Download or read book Semantic Antics written by Sol Steinmetz and published by Random House Reference. This book was released on 2009-02-04 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "My favorite popular word book of the year" -William Safire, NY Times 6/22/2008 A fun, new approach to examining etymology! Many common English words started out with an entirely different meaning than the one we know today. For example: The word adamant came into English around 855 C.E. as a synonym for 'diamond,' very different from today's meaning of the word: "utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion." Before the year 1200, the word silly meant "blessed," and was derived from Old English saelig, meaning "happy." This word went through several incarnations before adopting today's meaning: "stupid or foolish." In Semantic Antics, lexicographer Sol Steinmetz takes readers on an in-depth, fascinating journey to learn how hundreds of words have evolved from their first meaning to the meanings used today.
Download or read book How Words Change Meaning written by Antoine Meillet and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2018-12-05 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The language has for first condition the existence of human societies which it is his side constantly used and essential instrument; except historical accident, the limits of the various languages tend to coincide with those of social groups called nations; the lack of unity of language is the sign of a recent State, as in Belgium, or artificially constituted, as in Austria. The language is so eminently a social fact. Indeed, it exactly fits the definition proposed Durkheim; a language exists independently of the individuals who speak it, and although it has no reality outside the sum of these individuals, it is however, due to its generality, external to each of them; which shows, is that it does not depend on any of them to change and deviation individual usage causes a reaction. This reaction has no more often than other sanction than the ridicule to which she exposes the man who does not like everyone else. But in modern civilized States, she goes up to exclude public jobs, by reviews, those who do not comply with the use allowed by a given social group. The characters of exteriority to the individual and coercion by which Durkheim defined the social fact appear in the language with the last evidence.
Download or read book Pejoration written by Rita Finkbeiner and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though “pejoration” is an important notion for linguistic analysis and theory, there is still a lack of theoretical understanding and sound descriptive analysis. In this timely collection, the phenomenon of pejoration is studied from a number of angles. It contains studies from phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics, and deals with diverse languages and their variants. The collection will appeal to all those linguists with a genuine interest in locating pejoration at the grammar-pragmatics interface.
Download or read book Meaning and Change of Meaning written by Gustaf Stern and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 1975 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bases for the author's semantic theory include a study of the historical development of word meanings, links in developmental processes, and the various explanations of the facts of a language. The book includes discussions of the function of language, the definition of verbal meaning, and the production and comprehension of speech.
Download or read book How Children Learn the Meanings of Words written by Paul Bloom and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2002-01-25 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do children learn that the word "dog" refers not to all four-legged animals, and not just to Ralph, but to all members of a particular species? How do they learn the meanings of verbs like "think," adjectives like "good," and words for abstract entities such as "mortgage" and "story"? The acquisition of word meaning is one of the fundamental issues in the study of mind. According to Paul Bloom, children learn words through sophisticated cognitive abilities that exist for other purposes. These include the ability to infer others' intentions, the ability to acquire concepts, an appreciation of syntactic structure, and certain general learning and memory abilities. Although other researchers have associated word learning with some of these capacities, Bloom is the first to show how a complete explanation requires all of them. The acquisition of even simple nouns requires rich conceptual, social, and linguistic capacities interacting in complex ways. This book requires no background in psychology or linguistics and is written in a clear, engaging style. Topics include the effects of language on spatial reasoning, the origin of essentialist beliefs, and the young child's understanding of representational art. The book should appeal to general readers interested in language and cognition as well as to researchers in the field.
Download or read book How Language Works written by David Crystal and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2007-03-29 with total page 715 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this fascinating survey of everything from how sounds become speech to how names work, David Crystal answers every question you might ever have had about the nuts and bolts of language in his usual highly illuminating way. Along the way we find out about eyebrow flashes, whistling languages, how parents teach their children to speak, how politeness travels across languages and how the way we talk show not just how old we are but where we’re from and even who we want to be.
Download or read book Semantic Change written by Thomas Heim and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2006-01-12 with total page 27 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1, LMU Munich (Institut für Englische Philologie), course: Hauptseminar, language: English, abstract: “Semantic change deals with change in meaning, understood to be a change in the concepts associated with a word [...]” (Campbell 1998: 255). To some of you, Campbell’s definition may seem a bit simplistic. Some scholars, too (for example Blank whom we’ll be hearing of later on), argue that it’s not one meaning of word that changes, but with semantic change a new meaning is added to the already existing meaning or meanings of a word and then this new meaning is lexicalised, or one of the already lexicalised meanings is no longer used and becomes extinct. I think Campbell’s definition can suffice as a basis for our little “immersion” into semantic change. And what is more important than a theoretically watertight definition is a “practical insight” into semantic change. So let’s have quick look on what exactly changes when words change their meanings.
Download or read book Word Meaning written by Richard Hudson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Word Meaning, Richard Hudson introduces readers to the techniques of lexical semantic analysis. Word Meaning: * is based on a problem-solving approach to language * introduces readers to the technical terminology and basic principles associated with the analysis of word meaning * shows students how to apply these terms and principles to English * includes suggestions for further work
Download or read book Words Matter written by Sally McConnell-Ginet and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-08-27 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring current and historical concrete examples and minimising technical vocabulary, Words Matter is for all interested in examining ideas about language and its connections to social conflict and change. Accessible to general readers, the book will also be useful in linguistics, philosophy, anthropology, or other classes featuring language.
