Semantic change

Conclusions:

Semantic change is highly irregular in direction due to the irregularity of its causes. These causes are usually interrelated, and semantic change is rarely the result of one cause exclusively. Although it can be radical sometimes, semantic change rarely jumps to a far meaning; it is gradual and usually slow, which explains why it is very hard to notice synchronically. It is sometimes mainly the result of natural human tendencies as we saw in broadening and pejoration, and like the human tendency to measure things by body organs which is the primary cause of so-called metaphorical extension. It is also commonly caused by social 10 and political changes, as in the cases of enthusiasm and undertaker, and biases as in bint and daft. The lack of knowledge or indifference towards narrow technical meanings of words like moron or ego may lead to change in their denotations or connotations. Change is a process; what is neutralized now may be ameliorated or pejorated later, what matters here is that the phenomenon is there. Finally, it is important not to forget the crucial role of media in causing and “diffusing” these linguistic changes.