现代英语词汇学概论最强版复习资料chapter9.docx
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现代英语词汇学概论最强版复习资料chapter9
Chapter9ChangesinWordMeaning
⏹9.1CausesofChangesinWordMeaning
⏹9.2FourTendenciesinSemanticChange
⏹9.3SemanticDevelopmentorChangeResultingfromtheFigurativeUseofWords
Definition:
Changeofmeaningreferstothealterationofthemeaningofexistingwords,aswellastheadditionofnewmeaningtoestablishedwords.
9.1CausesofChangesinWordMeaning
A.Historicalcause历史原因
Itoftenhappensthatthoughawordretainsitsoriginalform,itsmeaninghaschangedbecausetheobjectwhichitdenoteshaschanged.
*Changesofmeaningbecauseofincreasedknowledgeoftheobjectdescribedarecommoninthehistoryofscience.
Eg.
pencil==isfromaLatinwordmeaning“alittletail”or“afinebrush”,likeourChinese“pen”毛笔.Later,whenitwasmadeofwoodandgraphite,itwasstillcalleda“pencil”.
atom==ItwasborrowedthoughLatinandFrenchfromGreekarouos,invisible.Thusatommeantoriginally“anparticletoosmalltobedivided”.Thismeaningisnowout-of-date,becausescientisthavefoundoutthatatomcanbesplit.
B.Socialcause社会原因
Changeinwordmeaningresultingfromaconstantverbaltrafficbetweencommonwordsandvarioustechnicalwordsisreferredtoassocialcauseofsemanticchange.
Sometechnicalwordshavelosttheirspecializedmeaningandhavecometobeusedinmoregeneralsenses.
Eg.
feedback(Electr.)=means“response”incommonuse,asin“Theteacherlikestohavefeedbackfromhisstudents”;
allergic(Med.)=means“beingunusuallysensitivetotheactionofparticularfoods,pollens,insect-bites,etc.”
*Aspecificenvironmentmayaddafreshandhighlytechnicalsensetoawordofgeneraluse.
Eg.
energy=(Phys.)abilityofmatterorradiationtodowork
decline=(Gram.)inflect,statethecase-formsof
C.Foreigninfluences外来文化影响
Aparticularlyimportantcause.
eg.
-pig,sheep,ox(cow)denotethenamesofboththeanimalsandtheirmeatintheOldEnglishperiod,butsincethemeatwascalledpork,muttonandbeefrespectivelyamongtheNormanconquerors,theoriginaltermsarenowusedonlyasthenamesoftheanimals.
-dreammeant“joy”inOE,itgetsitsmodernsensefromtherelatedScandinavianworddraumr.
D.Linguisticcause语言上的原因
*Twotendencies:
towardsellipsis省略andtowardsanalogy类推.
-Ellipsisasacauseofsemanticchangeoftenoccursinhabitualcollocations,suchasadj.+n.,orattributiven.+n.,inwhichthenounisoftendeletedandonlythefirstelement(theattributive)isleft,butretainingthesenseofthewholephrase.
eg.
ageneral–ageneralofficer一位将军
aneditorial–aneditorialarticle一篇社论
bugle–buglehorn号角
gold–goldmedal,asintheOlympicGames金牌
uniform–uniformdress制服
transistor–transistorradio收音机
daily–dailynewspaper日报
duplicate–duplicatecopy副本
-Analogicaltendency:
Newmeaningsdevelopedinonepartofspeecharepassedontootherpartsofspeechfromthesamelexicalbase.
eg.
diplomatic(外交的,外交上的)whichhadearliermeantonly“skillfulinmanaginginternationalrelations,”hadby1826developedthesenseof“tactfulinthemanagementofrelationsofanykind;artfulmanagementitdealingwithothers.”By1848,thisnewmeaninghadbeenpassedontothenoundiplomacy.(外交;外交手腕;交际手段)
E.Psychologicalcause心理学上的原因
*Threeforms
a)Euphemism委婉
Peoplehaveatendencytousemild,agreeablelanguagewhenspeakingofanunpleasantorembarrassingfact(suchasdeath,disease,unfortunateeventsorcrime),andoftaboosubjectsassexandtheexcretiveprocessesofthebody.
eg.hencedeathandthingsrelatedtodeath
-topassaway
-tobreatheone’slast
-toceasetothink
-tofallasleep
-togowest
-tokickthebucket
-tobenomore
b)Grandiloquence夸
Grandiloquencereferstotheuseoflong,important-soundingwordsforeffort.Thedesiretoupgradeorraisethesocialstatusofaposition,occupation,orinstitutionbychangingitscommonnametoonefelttoconfergreaterdignityorimportanceisanotherpsychologicalfactorinthechangeofwordmeaning.
eg.
janitor看门人;守卫;门警–custodian管理人;监护人;保管人
gardener园丁;花匠;园艺家–landscapearchitect造园技师;环境美化设计家
reformschool教养院;少年犯管教所–communityhome少年感化院;
c)Cynicism嘲讽
Cynicism:
thedesiretosneerandtobesarcastic.
eg.
pious虔诚的;敬神的;可嘉的;尽责的--hypocriticallyvirtuous伪善地善良
fanatic狂热的;盲信的—unreasonablyenthusiastic,almostapproachingtomadness
grandiloquent夸的;夸大的;大言不惭的—pompousinlanguage;giventobeautifultalk
sanctimonious假装虔诚的;假装圣洁的;假装诚实的–devout,holyorsacred
9.2FourTendenciesinSemanticChange
A.Restrictionofmeaning(specialization)词义的缩小/具体化
♦Restrictionofmeaningmeansthatawordofwidemeaningacquiresanarrow,specializedsensewhichisapplicabletoonlyoneoftheobjectsithadpreviouslydenoted.
eg.
