Литература по учебной дисциплине «Практика устной и письменной речи»

(1) the direct meaning, subdivided into: the primary (etymological) meaning (e.g., wall (n.) from Latin vallum “rampart, fortification”) and the derived meaning (e.g., wall “upright structure, forming part of a room or building”) and
(2) the secondary meaning, subdivided into: the secondary denotative meaning (e.g., wall “inside surface of a cavity or vessel”: walls of the heart, reactor wall) and the figurative meaning (e.g., wall of partition (between persons), wall of fire, wall of hostility).


2. Semantic changes in the English lexicon
The meaning of the word does not remain stable. Different changes of word meaning can be classified according to the social causes that bring about change of meaning (sociolinguistic classification), the nature of these changes (psychological classification), and the results of semantic changes (logical classification). Causes, nature, and results of semantic changes should be viewed as three essentially different but inseparable aspects of one and the same linguistic phenomenon as any change of meaning may be investigated from the point of view of its cause, nature, and its consequences (results).


2.1. The sociolinguistic classification of semantic changes
The causes of semantic changes may be subdivided into two groups: (a) extralingual and (b) lingual.
Extralingual causes of semantic changes are:
(1) changes in social life of a community, resulting in the appearance of new words and meanings, e.g., webmaster, spam, etc.;
(2) сhanges of things and reconsideration/reapplication of names, e.g., the word car from Latin carrus, which meant “a four-wheeled wagon”, now can denote “a railway carriage”; bubblegum – бабблгам “разновидность рок-поп-музыки, как правило, рассчитанная на подростков”, ecological footprint – еколоический след “последствия жизнедеятельности человека”.
Lingual causes, i.e. factors acting within the language system, may be of paradigmatic and syntagmatic character.
The most common form of the syntagmatic semantic changes depending on the context is ellipsis. In a phrase made up of two words, one can be omitted, and its meaning is transferred to the remaining partner: e.g., the verb to starve had the meaning “to die” and was used with the word hunger (ME sterven of hunger). Already in the 16th century, the verb itself acquired the meaning “to die of hunger”. Similarly, propose instead of propose marriage, be expecting instead of be expecting a baby, a weekly (newspaper), a monthly (magazine), a stereo (receiver).
An example of linguistic cause of paradigmatic character is discrimination of synonyms. It is a gradual change observed in the course of language history. E.g., the words time and tide used to be synonyms, then tide was applied to the shifting waters and time is used in the general sense.