21) Transference of meaning based on contiguity

The process of development of a new meaning or change of meaning is traditionally termed transference. There are 2 types of transference of a word, based on logical associations. The 1st group is transference based on similarity. The second type is transference based on contiguity. This type is often referred to as a linguistic metonymy. The association is based on subtle psychological links between different objects and phenomena, sometimes traced and identified with much difficulty. The 2 objects may be associated together, because they often appear in common situations and so the image of one is easily accompanied by the associated on the principal of cause and effect, of common function, of some material and an object which is made of it, etc.

There are different cases of transference based on contiguity. 1) The meaning of the adjective ‘sad’ in old English was ‘satisfied with food’ (in Russian сытый which is a word of the same Indo-European root). Later this meaning developed a connotation of greater intensity. Of quality and began to mean ‘over satisfied with food, having eaten too much’. Thus the meaning of the adjective ‘sad’ developed a negative evaluative connotation and now described not a happy state of satisfaction, but on the contrary the physical unease and discomfort of a person, who has had too much to eat. The next shift of meaning was to transform the description of physical discomfort into a spiritual discomfort, because these 2 states often go together, namely from this prosaic source. The modern meaning of ‘sad’ is ‘melancholy, sorrowful’ developed and the adjective describes now a purely emotional state. The 2 previous meanings – ‘satisfied with food’ and ‘having eaten too much’ were ousted from the semantic structure of the word long ago. 2) The association founded on common position. For example – the foot of a bed is the place where the feet rest, when a person lies in the bed. The foot of a mountain is its lowest part. 3) The association founded on common function. For example – the leg of a bed, table, chair is the part which serves as a support, the original meaning being the leg of a men or animal, a piece of furniture is supported by its legs just as living beings are supported by theirs. For example, A hand of a clock originated from the main meaning of this noun ‘part of human body’ - the hand of a clock points to the figures on the face of the clock and one of the functions of human hand is that of pointing to things. 4) The association founded on cause and effect. The adjective ‘dull’ developed its meaning ‘not clear or bright’ (as in a dull green color, dull light) on the basis of the former meaning - ‘not loud or distinct’ (as dull sounds) on the basis of the older meaning ‘deficient in hearing ’. The association here is that of cause and effect – to a person with wick eyesight all colors appear pale and all shapes vague, to a person with deficient hearing all sounds are indistinct. 5) The association founded on the material and the object made from it. The oldest registered meaning of the noun ‘board’ was a ‘flat and thin piece of wood, a wooden plank’. On the basis of this meaning , developed the meaning ‘table’, which is now archaic. The association in this semantic shift is that of the material and the object made from it, because a wooden plank is an essential part of any table. This type of association is often found in nouns denoting clothes. For example – a velvet (dress made of velvet), a mink (норка) – a mink coat or hat. 6) The association based on geographical or proper names. For example the word ‘china’ in the meaning ‘dishes made of porcelain’ originated from the name of the country which was believed the birthplace of porcelain. Tweed (a coarse wool clothes) got its name from the river ‘tweed’ and cheviot (another kind of wool clothes) got its name from the cheviot hills in England.