现代英语词汇学概论最强版复习计划资料chapter

优选文档优选文档PAGE优选文档Chapter9ChangesinWordMeaning

9.1CausesofChangesinWordMeaning

9.2FourTendenciesinSemanticChange

9.3SemanticDevelopmentorChangeResultingfromtheFigurativeUseofWordsDefinition:Changeofmeaningreferstothealterationofthemeaningofexistingwords,aswellastheadditionofnewmeaningtoestablishedwords.

9.1CausesofChangesinWordMeaning

A.Historicalcause历史原因

Itoftenhappensthatthoughawordretainsitsoriginalform,itsmeaninghaschangedbecausetheobjectwhichitdenoteshaschanged.

*Changesofmeaningbecauseofincreasedknowledgeoftheobjectdescribedarecommoninthehistoryofscience.

Eg.

pencil==isfromaLatinwordmeaning“alittletail”or“afinebrush”,likeourChinese“pen”毛

笔.Later,whenitwasmadeofwoodandgraphite,itwasstillcalleda“pencil”.

atom==ItwasborrowedthoughLatinandFrenchfromGreekarouos,invisible.Thusatommeantoriginally“anparticletoosmalltobedivided”.Thismeaningisnowout-of-date,becausescientisthavefoundoutthatatomcanbesplit.

B.Socialcause社会原因

Changeinwordmeaningresultingfromaconstantverbaltrafficbetweencommon

wordsandvarioustechnicalwordsisreferredtoassocialcauseofsemanticchange.Sometechnicalwordshavelosttheirspecializedmeaningandhavecometobeusedin

moregeneralsenses.

Eg.feedback(Electr.)=means

“response”incommonuse,asin

“Theteacherlikestohavefeedback

fromhisstudents”;allergic

(Med.)=means

“beingunusuallysensitivetotheactionofparticularfoods,pollens,

insect-bites,etc.”*Aspecificenvironmentmayaddafreshandhighlytechnicalsensetoawordofgeneraluse.Eg.

energy=(Phys.)abilityofmatterorradiationtodowork

decline=(Gram.)inflect,statethecase-formsof

C.Foreigninfluences外来文化影响

Aparticularlyimportantcause.

eg.

-pig,sheep,ox(cow)denotethenamesofboththeanimalsandtheirmeatintheOldEnglishperiod,butsincethemeatwascalledpork,muttonandbeefrespectivelyamongtheNormanconquerors,theoriginaltermsarenowusedonlyasthenamesoftheanimals.

-dreammeant“joy”inOE,itgetsitsmodernsensefromtherelatedScandinavianworddraumr.

Linguisticcause语言上的原因

*Twotendencies:towardsellipsis省略andtowardsanalogy类推.

-Ellipsisasacauseofsemanticchangeoftenoccursinhabitualcollocations,suchasadj.+n.,orattributiven.+n.,inwhichthenounisoftendeletedandonlythefirstelement(theattributive)isleft,butretainingthesenseofthewholephrase.eg.

ageneral–ageneralofficer一位将军aneditorial–aneditorialarticle一篇社论bugle–buglehorn军号

transistor

–transistorradio

收音机

gold–gold

Games金牌

medal,asintheOlympic

daily–dailynewspaper日报

duplicate–duplicatecopy副本

uniform

–uniformdress制服

-Analogicaltendency:Newmeaningsdevelopedinonepartofspeecharepassedonto

otherpartsofspeechfromthesamelexicalbase.

eg.

diplomatic(外交的，外交上的)whichhadearliermeantonly“skillfulinmanaginginternational

relations,”hadby1826developedthesenseof“tactfulinthemanagementofrelationsofany

kind;artfulmanagementitdealingwithothers.”By1848，thisnewmeaninghadbeenpassedontothenoundiplomacy.（外交；外交手腕；社交手段）

Psychologicalcause心理学上的原因*Threeforms

Euphemism宛转

Peoplehaveatendencytousemild,agreeablelanguagewhenspeakingofanunpleasantor

embarrassingfact(suchasdeath,disease,unfortunateeventsorcrime),andoftaboosubjectsassexandtheexcretiveprocessesofthebody.eg.

hencedeathandthingsrelatedtodeath

-topassaway

-togowest

-tobreatheone’slast

-tokickthebucket

-toceasetothink

-tobenomore

-tofallasleepGrandiloquence夸张

Grandiloquencereferstotheuseoflong,important-soundingwordsforeffort.Thedesiretoupgradeorraisethesocialstatusofaposition,occupation,orinstitutionbychangingitscommonnametoonefelttoconfergreaterdignityorimportanceisanotherpsychologicalfactorinthechangeofwordmeaning.eg.

janitor看门人；捍卫；门警–custodian管理人；监护人；保留人

gardener园丁；花匠；园艺家–landscapearchitect造园技师；环境美化设计家reformschool涵养院；少年犯管教所–communityhome少年感人院；

Cynicism嘲讽

Cynicism:thedesiretosneerandtobesarcastic.

eg.pious

忠诚的；敬神的；可嘉的；尽责的

--hypocriticallyvirtuous

伪善地平和

fanatic狂热的；盲信的—unreasonablyenthusiastic,almostapproachingtomadnessgrandiloquent夸张的；夸张的；狂言不惭的—pompousinlanguage;giventobeautifultalksanctimonious假装忠诚的；假装圣洁的；假装诚实的–devout,holyorsacred

