Lexicology over time
Where do words come from?
There are around one million words in the English language, but how do we get all of these words? Foreign languages do heavily influence our language, as we often adopt plenty of words from other language. Content words are often new appearing words (nouns, verbs) whereas function words (prepositions, pronouns) are rarely ever added to the English language. Social change is also a major influential factor which shapes of lexical choices. Also old words in a new world don't work. For example a dashboard used to protect the bus driver from getting covered in mud, now it refers to the control panel beneath the windscreen of a vehicle With an ever extending vocabulary, we will understand how this rapid growth occurs... Commonisation: When a word loses its capital letter and goes from a proper name or noun, becomes a common noun. An example of this is when 'jeans' was originally a proper name of a town, but has gone though the process of communisation to become the common noun of 'jeans' the trousers you wear. Acronymes and abbreviations/initialism Acronymes refer to those words formed by the initials of other words. For example NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Abbreviations are strings of words which do not make sense as a word. Eg, GTG (got to go), NM (not much) and BRB (be right back). Blends Blends are words originating from the contraction of two more existing words. The new word then incorporates meaningful characteristics from both of the parent words. Eg. Chunnel 'Channel Tunnel'. Shortenings Shortenings are simply shortened versions of longer words. They can be considered new words, once this process has occurred. Eg. Perk, 'Perquisite' Compounding Compounding involves the joining of two words (free morphmes) to form a new word. Usually the new word has a different to the meaning to the two words which make up the new word. Eg. 'Ice' and 'Cream' to form 'Icecream' Affixing Affixing is probably the most important means we have of coming up with new words. It is the process of adding either a prefix or a suffix onto preexisting words to change there meaning. For example, -th on the end of words is often used to form abstract nouns like stealth, filth, and truth. Other affixes appear to move in and out of fashion within the language. Conversion Through conversion English can convert words and other parts of speech without the addition of an affix. Verbs can become nouns, nouns can become verbs and adjectives can become nouns. This flexibility in the English language allows words to be converted into other contexts. Eg. Dane Swan was stretchered off the field. Stretcher has been converted from a noun to a verb, purely depending on the context which its used in. Backformation Backformation is when a word is created to fill a gap predicted on the basis of an existing word. Australian speakers for example have taken the word bludger to make a new verb, to bludge. Other words which have been created from backformation include lass, televise, gate-crash and eavesdrop. Word play Onomatopoeic words like cuckoo, swoosh, clunk, click and plop describe the sounds around us in the real world. A group of sounds or sound sequences which relate to meanings is known as phonesthemes. Words such as stooge, splodge, podge, bodge and dodge are all words which we make us think of trudging through mud or a big lumpy mass. Words such as oh, tut-tut, ugh, blah and uh-oh are known as interjections. Interjections almost always express imitative noises. Borrowing The easiest way to adopt words into our vocabulary is to borrow words from foreign languages. English is probably the greatest 'stealers' of words of all time. Roughly three-fifths of our entire vocabulary comes from other languages. |
Changes in vocabulary
Language is arbitrary, which means that just because we no that a 'cat' is a hairy feline animal, but this as no connection to the arrangement of sounds that form the word /kæt/. Words can change meaning, they are flexible. For example, the sentence; 'Tom ate meat and drank liquor most days', once meant 'Tom ate food and drank fluid most days', with meat meaning 'food' and liquor meaning 'any type of fluid'. Changes in sense
Broadening Broadening simply refers to when a single word can be be used in more contexts, the word means more than it did before. This often happens when referring to brand names, so that the name can enter ordinary language. Eg. blockout, boogie board, dumpster, jet ski, stackhat etc. Narrowing Narrowing is simply the opposite of the broadening, is refers to the reduction of word use in contexts where the word can appear. The word comes to mean only part of what it originally meant. This process happens more frequently than broadening. Eg. rape, erection, orgasm used to be quite general terms, but nowadays are limited to the sexual sense alone. Shift Shift is when the word completely changes its meaning and the context in which it is used in. The word comes to mean something completely different from what it once meant. Originally dag was a British word which specifically referred to lumps of matted wool, dirt and dung hanging from the backside of a sheep. Nowadays dag refers to a person who is square and 'not quite with it' a bit geeky. Changing in values Elevation Elevation can occur in two ways. Words lose their unpleasant overtones and gradually erode in the meanings. Words like awfully and frightfully are two words which have been elevated to only mean as much as 'very' in some cases. Elevation also is when words are given a name 'semantic halo' where words can actually take on favourable overtones. Deterioration This is the opposite of elevation, where words tend to deteriorate and change in values. Deterioration is when words take on negative overtones. Words are more likely to take on negative connotations rather than positive ones. Derogatory words towards woman are often words which deteriorate over time. Eg. The word slut used to mean an 'untidy woman' but over time it has picked up negative connotations and is now defined as a 'sexually promiscuous woman'. |