NewArchive / 30 - Cognitive basis of semantic changes

30. Cognitive basis of semantic changes.

How do the meaningchange? Cognition deals with learning about the world. It's not познание, because it implies some scientific knowledge. Cognition means any type of getting knowledge about the world, and one of the accesses is language.

TYPES OF SEMANTIC CHANGES:

narrowing, generalization, shift, metaphor, metonymy, amelioration, degradation.

Why do they take place?

Pragmatics is the chief driving force in the process of a new meaning development.

Coded meanings: registered in the dictionary and shared with the society.

But a new meaning may appear: the change of the user's attitude. The user tries to adapt the word -> the meaning changes.

When a new meaning is formed we deal with

3 TYPES OF DEVIATIONS :

• Semantic

(sign-referent reation)

• Pragmatic

(sign - user relation)

• Cognitive

(relations between the conceptual structures of original and new meanings)

2 processes: conceptual widening; concepual narrowing

Example:

Aggressive - enterprising, active

Agressive young man

Agressive drive - self-assertion or desire to acheive

Agressive clothing

CONCEPTUAL WIDENING

The conceptual feature MILITARY is gone (generalization)

Positive emotive charge was added.

The word AGRESSIVE started to describe more references

CONCEPTUAL NARROWING

Adult

1) having reached maturity

2) intended for mature people

3) regarded as suitable for only adults because of being pornographic

The result isa new coded meaning with a narrower referent, but enriched by the semantic component "dirty" and a negative emotive change