24. Polysemy and context. Formal (logical) relations among the meanings.

Polysemy means ‘plurality of meanings’; exists only in the language. Central meaning of a polysemantic word (in opposition to the marginal one) has the highest frequency in speech.

Diachronic polysemy – the growth and the development of or a change in the semantic structure of a word.

Synchronic polysemy – the coexistence of various meanings of the same word at a certain historical development of the English language.

Different meanings of a polysemantic word may come together due to the proximity of notions which they express.

Context – minimal stretch of speech determining each individual meaning of the word.

1. Linguistic context (micro-: right-handed and left-handed)

• lexical contexts - the groups of lexical items combined with the polysemantic word under consideration: heavy load (of great weight), heavy rain (abundant);

• grammatical contexts - the grammatical structure of the context that serves to determine various individual meanings of a polysemantic word: to make (to force) – V+pronoun+V – to make smb laugh; to make (to become) – V+adj+noun - to make a good wife.

2. Extralinguistic context (macro-) – meaning of a word is determined by the speech situation in which it is used.

Formal relations among the meanings

• radial (invariants): the primary meaning stands in the centre and the secondary meanings proceed out of it like rays and can be traced to the primary meaning (face 1. ‘the front part of the human head’, 2. ‘the front part of a watch’, 3. ‘the front part of a building’;

• chain: tea – ‘dried leaves’; ‘a beverage’; ‘light midafternoon meal’;

• semantic network of meanings – combination of radial and chain relations.

Polysemy is a result of: 1. shifts in application (adj. red); 2. specialization; 3. metaphoric extension (hands of person ~ hands of clock), metonymic extension.

25. Semantic change: its causes, nature and types.

Semantic change is the development of a new meaning for a word or a change of meaning.

Causes of semantic change:

1. extra-linguistic - various changes in the life of the speech community;

2. linguistic - factors acting within the language system;

3. Syntagmatic causes:

• ellipsis – in case of the most frequently used phrases one or two words are omitted and its meaning is transferred to its partner: cut-price sale turned into sale, mass media is often used as media.

• conversives – regular coincidences of a quality and viewpoints on the subject.

The word starve once meant “to die”, but it is now used in the meaning “to be dying of hunger”.

4. Paradigmatic causes:

• discrimination of synonyms (in a synonymic set one word alters its meaning to stay in the language): OE land ‘solid part of earth’s surface’ and ‘the territory of a nation’, in ME country was borrowed as its synonym. The meaning of land was altered and ‘the territory of the nation’ came to be denoted by country.

• linguistic analogy or radiation of synonyms – if one of members of a synonymic set acquires the new meaning other members of this set change their meanings, too.

Nature of semantic change:

1. similarity of meanings (metaphor) - associating two ref-s, one of which resembles the other:

- shape (head of a cabbage)

- position (foot of the mountain)

- function, behavior (a whip – in the British Parliament)

- feeling by the organs of sense - synesthesia (soft music)

- colour (hazel, orange)

- anthropomorphic metaphors (heart of the matter)

- duration of time and space (long speech)

- space transferred on mental notions (to grasp an idea)

- proper names become common nouns - antonomasia (Don Juan) !person > person!

2. contiguity of meanings (metonymy) - semantic process of associating two referents, one of which makes part of the other or is closely connected with it:

- spatial/temporal relations (the House – members of the parliament)

- causal relations (ME to kill ‘to hit on the head’ -> ModE to kill ‘to cause death’)

- part - whole (synecdoche): symbolic (crown - monarchy), instrumental (hand - handwriting), pars pro toto (royal horse - cavalry);

- functional relations (L penna – It penna – OFr penne – OE pen 'feather')

- object - material (a glass, an iron)

- conversion (The coat wears long < He wears coats)

- common names metonymically derived from proper ones !person > thing!

- the name of a person > common noun (boycott, sandwich)

- the name of inventor > term (watt, ohm)

- geographical name > product (Holland, china).

Changes in denotational meaning:

- restriction of meanings (narrowing) – restriction of the types or referents denoted by the word

OE hound 'a dog of any greed', ModE hound 'a dog used in chase'

- extension of meanings (widening) – application of the word to wider variety of referents

OE trunk 'the main stem of a tree’, ModE trunk 'the body of anything'

- specialization - the word with a new meaning (restricted) comes to be used in the specialized vocabulary

OE glide - 'to move gently and smoothly', ModE glide - 'to fly with no engine'

- generalization – the word with the extended meaning passes from the specialized vocabulary into common use

OE salary 'money given to soldiers to buy salt with', ModE salary 'money paid to clerks'

Changes in connotational meaning:

- pejoration (degradation, degeneration) – a word acquires some negative derogatory emotive charge

OE boor 'a villager, a peasant', ModE boor 'a clumsy or ill-bred fellow'

- amelioration (elevation) – improvement of the connotational component

OE minister 'a servant, an attendant', ModE minister 'a civil servant of higher rank'