4. Semantic Change

In the course of their historical development words can lose some lexico-semantic variants, undergo changes in their semantic structure, gain new meanings, etc. Semantic change is the process of development of a new meaning or any other change of meaning.

The causes of semantic changes

I. Extra-linguistic causes of semantic change

Semantic change is likely to take place due to historical causes with appearance of a new denotatum – a new object or concept. To make it clear, the word core which original meaning is ‘horny capsule containing seeds of apple, pear, etc.’ developed a new meaning ‘bar of soft iron forming center of electro-magnet or induction coil’ due to technological innovation in electrical engineering. The screen of a fire-place developed a new function in the magic lantern, and then transferred its name onto new concepts like TV screen and telescreen. Terms are most representative of the changes of the sort (cf. antennae, pilot, cabin, mouse, etc.).

Semantic change can be connected with the change of concept of the existing thing. For example, before the 19^th century the idea of some small thing was rendered by the word atom (an atom of a girl). Progress in physics conditioned change of the concept and the word atom got its new meaning ‘supposed ultimate particle or matter’. The change of concept of the thing led to the change of meaning of the word probe, originally it meant ‘surgical instrument for exploring wound’, then – ‘an instrument for exploring outer space (lunar probe)’.

One more cause of the semantic change is the change of the denotatum. The verb to sail of Modern English means ‘smooth movement in space, travel over, glide through’, though it used to be connected with movement over water on a vessel by use of sails. The change of the way of movement first over water, then over land and air caused the semantic change of the verb. Hand mills were used for grinding grain to make flour turned into a building fitted with machinery for the same purposes, which influenced the meaning of the words mill. Hospice used to mean ‘a house of rest for travellers, especially one kept by religious order’, now it means ‘a nursing home that specializes in caring for the terminally ill’.

In case of social causes a word acquires a new meaning due to its use by a particular social group, or a word used in a specific sense by some group comes into common currency with an extended meaning. If the narration is about the past centuries, abolitionist is a person seeking the abolition of Negro slavery, and if the situation concerns modern age, this word is applied to one who advocates the abolition of capital punishment. Thus, being used in youths’ speech the following words got their new slang meanings: bread (money), drag (tedious, boring thing), gas (a delightful thing), funky (exciting, cool).

It is quite obvious that localities and groups of people have their own specialized associations for words that otherwise may convey a broader meaning. Pipe, for example, calls up different ideas in the mind of a smoker, a plumber, an organist and a geologist. Ring may be thought of in connection with jewelry, opera, politics, boxing, basketball, circus. On the other hand, many economic or religious terms tend to get popularized, for example, office got the meaning “the official daily church service” which later extended to “a room or set of rooms in which business, professional duties, clerical work, etc., are carried out”.

Psychological causes figure largely in taboo and euphemism. When a common word gathers social disapproval it becomes a taboo. Euphemism (from Greek ео – ‘beautiful’, phemo – ‘speech’) is a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one. It’s more psychologically acceptable to use growth instead of cancer, inoperable instead of fatal and the like. In the course of time new euphemisms are created to substitute the previous ones and such more appropriate words make strings: AmE toilet ˃ bathroom ˃ cloakroom.

Currently, euphemisms are largely inspired by political correctness. Politically correct vocabulary reflects the social tendency to advocate the equality of all regardless of their race, gender, age, physical and mental condition. It’s rather popular to substitute the word invalid with its euphemisms handicapped / disabled / differently-abled / physically challenged. Some other examples are:

father and mother – parent 1 and parent 2;

starvation – undernourishment;

unemployed – redundant (сокращенный, потерявший работу);

salary cuts – adjustment;

secondhand – pre-owned;

Negro – Afro-American, out-of-colour, etc.;

false teeth – alternative dentation;

liar – differently honest;

old – chronologically challenged;

fat – big-boned, differently sized, horizontally oriented;

natives – indigenious population;

foreigners – aliens, newcomers;

foreign languages – modern languages.

Concern about eliminating discriminatory attitude towards women in various professions led to many attempts to degender, i.e. to remove reference to gender in the names of professions:

cameraman – camera operator;

chambermaid – room attendant;

fireman – fire fighter;

policeman – police officer, policewoman;

waiter, waitress – waitperson.

Other replacements are dictated by wish to give more dignity to profession:

housemaid – houseworker, houseperson;

housewife – housemaker;

nurse (medical) – caregiver, social worker;

nurse (working with children) – day-care provider;

garbage-man – sanitation engineer.

Traditional usage of masculine pronouns his, him in case when the gender of the noun is not specified, is nearly replaced by new ways of language expression – his/her, or the pronoun in the plural form their: everyone must do his duty > everyone must do his or her (his/her) duty, everyone must do their duty. It’s more frequent that we see s/he instead of he/she.