1、Introduction,Changes in Word Meaning,Hamlet,Shakespeare,The rivals of my watch,bid them make haste,Take each mans censure, but reserve thy judgement,How pregnant sometimes his replies are!,Ill wipe away all trivial fond records .,Introduction,Changes in Word Meaning,Shakespeare,They say miracles are
2、 past, and we have Philosophicall persons, to make moderne and familiar things supernaturall and causelesee.-(Alls Well That Ends Well ),Introduction,Changes in Word Meaning,愚民同乐,白收起家,植树造零,愚民同乐,勤捞致富,择油录取,得财兼币,检查宴收,大力支吃,为民储害,提钱释放,攻官小姐,2,1. Extension of meaning,2. Narrowing of meaning,4. Degeneration
3、of meaning,3. Elevation of meaning,Changes in Word Meaning,5. Transference,6. Euphemism,Extension of Meaning,manuscript,fabulous,Four kinds of extension,A. From specific to general,B. From proper nouns to common nouns,C. From concrete to abstract,D. From technical terms to general words,Extension of
4、 Meaning,Example,Picture: originally: a painting or drawing,The present meaning,a photograph a cinematic picture an x-ray picture a TV picture a radio-telescope picture any picture,More Examples,rubbish,Originally: rubble (碎石/瓦砾）,Now: anything worthless,Example,Sandwich: It now denotes a popular fas
5、t food. It originates from John Montague, Fourth earl of Sandwich in 18th -century England. He was sofond of gambling that he often forgot his meals. He often ordered slices of bread with thick piecesof roast beef stuffed between them be brought tohim so he could eat while playing. Later, people use
6、d his name to refer to all similar food.,Greek Myth: a king punished for his misdeeds by having to stand in water that recedes when he tries to drink it and under fruit that moves away as he reaches for it.,Tantalus,Tantalize,Tantalus,Tantalus是神的仆人，他侍奉神但从没见过神使用法力。有一天，Tantalus想试试神是否真的有法力，于是杀了自己的儿子并将儿
7、子的尸体做成菜肴呈给神。神一看到菜便知道这是Tantalus的儿子。于是就按照法规定了Tantalus两条罪名-杀人和欺骗神明。神给予Tantalus的惩罚是将Tantalus绑在一根柱子上，在他的下巴位置放上干净的水，在他的鼻子上方挂上香甜的果子。可是，如果Tantalus一低头水就会降低； 一抬头果子就会升高。Tantalus时刻守着食物的引诱，却永远也得不到,Narcissus,Narcissus: Greek myth: a beautiful youth who fell in love with his ref-lection in a pool, hence the word :
8、 narcissism and the meaning:an interest in or admiration for oneself.,narcissus,Is it my own image I love so in your face? I lean over your sleep, Narcissus over his clear pool, ready to fall in - to drown for you if necessary.,“Watergate”源指美国华盛顿特区综合大厦。1972年6月17日夜间，共和党争取总统连任委员会有关人员潜入大厦内民主党全国委员会总部而被捕
9、，暴露了共和党政府在总统竞选中的非法活动，导致美国历史上首次总统辞职，现泛指“丑闻”。,专有名词普通化与特定的历史事件有关：,见：英语与社会： p.288,这类专有名词常为商标专有名。Walkman原来是Sony公司“随身听”的注册商标，在激烈的商业活动竞争中脱颖而出成为名牌。由于它家喻户晓，使它在人们心目中失去了一种专利商标，被用户作为“随身听”的代名词去泛指一切“随身听”产品。,与经济活动有关：,见：英语与社会：p.288-289,get in a huddle:在橄榄球比赛前运动员紧紧围在一起商量和决定场上进攻和防守的站位和人员安排，现在形容“举行非正式会议传达有关策略性问题”。,见：英
10、语与社会：p.289,专有名词通过转类法转为普通形容词:,Mickey Mouse: the name of a cartoon character created by Walter Disney, known for his simple-minded attitudes,hen the meaning:ineffective, trivial and insignificant,例如：Two days for a 226-mile race is Mickey Mouse.两天跑完226英里的赛程是轻而易举的事。,a mickey mouse college course 一门容易学的大
11、学课程,在美国，“Coke”, “Kleenex”, “Xerox”, “Jell-o” “Scotch Tape”为阻止商标名的普通化先后诉诸法庭，如果说以上商标名通过法律途径在一定的程度上保护了自己的产品名的 “专有”,那么King-Sealy与Du Pont两家公司就自己的产品名 “Thermos” 以及“Cellophane”普通化一事诉诸法庭要求保护，却遭到了法庭的驳回。,见：英语与社会：p.292,理由是法庭调查结果显示绝大多数消费者认为 “Thermos”指任何一种“保温瓶”， “Cellophane” 可指任何一种此类产品。,见：英语与社会：p.292,为了防止专有名词普通化，
12、生产厂家采取了一系列措施保护商标名的专一性。,见：英语与社会：p.293,一是在拼写上采取反常规形式，在不该大写的地方使用大写形式，如：TelePrompter(电子提词机)；,二是使其商标名作为专有形容词使用，如： Jell-o gelatin (果冻胶)。,见：英语与社会： p.293,这些措施也很难有效保护这些专有名词的普通化趋势，因为语言使用者只要对这些专有名词稍加改动便可以使它们至少在形式上类似普通词。现在，字典已收入了“teleprompter” 以及 “jello”便是很好的例子。,technical terms,alibi,plea that the accused is no
13、t at the place when the crime is committed,feedback,Narrowing of Meaning,Narrowing of meaningis a process by which a word of wide Meaningacquires a narrower or specialized sense.,Narrowing of Meaning,Rats and mice and such small deer; Have been Toms food for seven long year.,Narrowing of Meaning,Exa
14、mples,liquor,meat,disease,wife,accident,girl,starve,success,corpse,a clean room,a white room,Elevation of Meaning,is the process by which Words rise from humble beginnings to positions of importance.,Elevation of Meaning,nice,nimble,earl,angel,knight,Chamberlain,shrewd,Elevation of Meaning,is the pr
15、ocess by which Words of good origin or affective neutrality fall into ill reputation or come to be used in a derogatory sense.,Elevation of Meaning,boor,villain,silly,criticize,wench,Transference of Meaning,is the process by which words which were used to designate one thing but later changed to mea
16、n something else .,Transference of Meaning,1. Associate transfer,2. Transfer between Abstract and Concrete,4. Synesthesia,3. Transfer between Subjective and objective,Euphemism,eternal sleep,sanitation engineer,the disadvantage,eternal sleep,industrial actions,differently abled,convenience,landscape architect,Euphemism,他是一个勤劳的人, 当别人在休息的时候他在工作； 当别人醒来的时候, 他拥有了别人所没有的东西。,epigraph,
