3.7.2. Generalization

The process reverse to specialisation is generalisation. The scope of the new notion is wider than that of the original one, the content is poorer. Generalisation is combined with a higher order of abstraction. Transition from a concrete meaning to an abstract one is frequent in the semantic history of Ws. The change is occasioned by situations in which not all the features of the notions are of equal importance for the message. Ready < OE ræde (a derivative of ridan ‘to ride’): ‘prepared for a ride’. Fly originally ‘to move through the air with wings’.

Etymological meaning of thing: ‘an assembly for deliberation on some judicial / business affair’; ‘a matter brought before this assembly’; ‘what was said / decided upon’; ‘cause’, ‘object’, ‘decision’. Now it can substitute almost any N, especially non-personal, & has a pronominal force (something, nothing, anything).

All generic terms fall into the category of generalisation. The grammatical categoric meaning of a class of Ws is their predominant semantic component.

Not every generic W comes into being solely by generalisation. Person was borrowed into MidE from OF (persone from Latin persona ‘the mask used by an actor’, ‘one who plays a part’, ‘a character in a play’). In Rome masks with a megaphone effect were called persona from Lat per ‘through’ & sonare ‘to sound’. The term had been metonymically transferred to the character, generalised to any human being. In the 1970s person substituted the semi-affix -man (chairperson, policeperson, salesperson, workperson). The plural of compounds ending in -person may be -persons / -people: businesspeople / businesspersons.

It is difficult to differentiate the instances of generalisation proper from generalisation combined with a fading of lexical meaning ousted by the grammatical / emotional meaning. These phenomena are connected with the characteristics of grammatical structure typical of each language: the semantic history of the English auxiliary & semi-auxiliary Vs have, do, shall, will, turn, go, of some Prps & Advs which have come to express grammatical relations. The weakening of lexical meaning due to the influence of emotional force: awfully, terribly, terrific, smashing.

3.7.3. Metaphor

According to psychological type of association in the transfer of the name, the most frequent transfers are based on associations of similarity / contiguity. In rhetoric – metaphor & metonymy. They come of a purposeful momentary transfer of a name from one object to another belonging to a different sphere of reality.

A metaphor is a transfer of name based on the association of similarity & is actually a hidden comparison: ‘X is like Y in respect of Z’. The element Z is the ground of the metaphor, which is implied, not expressed.

Linguistic metaphor & metonymy are different from metaphor & metonymy as literary devices, when the author & the reader are aware that this reference is figurative.

In a linguistic metaphor the comparison is forgotten & the thing named often has no other name: foot (of a mountain), leg (of a table), eye (of a needle), nose (of an aeroplane), back (of a book). A sun beam, a beam of light; from OE beam ‘tree’. Dead metaphor. Brood ‘to meditate’ (sullenly), the direct meaning is ‘to sit on eggs’.

Transitory stages: a bottleneck ‘any thing obstructing an even flow of work’. Common features in the narrow top part of the bottle, a narrow outlet for road traffic, & obstacles interfering with the smooth working of administrative machinery. No sharp demarcation lines between a dead & alive metaphors.

H. Paul: different types of similarity: of shape (head of a cabbage, the teeth of a saw); function (The Head of the school, the key to a mystery); position: (foot of a page / mountain); behaviour & function: bookworm, wirepuller; the analogy between duration of time & space (long distance :: long speech; a short path :: a short time)

Anthropomorphic metaphors: head of an army / procession / household; arms & mouth of a river, eye of a needle, foot of a hill, tongue of a bell.

The transfer of space relations upon psychological & mental: to catch (to grasp) an idea; to take a hint; to get the hang of; to throw light upon.

The metaphoric change from the concrete to the abstract: score comes from OE scoru ‘twenty’ < ON skor ‘twenty’ & ‘notch’. Notches were cut on sticks to keep a reckoning. From ‘notch cut / scratched down’ → ‘number of points made by a player / a side in some games’, ‘running account’, ‘a debt’, ‘written / printed music’. Span <OE spann – maximum distance between the tips of thumb & little finger used as a measure of length → ‘full extent from end to end’ (of a bridge / arch); ‘a short distance’. Thrill < ME thrillen ‘to pierce’ → ‘to penetrate with emotion.’

Transitions of proper names into common ones: an Adonis, a Cicero, a Don Juan, etc.