Semasiology. Polysemy. Change of meaning

Lisää tämän kaltaisia

CHAPTER 1: Elements of Interpersonal Communication

luonut Fakhirah Kamarudin

Pedagogy for the Teaching and Learning of writing and designing

luonut Teagan McNamara

CONTEXTUAL FRAMEWORK

luonut Haydee Islas

PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES

luonut BRYAN MAURICIO ZHIZHPON SALAZAR

Semasiology. Polysemy. Change of meaning

Polysemy

primary / secondary main / derived meanings is connected with two approaches to polysemy

Meaning

figurative when the referent is named and at the same time characterized through its similarity with other objects

tough(таф) meat - direct meaning, tough politician - figurative meaning

direct when it nominates the referent without the help of a context, in isolation

interrelation and interdependence of various meanings in the semantic structure of one and the same word

The problem in polysemy is that of inter relation of different lexico-semantic variants

All lexico-semantic variants of a word taken together form its semantic structure or semantic paradigm

comes from the Greek for "many signs

the association of one word with two or more distinct meanings

Transference of meaning

Metonymy

serve as colorful ways to take the ordinary and dress it up into something poetic or beautiful

The pen is mightier than the sword

to add flavor to writing

consists of the use of the name of one thing for that of something else, with which it is usually associated

Metaphor

based on resemblance an association may be built not only between two physical objects, but also between a concrete object and an abstract concept

observed in idiomatic compounds

head of an army, eye of a needle

the application of a name or a descriptive term to an object to which it is not literally applicable

the transfer of name based on the association of similarity

Extension and narrowing - the result of the semantic change in denotation

Narrowing (specialisation, restriction)

meat => 'food' in general

range of meaning is decreased so that a word can be used appropriately only in fewer contexts than before the change

Widening/Extension

dog =>1) specific powerful breed of dog => all breeds or races of dog

range of meanings of a word increases so that the word can be used in more contexts than were appropriate before the change

Context is the minimal stretch of speech necessary to determine individual meanings of the word

In extra-linguistic contexts

also called extra-linguistic or non-verbal contexts

the meaning of the word is determined not by the linguistic factors but by the actual speech situation in which this word is used

In grammatical contexts

grammatical structure serves to determine various individual meanings of a polysemantic word

In lexical contexts

also called linguistic or verbal contexts

lexically (or phraseologically) bound meanings which implies that such meanings are to be found only in certain lexical contexts

“to take” in isolation has primarily the meaning “lay hold of with the hands, grasp, seize” when combined with the lexical group of words denoting some means of transportation (

groups of lexical items combined with the polysemantic word under consideration

Semantic change in connotation

degradation (pejoration) of word meaning

pretty < OE: prættig 'crafty, sly'

shifts in the sense of a word in the direction towards a more positive value in the minds of the users

elevation (amelioration)

knave 'a rogue' < OE: cnafa ' a youth, a child' > 'servant'

sense of a word takes on a less positive, more negative evaluation in the minds of the users

Synchronic approach to polysemy

tendency in modern linguistics to interpret the concept of the central meaning in terms of the frequency of occurrence of this meaning

marginal meanings are observed only in certain contexts

The central meaning occurs in various and widely different contexts

synchronic semantic analysis of the world table all its meanings represent the semantic structure of it

the coexistence of various meanings of the same word at a certain historical period of the development of the English language

Diachronic approach to polysemy

Some of the old meanings may become obsolete or even disappear

The main source is a change in the semantic structure of the word.

word may retain its previous meaning or meanings and at the same time acquire one or several new ones.

the growth and development or as a change in semantic structure of the word

the primary meaning and the secondary meaning

Homonyms

Sources of Homonymy

identical pronunciation of once different words

seon > sene > see sa > sea

borrowings

Lat vitim > Eng . vice ( evil )

different words became identical in sound and spelling forms

conversion

for creating grammatical homonyms

mother - to mother

Partial homonyms

Homoforms

bound n.jump' bound v . ' past of ' bind

identical in some grammar forms

Homographs

bow [ bou ] -bow [ bau ]

identical in spelling but different in pronunciation and meaning

Homophones

buy - by - bye

identical in pronunciation but different in spelling and meaning

proper ( full , absolute )

like back n. "part of the body" - back adv. "away from the front" - back v. "go back";

identical in spelling and sound form but different in meaning

коса ( волосся ) - коса " ( для покосу трави )

words identical in spelling or sound ( pronunciation ) form but different in meaning

meant to be words which are different from their lexical meanings, though they are identical according to their grammatical meanings

homonyms are words which can be meant to be the same according to their voice construction and pronunciation, yet they are different in their meanings