Chapter 4 The Changing English Vocabulary Part B
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4.1.1 The Constant Change gives rise to Neologisms
4.1.2 The Definition of Neologisms
Newly coined words or words that given new meaning to fit new
situations and new needs because of the social, economic,
political, cultural, esp. scientific and technical changes in the
given period.
4.1.3 The Rate of Changes
4.1.4 The Source
A. The rapid development of modern science and technology
B. Political, economic and social changes
4.1.5 The Formation of Neologisms
4.1.5.1 By word-formation
4.1.5.2 By adding new meaning to existing words
4.1.5.3.By borrowing words from other languages
4.1.5.4.By analogy
4.1.5.5 By creating completely new coinages
4.2.1 The reason for the existence of Archaisms
4.3.1 Changes in Meaning
From the sociolinguistics point of view we know that vocabulary not
only changes, but also changes quickly. When people have met new
objects and new ideas, they have need of new words to express them.
Old words die out, new words are added, and existing words change
their meanings. Today, this lecture is about the changes of meaning,
which can be brought about by the followings causes.
Historical
Social
Psychological
Linguistic
1. Historical causes
Changes of lexical meaning can be illustrated by a diachronic
development of words. Diachronic历时的 vs. Synchronic共时的.
Diachronic: of, relating to, or studying the
development of a
phenomenon through time; historical dia- through, throughout, or
during chronic: Greek khronos time
Synchronic: concerned with the events or phenomena at a particular
period without considering historical antecedents
Syn-: At the same time, together, with
Although objects, conceptions, ideas, etc. change in the course of time, the name is restrained, the meaning changes, because the object
which it describes has changed.
CAR
Latin word carra 1301; plural of carrus “two vehicle for carrying
loads”
Anglo-French word carre
English word: car, first applied to the automobile in 1895, means “a
usually four-wheeled automotive vehicle designed for passenger
transportation”, then “a vehicle designed to move on rails, the
passenger compartment of an elevator, the part of an airship or
balloon that carries the passengers and cargo”
Atom borrowed from Greek. Once regarded as the smallest
indivisible particle. Now proved to be an object that can be
subdivided into a proton, neutron, and electron. The word is still in
use.
2. Social causes
It is natural that in the course of development of society a number of
new words are needed to describe new ideas.
Futurology, an existing word future, plus a Greek morpheme
meaning the science of, or the study of. Therefore this words means
“the art or practice of making forecasts about future development in
science and technology and their effect upon society.
Scientific discoveries are a main kind of social causes.
Artificial intelligence, the expression has been coined on the basis of a
combination of artificial intelligence. “the ability of a machine to
imitate human behavior (as reasoning, learning, or the
understanding of speech).
3. Psychological causes
The speaker‟s state of mind may bring about semantic changes.
Because of the prejudice against countrymen or rustics, the words
like boor and clown from “a peasant” to mean “a rude ungraceful
ungentlemanly person” and “a person who continually tells jokes or
acts stupidly”. The words are now used as derogatory terms.
4. Linguistic causes
There has been a tendency towards ellipsis in English. The main
types of ellipsis are as follows.
Adjective+ noun or noun+ noun shortened and one word is
retained to represent the meaning of the phrases.
The word private means „personal‟. Private soldier. General for
general officer; fall means autumn because of the ellipsis of the
phrase „fall of leaves‟.
4.3.2 Four Tendencies in Semantic Changes
Sense development of English words can be divided into four groups
according to the range of their usage and the attitude towards their
senses.
Word meaning: denotation所指意义, 指示意义 literal or dictionary
meaning; connotation隐含意义, meaning in a given context
Change in the denotative component of the lexical meaning may
result in the extension of meaning and the narrowing of meaning.
Change in the connotative component may bring about the elevation
of meaning and the degradation of meaning.
Elevation minister
Narrowing Extension car
girl
Degradation boor
1. Extension of meaning: Generalization
The extension of meaning, or widening of meaning, refers to the
extension of the range of the lexical meaning.