9.2FourTendenciesinSemanticChange

Restrictionofmeaning(specialization)词义的减小/详尽化

Restrictionofmeaningmeansthatawordofwidemeaningacquiresanarrow,specialized

sensewhichisapplicabletoonlyoneoftheobjectsithadpreviouslydenoted.

eg.ConditionWordsOriginalmeaningMeaningafterrestrictionmeatfood,esp.solidfood,asthefleshofanimalsusedasdistinguishedfromdrinkfood,excludingfishandbirdswifewomanmarriedwomanesp.inrelationtoherhusbandsuccessresult,outcomeafavourableorsatisfactoryoutcomeorresultwhenitpassesintoacleanroomaroomforthemanufactureorspecialfield/whiteroomassemblyofobjects(asprecisionparts)thatismaintainedatahighlevelofcleanlinessbyspecialmeansdependentonone’spipeTomusician–asimpletubelikeprofessionorchiefmusicalinstrument,playedbyinterestsinlifeblowingTotobaccosmokerandanarchitect–itsuggestsotherandquitedifferentmeaningsundertheinfluenceofNickelintheU.S.means“acoin,value5localconditionscents”newwordsmoveintowashablesth.isabletobewashedsth.esp.clothing,thatcanbethelanguagewashedinwaterwithoutbeingsolidedbreakablesth.iseasilybrokenimpliesthatonehastotakegoodcareofitandhandleitcarefullyExtensionofmeaning(generalization)词义的扩大/宽泛化

Extensionofmeaning:meansthewideningofaword’ssenseuntilitcoversmuchmorethanwhatitoriginallyconveyed.

*Twomainreasonsforthistendency:

Thepredominantdevelopmentaltrendisinthedirectionofdifferentiationratherthanofsynthesis;

Relatedtothefirst,isthattheformationofgeneralconceptsfromspecifictermsisoflesserimportanceinnon-scientificcommunicationthoughitisratheracharacteristicofscientificendeavor.

eg.ConditionWordsOriginalmeaning

birdfromOEbird,a

youngbird

plantfromLplanta,asproutlosttheirprecisethingacouncil,court,ormeaningand(business,state,condition,controversyhavegraduallymatter,circumstance,fact,fadedintosuchaetc.)all-purposewordvaguesensethattheymaystandforalmostanything

Meaningafterextended

ageneraltermforfeatheredcreatureswithtwolegsandwings,usuallyabletofly

agenerictermforthewholebotanicalspecies

usedasasubstitutefornearlyanynoundependingonthecontextinwhichitisused

generousfromLgenerosusofwillingtogiveor“noblebirth”share;unselfish;liberalDegenerationofmeaning(pejoration)词义的降格/语义转贬Twomainforms:

1.Thefailingofwordmeaningintodisrepute,foronereasonoranother.

eg.silly

OriginatedfromtheASs?ligmeaning“blessingandhappy”

Sincetheblessedpeopleareusuallythoseinnocentofevil,thewordcametomean“innocent”inthe17thcentury

3)Asinnocentpeoplearesooftenthoseleadingsimplelives,itlatercametomean“simple”and“simple-minded”,whichisoftenassociatedwith“lackofintelligence”

hencethemodernmeaningofthewordsilly:“foolish”.

Thisformmaytaketheformofthegradualextensiontosomanysensesthatanyparticularmeaningwhichawordmayhavehadiscompletelylost.

*Thisformreferstotheweakeningofmeaningresultingfromhabitualuseofparticularwordsonunsuitableoccasions.Elevationofmeaning(amelioration)词义的升格/语义改良

Elevationofmeaning:awordmeaningtakesaturnforthebetterinthecourseoftime,andhaseitherrisenfroma“snarl”wordtoa“purr”word,orfromaslangtermtoacommonword.

eg.

WordsOriginalmeaningMeaningafterelevationmarshalahorsetender驯马师officerofhighestrank元帅；司仪ministeranattendant,aservant牧师apersonattheheadofaDepartmentofState部长；大臣fondfoolishtenderandaffectionate喜欢的；温柔的；喜欢的9.3SemanticDevelopmentorChangeResultingfromtheFigurativeUseofWordsA.Metaphor隐喻，暗喻

Metaphorisafigureofspeechcontaininganimpliedcomparisonbasedonassociationofsimilarity,inwhichawordoraphraseordinarilyandprimarilyusedforonethinginappliedtoanother,aprocesswhichoftenresultsinsemanticchangeorfigurativeextensionofmeaning.eg.foodforthought,aheartofstone;thunderousapplause

acunningperson–fox

abeautifulwoman–vision美景

Twotypes:

Thesimilaritybetweentenorandvehiclemaybebasedonlikenessinformorappearance;ona

resemblanceinrelativeposition;inqualityorinfunction.

eg.eyeofaneedle

theteethofacomb

thebridgeofapairofeyeglasses

thecrestofamountain

Thereisonepsychologicalprocesswhichalsoproduceslinguisticresultssimilartothoseof

metaphor:

eg.synaesthesia.联觉“whichisbasedontransportationfromonesensetoanother”

*Manywordshavebeenusedsofrequentlyasmetaphorsthattheirmetaphoricalsensehavebecomewell-establishedinpeople’mind