英语词汇学论文

ThecausesofchangesinwordmeaningAbstract:Asanimportantlanguageintheworld,Englishhasalonghistory,andastimegoesby,Englishhaschangedalot.Vocabularyisthemostunstableelementofalanguageasitisundergoingconstantchangesbothinformandmeaning.Comparativelyspeaking,themeaningisevenmoreunstablethantheform.Quicksaysalmosteverywordweusetodayhasaslightlydifferentmeaningfromtheonemeanings.Meaning-shiftisofvitalimportanceinthestudyofsemantics,andstudyingthecausesofchangesofEnglishwordmeaningwouldhelpusacquirefurtherawarenessofEnglishlexiconanddogoodtoourlanguageacquirement.Keywords:causes,change,meaning-shift.Today,whenyouwanttodescribesb’sfeelingisnotwell,you’llusetheword“bad”.Butmanyyearsago,theoriginalmeaningofword“bad”’isfull,satisfiedorcontended.Word“cunning”candescribesomebodysly,howeverit’soldmeaningisknowingandskillful.Infact,thesechangesareveryinterestingformanypeople,andatthesametimeyoumayfeelpuzzled,Whydiditsoriginmeaningtransferredtoitspresentmeaning?Whatcausethesechangesofwordmeaning?SoIwilldiscusstheseproblemsinmyessayaboutcausesandtypesofchangesinwordsmeaning.Thechangeofmeaningcanbeverycomplicated,butgenerallyspeaking,thesemanticchangecanbedevidedintotwomaincauses—theextra-linguisticfactorsandlinguisticfactors.Extra-linguisticfactorsincludehistoricalreason,classreasonandpsychologicalreason.(1)historicalreasonWecan’tdenyafactthatwiththedevelopingofhumansociety,asasocialphenomenonlanguageisalsoinfluencedbythechangesofit.Observedfromthedevelopmentoflanguagesystemitself,animportantnotion,matter,relationorsystemcouldbechangedintotermsthatcancarrycertainuniquesemanticmeaning,whichisatendency.So,societyinfluencesonthevariationofEnglishvocabulary.Onlylanguageisputintothedevelopingsociety,thedynamicnatureoflanguagecanberevealed.Itoftenhappensthatthoughawordretainsitsoriginalform,itsmeaninghaschangedbecausetheobjectwhichitdenoteshaschanged.Takeaword“pencil”,forinstance,isfromaLatinwordmeaning“alittletail”or“afinebrush”,likeourChinese“pen”.Later,whenitwasmadeofwoodandgraphite,itwasstillcalleda“pencil”.Andincreasedscientificknowledgeanddiscoveryisalsoanimportantfactorthatunderliesthechangeofwordmeaning,liketheword“atom”.(2)classreasonLanguageisgreatlyinfluencedbysocialculture,whichenableslanguagetopossessnationalandhistoricalcharacteristics.Languageisalsolikeamirror,reflectingeverythingthatexistsinhumansociety.Naturally,itrecordsthespeechandattitudeofdifferentsocialclasses.Asaresult,differentsocialvarietiesoflanguagehavecomeintobeing.Theso-called“King’sEnglish”servesasgoodillustration.Theattitudesofclasseshavealsomadeinroadsintolexicalmeaning,particularlyinthecaseofelevationordegradation.Quiteanumberofwordsthatdenotedifferentsortsofworkingpeopleortheiroccupationshavedeterioratedandnowhavetakenonapejorativesense.Forexample,Churl,villain,hussy,wenchwhichwereoriginallyneutralincolorhavebeendown-gradedas“ill-mannedorbadpeople”.Manywordshavecertainlydifferentmeaningsindifferentsocietiesandtodifferentpeople.Furthermore,changeinwordmeaningresultingfromaconstantverbaltrafficbetweencommonwordsandvarioustechnicalwordsisreferredtoassocialcauseofsemanticchange.Liketheword“feedback”itsoriginalmeaningis“thetransferofpartoftheoutputofanactivecircuitordevicebacktotheinput”.Butnowitcanmean“response”asin“thecompanywelcomesfeedbackfromcustomers”.(3)psychologicalreason.Peoplechangewordmeaningowingtovariouspsychologicalmotives:love,respect,courtesy,suspicious,pessimism,sarcasm,irony,contempt,hatredandsoon.Thefactthatsomelow,humbleanddespisedoccupationsoftentakeonmoreappealingnamesisallduetopsychologicalreasons.Religiousinfluenceisanotherkindofpsychologicalneed.Takeoneexample,wehavesucheuphemisticexpressioninreferringtodeathas“topassaway”“tobenomore”“can’tbreathanymore”…andmanyothers.Youalsocanfindmanyotherexamplesinpsychologicalreason.linguisticfactorsThechangeofmeaningmaybecausedbyinternalfactorwithinthelanguagesystem.Theinfluxofborrowingshascausedsomewordstochangeinmeaning.Forinstance,“deer”formerlymeant“animal”,andlater“animal”fromLatinand“beast”fromFrenchfoundtheirwayintoEnglish.Englishwouldhavepossessedthreeexactlysynonymoustermsforoneidea.Foreconomy,somephrasesareshortenedandonlyoneelementoftheoriginal,usuallyanadjective,islefttoretainthemeaningofthewhole.Forexample,goodmorning=Godgiveyouagoodmorning,ageneral=ageneralofficer.etc.Conclusion:Fromthediscussionabove,thispaperfocusesontheroleofthemainfactorsofchangeinwordmeaningandrevealstheimportantroleofit。Inaword,forEnglishlearners,acquaintingwiththecauseofchangesinwordmeaningandhowdidtheytakeeffectonEnglishwordsisverycrucial.ItcanhelpusstudyEnglishfromanewperspective.Itassumesthatwhenevernewmeaningsareaddedtooldwords,ornewwordsarecreated,itisresponsetosomeneed.Whenwestudyalanguage,notonlystudyinghowtospeakandwrite,adeeperunderstandingtoitsconnotationisalsonecessary.References：张维友.英语词汇学[M]，北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1997:135，137，138.139实用现代英语词汇学曹京华北京：国防工业出版社2007.7英语词汇学研究汪榕培上海：上海外语教育出版社2011高级英语词汇学汪榕培杨彬上海：上海外语教育出版社实用英语词汇学张华北京：北京大学出版社，2011[8]汪榕培.英语词汇学研究[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,2000.[9]徐宗毅,罗杨.浅析英语新词出现的原因[J].西昌学院学报,