Seminar 5.

Change of meaning

Discussion topics
1. Change of meaning. The causes of semantic change.
In the earlier stages of its development (up to the early 1930s) semasiology was a purely diachronic
science dealing mainly with changes in the word meaning and classification of those changes.
Discussing the causes of semantic change we concentrate on the factors bringing about this change
and attempt to find out why the word changed its meaning.
Analysing the nature of semantic change we seek to clarify the process of this change and describe
how various changes of meaning were brought about.
Our aim in investigating the results of semantic change is to find out what was changed, i.e. we
compare the resultant and the original meanings and describe the difference between them in terms
of the changes of the denotational and connotational components.
Extra-linguistic: The extra-linguistic causes are determined by the social nature of the language:
they are observed in changes of meaning resulting from the development of the notion expressed
and the thing named and by the appearance of new notions and things.
The word car, e.g., goes back to Latin carrus which meant ‘a four-wheeled wagon’ (ME. carre) but
now that other means of transport are used it denotes ‘a motor-car’, ‘a railway carriage’ (in the
USA), ‘that portion of an airship, or balloon which is intended to carry personnel, cargo or
equipment’
Linguistic: factors acting within the language system
◦ Ellipsis:
OE starve ‘to die’ was used in collocation with the word hunger, later ‘to die of hunger’
◦ Differentiation of synonyms:
OE land ‘solid part of earth’s surface’ and ‘the territory of a nation’; in the Middle English
period the word country was borrowed
beast displaced deer and was in its turn itself displaced by the generic animal
◦ Fixed context:
token vs. sign (love token, token of respect)
◦ Analogy
catch, grasp, get – understand

2. The nature of semantic change.

i. Similarity of senses (metaphor).
ii. Contiguity of senses (metonymy).
iii. Hyperbole
iv. Litotes
v. Irony
vi. Euphemism/ dysphemism
3. The results of semantic change (extension and restriction of meaning, pejorative and
ameliorative developments)
Exercises
1. Compare metaphorical use of English and Ukrainian colour adjectives white/білий,
red/червоний, green/зелений and blue/синій blue (сум) I’m blue
White/білий – біле личко (красиве), побіліти як стіна, побіліти як смерть, white as a ghost,
As white as a sheet. Raise a white flag

Червоний – почервоніти як помідор, почервоніти від злості, червоний терор; red - To be

shown the red card, To be out of the red (to be out of debt), To be in the red (to have an
overdraft, be in debt to your bank)

green/зелений – зелений (молодий), позеленіти (нудити), позеленіти від злості, (to be)
green with envy, to give the green light.

blue/синій – посиніти від холоду, Blue Blood, Black And Blue, Blue And White, feeling blue

2. Identify the type of semantic shift that has occurred in each case. Choose
either Metaphor or Metonymy

a. barbecue 'a rack for cooking meat over a fire' >  barbecue 'a social event at which food is
cooked over a fire' Metonymy

b. influence 'something which has flowed in' > influence  'something which affects someone
without apparent effort' Metaphor

c.  mouth 'the body opening through which an animal takes food' > mouth 'a person' (eg. "three
mouths to feed") Metonymy

d. solve 'to loosen' > solve  'to clear up something puzzling' Metaphor

e.  counter 'a device for counting' > counter 'a surface on which various devices can be placed'
Metonymy

f.  mouth 'the body opening through which an animal takes food' > mouth 'an opening into a cave
or canyon' Metaphor

g. white shirt 'a shirt that is white in color' > white shirt 'a manager' Metonymy

 3. Explain the logical associations in the following groups of meaning for the same words. Define
the type of transference which has taken place.

1)    the wing of a bird — the wing of a building; e.g. metaphor (similarity of form)

2)     the eye of a man — the eye of a needle; metaphors which are based on parts of a human
body

3)     the hand of a child — the hand of a clock; metaphors which are based on parts of a human
body

4)     the heart of a man — the heart of the matter; similarity of function
5)     the bridge across the river — the bridge of the nose; Similarity by physical features - form
and sight

6)     the tongue of a person — the tongue of a bell  similarity of position

7)     green grass — green years;

8)     black shoes — black despair;

9)     nickel (metal) — a nickel (coin);

10)  Ford (proper name) — a Ford (car); when proper names become common nouns

11)  Damaskus (town in Syria) — damask.

4. Find metonymies in the following sentences. Define the type of contiguity they are based on.

1. If the key matched the lock, the participant took the grand prize – a Ford. (metonomy)

2. People might think they’re cutting down on fat when they order the fish sandwiches in
McDonalds (metonomy)

3. About 35% of American women like guys with beards and moustaches, so if you have either, you
don’t have to buy a Gillette. (metonomy)

4. Bone china was invented in England in the late eighteenth century, and was apparently superior
in strength, translucency, thinness, and whiteness to the porcelain then being produced in Europe.

5. Recognizing the increasing popularity of smartphones among government users and everyday
citizens, the White House announced a mobile version of its Website optimized for portable
devices like BlackBerrys and iPhones.

6. I have never read Simon de Beauvoir in the original, but I’d like to.

7. Londoners were welcome to come to Trafalgar Square to enjoy Handel, one of the most famous
composers of the 18th century.

5. In the following sentences, state what the metonymies stand for. Group the sentences according
to the type of contiguity.

1. We need a couple of strong bodies for our team.

2. There are a lot of good heads in the university.

3. I’ve got a new set of wheels.

4. We need some new blood in the organization.

5. He’s got a Picasso in his living room. I hate to read Heidegger.

6. You’ll never get the university to agree to that. I don’t approve of the government’s actions.

7. Washington is insensitive to the needs of the people.

9. Paris is introducing longer skirts this season.

10. Hollywood isn’t what it used to be.

11. Wall Street is in a panic.

6. For each example, tell whether the result of the semantic shift
is Restriction, Deterioration, Generalization, or Amelioration.

a. OE wif 'a woman' > Modern English wife 'a married woman' Restriction

b. nuke  'to destroy with nuclear weapons' > nuke 'to destroy in any manner'

(eg. Buffy nuked her Porsche last night.)

c. ME  marshall 'groom for horses (literally 'horse slave')' > Modern English  marshall 'high
ranking officer' Amelioration

d. OE steorfan 'to die (of any cause)' > Modern English starve 'to die from hunger' Restriction

e. Middle English vilein 'feudal serf, farmer' > Modern English villain 'a wicked or evil person'
Generalization

f. OE  bouchier 'one who slaughters goats' > Modern English butcher 'one who slaughters
animals'

g. Middle English  girle 'child' > Modern English girl 'female child' Restriction

h. lyric  'poem to be sun with a lyre' > lyric 'any poem to be sung'

i.  lewd  'of the laity (i.e. non-church)' > lewd 'indecent' Generalization

j. OE  mete 'any food' > Modern English meat 'animal flesh' Restriction