英语词汇学-词义的变化.ppt

第五章 词义的变化Change of Meaning
外语学院 徐红新
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When a word loses its old meaning and comes to refer to something altogether different, the result is a change of word meaning.
“… Change of meaning is a commonplace, and indeed it would appear to be fundamental in living language, …… almost every word we use today has a slightly different meaning from the one it had a century ago: and a century ago it had a slightly different meaning from the one it had a century before that.”
_________ Quirk 1963:123-124
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Causes of changes in word meaning
1. the world is changing
社会是语言的外部因素（索绪尔，1980：43），但是社会又不是一般的外部因素，而是客体世界中最重要的外部因素， 因为语言是特殊的社会现象，语言跟社会诸因素有千丝万缕的关系。
旧词添新义 car\ship
科技发展 光环
普通义位与科技义位间的转变 menu, window
社会集团社会地位的变化 governor, lord
经济的发展 狗、马
民族或种族矛盾的原因 Dutch
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2. Human being is changing
认识水平在提高 heart,brain
思想观念的更新 天堂、老板、演员、士兵

求新： 净面、洗脸、飚客、粉丝, 闪族
求美：春风、教室
求省：机票、机场、机群、客机、班机
gold metal
求雅：euphemism 下岗、老、战略性撤退、穷
circumlocution lie\steal\lazy
感情因素（移情）：冤家
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language is changing
semantic reason
harvest\autumn motor 左右 红白赤
grammatical reason
廉颇老矣，尚能饭否？
pragmatic reason
斗 闻
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of meaning
of meaning
of meaning
of meaning
of meaning
词义的变化
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Extension of Meaning
It is also called widening of
meaning or generalization. It’s a
process by which a word which
originally had a specialized meaning
has now become generalized.
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Four kinds of extension
A. From specific to general
B. From proper nouns to common nouns
concrete to abstract
technical terms to general words
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A. From specific to general 从特指到泛指
Example
Picture: originally: a painting
or drawing
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The present meaning
a photograph
a cinematic pictur