對(duì)于meaning的理解論文

對(duì)于meaning的理解論文篇一：英語(yǔ)詞匯學(xué)論文Meaning_changes_in_English

OntheChangeinWordMeaning

1.Introduction

Withtheflyingdevelopmentofhumansociety,languagesastoolsforpeopletoexpressandcommunicatetheirideaschangesconstantlyandfrequently.Whilevocabularyisthemostunstableelementoflanguageasitisundergoingconstantchangesbothincontentandform.Ofcourse,somemeaningsremainmuchthesameforalongtimebecausethereferentstowhichtheydirectusdonotchange.Frequently,anoldformorwordsarepressedintonewservicewhenanewlinguisticneedisfelt.Whenawordlosesitsoldmeaningandcomestorefertosomethingdifferent,theresultisachangeinwordmeaning.Changeofmeaningreferstothealternationofthemeaningofexistingwords,aswellastheadditionofnewmeaningtoaparticularword.

2.Typesofmeaningchanges

2.1ExtensionofMeaning

Itisaprocessbywhichawordwhichoriginallyhadaspecializedmeaninghasnowbecomegeneralizedorhasextendedtocoverabroaderandoftenlessdefiniteconcept.Forexample,?lady”originallymeanshostess(womenofhouse)whileitspresentmeaningisanywomeninpoliteway.Suchassaleslady、cleaninglady、ladies?room.Salarywas(Original)asumofmoneygiventoRomansoldierstoenablethemtobuysalt;andis(present)fixedpaymentmadebyemployeratregularintervalstoemployees.

ExtensionofMeaningisnotonlyusedinnonebutalsoincludedverb、adjectiveandsoon.Forexample,“carry”originallymeans“transportbycart”(averb).butnowitisjustmeans“tansport”.theadjective“bullish”originalfrombullmarket(causingorassociatedwithariseinprise),andnowtheword?smeaningextendedto“optimistic”.

2.2NarrowingofMeaning

Itisaprocessbywhichawordofwidemeaningacquiresanarroworspecializedsense.Inotherwords,awordwhichusedtohaveamoregeneralsensebecomesrestrictedinitsapplicationandconveysaspecialconceptinpresent-dayEnglish.The

followingchartprovidesusdefinitedemonstration.

Inaword,bothextensionandnarrowingofmeaningaretalkingaboutthechangesinconceptualmeaning.Nextwewilltalkaboutthechangesinassociativemeaning.

2.3ElevationofMeaning

Elevationistheprocessbywhichwordsrisefromhumblebeginningstopositionsofimportance.Elevationofmeaningisoneofthetendenciesofmeaningchange,whichchangesthemeaningofalinguisticsfromlowtohigh.Somewordsearlyintheirhistorysignifysomethingquiteloworhumble,butchangeastimegoesbytodesignatesomethingagreeableorpleasant.

Forexample,theword?inn”originallymeans“auberge”especiallythosepoorequipmenthousesinruralareaorroadside.Whileitspresentmeaningis“holidayinn”.Obviously,themeaningof“inn”iselevation.ministeroriginallymeans“aservantofmaster”topresentlyheadofadepartmentinanation”.

2.4DegradationofMeaning

Itisaprocesswherebywordsofgoodoriginoraffectiveneutralityfallintoillreputationorcometobeusedinaderogatorysense.Forinstance,thewordsillymeanthappyandfortunateinoldEnglishperiod.InmiddleEnglishperioditmeant“innocentandharmless”whichexpressedamanwithunderdevelopmentintelligence.However,nowthemeaningoftheworddegeneratedtofoolishandimbecile.Therearestillsomeotherexamples:

Sad:full,satisfied,contented-----calm------serious----sorrowful

Cunning:knowing,skillful-----sly,crafty

Wench:girl,youngwomen-----dissolutewomen,prostitute

3.Conclusion:

Takingintoaccountwhathasbeendiscussedabove,aconclusioncanbedrawnthatthewordsmeaninginEnglishisincessantlydevelopingandchanging.Thechangesaregradual,Itisimportantforthelanguagelearnerstobeacquaintedwiththechangingprinciplesandupdatetheirvocabulary,whenstudentsstudyalanguage,theycan?tjustlearnitsgrammarorvocabulary,studentsshouldknowsomethingmore,likehowdidthiscome,howwouldthischanged.Themoreweaskedthemorewegot.Holdthisattitudecanmakeusbemoreprofessionalonourmajorsubject.

篇二：MeaningChangesinEnglish論文

MeaningChangesinEnglish

Abstract:Asotherlanguagesintheworld,Englishchangesastimesgoesby.Englishformedanddevelopedovermanycenturiesintotheformtoday.StudyingthechangingprinciplesofwordsofEnglishwouldhelpusacquirefurtherawarenessofEnglishlexiconanddogoodtoourlanguageacquirement.

Keywords:Meaningchanges,Causes,Types

1.Introduction

Vocabularyisthemostunstableelementoflanguageasitisundergoingconstantchangesbothincontentandform.Ofcourse,somemeaningsremainmuchthesameforalongtimebecausethe

referentstowhichtheydirectusdonotchange.Frequently,anoldformorwordsarepressedintonewservicewhenanewlinguisticneedisfelt.Whenawordlosesitsoldmeaningandcomestorefertosomethingdifferent,theresultisachangeinwordmeaning.Changeofmeaningreferstothe

alternationofthemeaningofexistingwords,aswellastheadditionofnewmeaningtoaparticularword.

2.CauseofChangesinWordMeaning

Therearegenerallytwomajorfactorsthatcausechangesinmeaning.

2.1.Extra-linguisticFactors

2.11HistoricalReason

Awordisretainedforanamethoughthemeaninghaschangedbecausethereferenthaschanged.E.g.PencilisfromLatinwordmeaning—alittletailorafinebrush,likeourChinesepen,later,whenitwasmadeofwoodandgraphite,itwasstillcalleda“pencil”.

2.12ClassReason

Languagerecordsthespeechandattitudeofdifferentsocialclasses,sodifferentsocialvarietiesoflanguagehavecomeintobeing.

Theattitudeofclasseshasmadeioadsintolexicalmeaning,particularlyinthecaseofelevationanddegradation.

Quiteanumberofwordsthatdenotedifferentsortsofworkingpeopleortheiroccupationshavedeterioratedandnowhavetakenonapejorativesense.

“ill-mannedorbadpeople”.

2.13PsychologyReason[1]

Theassociatedtransferofmeaningandeuphemisticuseofwords,etc.isoftenduetopsychologicalfactors.Ittakesthreeforms(a)euphemism(b)grandiloquence(c)cynicism.

Peoplechangewordmeaningowingtovariouspsychologicalmotives:love,respect,courtesy,suspicious,pessimism,sarcasm,irony,contempt,hatred,etc.

Thefactthatsomelow,humbleanddespisedoccupationsoftentakeonmoreappealingnamesisallduetopsychologicalreasons.

Religiousinfluenceisanotherkindofpsychologicalneed.

2.2LinguisticFactors

Theinternalfactorswithinthelanguagesystemconsistof:

①Onetypeofsuchchangeoccurswhenaphraseisshortenedtoonewordwhichretainsthemeaningofthewhole.（English=theEnglishLanguage）

②Theinfluxofborrowingshascausedsomewordstochangeinmeaning.(deer,animal,beast)

E.g.Churl,villain,hussy,wenchwhichwereoriginallyneutralincolorhavebeendown-gradedas

③Thecompetitionofnativewordseventuallyyieldsthesemanticdivision.

④Thechangeofmeaningisbroughtaboutbyanalogy.

3.TypesofChanges

3.1ExtensionofMeaning

Itisaprocessbywhichawordwhichoriginallyhadaspecializedmeaninghasnowbecomegeneralizedorhasextendedtocoverabroaderandoftenlessdefiniteconcept.[2]

Forexample,salarywas(Original)asumofmoneygiventoRomansoldierstoenablethemtobuysalt;andis(present)fixedpaymentmadebyemployeratregularintervalstoemployees.

AlargeproportionofpolysemicwordsofmodernEnglishhavetheirmeaningsextendedsometimeinthecourseofdevelopment.Somewordsaregeneralizedtosuchadegreethattheycanmeanalmosteverything.E.g:thing,business,respect

3.2NarrowingofMeaning

Itisaprocessbywhichawordofwidemeaningacquiresanarroworspecializedsense.Inotherwords,awordwhichusedtohaveamoregeneralsensebecomesrestrictedinitsapplicationandconveysaspecialconceptinpresent-dayEnglish.

E.g:wife---woman---marriedwomanmeat---food---fleshofanimals

3.3ElevationofMeaning

Itistheprocessbywhichwordsrisefromhumblebeginningstopositionsofimportance.Somewordsearlyintheirhistorysignifysomethingquiteloworhumble,butchangeastimegoesbytodesignatesomethingagreeableorpleasant.[3]

E.g:Nice(ignorant---foolish---delightful,pleasant)

Fond(foolish---affectionate)

Awesome(terrible---terrific)

3.4DegradationofMeaning

Itisaprocesswherebywordsofgoodoriginoraffectiveneutralityfallintoillreputationorcometobeusedinaderogatorysense.

E.g:Silly:blessedandhappy---innocent----simpleorsimple-minded----foolish

Sad:full,satisfied,contented-----calm------serious----sorrowful

3.5TransferenceofMeaning

Somewordswhichwereusedtodesignateonethingbutlaterchangedtomeansomethingelsehaveexperiencedtheprocessofsemantictransfer,knownastransferenceortransferofmeaning.

3.51AssociatedTransfer

Twoobjectshavesomesimilaritiesthatenablepeopletoassociateonetotheother.

E.g：thelipofawound;thetonguesoffire

3.52TransferbetweenAbstractandConcreteMeanings

①Abstracttoconcretemeaning

E.g:Roomformerlymeant“space”,nowithasdevelopedaconcrete“rooms”.

②Concretetoabstractmeaning

E.g:Grasp(original)afirmholdwiththehandsandarms

(present)thepowerorabilitytounderstand

3.53TransferbetweenSubjectiveandObjectiveMeanings

Somewordswereformerlyusedsubjectivelybutlatershiftedtoanobjectiveuse,andthesubjectivemeaningwastotallylost.

E.g:pitiful---fullofpity---deservingpity

3.54Synesthesia

Thiskindoftransfertakesplacebetweenwordsofsensation.Thatis,wordsusuallyassociatedwithonesenseareusedtodescribeanothersense.

E.g:Clear-sounding(fromsighttohearing)

Warmcolors(fromtouchtosight)

3.6Euphemism

Whenpeopleuseeuphemismsthereisasemanticchangeinvolvedastheexpressionsusedoftenhavelittletodowiththereferents.

Forexample,restroom,bathroom,lounge,John,convenience,comfortsroomandpowderroomarealleuphemistictermsfor“toilet”whichitselfisaeuphemisticterm.[4]

4.Conclusion:

Sobyreadingtheseparts,weofcoursereachtheconclusionthatthewordsinEnglishisincessantlydevelopingandchanging.Thechangesinmeaningaregradual,andwordsarenotchangedinaday.“Changingwordmeaninghasneverceasedsincethebeginningofthelanguageandwillcontinueinthefuture.”Itisimportantforthelanguagelearnerstobeacquaintedwiththechangingprinciplesandupdatetheirvocabulary.

References:

[1]吳秀芳.現(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)詞義變化與外部緣由[M].河南職技師院學(xué)報(bào)（社會(huì)科學(xué)版）2000.6

[2]申開(kāi)敏.詞義的演化課件，海南師范高校外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院，百度文庫(kù)

[3]楊鑫南.當(dāng)代英語(yǔ)變遷[M].北京外語(yǔ)教學(xué)與討論出版社.2023

[4]吳松華.英語(yǔ)新詞的構(gòu)成及修辭手段[M].武漢理工高校學(xué)報(bào)（社會(huì)科學(xué)版）2023.10

篇三：英語(yǔ)詞匯學(xué)論文Meaning_changes_in_English

MeaningchangesinEnglish

Abstract:Asotherlanguagesintheworld,Englishchangesastimesgoesby.Englishformedanddevelopedovermanycenturiesintotheformtoday.StudyingthechangingprinciplesofwordsofEnglishwouldhelpusacquirefurtherawarenessofEnglishlexiconanddogoodtoourlanguageacquirement.

Keywords:meaningchangestypescauses

1.Introduction

Vocabularyisthemostunstableelementoflanguageasitisundergoingconstantchangesbothincontentandform.Ofcourse,somemeaningsremainmuchthesameforalongtimebecausethereferentstowhichtheydirectusdonotchange.Frequently,anoldformorwordsarepressedintonewservicewhenanewlinguisticneedisfelt.Whenawordlosesitsoldmeaningandcomestorefertosomethingdifferent,theresultisachangeinwordmeaning.Changeofmeaningreferstothealternationofthemeaningofexistingwords,aswellastheadditionofnewmeaningtoaparticularword.

2.Typesofmeaningchanges

2.1ExtensionofMeaning/GeneralizationofMeaning

Itisaprocessbywhichawordwhichoriginallyhadaspecializedmeaninghasnowbecomegeneralizedorhasextendedtocoverabroaderandoftenlessdefiniteconcept.Forexample，Manuscriptoriginallymeanshandwriting(writingbyhandonly)whileitspresentmeaningisanyauthor?swritingwhetherwrittenbyhandortypedwithatype-writeroraword-processor.Salarywas(Original)asumofmoneygiventoRomansoldierstoenablethemtobuysalt;andis(present)fixedpaymentmadebyemployeratregularintervalstoemployees.

AlargeproportionofpolysemouswordsofmodernEnglishhavetheirmeaningsextendedsometimeinthecourseofdevelopment.Somewordsaregeneralizedtosuch

adegreethattheycanmeanalmosteverything.

(1)Sheissuchaprettylittlething.

(2)Ihavetopackmythingsforthejourney.

(3)ThereisanotherthingIwanttoaskyouabout.

(4)Thatonlymakesthingsworse.

(5)Thethingis,canwefinishthejobintime?

