Change of meaning.

Word meaning is liable to change and the course of historical development of lang. the facts a counting a semantic change may be subdivided into 2 groups:

1. Extra linguistic

2. Linguistic courses

By extra we mean whereas changes in the life of the speech community, changes in economic and social structure, changes an ideas, way of life and others spheres of human activities. Although objects concepts etc. Change in the course of the tome in many cases the sound form of the words which denote them is retained but the meaning of the words is changed. Some changes of meaning are pure to the linguistic courses that is: factors active with in the language system. One of them is a lipses. It means that in a phrase made up in 2 words one of them is omitted and its meaning is transferred to its partner. The verb to stuff in old English had the meaning to die and was habitually used in colocation with the word hunger. Already on the 16 century the verb itself got the meaning to die of hunger. Discrimination of synonyms: it may be illustrated by the semantic development of the word LAND. In old English this word had 2 meanings. 1 – soviet part of this office of the earth. 2 – the territory of a nation. In the middle English period the word country was borrowed as it synonym and the meaning of the word land was somewhat ordered. The meaning the territory of a nation is denoted known mainly by the borrowed word country. The third: linguistic analogy: if one member of a synonymic set got a new meaning other members of this synonymic set change their meanings too. Synonyms of the word catch grasp, get by semantic extension got another meaning to understand. A necessary condition of any semantic change is some association between the old meaning and the new one. There are 2 types of association:

1. Similarity of meaning /metaphor- is a semantic prose of associated to reference one of each in some way resamples the other. The word hand got in the 16 century they meaning the point of a clock/a watch because of the similarity of one of the function of one clock.

2. Contiguity of meaning /metonymy- is the semantic proses of associated to reference one of each makes part of the other / is closely connected with it. It is generally held that metaphor place a more important role in a change of meaning than metonymy. Results of semantic change can be generally observed in the changes of the denotational meaning of the word (restriction and extensional)/ in the alteration of its connotational component (amelioration and deterioration of meaning). Changes in the denotational meaning may result in the restriction of the type / ranch of reference denoted by the word. This may be illustrated by the word fall which is in old English denoted any bird, but in modern- domestic hang/cock. This is generally described as restriction of meaning and if the word with a new meaning comes to be used in the specialist vocabulary of some limited group it is usual to speak of the specialization of meaning. We can observe???in the case of the verb to ???which had the meaning to move gently and smoothly and now has got a restricted and specialized meaning to fly with no angel. Changes in the denotational meaning may also result in the application of the word with a wider rewrite of the reference. This prose is called extension of meaning and may be illustrated by the word target. Originally it mends a small round shield. Nowadays it means anouthing that is fire at and also is used figural in the meaning any result aimed ant. If the word with the extended meaning pusses through the specialized vocabulary in to common use the result of the semantic change is called the generalization of meaning. The noun cam originally was used only as military term with the meaning were are traps are ???and now it denotes temporary quarters. There are also cases when the changes of connotational meaning can be observed and they are usually accompanied by it change in the denotational component. They may be sub divided into 2 main groups:

3. 1. Pergoritief development / the acquisition by the word of some derogatory emotive charge.

4. 2. Ameliorative / the improvement of the connotational component of meaning.

The semantic change of the word boor may be used to illustrate the first group. This word was originally used to denote a villager a peasant and then got a derogatory connotational meaning and now denotes a clumsy/ well bread fellow. The ameliorative???of the connotational meaning may be illustrated by the word minister. One of its meanings originally denoted a servant and now it is used in the meaning a swivel servant of higher rank.

Meaning and polysemy.

When we analyze the word meaning we observe that words as a rule are not units of single meaning. Polysemantic words: words having only one meaning are comparatively few in number. They are mainly scientific terms: molecule. The balks of English words are polysemantic that is: the poses more than one meaning. Polysemy is a linguistic universal. Highly develop polysemy and the bounders of coronas are specific characteristics of the English vocabulary. These linguistic phenomena can be explained by some reasons. The analytical character of the English language and the monosyllable character of the English word. The word polysemy is of Greek origin poky-means many, sema- .thus a word have a many meanings. Every meaning in the kang.is singled either by the form of the word itself/ by contacts. The unity of the form and content of a polysemantic word is called the lexical semantic variant. All the lexica of semantic variants of a word taken together form its semantic structure. The semantic structure of a word is a structure set in the ????lexical semantic variants with different denotational and sometimes with connotational components of meaning. This variants belong to the same set because their expressed by the same combination of the morphemes although in different contextual conditions. The elements are into related due to the existents of the common semantic component. Polysemy exists only in language not in speech. An isolated word in a dictionary is usually given with all its meanings but taken in any different contacts the word has only the meaning revered by the text. There are different types of lexical meaning as elements of word semantic structure. There are: