An Approach to Semantic Change

Fortson, Benjamin W.

doi:10.1002/9781405166201.ch21

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…This transfer of individual grammars and lexicons naturally entails imperfections, that is loss of information or its restructuring -cf. Fortson (2003).…”

Section: Semantic Change: Different Paths Of Motivated and Unmotivated Lexemesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A slightly dissident view is put forward by Fortson (2003), who challenges some features of the pragmatic model as described in detail in Traugott & Dasher (2002: pp. 24-40).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, we will determine its relation to the established factors, that is pragmatics and cultural change. The notion of semantic reanalysis as described in Fortson (2003) will serve as a pragmatic backdrop instead of the more ambitious theory of invited inferencing developed in Traugott & Dasher (2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Formal opacity of derived lexemes as a factor motivating semantic change: the case of Ancient Greek nominals

Masliš¹

2021

Graeco-Latina Brunensia

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This paper introduces synchronic formal opacity as a factor motivating semantic change on a par with cultural changes and pragmatic factors. The role of formal opacity in semantic change is investigated within the broader framework of lexicogenesis, i.e. the sum of processes that introduce new pairs of words and meanings in a linguistic system. In contrast to derivation, which introduces new pairs initially marked by formal and semantic transparency, semantic change can affect existing words that are formally and semantically opaque for those who acquire them. Opaque lexemes are described as unmotivated signs lacking a cue structure that would otherwise point speakers to the concepts labelled by them. This semiotic arbitrariness contrasts with motivated signs, that is morphologically transparent words that contain a recognized base morpheme cueing the concept they refer to. While focusing on this dichotomy in the lexicon of Ancient Greek, we argue that every novel derived word was initially motivated and contained a direct reference to the appropriate extra-linguistic concept. If a word ceased to be formally transparent, the motivation was lost, and the cue structure was effaced. The absence of cues enabled the acquirers to abstract any meaning reconcilable with the pragmatic context that, in turn, provided more space for semantic reanalysis. Besides this, semantic innovation effected by the speakers using words creatively was also influenced by the dichotomy between motivated and unmotivated signs. Whereas motivated words allowed speakers to exploit their structural and lexical semantics alike, the meanings of opaque words could be actively extended based only on their lexical semantics, since their structural meaning was inaccessible.

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“…This transfer of individual grammars and lexicons naturally entails imperfections, that is loss of information or its restructuring -cf. Fortson (2003).…”

Section: Semantic Change: Different Paths Of Motivated and Unmotivated Lexemesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A slightly dissident view is put forward by Fortson (2003), who challenges some features of the pragmatic model as described in detail in Traugott & Dasher (2002: pp. 24-40).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Formal opacity of derived lexemes as a factor motivating semantic change: the case of Ancient Greek nominals

Masliš¹

2021

Graeco-Latina Brunensia

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“…in so far as the hearer attributes meaning to them in context' (emphasis in original). See in particular Fortson (2003) for an assessment of the extent to which context, broadly conceived, impacts semantic shift; and also Hock & Joseph (2009: 205-40).…”

Section: Moving Beyond Denotative Meaning In Word Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lexical Differentiation between Human and Animal Genitalia in the Old EnglishMedicina de Quadrupedibus

Christiansen

2021

Trans of the Philol Soc

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This paper examines the Old English words for sexual anatomy in the medical text Medicina de quadrupedibus ('medicines made from quadrupeds'), a close translation of the Latin Liber medicinae ex animalibus. The Anglo-Saxon translator used different terms for human genitalia and animal genitalia, specifically, the word teors for a human penis and scytel for an animal penis; herþan (and possibly herþbylg) for human testicles and sceallan for animal testicles; and innoð for human uterus and hrif for animal uterus. On the other hand, rather than showing differentiation, the polite terms gecynd 'nature; sex; genitals' and gecyndlim 'genitals' translate Latin natura 'nature; sex; genitals' for both human and animal genitalia. This apparent exception to the pattern of differentiation results from the semantic congruity of OE gecynd and Latin natura. The principled differentiation of the various terms is probably not lexicalized as such in Old English, but rather represents a specific stylistic choice of the Anglo-Saxon translator of the Medicina de quadrupedibus to emphasize the difference between humans and animals.

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“…For accounts of functional approaches to lexical change, including from more sympathetic and more sceptical viewpoints, see for example:Ullmann (1959);Samuels (1972);Lass (1980);Samuels (1987a), with reply byLass (1987) and rejoinder bySamuels (1987b);Anttila (1989);Hock (1991);Geeraerts (1997);Fortson (2003);Traugott & Dasher (2005);Hock & Joseph (2009);Geeraerts (2009).https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1360674318000138 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core.…”

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confidence: 99%

Exploring the penetration of loanwords in the core vocabulary of Middle English:carryas a test case

Durkin¹

2018

English Language and Linguistics

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This article takes as its starting point the extent of borrowing in Middle English among the hundred meanings included in the Leipzig–Jakarta List of Basic Vocabulary, a recently developed tool for exploring the impact of borrowing on basic vocabulary on a cross-linguistic basis. This is adopted for the possibility it provides for taking an empirically based approach to identifying at least a proportion of those loanwords that have most impact on the core lexicon. The article then looks in detail at a particularly striking example identified using this list: the verb carry, borrowed into English in the late fourteenth century from Anglo-Norman, and found with some frequency in its modern core meaning from the very beginning of its history in English. The competition this word shows with native synonyms, especially bear, is surveyed, and the systemic pressures that may have facilitated its widespread adoption are explored, as well as the points of similarity it shows with some other borrowings into the core vocabulary of Middle English; in particular, the hypothesis is advanced that a tendency towards isomorphism in vocabulary realizing basic meanings may be a significant factor here. The article also contends that the example of carry sheds new light on the receptivity of even basic areas of the lexicon to Anglo-Norman lexis in the late Middle English period. The trajectory shown by this word is particularly illuminating, with borrowing in a restricted meaning with reference to the commercial bulk transportation of goods, merchandise, etc. being followed by very rapid development of a much broader meaning, which even within the fourteenth century appears in at least some varieties (notably the works of Chaucer) to be a significant competitor for native bear as default realization of the basic meaning ‘to transfer/carry (something, especially in one's hands)’.

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An Approach to Semantic Change

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Formal opacity of derived lexemes as a factor motivating semantic change: the case of Ancient Greek nominals

Formal opacity of derived lexemes as a factor motivating semantic change: the case of Ancient Greek nominals

Lexical Differentiation between Human and Animal Genitalia in the Old EnglishMedicina de Quadrupedibus

Exploring the penetration of loanwords in the core vocabulary of Middle English:carryas a test case

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