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7/30/2019 Lexical Semantics 1
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LEXICAL SEMANTICS
fall
winter2010 - 2011
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Approaches to the Study of Word Meaning
The Legacy of Historical Semantics
Lecture 1
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(1) Semiotics - the general theory of signs
Syntax - the study of sign-sign relations (distribution)
Semantics - the study of sign-object relations (reference)
Pragmatics - the study of sign- user relations
(2)
concept
object form (word)
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(4) a. (Waiter to his friend) Hurry up, The roast-beef is
getting nervous
b. The baby ate the bottle and then broke it.
c. Our university, which ranks third in the IVY LEAGUEwas moved here and rebuilt after the fire
d. Dickens enjoyed reading himself in public
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(5) a. The plane is flying overthe hill. (trajectory, land-mark
b. Sam walked overthe hill. (Contact of T and LM)
c. The bird flew overthe yard. (extended LM)
d. The bird flew overthe wall. (vertical LM)
e. Sam lives overthe hill.(focus on end point of LM)
f. Harry still hasn't gotten over his divorce.g. The painting is overthe mantel. (no path, stative, nocontact)
h. She spread the tablecloth overthe table. (contact, covering,optional path for movement of trajectory overthe landmark).
i. The board is overthe hole. (contact, covering).
j. The city clouded over.
k. The guards were posted all overthe hill.
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(6) common ground
/ \
tenor vehicle(new, fig. sense) (literal sense)
(7) Life is a walking shadow
common ground: upper part
/ \
tenor vehicle
top of a hill brow of a hill
Sally is a block of icecommon ground: cold
/ \
tenor vehicle
frigid block of ice
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a. antropomorphic metaphors are based the features ofbody parts:
a.1 they extend the human body to the realm of animals
and plants:
(8) brow of a hill, ribs of a vault, mouth of a river, head of a
bed / head of a table, the heart of matter, etc.
a.2 the opposite tendency is shown in metaphors where
the body parts are named after plants, objects, animals:
(9) muscle [ Lat. mus, mouse]; apple of the eye, ear-drum
Categories of Metaphors (Ullman 1931)
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b. animal metaphors are based features properties of
familiar animals.b1. similarities between animals and plants, the latter
being named after the former:
(10) dogs tails pipetnri
cocks foot golomoz, nuduroasagoats beard barba caprei, creua
b2. perceived similarities between animals and objects:
(11) cock of a gun cocosul armei
crane
cat-o nine tails
cat-head mosor fix, tambuchi
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b3. perceived similarities between animals and humans
(zoosemy)
(12) a fox ( a sly person); a bear ( a morose person); a
book worm; a cat (a spiteful woman), a calf ( abeginner), a chicken (a young woman), a monkey (a
naughty child), an oyster ( a silent person).
c. synaestehtic metaphors:
(13) loud colors, sweet noise,
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Metonymya. part used for the whole or whole used for the part (synaechdochy)
(14) a hand ( a factory hand)
a skirt ( a woman)a pair of pants ( a man)
the foot (the infantry)
b. an instrument for the agent:
(15) to be a good swordthe horse (the cavalry)
the crown (the King)
c. the holder for the thing held, the container for the contained
(16) the pulpit ( the pulpit and the clergy)
the church ( the church, the clergy)the Court
(the) galley galera
person made to work like a slave
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(17) boon(AS) 1. prayer2. a blessing, something to be grateful for;
the second meaning developed under the influence ofthe homonymous French adjectives boon(bon, good)
(18) a daily / weekly/ quarterly (paper, magazine)
the main the main sea
(19) He bought a Picasso.
(Is it ellipsis, i.e. contiguity of names, or metonymy, i.e.contiguity of senses?)
(20) wan (AS dark, now, pale)
fast (AS fixed, firmly) to bind fast, now rapidly, to run fast)
botch (AS repair, now to damage ( The actor botched his lines)
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(21) You, flaming idiot!
bloody/ blooming waste of time/ nonsense.
