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

lexical semantics 1

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