The psychological classification of semantic changes

A necessary condition of any semantic change, no matter what its cause, is some connection between the old meaning and the new. There are two main types of this connection: (a) similarity of meaning and (b) contiguity of meaning. А. The main tropes that express similarity of meaning are simile (a figurative comparison) and metaphor (transference of the name of one object or phenomenon onto another upon the principle of a certain similarity/likeness between them). A metaphor is, actually, a hidden simile. Cf.: The old man was sly like a fox → We did not want to talk to the sly old fox. Metaphors may be based upon very different types of similarity. E.g., the similarity of s hap e: the head of a cabbage; similarity of function or use: the Head of the school (of an army, of a procession, of a household; similarity of position: foot of a mountain; similarity of duration of time and space: long distance → long speech. Animal metaphors, like the just-listed, constitute a specific device of similarity— zoosemy. Moreover, if animal names are used as proper nouns and the characters display human qualities/traits, the figure of similarity is called allegory: e.g., Суддею був Ведмідь\. if the similarity ground transforms names of animals, objects, other people, etc. into nicknames of people, the respective trope is metaphoric antonomasia: e.g., Hide your angry smile, Mr. Crocodile. Metaphoric antonomasia sometimes involves metaphoric epithets (figurative attributes): e.g., the Iron Lady for Margaret Thatcher. Metaphors can be used as pure means of nomination: e.g., computer mouse, four legs of a table. Or they retain their figurative flavour: e.g., Another day has come. If human qualities are given to animals, objects, phenomena, or ideas, this metaphoric figure of speech is called personification: e.g., The sky was crying. Canonized metaphors become symbols: e.g., the rose for love, the dove for peace. B. Contiguity of meaning typically implies metonymy, which can be defined as transference of the name of one object or phenomenon onto another upon the principle of a certain closeness/inclusion between them. The transfer may be conditioned by different relations between the primary and secondary meaning, such as spatial, temporal, causal, symbolic, instrumental, functional, and others. Spatial relations, e.g., are present when the name of the place is used for the people occupying it: town (inhabitants), the House (the members of the House of Lords or Commons). The thing may be named after material it is made of, e.g., the word paper (s)means “the material and the documents”. Instrumental relations are obvious when the instrument for the agent is used instead of the agent: the best pens of the day (the best modern writers), in hand (handwriting). The functional relations between the primary and secondary meanings appear in the result of the functional transfer of the name from one subject to another, e.g., goalkeeper/ first meant “the guard of the gate” and later “the person who defended gates in football”.The so-to-say quantitative type of metonymy is synecdoche, which consists in naming part for the whole or vise versa: e.g., ABC (alphabet), man (humanity). A contiguity-based substitution of any word or phrase for a proper name creates metonymic antonomasia: the City of Lights for Paris.Expressive attributes that are based on contiguity represent metonymic epithets: e.g., Ivan the Terrible. Hyperbole is an exaggeration of a certain quantity or quality of an object or phenomenon. Such statements are not meant to be understood literally; they express an emotionally-charged attitude of the speaker to what is spoken about. E.g., I haven’t seen you for ages! Meiosis is a diminution of a certain quantity or quality of an object or phenomenon. As an opposite of hyperbole, it is also emotional rather than rational. Можна ще крапельку супу? Litotes is a double negation with a positive meaning. It can be considered as a specific type of meiosis in which the diminutive or negative depicting of a certain quantity or quality is expressed but denied. E.g., John’s behaviour was not disrespectful. Contrary to the latter device, irony is a figure of a seemingly positive expression with an implied negative/critical meaning. Гарне життя: як собаці на прив’язі.

17). The logical classification of semantic changes.