(22) mother fucker common in AE (street argot of blacks,
friendly tone) is unheard of in BEcock common in BE is edited out in AE; it does howeverappear in compounds like, cock-teaser, cock suckersocial euphemismindustrial action strike
recession depression
explosive device bomb
liquidation murder
strategic weapon nuclear missile
Politically correct terms(23) educationally subnormal
certically challemged
Dysphemisms
(24) to push up the daisies (die)
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generalization(25) BOX
AS a container made of box-wood, normally safe-
keeping of something precious, such as ointment, jewelry(currently, casket, chest)
A box at the operais a facetious extension of the basicsense.
gear boxtechnological extensions
BED
Flower-bed
BIRD AS young bird birdLatin PLANTA meant sprout, cutting plant
HYSTERIA a diseases considered to be affecting onlywomen, since hysteria is derived from a Greek term forwomb; ever since Freud, the term is equally applicable to
men.
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Specialization(26) ENGINE
medieval sense: mechanical contrivance often for war ortorture cotton gin
mechanical source of power steam engine
FUGOL OE 1. bird
Mod E 2. fowl
STEORFAN OE 1. die
Mod E 2. starve, die/suffer from hunger
DEOR OE 1. beast
Mod E 2. a certain beast, the deer
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Amelioration(27) minister 1. a servant
2. a very high executive
comrade 1. room-mate (Spanish: camarada)
2. friend
pest 1. plague (the bubonic plague
2. garden pests (insects, animals R daunatori)
3. annoying person
blame 1 blasphemy
2. blame
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Deterioration(28) SILLY (OE saellig)
900 OE saelig happy
1200 ME seely happy, blessed1500 ModE deserving of compassion
weak, feeble
simple, ignorant
feeble-mindedCHURL
800 OE ceorl a male human being
1000 a man without rank
1225 ME a serfModE a base fellow
KNAVE a boy (Ger. Der Knabe)
a servant a person with rude manners
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(30) The Latin Legacy
Basic street, mile, butter, cheese, wine, inch,(continental ounce, pound, kitchen, plum, cup, dish,
borrowings) mint (both senses)
Religious mass, monk, nun, bishop, abbot, minister,(6-7th apostle, pope, altar, hymn, angel, devil;
century)
Literary democratic, juvenile, sophisticated,(Renaissance) aberration, enthusiasm, pernicious,
imaginary, allusion, anachronism, dexterity
Scientific nucleus, formula, vertebra, corpuscle, atomic,(17-18th centuries) carnivorous, incubate, aqueous, molecule.
International allophatic, otorhinolaryngology, zomotherapy(19-20th centuries)
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(31) The Anglo Saxon termsOf the original Anglo-Saxon word-hoard, one third has survived,
some of them have shifted their denotation as shown above) or
connotation. Notice thus that the updating of forms andmeanings of major terms from AS heroic poetry produces some
strange results. By such means it might be said that Beowulf
took lust(AS lust pleasure, joy) in dreary(A-S drearig,
bloodstained) battle, was moody(AS, modig, brave,spirited), rode a mare(AS mare, steed), yelped ( gielpan, toboast or challenge), fazedhis enemies (ASfesian, to put to
flight), and then cringed(AS cringan, to die, fall in battle).What are the current meanings of these terms?
(32) Examples of AS terms
lexical words:man, wife, child, house, bench, meat, grass, leaf,fowl, bird; good, high, strong; eat, drink, sleep, live, fight,
functional words: be, have; back; that; ic, thou, he, we, etc.
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(32) The Norse/Scandinavian legacyScandinavian borrowings are part of the everyday vocabulary.
Whether the AS or the Scandinavian term survived is a matter
of chance.
sky, skin, skill, scrape, scrub (Compare shirt (AS) / skirt(Scandinavian)) bloom, gift, bank, birth, crook, dirt, egg, fellow
kid, leg, sister, skill, root, reindeer, slaughter, snare; old, sly;take, thrive, thrust
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(33)The Norman Legacygovernment majesty, govern, government, treaty,and administration administer, state, empire, royal, tyrant
ecclesiastical sermon, sacrament, baptism, saint,words communion, confession, prayer, orison,passion, miravle, temptation, damnation
law judge, advocate, attorney, prison, pillory,law, jury petition, felon, evidence, fine,
verdict, sentence, decree, punishment,army and navy army, navy, peace, enemy, battle, spy,
ambush, siege, soldier, retreat, guard,garrison, captain, lieutenant, sergeant
fashion, meals, apparel, attire, habit, gown, robe, garment,
social life lace, embroidery, button, buckle, mitten,garter, galoshes, boots; blue, vermillion,emerald, pearl, diamond.
