5.现代英语词汇学(第五章)

现代英语词汇学（第五章）ChangofMeaningFromthesociolinguisticpointofviewweknowthatvocabularynotonlychanges,butalsochangesquickly.Changesinpronunciationandgrammararemuchslower,butchangesinvocabularyaremuchfaster.Whenpeoplehavemetwithnewobjectsandnewideas,theyhaveneedofnewwordstoexpressthem.Inthecourseofthedevelopmentoflanguageoldwordsdieout,newwordsareadded,andexistingwordschangetheirmeanings.Itisobviousthatthegradualchangeofmeaninginwordsisauniversalfeatureofhumanlanguage.Changeofmeaningcanbebroughtaboutbymanycauses.1.PolysemyPolysemyis“termusedinsemanticanalysistorefertoalexicalitemwhichhasarangeofdifferentmeanings.”Itisauniversalfeaturetoallnaturallanguages.ThisparticularlytrueofhighlydevelopedlanguageslikeEnglish.InmodernEnglish,anoverwhelmingmajorityofwordsarepolysemous.AcasualglanceofanypagesofanEnglishdictionarywilljustifythefact.Therearewordsthathavetwoorthreesenses,andthemostcommonlyusedonescanhaveasmanyasoverahundred.However,whenawordisfirstcoined,itisalwaysmonosemic.Butinthecourseofdevelopment,thesamesymbolmustbeusedtoexpressmoremeanings.Theresultispolysemy.Thenhowdoesawordacquirenewmeanings?Inwhatwayarethemeaningsrelatedtooneanother?1)SourcesofpolysemyPolysemycanriseinanumberofways.AccordingtoStephenUlmann,therearefivesources.Butherewewillconfineourselvestotheexaminationofthethreemostimportantones,sincetheothertwo(HomonymsreinterpretedandForeignInfluence)arerareornotquitenormalinEnglish.A.ShiftinapplicationWordshaveanumberofdifferentaspectsaccordingtothecontextinwhichtheyareused.Someoftheseaspectsarepurelyephemeral/transient;othersmaydevelopintopermanentshadesofmeaningand,asthegapbetweenthemwidens,wemayeventuallycometoregardthemasdifferentsensesofthesameterm.Shiftsinapplicationareparticularlynoticeableintheuseofadjectivessincetheseareapttochangetheirmeaningaccordingtothenountheyqualify.B.Specialization/narrowinginasocialmilieu/'mi:ljə:/Polysemyoftenarisesthroughakindofverbalshorthand.Forexample,“action”willnaturallymean“legalaction”;forthesoldieritwillmeanamilitaryoperation,withoutanyneedforaqualifyingepithet.Inthiswaythesamewordmayacquireanumberofspecializedsenses,onlyoneofwhichwillbeapplicableinagivenmilieu.C.FigurativelanguageAwordcanbegivenoneormorefigurativesenseswithoutlosingitsoriginalmeaning:oldandnewwillliveonsidebysideaslongasthereisnopossibilityofconfusionbetweenthem.Polysemythatisbasedonmetaphorcanbeexemplifiedbythefollowingphrases:thebedofariver,thecockofagun,asaddleinthemountain,asheetofpaper,etc.Besidesmetaphor,metonymymayworkinthesameway.Theword“board”canmean,amongotherthings,atableaswellasthepersonssittingaroundthetable.“Surgery”canrefertotheartofasurgeon,andalsotheroomwherepatientsareseenandmedicineisdispensed.1)Primarymeaningandderivative/derivedmeaningTheprimarymeaningreferstowhatawordoriginallymeantandthederivativemeaningreferstothemeaningspringingfromtheoriginalmeaning.Forexample,theword“place”originallycamefromtheGreekwordfor“broad”andsignifieda“widestreet”or“square”inacity.Nowitreferstoanykindoflocalityasin“aplaceofworship”,“asoreplaceonmyback”or“passage,part”asin“Ican’tfindtheplacewhereIstoppedreading”.Themeanings“anykindoflocality”and“passage,part”arederivedfromtheoriginalmeaning“broad”.Therearecaseswhereoldermeaningsareoftenrestrictedtoanarrowrangeofsetofphrasesandnewermeaningscanoccurmorefreely.Theword“pain”,forexample,originallymeant“penalty,punishment”.Thissensenowsurvivesonlyinsetexpressionssuchaspainsandpenalties,on(under)painofdeath.Butthederivedmeaning“asensationofhurtingorgreatdiscomfort”occursmorefreelyandwidely.3)CentralmeaningandsecondarymeaningAnimportantprocessbywhichwordsextendtheirmeaningiscalledradiation.Theprimaryorcentralmeaningappearsatthecenterintheformofahub(轴心）andsecondarymeaningsradiateoutfromitlikethespokes（轮辐）ofawheel.Eachofthesecondarymeaningsisindependentofalltherest,andmaybetracedbacktothecentralsignification/meaning.Taketheword“power”forexample.Itscentralmeaningis“abilitytoact”.Itmayrefersto(1)controlone’ssubordinates;(2)delegatedauthority;(3)physicalstrength;(4)mechanicalenergy;(5)adevicebymeansofwhichenergycanbeappliedtomechanicalpurposes;(6)moralorintellectualforce;(7)apersonofinfluence;(8)oneofthegreatnationsoftheworld;(9)amathematicconception;(10)anarmyortroopofsoldiers;(11)aneffectivequalityofstyleinwritingororatory;(12)thedegreeofmagnificationoflens,microscope,telescope,etc.(toillustrate‘power’withadiagraph)Itshouldbenotedthattheradiatingsensesof“power”donotallcomefromthecentralideabythesameprocess.Thusthefirstmeaning“controloverone’ssubordinates”ismerespecialization.Thesenseof“effectiveness”isbothspecializedandfigurative.Thewriter’sdictionis,asitwere,personified,andhasattributedtoittheabilitytomovethethoughtsorfeelingsofhisreaders.Itisactuallythewriterwhohaspower,buttheideaiseasilyascribed/attributedtotheimplementbymeansofwhichheexertsit.Again,whenamaniscalled“apowerinthecommunity”,wehavetheverycommonuseoftheabstractfortheconcrete.Anotherprocess,asopposedtoradiation,iscalledconcatenation.Itisatermusedtorefertoanotherprocessofsense-shiftinwhichthe