Lexical Change Flashcards
Where do words go?
No longer needed as gone out of use e.g. inkwell. bonnet, L.P, dot matrix, squiffy, courtiers, grog blossom, gloshes.
Gives reasons for why words appear.
Inventions developed or refined e.g. printing press, electricity, iPod.
Newly imported or borrowed words e.g. curry, karaoke, bungalow, taco.
Shortening/ clipping.
New word replaces old work- ugly, munter, minger, chav.
Social (political) or historical change e.g. Dickensian to Thatcherite.
Initialisms and acronyms usually for technological change e.g. LP, RADAR, DNA, CD, GILF, MILF. (social change).
Semantic shifts and change In meaning.
What is Etymology?
The study of the origin of words.
What are Latin loanwords.
The arrival of these exploded in the Renaissance period (EM) because of the interest in the oaks of classical scholars and writers.
Latinate vocabulary tends to be longer and polysyllabic.
The presence of Latin LW tell us information about the formality/ register of the text.
Taken prefixes from Latin e.g. anti, post, pre.
Suffixes: ate, ic, al.
COMMON:
agenda, celibate, enthusiastic, futile, democratic, sophisticated, emperor, church, genius, chivalrous.
Borrowed words- Greek?
Also an influence during EM, though lesser extent then Latin.
Technical, scientific
economy, enyclopedia, telephone, microscope.
prefixes- micro, bio, bi, auto, mono, pan, thermo, hyper, anti, a, a, neo.
What is narrowing of meaning? Give a 16c example.
This is when words move from a broad meaning to a more specific or narrow meaning e.g. to starve, an Old English verb [steorfan] originally had a broad general use meaning: to die.
The 16th century, more specific meaning: ‘die of hunger’ is the one that has survived in the modern standard language, so we say that it has narrowed.
What is broadening of meaning?
This is when words move from a specific or narrow meaning to a more broad or general meaning e.g. rubbish, in early modern English meant rubble, and has developed a wider meaning of waste matter, anything worthless. We say that it has widened.
Why does broadening happen? Give examples.
Words often take on a wider meaning when they move out of the language of some special group and get adopted by the community as a whole i.e. junk was originally sailors’ slang and meant old rope, but now has a wider meaning of useless stuff, rubbish since it has moved out of its restricted sailors’ jargon.
Similarly, gambit is a term used in chess, meaning ‘an opening in which White offers a pawn sacrifice’ but has a wider meaning outside chess to describe any open move.
What is amelioration and give examples for language change.
Amelioration is when a word acquires more favourable connotations, or positive semantic value e.g. success simply meant result and now means a good result.
Knight once merely meant servant and came to mean a loyal and chivalrous servant, it has picked up positive semantic value.
Democracy was once a pejorative term but is now in the eyes of the West a term of praise and a desirable social institution.
How does amelioration occur?
Amelioration is often the result of general change in social or cultural attitudes. Thus in the late 17th century, the words enthusiasm and zeal were considered in a negative light, they were pejorative terms, implying violence and fanaticism because of their association with revolutionary Puritanism, but as English society changed and the civil wars were forgotten these negative associations were lost and we have positive meanings for both these words now.
What is pejoration? Is it more common than amelioration and give examples. How does it relate to women?
Pejoration is when a word acquires disagreeable connotations, or negative semantic value e.g. lust in Old English meant desire or pleasure but today implies illicit or intemperate sexual desire.
Human nature being what it is, pejoration is commoner than amelioration.
coy – once meant quiet and modest
cunning – meant skillful,
gaudy meant brilliant and cheerful,
uncouth meant unknown.
Villain, knave and lewd are further examples where words have picked up negative semantic value, examples of pejoration.
Many words related to women in society have also accumulated negative semantic value over time.
What is Bleaching or Loss of Intensity? Give examples.
The meaning of a word is determined by the contexts in which it is used.
The word hellish has become used to describe, not the “agonies of the damned writhing in hell” but the kind of discomfort experienced in the rush hour for example. So, this word has faded and lost its intensity.
The word awful which once meant causing reverence or fear has been substantially weakened in meaning i.e. the weather was awful. This is partly due to a reduction in the power of the church in everyday life.
