Chapter 9: Semantic Change and Lexical Change Flashcards
What is widening?
Semantic change involving the increased range of meanings of a word, allowing the word to be used in more contexts.
What is narrowing?
Semantic change where the range of meanings is decreased so that a word can be used in only a few contexts.
What is a metaphor?
Involves understanding or experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another kind of thing though somehow to be similar in some way.
What is a metonymy?
Is a change in meaning of a word so that is comes to include additional senses which were not originally present but which are closely associated with the word’s original meaning.
What is a synecdoche?
A kind of metonymy, involves a part representing a whole. Ex; German Bein “leg” originally meant “bone”.
What is displacement?
Also called ellipsis; change where one word absorbs part or all of the meaning of another word with which it is linked in phrasal constituent. Ex; contacts from contact lenses.
What is pejoration?
Also called degeneration; word takes on a more negative meaning in the minds of the speaker.
What is amelioration?
Also called elevation; word takes on a more positive meaning in the mind of the speakers. Ex; Old English praettig “crafty, sly” > pretty.
What is a hyperbole?
Involves shifts in meaning to exaggeration by overstatement.
What is litotes?
Exaggeration by understatement. Ex; English kill meant ‘to strike, beat, hit, knock”, and if you were to say hit but intend to mean kill, this would be an understatement.
What is compounding?
Formed from pieces or units that are or were themselves distinct words. Ex; dickhead.
What is amalgamation?
Forms which formerly composed of more than one free-standing word. Ex; nevertheless.
What is clipping?
New words coming from shortening longer words.
