The Study of Changes in Word Meaning

李華燕

Abstract：Vocabulary is the most unstable part of language， which constantly changes its forms and content. As Quick asserts， almost every word meaning that we use more or less is different from the words in a century ago. However， the concrete ways of word meaning are different and causes of changes in word meaning are various.

Key words：word meaning；causes；types；trend

1. Causes of Changes

（1） Linguistic Factors

The changes of word meaning are related to the development of language itself. Although some words are shorted， this still maintains the meaning of whole. A case in point， ‘gas indicates ‘coal gas. The effect of borrowings led to the change of word meaning. The borrowings is mainly form French， Latin and old English. For instance， stool formerly meant a variety of chairs. And later chair was indicated the more comfortable seat . And the meaning of ‘stool was narrowed as ‘bench. However， analogy， metaphor and metonymy would change the meaning of words. For example， ‘fox is often compared to someone is as crafty as the fox. Therefore， the fox can be used to describe cunning people.

（2） Extra-linguistic Factors

①Class Reason

Language plays a great role in human society， which reflects everything that exists in the world. Undoubtedly， it records the attitude and speech of various social classes. Naturally， different social varieties of language have appeared. A case in point， the lower class people are often described ignorant and foolish， on the contrary， the noble are described lofty and wise. Therefore， a variety of words can indicate the social status of different people.

②Historical Reason

With the development of society and human cognition， the human being are gradually realized the new things， concepts and thought. Thus， the word meaning is constantly changing. For instance， ‘car formerly meant the chariot with two wheels. The ancient often used the carriage as the transportation tool. As the invention and creation of the cars， people go to work by car. Meanwhile， ‘manuscript formerly indicated ‘written by hand. But now whether the word is edited by computer or typewriter， it can be called ‘manuscript. Although the word meaning changed completely， its names are the same all the time.

③Psychological Reason

Due to the psychological motives， people often change the word meaning， such as love， respect， contempt， and hatred etc. The meaning of slangs is far from their standard meanings. Because a word creeps into a speakers mind to serve the purpose of expression. For instance， in Australia ‘peasant meant ‘soldier of ordinary rank. During the world Ⅱ， euphemism is used by reason of psychological factors. Take poor country for example， we can say ‘undeveloped country， ‘underdeveloped country， which is a good manner to express the appropriateness of words.

2. Types of changes

（1） Extension

Extension of meaning is a process of widening the original meaning. For example， ‘breeze， in the early age， usually indicated ‘the North wind or Northeast wind， but in the tropical areas， it was called ‘monsoon. Later， it meant a cool wind blowing from the sea on tropical coast. And in the 17 century， the new meaning ‘light wind came into being ， which has been used until the nowadays. Among extension of meaning， most of them are nouns. Of course， the meaning of verb and adjective are can be widened. For instance， the original meaning ‘kill meant put to death with a weapon. However， we delete with a weapon. Therefore the meaning of words is widened.

（2） Narrowing

Narrowing of meaning， also known as specialization is to widening meaning. For example， ‘deer formerly meant ‘wild animals include tiger， elephant， monkey and so on. At present， we only know the one meaning of this word called ‘deer—a type of animal. Other examples：

Word Old Meaning Specialized meaning

liquor liquid alcoholic drink

disease discomfort illness

（3） Elevation

Elevation refers to the process by which the word meaning rises from humble beginnings to important positions. Take a common term ‘inn for example. Its original meaning was the small hospital especially in the village. But now some hospitals are also called ‘inn. With the change of the word meaning， a number of nouns and adjectives get the positive meaning. For instance， ‘success formerly meant a variety of results including good or bad consequences. But now when comes to ‘success， we just indicate the happy ending.

（4） Degradation

Degradation is the process by means of good origin fall into non-affective words come to be used in degradation is more than the examples of the elevation. People tend to emphasize their negative mood rather than pleasant association. A case in point， ‘silly formerly meant ‘happy， but now we often describe someone is foolish. In addition， some words are related to women， which produce the degradation. Therefore， degradation can be used in different ways.

3. The Word Meaning of Evolution Trend

First， we change the external description of the real world into the internal conception. For instance， ‘touch meant the external act， but now it shows the feeling of touch.

Second， we change the external and internal description into textual meaning. ‘While formerly meant a period of time， but now while is an abstract concept. However， it can also mean a turning point. For example， while shes very talented， shes somewhat careless.

Third， the word meaning mainly depends on the speakers opinion and attitude. ‘Apparently formerly meant openly in appearance， but later the word showed the speakers subjective assessment.

4. Conclusion

Changing in word meaning has never ceased since the language appear and will continue in the future. First， it studies the reasons of changes of word meaning. Second， different types of changes describe the process of changes of word meaning. Third， the trend of word meaning plays a great role in studying the changes in word meaning.

【Reference】

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[2] 汪榕培. 國外語言學：歷史與現狀 英語詞匯學：歷史與現狀[J]. 外語研究. 2001（01）.