Download or read book Language Change written by Jean Aitchison and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a lucid and up-to-date overview of language change. It discusses where our evidence about language change comes from, how and why changes happen, and how languages begin and end. It considers both changes which occurred long ago, and those currently in progress. It does this within the framework of one central question - is language change a symptom of progress or decay? It concludes that language is neither progressing nor decaying, but that an understanding of the factors surrounding change is essential for anyone concerned about language alteration. For this substantially revised third edition, Jean Aitchison has included two new chapters on change of meaning and grammaticalization. Sections on new methods of reconstruction and ongoing chain shifts in Britain and America have also been added as well as over 150 new references. The work remains non-technical in style and accessible to readers with no previous knowledge of linguistics.
Download or read book Reasons for semantic change in the english language written by Judith Schwickart and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2007-06-04 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,7, University of Trier, course: Historische Semantik, language: English, abstract: In order to understand the different reasonings why meanings have changed the way they did, it is first necessary to understand what exactly is meant by the term how words can change their meaning and what results from these changes. The first part of this paper therefore consists of a short description of the most common ways in which words can change their meanings; in addition to that, there will be an overview of some basic types (or results) of semantic change. Afterwards, there will be a discussion of the different approaches of finding reasons for semantic change, according to the division given above. Finally, there is also a section with the most obvious issues in criticism, followed by a short conclusion.
Download or read book MEANING AND CHANGE OF MEANING written by GUSTAF. STERN and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Cambridge Advanced Learner s Dictionary written by Kate Woodford and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 1550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary is the ideal dictionary for advanced EFL/ESL learners. Easy to use and with a great CD-ROM - the perfect learner's dictionary for exam success. First published as the Cambridge International Dictionary of English, this new edition has been completely updated and redesigned. - References to over 170,000 words, phrases and examples explained in clear and natural English - All the important new words that have come into the language (e.g. dirty bomb, lairy, 9/11, clickable) - Over 200 'Common Learner Error' notes, based on the Cambridge Learner Corpus from Cambridge ESOL exams Plus, on the CD-ROM: - SMART thesaurus - lets you find all the words with the same meaning - QUICKfind - automatically looks up words while you are working on-screen - SUPERwrite - tools for advanced writing, giving help with grammar and collocation - Hear and practise all the words.
Download or read book English Linguistics written by Thomas Herbst and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2010 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book introduces the reader to the central areas of English linguistics. The main sections are: the English language and linguistics - sounds - meaning-carrying units - sentences: models of grammar - meaning - utterances - variation. Notably, the book is written from a foreign student's perspective of the English language, i.e. aspects relevant to foreign language teaching receive particular attention. A great deal of emphasis is put on the insights to be gained from the analysis of corpora, especially with respect to the idiomatic character of language (idiom principle, valency approach). In addition, the text offers basic facts about the history of the language and elaborates on the differences between British and American English. The author demonstrates that a linguistic fact can usually be described in more than one way. To this end, each section contains a chapter written for beginners providing a broad outline and introducing the basic terminology. The remaining chapters in each section highlight linguistic facts in more detail and give an idea of how particular theories account for them. The book can be used both from the first semester onwards and as perfect study aid for final B.A.-examinations.
Download or read book Word Order Change written by Ana Maria Martins and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores word order change within the framework of diachronic generative syntax and offers new insights into word order, syntactic movement, and related phenomena. It draws on data from a wide range of languages including Sanskrit, Tocharian, Portuguese, Irish, Hungarian and Coptic Egyptian.
Download or read book The Oxford Guide to Etymology written by Philip Durkin and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2011-07-07 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This practical introduction to word history investigates every aspect of where words come from and how they change. Philip Durkin, chief etymologist of the Oxford English Dictionary, shows how different types of evidence can shed light on the myriad ways in which words change in form and meaning. He considers how such changes can be part of wider linguistic processes, or be influenced by a complex mixture of social and cultural factors. He illustrates every point with a wide range of fascinating examples. Dr Durkin investigates folk etymology and other changes which words undergo in everyday use. He shows how language families are established, how words in different languages can have a common ancester, and the ways in which the latter can be distinguished from words introduced through language contact. He examines the etymologies of the names of people and places. His focus is on English but he draws many examples from languages such as French, German, and Latin which cast light on the pre-histories of English words. The Oxford Guide to Etymology is reliable, readable, instructive, and enjoyable. Everyone interested in the history of words will value this account of an endlessly fascinating subject.
Download or read book How Language Works written by David Crystal and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steven Pinker meets Bill Bryson in this landmark exploration of language. In the author's own words, "How Language Works is not about music, cookery, or sex. But it is about how we talk about music, cookery, and sex-or, indeed, anything at all." Language is so fundamental to everyday life that we take it for granted. But as David Crystal makes clear in this work of unprecedented scope, language is an extremely powerful tool that defines the human species. Crystal offers general readers a personal tour of the intricate workings of language. He moves effortlessly from big subjects like the origins of languages, how children learn to speak, and how conversation works to subtle but revealing points such as how email differs from both speech and writing in important ways, how language reveals a person's social status, and how we decide whether a word is rude or polite. Broad and deep, but with a light and witty touch, How Language Works is the ultimate layman's guide to how we communicate with one another.
