Identify the nature of semantic changes in the italicized words.

1. I put the letter well into the mouth of the box and let it go and fell turning over and over like an autumn leaf.

2. Those who had been the head of the line paused momentarily on entry and looked around curiously.

3. A cheerful-looking girl in blue jeans came up to the stairs whistling.

4. That year he hit the jackpot with his first novel and decided to buy a Ford.

5. Oh, Steven, I read a Dickens the other day. It was awfully funny.

6. They sat on the rug before the fireplace, savouring its warmth, watching the rising tongues of flame.

7. He inspired universal confidence and had an iron nerve.

8. A very small boy in a green jersey with light red hair cut square across his forehead was peering at Steven between the electric fire and the side of the fireplace.

9. As I walked nonchalantly past Hugo’s house on the other side they were already carrying out the Renoirs.

10. He has been collecting porcelain all his life.

 

7. Analyze the meanings of the italicized words. Identify the result of changes of the denotational aspect of lexical meaning in the given words.

 

Model: loan: ‘a gift from a superior; a thing borrowed’ – ‘a sum of money which is borrowed, often from a bank, and has to be paid back, usually together with an additional amount of money that have to pay as a charge for borrowings’ –

The result of the change of the denotational aspect of lexical meaning of the word loan is that the word became more specialized in meaning (restriction of meaning, specialization).

 

A) 1) camp: ‘a place where troops are lodged in tents’ – ‘a place where people live in tents or hunts’; 2) girl: ‘a small child of either sex’ – ‘a small child of female sex’; 3) bird: ‘a young bird’ – ‘a creature with wings and feathers which can usually fly in the air’; 4) arrive: ‘reach the shore after a voyage’ – ‘reach a place at the end of a journey or a stage in a journey’; 5) deer: ‘any quadruped (четвероногое животное)’ – ‘a hoofed grazing or browsing animal, with branched bony antlers that are shed annually and typically borne only by the male; 6) rug: ‘rough woolen stuff’ – ‘a small carpet’.

 

B) 1) barn: ‘a place for keeping barley’ – ‘a large farm building used for storing grain, hay, or straw or for housing livestock’; 2) glide: ‘ to move gently and smoothly’ – ‘fly with no engine’; 3) room: ‘space’ – ‘a part or division of a building enclosed by walls, floor, and ceiling’; 4) fly: ‘ move with wings’ – ‘to move through the air or in the outer space’; 5) artist: ‘a master of the liberal arts (гуманитарные науки)’ – ‘a person who produces paintings or drawings as a profession or hobby’; 6) champion: ‘a fighting man’ – ‘a person who has defeated or surpassed all rivals in a competition, especially a sporting contest.

 

8. Analyze the meanings of the italicized words. Identify the result of changes of the connotational aspect of lexical meaning in the given words.

 

Model: villain: ‘a feudal serf, peasant cultivator in subjection to a lord’ – ‘a person guilty or capable of a crime or wickedness’. – The result of the change of the connotational aspect of lexical meaning of the word villain is that the word acquired a derogatory emotive charge (deterioration of meaning).

 

A) 1) cunning: ’possessing erudition or skill’ – ‘clever in deceiving’; 2) knight: ‘manservant’ – ‘noble courageous man’; 3) fond: ‘foolish, infatuated (лишенный рассудка) – ‘loving, affectionate’; 4) gang: ‘a group of people going together’ – ‘an organized group of criminals’; 5) marshal: ‘manservant attending horses’ – ‘an officer or highest rank in the armed forces’.

 

B) 1) coarse: ‘ordinary, common’ – ‘rude or vulgar’; 2) minister: ’a servant’ – ‘a head of a government’; 3) enthusiasm: ‘a prophetic or poetic frenzy (безумие, бешенство)’ – ‘intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval’; 4) violent: ‘having a marked or powerful effect’ – ‘using or involving physical force intended to hunt, damage, or kill someone or something’; 5) gossip: ‘a godparent, a person related to one in God’ – ‘the one who talks scandal; tells slanderous stories about other people’.

 

9. Read the following extracts and identify the nature and the results of semantic change in the denotational aspect of meaning.