art, learning, music, beauty, figure image, tone; cathedral, tower,medicine choir, cloister, column; medicine, malady, anatomy,
contagion; poet, romance, volume, preface, treatise
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(34) AS Norman
calf veal to roast, boil, broil, fry
cow beef
sheep muttondeer, venison
boar brawn
pig pork, ham, gammon
(35) Synonymic patternsAS Norman Latin, Greek
ask question interrogate
rise mount ascend
leech doctor physicianAS Latin
catty feline
piggish porcine
horsy equineDoubletsdandelion (dent de lion) pissabed (diuretic properties)
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(36) trek (Boer Dutch), anorak (Eskimo), cork (Spanish),dekko,(Hindustani), manifesto(Italian), molasses(Portuguese), yacht (Dutch), mumps (Icelandic),cravat (Slavonic), gimmick (German), schmaltz(Yddish), bazzar (Persian), pundit (Sanskrit), cherubic(Hebrew), charismatic (Greek), paradise (Avestic),nark (Romany), sherbet (Arabic), kamikaze(Japanese) and juggernaut (Hindi).
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(37) Warm, rich and full of golden-goodness will give yourfurry friend health, strength and get-up and go;
(38) The patient is experiencing a potentially fatalhemorrhage situation(the patient is bleeding to death)
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(39)
ME physiognomybecoming phiz(1688), subsequently fizz;
ME lunatic, becoming vulgarloony(1872);fanatic becoming fan (US)(1889);Renaissance obstreperousbecoming stroppy(1951) and so on.
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(39)
higher
literary academic technical
central
archaism or neologism
neutral word
lower
slang colloquialism
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(40) insaneof unsound mind
not in full possession of ones faculty
possessed neuroticpsychotic
demented maladjusted
unhinged MAD
bereft of reason bananas
non compos mentis bonkers
mental crackers
barmy round thee bend
cuckoo off ones chumpgaga
batty
potty
loony nuts
daft, crazy
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(41) Bottom heavy fields: drunkennessHigh registers:
intoxicated, inebriatedLow registers:
sloshed, slammed, smashed, slewed,stewed, screwed, etc.
(42) Top heavy fields: povertyHigh registers (elevated euphemisms):
indigent, impecunious, destitute,distressed, financially underprivileged, of
modest income,Low registers:
poor
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The semantic field of economic terms (I)Original capitalist sense Date of Earliest Specialized
or Dominant Capitalist Sense
900 fee, buy950 yield, rich
1000 fellow, guild
1050
1100
1150
1200 tally, tithe
1250 pay, wealth (common wealth)
1300 account, control, thrift sell, price, rent
usury, debt, exchequer
1350 money, bargain, salary wage, customs
tax, exchange1400 broker, magnate, redeem, company, save (up), bill
Mercenary, expense, levy
1450 staple, commodity, loan, charge
revenue
1500 farm, excise, duty bribe, market, cheap
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The semantic field of economic termsOriginal capitalist sense Date of Earliest Specialized
or Dominant Capitalist Sense
1550 monopoly, trade mark bank, chattel, interest (usuary), purchase (n),trade, traffic, credit, finance, goodwill, dues
1600 capitalist, cash, tariff embezzle, fortune, profit, dividend, sharecommerce, pre-emption income, invest, corporation, industry
1650 jobber concession, workhouse, factory
1700 cheque consumption, demand economy, fund, note,
stockinterest, bull, bear, luxury, security, concern
1760 capitalist budget, business, currency, draft
scab stock exchange
1800 exploitation exploit, speculate, firm, strike,
trade union crash
1850 entrepreneur inflation, blackleg, limited (liability)nationalization
1900 boom cartel, dole, welfare, slump (n)
devaluation recession
1950 reschedule depression