词汇学第六章.ppt

Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Changes in Word Meaning Changes in Word Meaning I. Types of changes 1. Extension ( Generalization )词义的扩展 A. From specific to general It is through widening of meaning that a monosemic word is made polysemic . . journal (a daily---- any periodicals); bird (young bird --- any birds) . salary (salt money--- fixed regular pay each month, three months, year, or sometimes each week, for a job, especially as for workers of high skill or rank); B. From concrete to abstract . place (square --- location, status, situation); . ‘ thing ’ used to mean ‘ a public assembly ’ or a ‘ council ’ in Anglo-Saxon times, but now can refer to any object or event. ‘ Thing, affair, business, concern, regard, article, circumstance, fact, state, condition, position, situation, way, means, matter, respect ’, etc. Each of them may be used in an abstract sense instead of a concrete meaning as used in the past. C. From technical terms to general words . ‘ tangent 切线’, a term in mathematics, means ‘ to fly at a tangent 离题’; . ‘ atomic ’ in physics means ‘ great ’ recently, as in ‘ an atomic effort 巨大努力’ D. From proper nouns mon nouns . ampere, watt, ohm, volt, newton , joule 焦耳, Sandwich ( the fourth Earl of Sandwich) boycott (an Irish landlord) chauvinism 沙文主义(Nicolas Chauvin) Shylock (The Merchant of Venice) Hitler 独裁者 quisling 卖国贼 adidas (sports shoes) bloomers 女式灯笼裤 spencer 羊毛短上衣 wellingtong 惠灵顿长靴 bowler 圆顶黒礼帽 mackintosh 雨衣 champagne (a place in France) gin (the short form for Geneva) cashmere 羊绒(Kashmir) xerox ( brandname ) dacron terelene 涤纶 rubic cube 魔方 Kodak pingpong zipper 2. Narrowing ( Specialization )词义的缩小 A. From general to specific Word Old Meaning Specialized Meaning corpse a human or animal body, living or dead a dead body, especially of a human being meat food flesh of animals wife w