2.3. The logical classification of semantic change

They can be generally observed in the changes of the denotative meaning of the word (restriction and extension of meaning) or in the changes of its connotative component (amelioration and pejoration of meaning).

Restriction of meaning is a process when a word of wide meaning acquires a narrower sense in which it only denotes some of the objects which it previously denoted. E.g., meat originally meant food and drink in general, now – edible flesh; fowl meant “any bird”, now – “a domestic hen or cook”. The word wit meaning "the faculty of thinking good or great mental capacity" was reflected by borrowed word "reason" and now means "the utterance of brilliant or sparkling things in an amusing way". The old Slavonic word билина denoted the name of the plant. In modern Ukrainian it means only "стеблина трави, травинка".

If the word with the new meaning is used in the specialized vocabulary of some professional group we speak of specialization of meaning, e.g., to glide meant “to move gently smoothly”, now – “to fly with no engine”.

Extension of meaning is the application of the word to a wider variety of referents, e.g., target meant “a small round shield”, now – “anything that is fired at”; pirate meant “one who robs on the sea”, now – “any one who robs with violence”. If the word with the extended meaning passes from the specialized vocabulary into common use, we describe the result of the semantic change as the generalization of meaning, e.g., barn meant “a place for storing barley”, now – “a covered building for storing grain”; pioneer – soldier, now – “one who goes before”; the meaning of the word vehicle that meant "a trolley" spread on all the means of transport. The word столяр first meant only “the man who made tables” and then started to mean “a specialist in processing wood and manufacturing things from it”. Words капрон, кібернетика passed from the category of specialized words to the sphere of general usage. The word акуратист first was used in the meaning of "carefully processed" (from Latin "accuratus" - "careful"). In Modern Ukrainian it is spread in the meanings of "carefully made", “the one that is kept in order”. To the typical phenomenon of the extension of meaning refer proper names that started to function in the language as the general names, e.g., донжуан, ловелас, меценат.

Amelioration is a process when words arise from humble beginnings to position of greater importance. Many words have been elevated in meaning through the association with the ruling class, e.g., “knight” meant “a young servant”, now – “a man who fought for his feudal”; “minister” meant “a servant”, now – “an important public official”. In Ukrainian such words as офіс, менеджмент, кур’єр are more prestige than контора, управління чи посильний.

Pejoration, or degradation of meaning is a process that involves a lowering in social scale, the acquisition by the word of some derogatory emotive charge. E.g., knave first meant “boy”, then “servant”, now it’s a term of abuse and scorn: villain meant “farm servant”, now – “scoundrel”. The pejorated meanings are proper to the words that mean the names of diseases, bad habits, social evils, injustice etc. The pejoratrion of meaning may take place with the help of morphological means - prefixes and suffixes: disho