English Language - Semantics
What are the different types of semantic change?
- Amelioration - Pejoration - Broadening or expansion - Narrowing or specialisation - Bleaching or weakening
Example of collocation?
- Bread and butter - Tea and Biscuits - Pay attention
Example of Amelioration?
- Cool simply referred to a temperature. But now is seen as a positive adjective describing something that is on trend or good
Example of Pejoration?
- The word Villain simply referred to someone of low class and lived in the country , drawn from a synonym for villager - However over time, the word has become associated with evil and cruel actions
Example of Bleaching/Weakening?
- The word dead has been weakened by it becoming an intensifier e.g. dead tired, dead boring
Synonym?
refers to a word with a similar meaning as another
Example of a connotation?
- Using the word swarm to describe the movement of people conveys negative connotations because it is associated with insects and pests
Amelioration?
- Where the meaning of a word becomes more positive over time
Narrowing or specialisation?
- Where the original meaning of a word was much broader but has become more precise over time
Bleaching or Weakening?
- Where the original power or load of a word becomes reduced over time
Example of a metonym?
- if a newspaper reported ' The word form Number 10 is...' they are using the address of the PM as a metonym for the government
Example of a hyponym?
- if the hypernym was red, then crimson scarlet and vermillion would be hyponyms
Homonym?
- refers to a word that has the same form but two different meanings
Hypernym?
- refers to a word with a broad coverage of meaning - also called the Superordinate
Antonym?
- refers to a word with the opposite meaning to another
Hyponym?
- refers to the more specific elements 'under' a hypernym
Metonym?
- refers to the use of an attribute to refer to the thing or concept
Collocation?
- refers to two or more words that typically go together as a set phrase
Pejoration?
- the meaning of a word becomes less positive over time
Example of Narrowing/specialisation ?
- the word deer is derived from an Old English word that simply meant small creatures. It has narrowed to refer to a specific type of creature
Example of broadening/expansion?
- the word holiday is derived from holy day, a time when people would stop work and observe religious practices - it has broadened to refer to any break from work or other occupation
Example of a Homonym?
- the word reserves can mean someone who is shy as well as holding a room,table or place for someone
Example of a hypernym?
- tree can refer to oaks, beeches, willows etc
Broadening or expansion?
- whether the original meaning of a word expands to encompass more ideas
Example of an antonym?
Hot is an antonym of cold
Example of a Synonym?
Huge and massive are considered synonyms of big
Connotation?
Refers to the associated meanings of a word that go beyond their literal definition