Intheabovesentences,“Thing”whichusedtomean“apublicassembly”or“acouncil”inAnglo-Saxontimes,nowhasbecomeanall-purposeword.Itsmeaningissogeneral,andwesometimescallthisnouna?lightnoun?.heEnglishpeopleareofamixedblood.TheearlyinhabitantsoftheislandwenowcallEnglandwereBritons,butinfactalltheracesweretheinvaderscamefromEurope.NobodyknowsverymuchaboutBritainbeforetheRomanscameduringthefirstcenturyBC,buttherehadbeenatleastthreeinvasionsbeforethat.Thefirstofthesewasbyadark-hairedMediterraneanracecalledtheIberians.TheothertwowerebyCeltictribes:oneisGaels,whosedescendantsarethemodernScotsandIrish;anotheristheBritons,whogavetheirnametothewholeislandofBritain.ThesewerethepeoplewhomtheRomansconquered.TheRomansgavetheBritonsagooddealoftheircivilization.ThenatthebeginningofthefifthcenturyBritainwasinvadedbythreetribesfromthenorthernEurope:theAngles,theSaxons,andtheJutes.Thesethreetribesmergedintoonepeople,andthethreedialectstheyspokenaturallygrewintoasinglelanguage,theEnglishlanguage.

2.2NarrowingofMeaning

Itisaprocessbywhichawordofwidemeaningacquiresanarroworspecialized

sense.Inotherwords,awordwhichusedtohaveamoregeneralsensebecomesrestrictedinitsapplicationandconveysaspecialconceptinpresent-dayEnglish.Thefollowingchartprovidesusdefinitedemonstration.

conceptualmeaning.

Nextwewilltalkaboutthechangesinassociativemeaning.

2.3ElevationofMeaning

Itistheprocessbywhichwordsrisefromhumblebeginningstopositionsofimportance.Somewordsearlyintheirhistorysignifysomethingquiteloworhumble,butchangeastimegoesbytodesignatesomethingagreeableorpleasant.MeanwhiletheterritorialexpansionoftheEnglishempireinthisperiodresultedintheexpansionoftheEnglishvocabulary.Thus,therearemanywordsflowintoEnglishvocabulary,whichincludesAmericanIndianwords,Mexicanwords,Peruwords,Brazilwords,IndiaandAfricanwords.ThenineteenthandtwentiethcenturiesareaperiodofrapidexpansionfortheEnglishvocabularyinthehistoryoftheEnglishlanguage.Inthisperiodmanychangeshavetakenplace.EspeciallythegreatdevelopmentofscienceandtechnologyisreflectedintheEnglishvocabulary.Besides,thegreatchangesinindustry,inpoliticalandsociallives,insportsandamusementsallhavecontributedagreatdealtotheEnglishvocabulary.SincetheSecondWorldWartheEnglishvocabularyhasbeenaffectedpowerfullybysocial,political,economic,especially

scientificandtechnicalchanges.TheEnglishvocabularynotonlychanges,butalsochangesquicklyinthisperiod.Thousandsofnewwordsareadded,existingwordsacquirenewmeaningandoldwordsdieout.Tillnow,theEnglishvocabularyisstillchanging,somewordscomeoutandsomedieout.Inaword,associetyisconstantlyinastateofdevelopment,soislanguage.Societydependsonlanguageforitsexistence.Associetydevelopsnewobjectsarecreatedthatrequiretheinventionofnewwordsandexpressions.Therefore,thechangingofEnglishvocabularyisanendlesschangingprocess

Nice:ignorant---foolish---delightful,pleasant

Marshal:akeeperofhorses---ahighrankingarmyofficer

Constable:akeeperofhorses---apoliceman

2.4DegradationofMeaning

Itisaprocesswherebywordsofgoodoriginoraffectiveneutralityfallintoillreputationorcometobeusedinaderogatorysense.Forinstance,

Silly:blessedandhappy---innocent----simpleorsimple-minded----foolishSad:full,satisfied,contented-----calm------serious----sorrowful

2.5TransferenceofMeaning

Somewordswhichwereusedtodesignateonethingbutlaterchangedtomeansomethingelsehaveexperiencedtheprocessofsemantictransfer,knownastransferenceortransferofmeaning.ThetypesoftransferenceincludeAssociatedTransfer,TransferbetweenAbstractandConcreteMeanings,TransferbetweenSubjectiveandObjectiveMeaningsandSynesthesia.

ExamplesforAssociatedTransfer:thelipofawound;thetonguesoffire;thefootofamountain.ExamplesforTransferbetweenAbstractandConcreteMeanings:Roomformerlymeant“space”asin“Thereisnoroominthecar”.Nowithas

developedaconcretemeaningasin“Thisflathasthreerooms”.Inaddition,graspwas