1) Sometimes, the process of transference may result in a considerable change in range of meaning. For instance, the verb to arrive (French borrowing) began its life in England in the narrow meaning «to come to shore, to land». In Modern English it has greatly widened its combinability and developed the general meaning «to come» (to arrive in a village, town, city, country, at a hotel, hostel, college, theatre, place, etc.). The meaning developed through transference based on contiguity (the concept of coming somewhere is the same for both meanings), but the range of the second meaning is much broader.

 

2) Another example is pipe. Its earliest recorded meaning was ‘a musical wind instrument’. Nowadays it can denote any hollow oblong cylindrical body (e.g. water pipes). This meaning developed through transference based on the similarity of shape (pipe as a musical instrument is also a hollow oblong cylindrical object) which finally led to a considerable broadening of the range of meaning.

3) The word ‘bird’ changed its meaning from ‘the young of a bird’ to its modern meaning through transference based on contiguity (the association is obvious). The second meaning is broader and more general.

 

 

4) A) In Middle English the word ‘girl’ had the meaning of ‘a child of either sex’. Then the word underwent the process of transference based on contiguity and developed the meaning of ‘a small child of the female sex’, so that the range of meaning was somewhat narrowed.

B) In its further semantic development the word ‘girl’ gradually broadened its range of meaning. At first it came to denote not only a female child but, also, a young unmarried woman, later, any young woman, and in modern colloquial English it is practically synonymous to the noun woman (e.g. The old girl must be at least 70), so that its range of meaning is quite broad.

 

5) A)The history of the noun lady somewhat resembles that of girl. In OE the word hl1fdiZe denoted the mistress of the house, i.e. any married woman. Later, a new meaning developed which was much narrower in range: ‘the wife or daughter of a baronet’ (aristocratic title).

B) In Modern English the word lady can be applied to any woman, so that its range of meaning id even broader that of OE hl1fdiZe. In modern English the difference between girl and lady in the meaning of woman is that the first is used in colloquial style and sounds familiar whereas the second is more formal and polite.

 

Here are some more examples of narrowing of meaning:

a) Deer: any beast Þ a certain kind of beast;

b) Meat: any food Þ a certain food product

c) Boy: any young person of the male sexÞ servant of the male sex.

It should be pointed out that in all these words the second meaning developed through transference based on contiguity, and that when we speak of them as examples of narrowing of meaning we simply imply that the range of the second meaning is more narrow than that of the original meaning.

 

10. Read the following extracts and identify the nature and the results of semantic change in the connotational aspect of meaning.

1. Let us try and see what really stands before the examples of change of meaning which are traditionally given to illustrate deterioration or amelioration of meaning.

a) Knave: boy Þ swindler, scoundrel;

b) Villain: farm-servant, serf Þ base, vile person;

c) Silly: happyÞ foolish

These examples show that the second meaning, in contrast with the one from which it developed, denotes a person of bad repute or character. Semantically speaking, the second meaning developed a negative evaluative connotation which was absent in the first one.

 

2. In the following cases the situation is reserved: the first meaning has a negative evaluative connotation, and the second meaning has not. It is difficult to see what is actually ‘elevated’ here. Certainly, not the meaning of the word:

a) Nice: foolish Þ fine, good;

b) Tory: brigand, highwayman Þ member of the Tories;

3. There are also some traditional examples in which even this readjustment cannot be traced.

a) Lord: master of the house, head of the family Þ baronet (aristocratic title);

b) Lady: mistress of the house, married woman Þ wife or daughter of baronet

In these words the second meaning developed due to the process of transference based on contiguity. Lord and lady are also examples of narrowing meaning if we compare the range of the original and of the resultant meanings.

 

References:

1. Антрушина Г.Б., Афанасьева О.В., Морозова Н.Н. Лексикология английского языка. М.: Дрофа, 2006. Chapter 8. – С. 147-166.

2. Зыкова И.В. Практический курс английской лексикологии. М.: Академия, 2006. Chapter 2. – C. 25-39.

3. Табанакова В.Д., Федюченкова Л.Г., Сеченова Е.Г. Seminars, Lectures and Complements Support on Lexicilogy. Part 1. – Unit 5. – С. 91-101.