Semantic changes can be generally observed in the denotative meaning of the word (restriction, specialization, extension, and generalization) or in its connotative component (amelioration and pejoration of meaning). Restriction of meaning occurs when a word of wide meaning acquires a narrower sense in which it only denotes some of the objects which it previously denoted. E.g., meat originally meant “food and drink in general”, now—“edible flesh”.If a word with a new meaning is used in the specialized vocabulary of some professional group, we speak of specialization of meaning, e.g., to glide meant “to move gently smoothly”, now—“to fly with no engine”. Extension of meaning is the application of the word to a wider variety of referents, e.g., target meant “a small round shield”, now—“anything that is fired at”.If the word with the extended meaning passes from the specialized vocabulary into common use, the result of the semantic change is the generalization of meaning, e.g pioneer— soldier, now—“one who goes before. Amelioration, or elevation of meaning, is a type of semantic change that happens when a word’s meaning improves or becomes more positive over time. Many words have been elevated in meaning through the association with the ruling class, e.g., knight meant “a young servant”, now—“a man who fought for his feudal”. Pejoration, or degradation of meaning, is a type of semantic change that happens when a word’s meaning becomes more negative, lower in social sense, acquires some derogatory emotive charge. E.g., knave first meant “boy”, then “servant”, now it is a term of abuse and scorn.

18 .) The linguistic principles of lexicon classification T

he linguistic principles of typological classification of lexicon are based in all languages on the following distinguishing features of words: (a) their common lexico-grammatical nature, (b) their belonging to a common lexico-semantic group, (c) their peculiar stylistic function and meaning, and (d) their denotative or connotative (or both) meanings, etc.In accordance with their most general implicit lexico-grammatical meaning, all words are grouped in any living or dead language of the world into: (a) notionals and (b) functionals. The notionals (повнозначні слова) serve in all languages as principal means of nomination. Apart from their often complicated semantic structure, they have different morphological, syntactic and stylistic features of their own. In English it is not always possible to say for sure what part of speech such words as blue, hand, house or even man belong to.

have an isomorphic or even a universal peculiarity of expressing the most general implicit meanings of substantivity, verbiality, deictic properties, adverbiality, etc., thus representing nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numerals, verbs, adverbs and statives that are parts of speech performing the same functions in sentences. The notion of the parts of speech, therefore, belongs to the universal ones.As to functionals, they are Namely: prepositions, conjunctions –, particles interjections modal words and modal phrases.The second isomorphic class of words distinguished on linguistic principles represents practically common in the contrasted languages lexico-semantic groups of words (the LSGs)Common l-s gs can be observed among E adj denoting dimension: cf. big, large, great, huge, gigantic,. adj denoting beauty: beautiful, nice, handsome, Adj denoting colours: red, English verbs of saying: say, tell, converse, talk,. Verbs denoting mental or physical perceptions: comprehend, understand, know, like, think; see verbs denoting motion with or without the help of a vehicle: jump, walk, roam, move Apart from the above-mentioned, there can be singled out several other isomorphic/common LSGs adjectives denoting age: young, old, middle-aged, green adverbs denoting quickness/manner: quickly, swiftly Separate LSGs are formed by functionals. among prepositional LSGs there may be local prepositions: on, in, at, over, above, prepositions denoting direction: to, into, from, towards. Similar LSGs exist also among the English conjunctions, particles and other parts of speech

