Nature of semantic change

shift of M (сдвиг)?

ýsilly was ‘blessed’ (юродивый, блаженный) à not clever

transference (перенос) based on associations & metaphoric thinking

A necessary condition of any semantic change is some connection/association betw T old M & T new. Two types of association

Metaphor – transference based on similarity –one thing resembles another

ýThe foot of the mountain hand of T clock

Metonimy – contiguity (сходство по смежности) – two referents are associated, one of which makes part of T other or is closly connected with it

ýWe have a Picasso on the wall

the House à members of T house

29.Cognitive basis of semantic changes.

The term motivation is used by a number of linguists to denote the relationship between the central and the coexisting meaning or meanings of a word which are understood as a metaphorical extension of the central meaning. Metaphorical extension may be viewed as generalisation of the denotational meaning of a word permitting it to include new referents which are in some way like the original class of referents. Similarity of various aspects and/or functions of different classes of referents may account for the semantic motivation of a number of minor meanings. For example, a woman who has given birth is called a mother; by extension, any act that gives birth is associated with being a mother, e.g. in Necessity is the mother of invention. The same principle can be observed in other meanings: a mother looks after a child, so that we can say She became a mother to her orphan nephew, or Romulus and Remus were supposedly mothered by a wolf. Cf. also mother country, a mother’s mark (=a birthmark), mother tongue, etc. Such metaphoric extension may be observed in the so-called trite metaphors, such as burn with anger, break smb’s heart, jump at a chance, etc.

If metaphorical extension is observed in the relationship of the central and a minor word meaning it is often observed in the relationship between its synonymic or antonymic meanings. Thus, a few years ago the phrases a meeting at the summit, a summit meeting appeared in the newspapers.

Cartoonists portrayed the participants of such summit meetings sitting on mountain tops. Now when lesser diplomats confer the talks are called foothill meetings. In this way both summit and its antonym foothill undergo the process of metaphorical extension.

Morphological motivation implies a direct connection between the lexical meaning of the component morphemes, the pattern of their arrangement and the meaning of the word. The degree of morphological motivation may be different varying from the extreme of complete motivation to lack of motivation.

Phonetical motivation implies a direct connection between the phonetic structure of the word and its meaning. Phonetical motivation is not universally recognised in modern linguistic science.

30. Semantic equivalence and Synonymy. Types of synonyms.

Synonyms – Ws different in their sound-form, but similarT in their denotational M or Ms & interchangeableu at least in some contexts.

Synonymy is often understood as semantic equivalence. Sem Eq however may exist betw Ws, Wgroups & sentences

ý John is taller than Bill=Bill is shorter than John; to win a victory=to gain a victory

John sold T book to Bill=Bill bought T book from Bill

Þsynonyms – semantic relations betw Ws only

Semantic equivalence – similar relations betw Wgroups & sentences

Synonyms are found in dif parts of speech, both among notional & function Ws

ý on=upon, since=as

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