Лексикологія

3. Do you agree with the statement of Rudi Keller that “to trace
changes in a word’s meaning, we have to find out how and why the rules
of use for the word changed”? Give your reasons.

I agree because of extra-linguistic causes we mean various changes in the life of the
speech community, changes in economic and social structure, changes in ideas,
scientific concepts, way of life and other spheres of human activities as reflected in
word meanings. Although objects, institutions, concepts, etc. change in the course of
time in many cases the soundform of the words which denote them is retained but the
meaning of the words is changed. The word car, e.g., ultimately 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’. Primarily pen comes back to the Latin word penna (a feather of
the bird). As people wrote with goose pens the name was transferred to steel pens
which were later on used for writing. Still later any instrument for writing was called
a pen.

4. What are the four principle types of semantic change? Supply

examples of each type in English and Ukrainian.
1) semantic expansion - semantic change by which the meaning of a word
becomes broader or more inclusive than its earlier meaning In such cases the
denotation of the word becomes wider and the new meaning of the word refers
to a much wider range of people, objects or activities than before. In historical
semantics, this phenomenon is known as extension or widening. The word
allergy, for example, was first introduced as a medical term. If a person
became ill because of eating or coming in contact with something which did
not cause any illness in others, he was said to be allergic to that material.
During the last few years the meaning of this word has been extended in its
scope and now it refers to a strong dislike for something. For example, the
slang word cool was originally part of the professional jargon of jazz musicians
and referred to a specific artistic style of jazz (a use that was itself an
extension). With the passage of time, the word has come to be applied to
almost anything conceivable, not just music; Наприклад, колись слово
основа означало «подовжні нитки в тканині» (від «снувати»), тепер, крім
цього, — «те, на чому що-небудь тримається».
2) semantic restriction.- is the opposite of extension. If the area of the meaning
of a word becomes smaller than before. At one time the word accident, for
example, was a word for any chance event, for anything that happened all of a
sudden but nowadays this word is generally used for an unfortunate and
 undesirable chance event. The noun desert referring to a sandy area with little
or no rain and the verb desert meaning “leave, abandon, forsake” are both
derived from the same Latin root and initially the noun desert was used for any
place which had been abandoned for any reason. The word litter, for example,
meant originally (before 1300) 'a bed,' then gradually narrowed down to
'bedding,' then to 'animals on a bedding of straw,' and finally to things scattered
about, odds and ends. . .
3) semantic deterioration- sense of a word takes on a less positive, more
negative evaluation in the minds of the users. In Old English the word crafty
meant “skilful” but during the last few centuries the meaning of this word has
been drastically changed and nowadays this word is used for cunning people,
people skilled in deceiving others. -silly 'foolish, stupid' < ME sely 'happy,
innocent' < OE sælig ''blessed, blissful'о
-disease 'illness' < 'discomfort' (cf. dis+ease) Наприклад, прикметник дурний
колись означав "благословенний" або "невинний", офіційний -
"працьовитий", а загострення - "збільшувати вагу" чогось.
4) semantic amelioration- shifts in the sense of a word in the direction
towards a more positive value in the minds of the users. A good example is
terrific, which once meant "causing terror" and now means "wonderful" or
"awesome."