Types of Semantic Change

'External'--changes in technology, institutions, scientific concepts, etc. (see also Technological change and Semantic change God

car	electricity
pen	atom
humor
satellite parliament	torpedo
(Germ) taufen, literally 'dip', now also 'baptize'
town ( < enclosure; ), cognate with Germ. Zaun 'fence' 'Internal' contagion --associations contracted in habitual context Fr. ne...pas> pas 'not' ne....personne > personne 'nobody' Engl. budge, accident clipping-- part of a complex element takes on meaning of the whole (economic motivation) private soldier > private rifle gun > rifle bugle horn > bugle (from buculus < bos 'bovine animal') porter's ale > porter Lat. singularis porcus 'solitary pig' > Fr. sanglier 'wild boar' taximeter cabriolet > taxicab > taxi or cab; phone, TV, etc. sleeping car > sleeper (-er suffix somewhat productive as clipping device In Brit. English--footer, soccer, brekker) Mechanisms/results of change taboo-euphemism (often iterative process) 'bear', 'weasel' words for 'left' Death taboos in Australia, New Guinea crippled - handicapped - disabled privy - toilet - bathroom - restroom 'tongue'?? Metaphor (similarity of senses) = 'Domain shift' ---the body as major domain of metaphorical extension-- body parts --> parts of objects brow of a hill mouth of a river heart of the matter leg of a table sight, hearing --> understanding wit, Gm. wissen, cognate with Lat. videre 'see' light, brightness: enlighten, illuminating, brilliant taste --> emotion bitter disappointment synaesthesia --transfers from one physical sense domain to another touch --> sound warm, cold voice sound --> sight loud colors taste --> sound, odor sweet voices, smells sight --> sound clear tones, Germ. hell 'clear, bright' < hall- 'to resound' physical appearance --> moral evaluation fair capability --> physical appearance handsome < 'handy, skilful' pretty < 'skilful, ingenious' physical straightness --> moral rectitude right, righteousness Metonymy (contiguity of senses) bead clock boon Fr. grC(ve mass (Ite missa est...) Fr. cuisse 'thigh' < Lat. coxa 'hip' Sp. boca < Lat. bucca 'cheek' synechdoche (= part for the whole, pars pro toto) hands (workers) wheels (car) eponymy silhouette, sadism, masochism, ohm, sandwich, cardigan. Related: trade names that become ordinary nouns: kleenex, xerox Clipping and contagion as a kind of language-internal metonymy? Broadening (Semantic extension, generalization) pantry arrive ship (v.) embark Lat. causa > Sp. cosa Gmc. * ing > Eng. 'thing' grow uncle (Eng., Fr., Germ.) < Lat. avunculus 'maternal uncle' (vs. patruus) Narrowing (semantic restriction, specialization) deer (cf. Gm. Tier) hound (Hund) fowl (Vogel) meat, corn Fr. herbe 'grass' starve; Fr. nover 'drown' < Lat. necare 'kill' voyage < 'journey' poison, potion Amelioration marshal minister chancellor queen (Cl. Greek gyn 'woman') knight nice (Lat. nescius 'ignorant' > wanton, lascivious thin, unimportant, trivial > fastidious, delicate > fine (distinctions) > 'agreeable, delicate > kind, pleasant to others) Pejoration sinister crafty words for women silly, cretin (likely through euphemism) villain, knave boor 'Middle terms' (may undergo amelioration or pejoration, by contagion) luck (lucky) fortune (fortunate) O. French heur < Lat. augurium 'good or bad augury' (heureux) chance < L. cadentia 'falling' (of the dice) accident hazard fate (fatal) Some directional tendencies in semantic change 'now' to 'before/after now' soon (formerly 'at once') presently anon just Germ. gleich concrete ---> abstract ('Kronasser's law) (Operates over and above broadening, narrowing, amelioration, pejoration, metaphor; subsumes space --> time below) investigate comprehend eliminate involve develop reveal also: boor, bright bead spatial ---> temporal prepositions, motion verbs (Eng. and many lgs.) before, after the years ahead come, go 'aspectual satellites' --on, up, down case relations --'to' Fr. 'de', 'a' © Suzanne Kemmer Last modified August 2017