
- •4.4.2. Converging sound development
- •4.5. Differentiation of polysemy and homonymy
- •Lecture 5. Word-meaning in syntagmatics and paradigmatics
- •5.1. Definition of syntagmatics and paradigmatics
- •5.2. Conceptual or semantic fields
- •5.3. Hyponimic (or hierarchical) structures and lexico-semantic groups
- •5.4. Synonymy and antonymy
- •Lecture 6. Word-structure
- •6.1. Segmentation of words into morphemes
- •6.2. Classification of morphemes
- •6.3. Procedure of morphemic analysis
- •6.4. Morphemic types of words
- •6.5. Derivative structure of words
- •7.3. Composition or compounding
- •7.4. Conversion
- •7.5. Shortening and abbreviation
- •7.5.1. Shortening or contraction
- •7.5.2. Abbreviation
- •7.6. Back-formation or reversion
- •8. Word-groups and phraseological units
- •8.1. Lexical and grammatical valency
- •8.2. Definition of phraseological units
- •8.3. Classification of phraseological units
- •Literature
- •Contents
- •Introduction 1
1.5.2.3. Semantic motivation of words
Semantic motivation is based on the co-existence of direct and figurative meaning, that is the connection of the old sense and the new one within the same synchronous system. For example, the word foot denotes ‘a limb of the human body’, but it can also mean ‘the foot of a table or a mountain’. In its direct meaning the word foot is not motivated. In the figurative meaning it may be explained as a metaphorical extension of the central meaning based on the similarity of different classes of referents denoted by the word.
Lecture 2. Change of Meaning
The vocabulary is the most flexible part of the language and it is precisely its semantic aspect that responds most rapidly to every change in the human activity. Word-meaning is liable to change in the course of the historical development of the language. Changes of lexical meaning may be illustrated by a diachronic semantic analysis of common English words. For example, the word glad in OE læd had the meaning of ‘bright’, ‘shining’.
The term change of meaning or semantic change may be applied to two kinds of change: (1) the semantic change which results in the disappearance of the old meaning which is replaced by the new one, and (2) a change in the number and arrangement of word-meanings in the semantic structure of a word without a single meaning disappearing. Here we confine ourselves only to the first kind of semantic change.
There are three closely bound up but essentially different aspects of the problem of semantic change. Here its necessary to discriminate between the causes of semantic change, the nature of the process of the change of meaning and the results of semantic change.
Discussing the cause of semantic change we concentrate on the factors bringing about this change and attempt to find out why the word changed its meaning. Analyzing the nature of semantic change we seek to clarify the process of this change and describe how various changes of meaning were brought about. Our aim in investigating the results of semantic change is to find out what was changed; that is we compare the resultant and the original meanings and describe the difference between them mainly in terms of the changes in the denotational and connotational components of lexical meaning. By the analysis of the nature and the results of semantic change we can reveal the types of semantic change.
2.1. Causes of semantic change
The factors accounting for semantic changes may be subdivided into two main groups: (1) extralinguistic causes and (2) linguistic cases.
2.1.1. Extralinguistic causes of semantic change
The extralinguistic causes are determined by the social nature of the language. They are observed in changes of meaning resulting from the development of the notion expressed and the thing named and by the appearance of new notions and things.
The history of the social, economic and political life of the people, the progress of culture and science bring about changes in notions and things influencing the semantic aspect of language. The changes of notions and things named go hand in hand. They are conditioned by the above-mentioned factors of social life, so that the extralinguistic causes of semantic change may be classified in accordance with these factors.
The word is a linguistic realization of notion. It changes with the progress of human consciousness. This process is reflected in the development of lexical meaning. For instance, the OE word eorþe ‘the earth’ meant ‘the soil’ and ‘the world of man’. With the progress of science the word earth came to mean the ‘planet’.
The constant development of all spheres of human life brings into being new objects and notions. Words to name them are either borrowed from foreign languages or created from the native language material. And it often happens that new meanings are thus acquired by old words. For example, economic causes are obviously at work in the semantic development of the word fee. The MnE fee means ‘the price paid for services’. It stems from the OE feoh which meant ‘cattle’ and ‘money’; likewise Goth faihu; cf. Lat pecus ‘cattle’ and pecunia ‘money’.
Although notions and things change in the course of time, in many cases the sound-form of the words denoting them is retained, but the meaning of these words is changed. For example, the word car borrowed from Latin carrus ‘a four-wheeled wagon’ now means ‘a motor-car’ and ‘a railway-carriage’.