Condition
Words
Originalmeaning
Meaningafterrestriction
meat
food,esp.solidfood,asdistinguishedfromdrink
thefleshofanimalsusedasfood,excludingfishandbirds
wife
woman
marriedwomanesp.inrelationtoherhusband
success
result,outcome
afavourableorsatisfactoryoutcomeorresult
whenitpassesintoaspecialfield
cleanroom/whiteroom
aroomforthemanufactureorassemblyofobjects(asprecisionparts)thatismaintainedatahighlevelofcleanlinessbyspecialmeans
dependentonone’sprofessionorchiefinterestsinlife
pipe
Tomusician–asimpletubelikemusicalinstrument,playedbyblowing
Totobaccosmokerandanarchitect–itsuggestsotherandquitedifferentmeanings
undertheinfluenceoflocalconditions
Nickel
intheU.S.means“acoin,value5cents”
newwordsmoveintothelanguage
washable
sth.isabletobewashed
sth.esp.clothing,thatcanbewashedinwaterwithoutbeingsolided
breakable
sth.iseasilybroken
impliesthatonehastotakegoodcareofitandhandleitcarefully
B.Extensionofmeaning(generalization)词义的扩大/普遍化
♦Extensionofmeaning:
meansthewideningofaword’ssenseuntilitcoversmuchmorethanwhatitoriginallyconveyed.
*Twomainreasonsforthistendency:
1.Thepredominantdevelopmentaltrendisinthedirectionofdifferentiationratherthanofsynthesis;
2.Relatedtothefirst,isthattheformationofgeneralconceptsfromspecifictermsisoflesserimportanceinnon-scientificcommunicationthoughitisratheracharacteristicofscientificendeavor.
eg.
Condition
Words
Originalmeaning
Meaningafterextended
bird
fromOEbird,ayoungbird
ageneraltermforfeatheredcreatureswithtwolegsandwings,usuallyabletofly
plant
fromLplanta,asprout
agenerictermforthewholebotanicalspecies
losttheirprecisemeaningandhavegraduallyfadedintosuchavaguesensethattheymaystandforalmostanything
thing
(business,state,condition,matter,circumstance,fact,etc.)all-purposeword
acouncil,court,orcontroversy
usedasasubstitutefornearlyanynoundependingonthecontextinwhichitisused
generous
fromLgenerosusof“noblebirth”
willingtogiveorshare;unselfish;liberal
C.Degenerationofmeaning(pejoration)词义的降格/语义转贬
♦Twomainforms:
1.Thefailingofwordmeaningintodisrepute,foronereasonoranother.
eg.silly
1)OriginatedfromtheASsœligmeaning“blessingandhappy”
2)Sincetheblessedpeopleareusuallythoseinnocentofevil,thewordcametomean“innocent”inthe17thcentury
3)Asinnocentpeoplearesooftenthoseleadingsimplelives,itlatercametomean“simple”and“simple-minded”,whichisoftenassociatedwith“lackofintelligence”
4)hencethemodernmeaningofthewordsilly:
“foolish”.
2.Thisformmaytaketheformofthegradualextensiontosomanysensesthatanyparticularmeaningwhichawordmayhavehadiscompletelylost.
*Thisformreferstotheweakeningofmeaningresultingfromhabitualuseofparticularwordsonunsuitableoccasions.
D.Elevationofmeaning(amelioration)词义的升格/语义改良
♦Elevationofmeaning:
awordmeaningtakesaturnforthebetterinthecourseoftime,andhaseitherrisenfroma“snarl”wordtoa“purr”word,orfromaslangtermtoacommonword.
eg.
Words
Originalmeaning
Meaningafterelevation
marshal
ahorsetender驯马师
officerofhighestrank元帅;司仪
minister
anattendant,aservant牧师
apersonattheheadofaDepartmentofState部长;大臣
fond
foolish
tenderandaffectionate喜欢的;温柔的;宠爱的
9.3SemanticDevelopmentorChangeResultingfromtheFigurativeUseofWords
A.Metaphor隐喻,暗喻
♦Metaphorisafigureofspeechcontaininganimpliedcomparisonbasedonassociationofsimilarity,inwhichawordoraphraseordinarilyandprimarilyusedforonethinginappliedtoanother,aprocesswhichoftenresultsinsemanticchangeorfigurativeextensionofmeaning.
eg.foodforthought,aheartofstone;thunderousapplause
acunningperson–fox
abeautifulwoman–vision美景
♦Twotypes:
a)Thesimilaritybetweentenorandvehiclemaybebasedonlikenessinformorappearance;onaresemblanceinrelativeposition;inqualityorinfunction.
eg.eyeofaneedle
theteethofacomb
thebridgeofapairofeyeglasses
thecrestofamountain
b)Thereisonepsychologicalprocesswhichalsoproduceslinguisticresultssimilartothoseofmetaphor:
eg.synaesthesia.联觉“whichisbasedontransportationfromonesensetoanother”
*Manywordshavebeenusedsofrequentlyasmetaphorsthattheirmetaphoricalsensehavebecomewell-establishedinpeople’sminds.Theyarecalledfadedmetaphorsandappearasoneoftheword’smeaningslistedinanystandarddictionaries.
B.Metonymy借喻,转喻,借代
♦Metonymyisafigureofspeechbywhichanobjectorideaisdescribedbythenameofsomethingcloselyrelatedtoit.
eg.thewhitehouse–thepresidentorfort