19. The semiological classification of lexicon

According to the semiological classification, as it was unanimously termed, all nouns which denote substances are divided into several classes. Among them: Class 1. Concrete, countable life nouns denoting non-persons. They include animals, birds, cattle, wild animals, table birds, flocks and herds, poultry, birds of prey. Can characterize the negative features of people. Class 2. Concrete, countable life nouns denoting persons. They include proper names of people, names of nations (Germans, Ukrainians, Poles,.), races (the whites, the Negroes) ancestral and modifying names (leader, chairman,,Here also belong such jargonisms as boob, dully, fool, Class 3. Concrete, countable, non-person, inanimate nouns representing plant names (cabbage, carrot.), names of celestial bodies and atmospheric masses as (comet, moon, sun, stars) parts of human body (hand, head, arm, leg, nose, foot.), names o f arts ( dancing, painting, singing,.), means of communication (internet/telephone, names of unique unreal bodies (, etc.); metaphorical names such as the heart, Class 4. Concrete life nouns, non-person, represented in the contrasted languages by different common collective nouns (names of multitudes) as: nation, race, family, crew, staff, gang, company, police, militia, forces, troops, Class 5. Collective life nouns representing species of animals (cattle, sheep) or poultry (), fish (school of fish and nouns denoting a mass of some living beings: flock of sheep/herd of cattle, etc. Class 6. Concrete, inanimate, uncountable non-person nouns that include all singularia tantum group denoting mass or material as well as different abstract nouns: butter, bread, sugar, oil, snow, sand, silver, gas, glue, steam, soot, etc. Class 7. numerous and various abstract nouns whose number in the contrasted languages is rather large: business, information, news, feudalism, thought, thinking, significance, tolerance, etc.

 

Semiotic superclass

The noun as a part of speech underwent in the semiotic/global approach the most detailed semantic classification. As to all other notionals, they were allocated by E. Nida to the second large semiotic superclass, which embraces the so-called identifying subclasses of words. Subclass 1. Verbal words presenting various classes of notional and functional verbs. Notional verbs are presented by different LSGs characterized by their general implicit grammatical meaning as transitivity or intransitivity, perfective or non-perfective (or any other aspect), reflexiveness or non-reflexiveness, etc. Equally presented are other implicit and explicit categorial meanings and forms of the verb as person, number, mood, tense forms with their isomorphic and allomorphic traits/peculiarities in each language, etc. Subclass 2. The universal modifiers of syntactic objects—in other words, by adjectives. These words split in all languages into two subclasses: (1) the qualitative and (2) the relative adjectives (a universal typological feature). Qualitative adjectives in all languages have degrees of comparison (also a universal feature). Cf. long – longer – the longest. Subclass 3. Pronouns that have in most languages both isomorphic and allomorphic features with nouns or numerals and, functionally, with adjectives: cf. Peter – he, love – she, the four – they, something/nothing – it –the first –the third – etc. Universal are practically all the main classes of pronouns, though their number may be different in various languages. Therefore, semiotic subclasses of pronouns may sometimes be different in some languages. The only class of pronouns that has no definite nomenclature in many languages is presented by the so-called class of indefinite pronouns, not all of which are sometimes included into one separate class. Subclass 4. Numerical words that substitute corresponding figures. This semiotic subclass is represented by some subclasses of numerals having universal nature. Namely: (1) cardinal numerals (three, twenty-one), (2) ordinal numerals (the first, the tenth). Like adjectives, the ordinal numerals in many languages may have gender, case and number distinctions. Of universal nature is also the subclass (and notion) of fractionals (common fractions as two-thirds,.) and decimal (десяткові) fractions as 0.5, 2.25. The nomenclature of numerical subclasses, however, may be quite different in some languages. The main constants of this semiotic subclass in all languages, however, remain the cardinal, the ordinal and fractional numerals, which are pertained to every single language on the globe. Subclass 5. The adverb, which constitutes a universal word modifying an action or state: cf. to read quickly/slowly, very etc. Adverbial words in all languages split into several semantic classes which are mainly universal, i.e. pertained to all languages without exception. The main of these semantic subclasses are as follows: (1) adverbs denoting/expressing temporal relations: now, (2) adverbs denoting/expressing local relations: here, everywhere, etc., (3) adverbs expressing direction: eastwards, whence,, etc., (4) adverbs expressing manner: how, etc., and (5) adverbs expressing degree: quite, etc.It is necessary to add that adverbial meanings can be also expressed by prepositional nouns, adverbial word-groups and adverbial clauses. Hence, there are to be distinguished in this subclass adverbials expressing:(a) temporal relations: at night, in 2015.,(b) local relations: in Kyiv, not far from there. (c) adverbials expressing direction: into the room, to London (d) adverbials expressing manner: slowly/quickly, enthusiastically,